Things have improved here dramatically, and I'm sure it's because of everyone's prayers and support. I feel as though I've really connected with the kids here, and I'm getting used to the adults. I've also made friends with some of my housemates, so it isn't quite as awkward to be staying here. In fact, I went and played ultimate frisbee tonight, which I mentioned last week, and it was incredibly fun, not to mention everyone there was great.
Well, keep praying for us. God is really using us here, and we need your continued support.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Just a heads up...
I put a new song on my myspace page. It's not anything spectacular and it's definitely not well recorded, but it's there so enjoy.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday and Monday
First, before I get to Monday, let me start with Sunday.
I didn't realize that I had gotten used to going to church at least once (or twice or three times...) every weekend until I unquestioningly got up for church on Sunday morning. I think that's a good sign.
I have to say that Spirit & Truth Fellowship is a church after my own heart. They're technically CRC, but sort of seem NL-ish, in that they're a very diverse crowd. The thing that stood out most dramatically to me, however, was their worship. They sang several songs that I knew, one of them being Days of Elijah. But they sang those songs like they were the only songs in the world. At one point, I could swear that they'd stopped singing and were just screaming. I LOVED it. Plus, as a bonus, we sang several songs in Spanish.
Molly, Joe and I walked down to Dunkin' Donuts, the Hunting Park version of Starbucks, and got horrible coffee - that they sweetened despite our appeals against it - argh. I'm guessing their regular coffee is alright but whatever...the stuff I had was barely drinkable. Once I had my coffee, I managed to get in 4 very important phone conversations with people back in Lincoln, and also with my sister and brother-in-law. Thus, my Sunday passed by with no real issues.
Now...it's Monday.
The first problem? The fact that I slept in until 10:30. Thankfully, the teachers and Cynthia were very forgiving. Then add 3 more kids to my class, and you have my MONDAY.
We have one new kid, who is the cutest little boy in the world, but he really has a temper. His name is Quadir (spelling?). The biggest thing you all could do, if you're reading this, is send up a prayer on his behalf. The moment I got to class, I was bombarded with kids tattling on him, telling me they didn't like him, etc. Then, he was sort of stubborn about a variety of minor things, and ended up getting so upset that he threw a few things and was hurried out of the classroom by one of the teachers. I can understand how frustrating it would be to be a new kid in a class where no one likes you, and I tried to help him as much as possible. Please pray that God will give me wisdom on how to deal with him and how to LOVE him. He really needs love - that I can see really clearly.
For the most part, I had a pretty good day, though. The kids are fun, and I've been preparing some "lessons" for them to do tomorrow (body bingo anyone?). This afternoon, I got the chance to talk to Ryan more and get to know him a little better. He's also said that he'd take me to meet Shane Claiborne (which would be cool, but whatever). Apparently, he and Shane are friends...yeah. Anyway, I can't say how good it is that I got the chance to spend some time with Ryan, talking etc. God's really doing some cool stuff in my life and around me while I'm here, and this is one of the things He's done (as small as it may seem).
Well, I need to sleep, but I'm pretty excited about this week. On Wednesday, we're going swimming all day, and then on Friday we're going bowling. Yeah!
Keep praying for us and the kids in our classes, as well as the adults we work with (that are incredibly burned out and definitely need some prayer).
I didn't realize that I had gotten used to going to church at least once (or twice or three times...) every weekend until I unquestioningly got up for church on Sunday morning. I think that's a good sign.
I have to say that Spirit & Truth Fellowship is a church after my own heart. They're technically CRC, but sort of seem NL-ish, in that they're a very diverse crowd. The thing that stood out most dramatically to me, however, was their worship. They sang several songs that I knew, one of them being Days of Elijah. But they sang those songs like they were the only songs in the world. At one point, I could swear that they'd stopped singing and were just screaming. I LOVED it. Plus, as a bonus, we sang several songs in Spanish.
