First off I'd like to apologize for not updating as much as I would like to. The past two weeks I haven't had internet access at all. This week it is still very limited. The past two weeks were spent in Louisana. They were completely different from the first couple of weeks. Let me just say there was a lot more of us saying sit down and listen. It was a lot rougher but God made it apparent to me that those are the kids you need to love on even more. The first week I had really gotten to know some of the kids on a more home based lifestyle. Some of the kids were military kids and lots of them were dealing with deaths of parents from cancer or other things. Needless to say it was rough and it made a lot of sense why things were harder.
The following week we were still in Louisana. This church was better, we managed to have fun even though I've never been in a more humid place in my life. The best part were our volunteers and how they were there for the kids. They were all high school kids and we really connected with them as well as the kids. Seeing where their hearts were and how we were all working for the same purpose was just an amazing thing to see. I got the opportunity to talk to one of our volunteers one on one for a little while and we were both able to share with eachother what God is doing in our lifes and what our outlook on life is. That week also had a lot of fun for us outside of camp. I have become known as the story teller of the group and they mostly revolve around pranks and my friends back home. One night when I went to get in the shower my other 3 female teammates got into my suitcase and proceeded to spread my clothes throughout the house. Don't worry I left them there for a couple of hours until they got tired of looking at them so they picked them up...haha.
We also stole of the guys candy that he left in our van. After several days of holding his candy hostage and eating it we left a scavenger hunt for him. The girls found it funny but I don't think he did. Lots of inside jokes are coming through as our team only grows closer. It's amazing to see how tightknit we have become over just a month of being together. God has blessed us in amazing ways. We are able to be ourselves and feel no shame for our past or what God has placed in our lives. We also all come from very different backgrounds which allow us to relate to so many people in so many different situations.
This week we are in Daytona working a half day camp. I know its the rough life. On Sunday we went to church and got introduced and we noticed there were several college aged kids around. Come to find out there are a ton of college aged kids from Georgia that are living here for the summer doing a variety of different things as an outreach. We got to meet them and spend time with a few. We also found out that the church was making our camp an outreach for the inner city of Daytona. I never thought of there being an inner city Daytona, but there definitley is. It is very surprising and heart breaking/warming to see these kids. Its obvious that they just want to be loved on. It makes this camp extremely different than any camp we have worked this summer, but what is life without a challenge? The ages also run from 4-16 instead of a 5-12. After the first day we could tell that God is going to use us to make a great difference in Daytona.
We had the afternoon off today which is really nice considering we don't really get time off except Saturday's to travel. We ended up going out on a boat and played with crabs, sand dollars, and sting rays. Just go with it....
Pray for safety and that we continue to impact lives through God and that He not only work in these kids lives but also in our own. Hopefully as we travel to Tennesse for the last 3 weeks of camp I'll be able to get internet back and be able to update more!
Don't ask questions about what God is doing, just do it!
Love life, Love people, Love God
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