On Thursday both of our teams had a day off and both Pella and Omaha went to the Mall of America. Unfortunately a one of most fun, energetic students from Omaha, Emily, fell on an escalator and had to be taken to the ER for eight stitches in her knee. The Pella group hung out at the mall for the entire afternoon and Omaha was adventurous and went kayaking on the Mississippi. Refreshed from a day off and cooler weather, we returned to Faith E. Free, rejuvenated and ready to serve. The kids continued to come and we were blessed by them in every way while we had the chance to love on them and show them the Gospel.
On Friday we went to another morning rally, where we were challenged not to let this be a one-time trip, but that it would be the start of a new normal. This week has definitely been life-changing for all of us and we can't wait to share more about what God has done this week. In the afternoon we split our group in half, each going to do different service projects. Our first team went to playgrounds in search of children to minister to and to invite to VBS. However, due to heat, they could not find any children; not discouraged at all, the team packed back into the vehicles and went into the heart of downtown to distribute Gospel tracts to the people on the streets. Our other team helped an elderly man whose house had tornado damage. We helped by unloading things from his attic and then putting them into a U-Haul van. After about two hours of loading, we helped the man unload all the items in a large storage unit. The last night of VBS was a very sad, yet rewarding night. The children continued to come back and we had a great night with crafts, water games, and another presentation of the Gospel message. At the end of the night it was time for goodbyes; although we would be able to see some of the neighbor kids on Saturday and Sunday it was hard to say goodbye to the other children and to think that we probably won't ever see them again. All of our hearts are broken for these children as we see what environment they live in and that we can't do anything more to help them. Our prayers will be with them and we hope to stay in touch. God has blessed us with opportunity to love on these children and each of us is thankful for the time we were given to love and encourage them, as well as share the love of Christ with them. The "Pomaha" team will be staying in Minneapolis Saturday and Sunday; due to internet problems at the college we haven't been able to keep this updated but we will write a final summary on Sunday explaining all we've done over the weekend. Thank you for your prayers.
Blog by Matt Blom
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