Okay, so this was our first 10-day level 3 trip. INTENSE! But oh so awesome! These were freshman and sophmores from BentTree near Dallas, TX. The funny thing is that they are from the church that 2 of my pastors are from! And their youth pastor, Dylan, used to work for LeaderTreks for several years, so that is pretty exciting! We have another BentTree trip coming in this evening - so it is the month of BentTree! But they are great kids, and very hard workers!
A level 3 is mostly student lead - they planned the menu, did the grocery shopping, decide what we do at the worksite each day (with the guidance of Jess, our construction guru). This team was VERY organized. The first week they put on a Sports Camp VBS. That was absolutely amazing. The first day we hardly had any kids, but by Thursday, we had a lot of kids to love on. I got to reach out to one girl Tamara - and totally just love on her. She is the sweetest girl and has gone through so much! It breaks my heart!
So, we did VBS in the morning and then worksite in the afternoon. We finished Ms. Micey's house and received her CO (Certificate of Occupancy) on Friday. How exciting! Monday, a couple of us went over to do the great clean and that afternoon we were able to give her the keys to her "new" home! She hasn't been inside for 2 years - she told herself that she didn't want to see it until it was finished. This is the house she grew up in - which later became a crack house, and a prostitute house. People from All Saint's Church have been doing prayer walks around the house everyday because we want this to be a safe haven for her. What an amazing thing to be able to give a lady keys to a house she has never seen in such great condition. Only one team gets to experience that moment, and this was the team!
We started on a new house this trip as well. Ms. Smith is 26 years old and had 5 kids (I believe the oldest is 9). She lives in a 1 bedroom trailer that is falling apart. In order to meet all the codes, instead of tearing it down, we are enclosing it - building new rooms around it. We dug 18 holes (2' x 2' x 2') and then hand mixed cement and filled all those holes in a matter of 3 days. We went through 3 palets of cement bags (about 216 80 lb bags). The neatest part of that is we are not only impacting the family we are helping, but the lumber store (whom we bought out all their cement) is noticing there is something different. When we ran out of cement and went to order more, they could not believe that a group of high schoolers had gone through 3 palets in 2 days and mixed it all by hand at that! What an awesome testimony!
The other project we have been working on at Ms. Smith's house is the woods behind her house. Apparently here in Pawley's, they don't have a scheduled trash pick up; you take your trash to a dump. Well, there was trash in the woods knee deep and who knows what all was really back there. We cleaned it up - yay for huge crap piles! There were parts of a car from 1972... Craziness!
Even more exciting than helping these families, to me, is being able to touch these students lives and show them a whole new way to serve and follow hard after God. This week was a mile stone for me in that I am half way through the summer. But even more, I learned something about confidence. It's a choice. I have grown so much in that area this past week, and God gave me the opportunity to speak into several students' lives this trip. What an amazing feeling to know that God allowed me the opportunity to influence these students in change that will bring a huge impact on His kingdom. There is no better feeling to me in the whole wide world!
Well, I guess this is about long enough... Greg's head is doing much better. Thank you for your prayers! Pray for Allie as this is her last trip with us :( She leaves on the 20th as well as Shannon, Greg's fiance. Shannon flew in after our last trip and is here for 2 weeks - she is so amazing! I have learned so much from her already! And she and Greg are so cute together!
Well, I love you guys all very much and thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! I can't wait to tell you all stories face to face!
Staying strong,
Joy
BentTree Bible Fellowship
Ms. Micey Walking into Her New House for the First Time
Ms. Micey's New Kitchen
Ms. Micey's New Living Room
Crafts at Sports Camp
Mixing Cement at Ms. Smith's House
Me Flying Over the Battery in Charleston, SC
3 comments:
Wow. Sounds like an aweseome group! That's awesome that they finished Ms. Micey's house.
I can't believe the summer is already halfway over!
Thinking about and praying for you! Keep up the awesome work for the Lord.
God Bless!
All that sounds so awesome! I am sure that Ms. Micey was so excited and felt so blessed! I am so encouraged by getting to hear about all of the things you are learning and how you are growing. Can't wait to hear even more when you get back!
Still praying for you all the time!
Teresa
That's so exciting to see Ms. Micey in her house! The living room looks amazing!!! I can imagine her face when she walked in! Praying the summer keeps going well for you!
~ Alli (from the Mayfair Group!)
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