Molly, Joe and I walked down to Dunkin' Donuts, the Hunting Park version of Starbucks, and got horrible coffee - that they sweetened despite our appeals against it - argh. I'm guessing their regular coffee is alright but whatever...the stuff I had was barely drinkable. Once I had my coffee, I managed to get in 4 very important phone conversations with people back in Lincoln, and also with my sister and brother-in-law. Thus, my Sunday passed by with no real issues.
Now...it's Monday.
The first problem? The fact that I slept in until 10:30. Thankfully, the teachers and Cynthia were very forgiving. Then add 3 more kids to my class, and you have my MONDAY.
We have one new kid, who is the cutest little boy in the world, but he really has a temper. His name is Quadir (spelling?). The biggest thing you all could do, if you're reading this, is send up a prayer on his behalf. The moment I got to class, I was bombarded with kids tattling on him, telling me they didn't like him, etc. Then, he was sort of stubborn about a variety of minor things, and ended up getting so upset that he threw a few things and was hurried out of the classroom by one of the teachers. I can understand how frustrating it would be to be a new kid in a class where no one likes you, and I tried to help him as much as possible. Please pray that God will give me wisdom on how to deal with him and how to LOVE him. He really needs love - that I can see really clearly.
For the most part, I had a pretty good day, though. The kids are fun, and I've been preparing some "lessons" for them to do tomorrow (body bingo anyone?). This afternoon, I got the chance to talk to Ryan more and get to know him a little better. He's also said that he'd take me to meet Shane Claiborne (which would be cool, but whatever). Apparently, he and Shane are friends...yeah. Anyway, I can't say how good it is that I got the chance to spend some time with Ryan, talking etc. God's really doing some cool stuff in my life and around me while I'm here, and this is one of the things He's done (as small as it may seem).
Well, I need to sleep, but I'm pretty excited about this week. On Wednesday, we're going swimming all day, and then on Friday we're going bowling. Yeah!
Keep praying for us and the kids in our classes, as well as the adults we work with (that are incredibly burned out and definitely need some prayer).
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday adventure
In honor of having Saturday completely free, Molly, Joe, Chris, and I took the train to center city and wandered around on South Street. South Street is a pretty famous part of Philly, being a street lined with shops and restaurants for every punk, hippie, emo, and weekend adventurer that happens to find themselves there. Here's a cool picture of some of the mosaics that we saw:
The mosaics were at the western end of South street, several blocks away from some of the cooler shops. I took a picture of one in particular that I thought looked cool (from the outside):
Chris, who knows exactly where everything is in this part of town, eventually took us to St. Peter's Episcopal Church (the place he likes to go to do his devotions), and we got a quick tour of the inside, and let me just say...very cool. George Washington went to church there occassionally, and we ended up sitting in the box he would occupy while an incredibly friendly historian told us all about the church and its history. This is my favorite part:
Well, if you know anything about me at all, you probably know that I really like history, so we split up at the church. Molly and Joe went back to South Street, and Chris directed me to the historic district (about four blocks north of this church), where he and I split up. I wandered down to Penn's Landing (which is unfortunately unremarkable), and then over to the street where Ben Franklin's house used to stand, then to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell:
The alley to the site of Ben Franklin's house (which is no longer there)
Independence Hall
The Liberty Bell
Molly and Joe decided to stay downtown for some show, but Chris and I headed back. It was a long day of walking. I'm pretty exhausted from walking somewhere around 4 miles...? I'm definitely going back down there sometime before we leave. I feel like I only saw a tiny fraction of what I could see, and I'm pretty fortunate to have a few good guides in the house. Anyway, I'll talk to you soon.
Pictures!
These are some of the awesome kids I've been working with:
Red Group
Sisters
Bored on the bus ride to the park
Taking a breakThursday, July 9, 2009
Camp begins.
