Sunday, April 03, 2011

Lots of Friends

 Spring break, or as we have affectionately decided to call it, The Gringo Storm, has a roaring success this year.  We had over 120 North American families and young people join us in our work here. 
Spring break is always a special time to reconnect and meet new people
 Memorial Road, from OKC, will always hold a very special place in my heart.  They are my original team and I've watched a lot of their teens grow up and become my interns.  When they visit I have my extended family all around me. 
 West Ark came for the first time this year and brought two teams.  This is their OK side of the line team.  It's always a joy to work with a new team.
 Muskogee was also a first time trip and I loved getting to watch their teens experience Honduras for the first time.
Amy Neil brought a group down from Harding and they were sharing space with us at Baxter.  It's really neat to see a kid who started coming on mission teams with us bring her own team down.
Del City came down and worked with Mogote again.  It is such a blessing to continue to watch the relationship between these two congregations grow.
And finally West Ark's second wave.  They came the week after everyone else and I got to spend quite a bit more time with them.  A few of them who had some flight trouble even came over and had a game night at the house.  
I am so blessed to be able to make friends all over the world who are looking for ways to serve God and the poor. 
This year the teams built 9 houses, a soccer court at Mateo, tore down a wall for an expansion at the Mateo church building, held a couple of VBS programs, held a clinic for over 200 people, paved a road at Baxter, laid tile in Mogote, served meals to the poor, helped with a wedding for 3 couples, and did several jobs around our homeless ministry building.  
Most importantly though they built and fostered relationships both within their groups and with the people they encountered, sharing God's love along the way.

No comments: