Our week got started off by our visits with our outdoor friends. Mr Matt and myself were there to carry the torch as most of our folks were out of town or had other commitments. Richard felt sorry for me traveling by myself, so he rode along with me! Still no report on Robert, not sure where he is. Others are doing fine, just trying to hang in there with this heat and bugs.
Saturday afternoon, we met our new friends from Sherman, Texas. Youth group from Grace Methodist church. Yep, same name just a different location. They stayed at Grace through Tuesday. I told the youth pastor, you sure drove along way to get to Grace!
Sunday afternoon, we met the youth group from Sherman at the center and they worked all afternoon. Pictures are our web site, working in the garden, walking around the area picking up trash, helping us in the Bright House II, helped Lisa and Mark clean up around the yellow JJ house.
Shortly after the Sherman youth got started, our new friends from Illinois showed up. 47 folks from Winstanley Baptist church, Krysten's former church, came by to see where they would be working all week. We showed them around, shared our story, and got them settled in. They stayed at a church in Marshall during the week.
Winstanley showed up Monday morning ready for work. There was a group of folks who showed up around 6:30 to begin working on the Bright House II. Then the youth showed up around 8:30 to play with our youth and then they helped with summer camp. Both groups enjoyed breakfast and lunch provided by our feeding program ladies. Something unique about a lot of the youth from Winstanley, were the youth was from the inner city of St Louis. What a treat to have young people who loved the Lord, share their stories and struggles with our children. You could see the bonding of the two groups by weeks end.
Tuesday evening, Mr Matt hosted our men's Bible fellowship. Again our circle was full of men wanting to share and learn from each other. We had two neighborhood men show up for the first time. Talk was centered around God's grace in our lives and our relationship to Jesus. Do we continue to sin, knowing God's grace is sufficient? Of course not, but why do we struggle so? We talked about our relationship with Jesus. What if Jesus was sitting in the chair next to us, would we act differently? Would we talk about others? Would we continue to sin, knowing Jesus sees us doing it? We talked about how important our relationship with Jesus is. A good evening of sharing.
Not sure how to describe our Thursday time together. Winstanley brought their cooks over from Marshall and they prepared our meal. The youth taught our children how to praise God through dance. The work team continued working on the Bright House II, a very special day. Lots of pictures and videos will be coming to show you the work performed by these special servants of God.
During the afternoon, we had a short visit by some of our old friends of, Hennington Methodist church. They helped bag our groceries and cleaned up around the center. Very nice to see them.
We were treated by song and dance by some of the youth from Winstanley. Amazing group of young ladies praising God by their hearts through dance. The youth leader, shared the Word by reminding us, we can put our problems before God and He will take care of them. The closing dance was performed not only by our new friends, but by our own children. Very emotional and uplifting showing us where God is leading us.
Our delicious meal was served by our Illinois friends, who also helped clean up and wash. Ms Abbey said it was one of the largest crowds we have ever had. Ms Lisa and Momma T handed out the groceries. Some of the work group wanted to finish up their work on the house, so after supper, they worked until dark to compete the task. Not sure words can describe the hearts we felt, the smiles we saw, the passion to serve we experienced. God has created a special group of disciples, our community was blessed to be a part of.
Don't forget our breakfast this Saturday. Momma T and Tim will be cooking biscuits, eggs, bacon, cheese grits, and serving hot coffee. Come and enjoy the morning.
We will have another youth group with us next week. Cypress Point Baptist church will be joining us all day every day. Come by and say Hi, letting them know how much we appreciate them spending their week with us. They will be leading our chapel time.
Prayer concerns. James as he looks to solve his housing problems. William in his struggles with addictions. Prayers for our young people in our community. There is pressure put on them from their community to not be a part of our community. Hard for our young people to say no to Satan and yes to Jesus.
Hope your week was full of God's blessings. For those of you in town, come by and experience what God is doing in our community. For those of you out of town, please continue to pray for us and enjoy our pictures and videos. Even though you may not be able to join us, know you are important to us and our community.
We hope everybody has a great week, knowing Jesus is walking along side of us to help us through the days. God is good! All the time! Amen
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