An update...
Howdy All,
We are still having a little technical difficulty so I don't know how much I will be able to blog about our experiences here but I thought I would write a little something at least. I would just email it but when I start attaching pictures it gets too be too large so this was the best bet.
Bottom line- things here are going great and everyone is ok.
The word that comes to mind is disruption. It's almost become a cliche that God "disrupts our lives" but the students are acutely aware of that this week. The heat has been a real issue here. According to our sources we are hitting heat indexes of around 115 degrees or hotter! This has had a dramatic impact on the ministry here.
Impact #1- On the basic side of things, our dorms are not air conditioned so sleep for the first couple nights was hard. Saturday and Sunday nights were a little rough. On Tuesday, they opened up an air conditioned classroom for students to sleep in on a rotating basis (half of Bump Monday night, half of Bump Tuesday, etc). About half of our students took that opportunity and that helped. Yesterday they were pretty run down between the pace (which is hectic) and the heat (which is relentless) so we took a couple hours to commandeer the aforesaid classrooms and have a "deeply spiritual exercise experience designed to increase health and focus"...in other words, I made them take naps. The results were amazing! They were much better for the evening and this morning they were singing through breakfast.
Impact #2- The second impact of the heat was that we had to cancel VBS last night. Monday night we did a block party. We passed out food, and had inflatable rides. Our kids played Frisbee, football, and baseball with the local kids while older students and staff talked with parents. There was also an inflatable slide that had a constant stream of young children that our kids manned. It was HOT but the kids did great. But Tuesday it was just too hot and it was dangerous for the kids to come so the site leader made the call to cancel. Initially, the students were really disappointed, particularly those who were up to teach that night. But the site leader instead sent all but 5 of us to different parks in the neighborhoods. These parks have little wading pools with little waterfalls in them where the neighborhood people (most who don't have air conditioning) go to cool off. MANY of our students had powerful experiences there. One student was telling a little girl of about 4 or 5 that she was here to tell people about God. The girl's response was "About who?" About God. "Who's that?" The little girl had never heard of God at all. Her family doesn't have a Bible that she knows of. So our student shared the gospel with her. When she got to the part about Jesus dying so that we could go to heaven and be with God forever, a different little girl sat up, stuck her arms in the air and screamed for joy! Very cool experience on a hot day. The 5 of us that didn't go to the water parks went to the home of a local lady to help with home renovation. So I (Gabe) took 4 students to get started on some projects. That will probably continue. So far, (thanks to hanging with Huxley men) I know how to do everything that needs done. Hopefully that continues. That was really moving for those students that were there. One said, "I really like doing stuff like this to help someone who really needs it." Very cool!
Story worth telling--> One of my favorite moments was on the inflatable slide. I took over for Lindy at the top of the slide so she could get some dinner. She was sitting at the top telling kids when they could go. The second child up the stairs looks and me and says, "What happened to the other girl?" (yes our students thought "other girl" was funny too!). I told her that I was giving her a break so she could eat. She said, "Oh, well, no offense but we like her better." Me too.
Tomorrow is a free day up until the evening. We will probably hang out here or take some kids to see the King Tut exhibit at the museum. Friday is serving a food ministry. Saturday is a free day and then Sunday we come home. The time is flying and everyone here is spending themselves out. But God is good and even though a lot of it is not what we planned, the kids are flexing great and God is using them in ways we couldn't have planned. It's pretty cool to watch actually.
Here are some pic's for you. Every student is not in here (sorry moms I don't have time to run the checklist), but it gives you an idea of what it looks like to be here.
Please continue to pray for us as we flex with God's heat wave and follow His leading for where He wants us to go.
We are still having a little technical difficulty so I don't know how much I will be able to blog about our experiences here but I thought I would write a little something at least. I would just email it but when I start attaching pictures it gets too be too large so this was the best bet.
Bottom line- things here are going great and everyone is ok.
The word that comes to mind is disruption. It's almost become a cliche that God "disrupts our lives" but the students are acutely aware of that this week. The heat has been a real issue here. According to our sources we are hitting heat indexes of around 115 degrees or hotter! This has had a dramatic impact on the ministry here.
Impact #1- On the basic side of things, our dorms are not air conditioned so sleep for the first couple nights was hard. Saturday and Sunday nights were a little rough. On Tuesday, they opened up an air conditioned classroom for students to sleep in on a rotating basis (half of Bump Monday night, half of Bump Tuesday, etc). About half of our students took that opportunity and that helped. Yesterday they were pretty run down between the pace (which is hectic) and the heat (which is relentless) so we took a couple hours to commandeer the aforesaid classrooms and have a "deeply spiritual exercise experience designed to increase health and focus"...in other words, I made them take naps. The results were amazing! They were much better for the evening and this morning they were singing through breakfast.
Impact #2- The second impact of the heat was that we had to cancel VBS last night. Monday night we did a block party. We passed out food, and had inflatable rides. Our kids played Frisbee, football, and baseball with the local kids while older students and staff talked with parents. There was also an inflatable slide that had a constant stream of young children that our kids manned. It was HOT but the kids did great. But Tuesday it was just too hot and it was dangerous for the kids to come so the site leader made the call to cancel. Initially, the students were really disappointed, particularly those who were up to teach that night. But the site leader instead sent all but 5 of us to different parks in the neighborhoods. These parks have little wading pools with little waterfalls in them where the neighborhood people (most who don't have air conditioning) go to cool off. MANY of our students had powerful experiences there. One student was telling a little girl of about 4 or 5 that she was here to tell people about God. The girl's response was "About who?" About God. "Who's that?" The little girl had never heard of God at all. Her family doesn't have a Bible that she knows of. So our student shared the gospel with her. When she got to the part about Jesus dying so that we could go to heaven and be with God forever, a different little girl sat up, stuck her arms in the air and screamed for joy! Very cool experience on a hot day. The 5 of us that didn't go to the water parks went to the home of a local lady to help with home renovation. So I (Gabe) took 4 students to get started on some projects. That will probably continue. So far, (thanks to hanging with Huxley men) I know how to do everything that needs done. Hopefully that continues. That was really moving for those students that were there. One said, "I really like doing stuff like this to help someone who really needs it." Very cool!
Story worth telling--> One of my favorite moments was on the inflatable slide. I took over for Lindy at the top of the slide so she could get some dinner. She was sitting at the top telling kids when they could go. The second child up the stairs looks and me and says, "What happened to the other girl?" (yes our students thought "other girl" was funny too!). I told her that I was giving her a break so she could eat. She said, "Oh, well, no offense but we like her better." Me too.
Tomorrow is a free day up until the evening. We will probably hang out here or take some kids to see the King Tut exhibit at the museum. Friday is serving a food ministry. Saturday is a free day and then Sunday we come home. The time is flying and everyone here is spending themselves out. But God is good and even though a lot of it is not what we planned, the kids are flexing great and God is using them in ways we couldn't have planned. It's pretty cool to watch actually.
Here are some pic's for you. Every student is not in here (sorry moms I don't have time to run the checklist), but it gives you an idea of what it looks like to be here.
Please continue to pray for us as we flex with God's heat wave and follow His leading for where He wants us to go.
To view their photos visit http://gefcyp-theblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/update.html
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