Saturday - And the 51 Weeks Begin

When you woke up this morning in your own bed in your own home and you went to the bathroom, did you catch yourself before you threw the toilet tissue in the wastepaper can? (Parents, ask your teen what I'm referring to...it's a guaranteed ice breaker for a conversation) 

Hopefully other habits you developed this past week won't be as easy to alter and they'll change the way you live the next 51 weeks. You are chosen, holy and dearly loved and you have a part to play in this world, in other people's lives, in the lives of your family, in the life of your church, whether you 18...or 86....

Thursday - So Where Are We Truly More at Home?

So just what do the neighbors think about the new folks next door when two vans, a bus and a pickup truck show up at the house? And then, more than 60 people -- all of them foreigners -- pour out of the vehicles and surround the house, laying hands on it? What must the neighbors' think? Can you imagine the conversations over dinner?
That's exactly what we did. The house's yard was too small for us all to fit in and so we spilled out onto the dirt road. We surrounded the home, laying our hands on it and praying. Papa Joe led the prayer. And the woman, whose house we built, responded by asking God to bless us.

I think we should try this at home. Descend in mass at a church member's home, surround it, lay hands on it and pray over it. Or are we worried what the neighbors might say? Are we more at-home in a foreign country to let go and lay hands on a house? More at-home, where we don't know anyone and can't speak the language to be all-in crazy about doing God things?

And so the question is how much of what we're doing this week will we take home with us and change our lives and the lives around us? Let's give the neighbors something to talk about.

There is just something about home that draws us and makes reach out to our family. It was interesting to see how many families felt it was important that they gather for a picture in of the house we built. I wonder what it is. 

 

Thursday - A Done Day

The house is built. The skit is done. The cupcakes and cookies, brownies and ice cream eaten. Even so it's a good day -- Even a great day! It begins by giving a house away. How great is that?

We could to the home site where we've worked the last three days (yeah, a house in three days!) Then we take a bit of a break and a cultural excursion and go to downtown Ensenada and do a little looking around and some shopping for vanilla, Mexican blankets and woven bracelets, Day of the Dead figurines and a hammock chair. It's a little bit jarring to go from a needy neighborhood to the main strip of a cruise ship town. Perhaps it's preparing for home.

It's all nicely tempered, however, by lunch with the children and one last really good play, practicing and shooting the big lipdub finale for the week in a matter of hours, prayers for Alexis who the NBYG has long supported and who will be leaving the home soon. We gave Alexis a Spanish/English Bible. It was a gift he requested and we all signed it and then filled it with notes about our favorite Bible story. Skid charged us to pray for Alexis at 10:10 each day as a reminder of John 10:10.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

And then we went up the hill to the back of the City of Children to worship in song and then build an altar, not by piling stones on top of each other but by piling up stories. In just a few words, one story after the other, offering up a memory about the week, from "Throne of Lies" to "wonderful surprise;" "Cheetos" to "best brownies;""Chosen, Holy, Dearly Loved," to "Karla's smile." Go ahead. Ask your teen about these stories and their own.

Then, if we hadn't already had a good cry with the return of Joe and then the possible departure of Alexis, it's off to the mediano boys and girls dorm to say our good-byes, tuck them in and give them a hug.

Of course, there's nothing like a little physical labor to check the day's emotions. And so, we begin our various clean up assignments to prepare the City for the next team that will tomorrow evening. It's a whirlwind of chair stacking and floor mopping and skit prop organizing and suitcase packing.

That's right family and friends and Church family, we're coming home.  

Experiencing Ensenada

 

The Young Men Host the Young Ladies for Lunch

American and Mexican Girls Work Together to Create Pieces for their Bedroom Decor 

The resources for the project were provided by all those who made the Summer Dance a success -- organizers Daisy and Megan and participants.

The Teen Girls Dorm Transformed Thanks to the Bedding and Decorative Frames Provided by the Summer Dance

 


 

Here's a Video Telling the Summer Dance Story....

Click Here for the Summer Dance Video 

John 10:10 - Pray for Alexis

Our Trip Inspires Others to Serve.

A local artist and friend of Nancy and Sam Bagwell crafted a cross of exotic wood for every child at the City of Children. Our team put the crosses on a chord and then distributed them to the children.

 

Lipdub Practice