« May 2006 | Main | July 2006 »
this is the best one i could find of some of the work we actually did. we did quite a bit of drywalling and painting
here's what the backyard looked like. this was pretty common in the neighborhood we worked at. we even found a muffler in the house!
fortunately we were able to get away sunday afternoon to the beach. a little rest after a few hard days of work...ahhhh...
hello all! i'm just here posting a blog in friendly alabama while the rest of the staff is watching the movie 'gladiator'. i feel like i have a lot on my mind and i just wanted to jot a few of them down, so if you really don't care for musing or personal thoughts or that sort of thing, i put the rest of my thoughts, whatever they may be, in the next section. if you care to read them, carry on! if not, well God bless you and have a wonderful day...
we've been down here now since tuesday evening. it's been going quite well. the work is quite tiring for two reasons. first, because we're not used to this kind of work. secondly, it is rather hot and humid, so even if you work inside you're still sweating all over. hopefully i'm not coming across as being complaining; it's just the way it is. we've been extremely blessed by the hospitality and the sweet tea. the church people here have provided far more then what we've needed and for that we're most thankful. while we've been down here, i'm reminded of all that we have to be thankful for. there is no doubt that poverty is much more obvious here in this part of the south than in ohio, and this trip is actually the first time i've noticed more widespread poverty here in the states.
one of the musings i have is that of a big God. the reason for that is largely because of the session that i give for the city challenge groups. it's something that i believe is so important to grasp: the concept of God that is just absolutely big, full of blazing glory, the greatest artist, the one who spoke stars and galaxies into being. one of the stats that i came across that i really like is this one: the closest galaxy to ours is the andromeda galaxy which is about 2,000,000 light years from our galaxy. that means, hop on a plane, fly at the speed of light for 2,000,000 years and presto, the current time of arrival is 10:59 p.m. June 26, year 2,002,006 A.D. the distance that would be in miles is 5,870,000,000,000 x 2,000,000 miles. pretty far, wouldn't you think? and that's just our nearest galaxy. this is our God, a God who is full of holiness, justice, and glory, but at the very same time He is still personal in every way, concerned with every aspect and minute detail of our lives. this is stuff that puts things in perspective when i think my life is a little frustrating or difficult.
we were at a matt redman concert last monday night at vineyard. i still wonder why it's called a 'worship concert'. i suppose it's all right but i don't think that most of us there were going for the purpose of being entertained by the brit. we at the house certainly weren't just going to enjoy some quality Christian entertainment. to me it seems that actually experiencing the presence of God cannot be watered down to a 'concert'. it's probably just an annoyance of mine...despite what it was called, we did have a powerful time of worship. the place was mostly full and it was really cool just spending a long period of time in worship with that many people. redman shared a little bit in the middle of the event right along the lines of the previous paragraph. there are these two lovely little terms that theologians use to describe those two aspects of God: that is, His bigness and nearness. they use the terms the transcendence and imminence of God. the quote that sticks out that redman said was, regarding these two terms, 'the mystery lies in the middle'. that's where we need to be, in the middle of these two very big terms. we can't swing too far to one side with missing out on God and His completeness (not that we use humans could fully experience His completeness, but that's another post for another day). if we get too caught up in the imminence of God, He becomes a little more than a teddy bear. if, on the other hand, God's transcendence is over emphasized, He's more like the watchmaker who just made the world and let it run. both of these terms are still relevant to us today.
after our next week in louisiana, we have a staff retreat week with some sessions and a nice little camping trip. during the camping trip we'll take time to refocus by having a silent retreat. i must tell you that i am really looking forward to this time. in case you don't know what it is or haven't experienced a silent retreat, we'll all have 24 hrs of nearly complete solitude. it's one gigantic quiet time! for me, in both of my reach trainings it was one of the highlights. i was talking with a brother from the church here about this silent retreat that we're having, and he commented to me how some of us as the church haven't quite grasped the importance of spending time alone with God. our culture keeps us so busy and active, and taking time to breath in God's presence just doesn't seem to be a high priority. i think it's something that's good to do periodically. during the silent retreats that i experienced, i remember just feeling a closeness to God, hearing His voice, and worshipping Him in His presence. it was a time of great spiritual refreshing.
so, there ya go, a few thoughts. to be honest i don't exactly know why i posted all of this. if you think that i should've been more brief you can leave a comment suggesting shorter blogs, but then again you did make the decision to click on the link to read all of the article ... i don't think we'll be able to update the blog next week because of having no internet access where we're at in louisiana. feel free to leave comments and let us know what's going on in your life. i must be going, meredith won long ago in our game of pit, and maximus has already defeated that jerk commodus. blessings to all...
kirk, for the team
here's a little pic of the house we worked on in mobile, alabama. the roof was pretty much destroyed and b/c of that there was all sorts of drywalling to be done.
