Thursday, July 10, 2014

Work projects and more!

It's hard to believe we are already over halfway through our time in Alabama. Each part of this experience feels like it has been forever ago, but the summer, as a whole, is flying by! The Rollin's family and some friends came down during the 4th of July holiday to focus on work projects and serve. On a day that most people are having cookouts, swimming, and hanging out, they were painting trim, staining a huge porch, building a porch for a community member, and putting steps on the back of another community member's house! What a better way to celebrate our freedom than to serve the people around us. We finished up with fireworks and s'mores. The group was such a blessing and work relentlessly! They did all of that work in only 2 days time.

Since then, we've been visited by two past staff members and Sarah Vestal. They have helped us get everything prepared for VBS and were an enormous encouragement to the entire staff. We've cut out superheroes and created a whole set for our theme "Prayer Power". We are excited about helping teach the kids how to communicate with God and understand the importance of a healthy prayer life. We have 53 people coming from North Carolina and 21 from Indiana for a total of 74 participants! I'm not certain, but I believe this is the biggest group ever! Who knows where they will all sleep but I can't imagine how much is going to get accomplished in the coming week. Keep us in your prayers as we get everything ready and as they start to drive in this direction.

Continue to pray for unity in our group. I don't think I've ever worked with a group of people who get along as well as this group, but I know that the longer the trip, the easier it gets for human nature to come into effect. We all want God's will accomplished here, and I pray we don't get in the way of that. The staff has actually created what they call "cuddle puddles". Anytime we have a break or are just hanging out, they are all laying in a big group playing games or just talking. It's amazing to see and incredibly uplifting. God has been so good to us!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

In His name,
Alex