Houston, Day Two

Just to clarify, some of the things you read here will not be events and statements from Day Two, since that is today. Most will be from Day One. But in reality, today is Day Four if you count travel time. Unless you are David or Rachel, then you are still in the first 24-hour time period. This sort of discussion is exactly why you read this blog, right?

Day One finished up well. Shortly after blogging yesterday I got a call from Kristy telling me that Ken was not feeling well at all. He threw up a couple of times yesterday and had "other stomach issues" as well. She wasn't sure if he would be able to eat dinner, so I left to meet them at the Jamaican restaurant - the Reggae Hut - to possibly take Ken back to our housing site. Ken said he felt fine, that ethnic food just messes with him. So what did he do next? Eat his whole meal of jerk chicken! He said it was the hottest thing he has eaten. Not wise. So he was messed up. The food was amazing! We had a choice of jerk chicken, curry chicken, or brown stew chicken and an assortment of Jamaican sodas and juices. Delish! My stomach was not doing the best either, so Ken and I opted out of the prayer tour - major bummer! - and headed back to the housing. It turned out to be a wise choice. Some of the groups got to see more of the city than was planned for their prayer tour as the city hosts got turned around somewhat. But everyone got back safe and sound.

The other two groups had dinner at Thelma's BBQ, which was described by Tom as 'slap your momma good.' They ate enormous quantities of food and Thelma herself delivered it to their tables. They had a great time, too!

As mentioned earlier, they did a prayer tour of the city. I haven't yet gotten a report of how it went, but I know it was impactful for the students last year in Chicago as they really got to know the city. Actually, Nate described it just that way this year: impactful. I hope to get more reports today.

Tom and Kim's team - Team Port - helped tutor adults in computer literacy and with their GED prep. This is a new experience for our students. They have done plenty of reading with and tutoring children, but never with adults. They helped men and women operate computer programs and helped them learn more about them. Shelby was in her element as she helped a man upload photos on the internet and learn MS Publisher. Myles also helped someone learn Publisher. Molly was teacher extraordinaire with an ESL student who was learning computer basics. She also helped a man in his 20's (maybe the same man) his alphabet. How cool is that? And according to Cori, "I had to use my brain power to help a lady with math." I guess she wasn't planning on using it this summer. :-) Some of the team members were discouraged by the few people that showed up at this site, but I know the ones who were helped were very appreciative.

Kara's team worked at Beacon yesterday. This is a very nice homeless resource center that provides meals, showers, and laundry for over 650 people a week (I think a week). They helped with assorted tasks.

A few anecdotes for your reading pleasure, some funny, some serious:

• Morgan was lauded by her team captain as being really good at connecting with people. I have noticed this about her ever since she started coming on mission trips. She is still the Peach Queen, as far as I'm concerned.
• Cori got attacked by a giant cockroach as they were sorting through some rotten food.
• Team NASA got into some serious street ball at one of their sites. Some of the guys who played with our students were impressed by Clint's skills. There was a guy there who wanted to develop a team and coach them to keep them out of trouble, but he had no money to do it and really nowhere to play. They played in the street yesterday. Myles said that we should build them a basketball court. I'm going to keep pushing him on that.
• While Team Astrodome was lost, they stopped into a Starbucks to settle themselves. They were approached by a woman with a baby who told them that she got out of an abusive relationship in Dallas and needed a special formula for her baby. So they went to a store to get the formula for her, but they didn't have what she needed. Unable to meet that immediate need, they were still able to pray with her. It made me think about the story of Peter and John in Acts 3. They weren't able to give the beggar any money, but they did heal him. Team Astrodome couldn't give this woman formula, but they gave her Jesus.
• As Team Shell drove past a gas station, there was tank out front. It was clearly an air tank. A man was there filling up his tires, and Nick asked, "Why is that guy putting gas in his bike?"
• Team Shell was working in a kitchen at one place. Casey dumped a bunch of stuff into this huge garbage disposal and turned it on to grind everything up. She didn't realize that you needed to put something over the opening and food shot everywhere like Mount St. Helens. Well done.

All in all, I think our students are having a good experience here in Houston...BTW, did I mention that it is REALLY HOT?! Yesterday was 95 degrees, and the rest of the week is supposed to be in the mid-90's. Thank God for the AC in our housing!

Check out the new pics on our Flickr site. More stuff later...