Here we are in Mobile, Alabama, working hard in the crazy humidity! The six of us from the house left Columbus Tuesday morning and started working on a house that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday morning. We've been putting insulation in, drywalling and doing some painting on the outside of the house. It's been quite an experience to work in this weather. It's "only" been in the mid to high 90's, but the humidity is just amazing (not in a good way)! In spite of all that, we've been having lots of fun working together.
We are working under Way of Life Community Church, and they have given us some very comfortable accommodations. This church has been wonderful in looking out for us.
Tomorrow afternoon we'll be driving over to New Orleans area (Gretna) to work with Samaritan's Purse for the week. We're looking forward to it, but we're also getting pretty tired, so pray for strength for us! We are relieved that it's Sunday and we can take the day off (although we are going to share in church today), and we're planning to finally see the beach this afternoon.
A nice pic of the staff girls...
Hello friends. We are well under way with another two groups this week for City Challenge - the Marantha youth group from Hutchinson, Kansas and the Lighthouse youth group from Plain City, OH. We just got back from some pretty intense ultimate frisbee in the park, and when I say intense, I mean that someone sure did have a bloody mouth after taking a bite out of a fast-flying frisbee. Say that ten times. I think he's okay and otherwise we sure had some good frisbee followed by some ice cream from Graeters.
So, can I share a little story on our fearless directors? Ok, thanks. Today I was talking to Karla down in the basement, and Kirk comes charging down the stairs throwing his fist in the air and sharing his happy thoughts with us about his team leading in a game in the World Cup. He gets to the bottom of the stairs and starts dancing a little jig (he claims it was the salsa, I'm not so sure...), only to be joined right away by Karla! It was the cutest thing ever - it's not just every day that I witness something like that.
God is doing some crazy awesome stuff this summer through this program, and well, I'm pretty pumped to be a part of it. It can be very draining by the end of the week, but most definitely worth it!
~ Roxie
It's been such a joy to have the Pleasant View group here. Only 9 are here and 5 more come tonight. It's fun to sit around a get to know this awesome group of kids. We prayer walked in the community yesterday and it was most, if not all, of their first times doing that. They seemed to enjoy it and I believe it really opened their eyes to the realness of people's circumstances, like poverty.
Last evening we went to Manna Cafe (a soup kitchen for anyone who comes, predominately homeless and low income folks) and they all did a good job at interacting with the people who came and pitching in to get all the work done. We almost set a record for the fastest clean-up job yet for any group to ever help there. My mother feathers puffed with pride. This was all followed by a nice walk back home in the rain with umbrellas, of course, though they weren't always used to their fullest potential, but it was a nice way to wash the sweat off of our faces b/c it sure was hot in that building.
Meredith
the Gambia and Morocco teams left this weekend. It makes this big, ol' house rather empty and lonely again after it's been filled for a week. It was hard to get it lodged into my brain Saturday morning that there really wasn't going to be other girls in the bathroom getting ready at the same time I was. It was fun to see the Gambia team delight in the down pour by throwing frisbee out in it. Needless to say, some of the staff were pretty delighted to get all drenched too.
So, this pretty much leaves us here making the last preparations for the city challenge group coming on wednesday. It's a little less stressful since half of the group cancelled...but its disappointing too. This also makes a good time for resting too b/c it's a given that sleep comes in smaller intervals during city challenge...but it's all done happily for Jesus, right? of course right. I'm really excited to see how God moves in the group over this next week.
and I would like to say that the weather has been absolutely gorgeous the past couple of days. Rain and coolness...i like it.
Meredith
Hey everyone!!!
So, it is really starting to feel like summer here. In case you do not know how that feels, really hot and humid.=) But, it is all good, and we are still staying busy.
The Gambia and Morocco teams are currently here for re-entry. They all made it back safe and sound. The Gambia team came back on Saturday evening, and the Morocco team got here on Tuesday evening. It has been so good to have them back again and hear all the wonderful things that have been happening in their lives for the past six months. God is so amazing and has been working, not only in each one of their lives, but also the people they came into contact with during their outreach. It has been making me remember a year ago when I was in Israel. It is so crazy to think that it was that recently. It seems like so much has happened and so much time has gone by since then. Wow!
I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!
Karen (aka, the cook) for all of us here