As always, when I get to the end of the week and reflect on all that happened, Im reminded of how different each week is from the ones before. That is one of the sweetest blessings of this summer getting to see God work in so many different ways and places and getting to meet and work alongside youth and leaders from churches from all over the U.S.

This week I was assigned to the Bethlehem Baptist Church group from Ocilla, GA. They were some down-home country folk and I loved it! Im talking Wranglers, belt buckles, cowboy boots, and girls who hunt, fish and drink the Vienna sausage juice straight from the can! One of the guys from the group accepted Christ at the beginning of the week, so that was a wonderful praise!

Once again, my group teamed up with the Bethel Mens Ministry. We split up between two houses that had both been purchased as homes for the men to live in after they graduate from the 90-day rehabilitation program. At the first house, we treated and scrubbed off the mold of a previously gutted home. We also began putting up and painting the exterior siding. The second house was our greatest challenge. This residence had not been touched since it was searched by the National Guard 10 months ago. Neighbors had begun filing complaints because the smell was traveling beyond its own yard. I was excited to get to work on gutting this home, but I quickly questioned my excitement upon entering it and being confronted with the most pungent odor Ive ever encountered! We spent the first day moving furniture, soiled carpet, rotten food, and sour clothing out to a pile by the road. Eventually we got the green light for ripping out the sheetrock. I can honestly say that was some of the most fun Ive ever had! We were punching, kicking, pulling and sledge hammering our way through those walls. I made quite a name for myself going at those walls like I did! :) We also straightened up the yard and began uprooting the dead trees and bushes.

During our last day of the week we worked at a local daycare. I have never seen so many babies and toddlers in one place at one time. There were easily 50 kids there and the majority of them were under 3 or 4 years old. There were not enough hands to hold them. Many were falling asleep in uncomfortable positions in their highchairs or with their heads resting on a table. I wanted to rock every one of them to sleep. But I never found one rocking chair. My heart is telling me I should find a way to supply them with rocking chairs. So I will have to pray and see what God wants to do with that idea. Theres no way to know the stories behind all of these children, but I can imagine that their parents are working like never before to try to build back up what Katrina destroyed. But it still breaks my heart to see so many children getting such limited attention. It takes me back to my time at the orphanage in Mexico. Looking into the eyes of children in need makes my heart want to explode as I desire so much for them to get the love they deserve at such a tender and innocent age.

Our weekend was great. We got rested up for the groups that are arriving today. There was a campus cookout last night and the attendees included everyone from seminary students, to workers and volunteers like myself, to the men from Bethel, to the Mexican construction workers. We had a great time of unique fellowship followed by an intense game of soccer. I probably enjoyed it more than anyone because I could almost taste the dirt fields of Mexico as I looked around and got to speak Spanish with the Mexican workers.