As you can imagine, my day started with Molly and Joe trying desperately to wake me up. But, fortunately, I managed to get up by 7:40, and we headed over to the camp just in time to see the kids arriving. We went over some basic stuff with Kate, the director, and we each picked a group that we would be with for the rest of the month. Molly is with the 2nd and 3rd graders, Joe is with the 4th and 5th graders, and I am with K-1st graders. I can't speak for Molly and Joe, but my group is totally awesome. I'm a novelty to them – a new person – so they were all hanging on me, talking to me, and whatever else. I have to say that my first day with them went really well. I was kind of worried that I had forgotten how to be patient with little kids – and it was only day one, so we'll see if that lasts. Fortunately, I handled the fighting, crying, shouting, etc. that goes along with a day with a bunch of 4-6 year olds, and I'm excited for tomorrow.
Tonight, after dinner, I joined one of the housemates, Chris on a journey to Temple University, where a group of his friends were meeting to play ultimate Frisbee. I wasn't really interested in playing so much as watching, so I sat around and watched them all run around throwing a neon yellow Frisbee. I think I should have joined in the fun, but I stuck to the sidelines, a little too shy to participate. I did tell some of them that I'd be back with Chris next week (if he goes…) and this time I would play. I want to test out my healing lungs.
I think the biggest thing I've learned today is to let words slide off your back. I had to tell a little boy in my group, after a couple of other boys said that he was a bad basketball player and that they didn't like him, that it didn't matter what those other boys thought. The only thing that matters is what God thinks. I don't usually think that way in regards to my own life; in fact, for the last few hours, I've been struggling pretty hard with some things that have been said about us and to us (Molly, Joe, and I). If I could ask everyone to pray one thing on my behalf it would be that God will draw near to me while I'm feeling nervous about all that's happening. And, on top of that, anything that you can think of. I remember Anna saying something Sunday morning about God putting a hedge around my mind – so that I wouldn't ruminate over things that were being said to or about me –and that is a prayer that I need to be said continually. Satan is trying to inch his way in over here, and it has been discouraging – but also means that something huge is going to happen. Either way, remember us when you pray.
We're going hiking tomorrow, and I can't wait. Keep us in your prayers, and keep your eyes open for some awesome pictures of our new friends.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular
Tonight, after dinner, I joined one of the housemates, Chris on a journey to Temple University, where a group of his friends were meeting to play ultimate Frisbee. I wasn't really interested in playing so much as watching, so I sat around and watched them all run around throwing a neon yellow Frisbee. I think I should have joined in the fun, but I stuck to the sidelines, a little too shy to participate. I did tell some of them that I'd be back with Chris next week (if he goes…) and this time I would play. I want to test out my healing lungs.
I think the biggest thing I've learned today is to let words slide off your back. I had to tell a little boy in my group, after a couple of other boys said that he was a bad basketball player and that they didn't like him, that it didn't matter what those other boys thought. The only thing that matters is what God thinks. I don't usually think that way in regards to my own life; in fact, for the last few hours, I've been struggling pretty hard with some things that have been said about us and to us (Molly, Joe, and I). If I could ask everyone to pray one thing on my behalf it would be that God will draw near to me while I'm feeling nervous about all that's happening. And, on top of that, anything that you can think of. I remember Anna saying something Sunday morning about God putting a hedge around my mind – so that I wouldn't ruminate over things that were being said to or about me –and that is a prayer that I need to be said continually. Satan is trying to inch his way in over here, and it has been discouraging – but also means that something huge is going to happen. Either way, remember us when you pray.
We're going hiking tomorrow, and I can't wait. Keep us in your prayers, and keep your eyes open for some awesome pictures of our new friends.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Here at last...
We have finally reached Philadelphia, or as everyone here says "Philly". It was a long trip, taking us 2 ½ days to finally reach the city of brotherly love, and once we finally got here, none of us were really patient enough to wait for the heavy traffic to get to the community center. One of the first things we noticed was that someone had opened a fire hydrant on the corner of 8th and Cayuga. We had to drive right under the spraying water to reach the community center, which we did with a lot of shrieking and laughing – partly because it seemed so absurd, but also because it was kind of fun to use the windshield wipers for a reason other than heavy rain.
I parked our car a little ways down from the Ayuda Community Center, across from the Hunting Park Christian Academy. Molly and Joe wanted to get out and explore, but I was more concerned with getting in touch with Kate Perez, the director of the Ayuda Community Center, and Ryan Kellermeyer, the person we'd be staying with (a new development as of today). I found them talking with Cynthia, one of the employees at Ayuda, and after a bit of a chat, and her enthusiastic promises to show us everything (Philly Cheese Steak, Water Ice (?), and Penns Landing…), we jumped back into the car and headed to Ryan's house, only a few blocks away on 9th Street.
He's got a really nice house here right across from Hunting Park. From the outside, it looks exactly like all the other houses on every block around it, but the inside is nice and cozy, clean, and comfortable. He has me and Molly up in his room, and Joe is down the hall. It'll be interesting to see how this house of 4 guys adapts to an additional 2 girls and 1 guy (I'm not sure how many girls these guys have seen lately as it is…just kidding…kind of).
We headed off to the grocery store, and Ryan beat Cynthia to the punch and bought us all Water Ices. I had Key Lime, which I believe was awesome. Don't ask me to explain what "water ice" is supposed to be. Imagine a snow cone. It's pretty close to the same…and yet, so different. Then we bummed around the grocery store, and I got to know Ryan's roommate Tim. He's a pretty interesting guy, working with an organization in Philadelphia that organizes trips for missions groups. They have internships open, if anyone is interested…
We rounded off the evening with home grilled hamburgers and then karaoke. I have to say that I've never really enjoyed karaoke, but when you do it at 4441 9th St. it's a whole new kind of karaoke. Ryan is a part time DJ, and he'll frequently don the headphones and cordless mic to sing along on "Don't Speak" or "Sweet Home Alabama". And, yes, there is video.
So far, the trip has been kind of fun. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I guess it's kick boxing with the kids…? Whatever. Talk to you soon.
I parked our car a little ways down from the Ayuda Community Center, across from the Hunting Park Christian Academy. Molly and Joe wanted to get out and explore, but I was more concerned with getting in touch with Kate Perez, the director of the Ayuda Community Center, and Ryan Kellermeyer, the person we'd be staying with (a new development as of today). I found them talking with Cynthia, one of the employees at Ayuda, and after a bit of a chat, and her enthusiastic promises to show us everything (Philly Cheese Steak, Water Ice (?), and Penns Landing…), we jumped back into the car and headed to Ryan's house, only a few blocks away on 9th Street.
He's got a really nice house here right across from Hunting Park. From the outside, it looks exactly like all the other houses on every block around it, but the inside is nice and cozy, clean, and comfortable. He has me and Molly up in his room, and Joe is down the hall. It'll be interesting to see how this house of 4 guys adapts to an additional 2 girls and 1 guy (I'm not sure how many girls these guys have seen lately as it is…just kidding…kind of).
We headed off to the grocery store, and Ryan beat Cynthia to the punch and bought us all Water Ices. I had Key Lime, which I believe was awesome. Don't ask me to explain what "water ice" is supposed to be. Imagine a snow cone. It's pretty close to the same…and yet, so different. Then we bummed around the grocery store, and I got to know Ryan's roommate Tim. He's a pretty interesting guy, working with an organization in Philadelphia that organizes trips for missions groups. They have internships open, if anyone is interested…
We rounded off the evening with home grilled hamburgers and then karaoke. I have to say that I've never really enjoyed karaoke, but when you do it at 4441 9th St. it's a whole new kind of karaoke. Ryan is a part time DJ, and he'll frequently don the headphones and cordless mic to sing along on "Don't Speak" or "Sweet Home Alabama". And, yes, there is video.
So far, the trip has been kind of fun. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I guess it's kick boxing with the kids…? Whatever. Talk to you soon.
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