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...

Houston, Day One, Part Two

I've been lost before, but never like I was today. I'll never know how Lewis and Clark made it across the country without a GPS. I guess it was easier since there were no roads. But that story will come in a bit...

Our trip down was largely successful. We got into Texarkana to FBC Texarkana after 9:00pm, unloaded, settled down, and were in bed by 10:30pm. It was weird - when we turned off the lights in the guys' room (the gym), they were instantly quiet. That never happens. I found out the next morning that a couple of the guys stayed up all night...but they at least were quiet. We had a rude awakening a the janitors turned the lights on in the girls' room at 4:00am and the guys' room at 6:00am. That was neat! I thought it was our guys doing it and was ready to lay down the law, until I found out it was the janitor. Oopsie! That being said, we were on the road nice and early on Sunday morning. As a result, we were able to stop and worship at a tiny Assemblies of God church. We quintupled their attendance. It was fun! And it was cool for the students to experience a different worship setting. We got into Houston at around 5:15pm on Sunday. We are staying at the Servants of Christ Parish.

After a leader's meeting, we departed for two different dinner destinations (because our group is too big to go to one). Two teams went to Dona Chela, a Mexican tacqueria, while the rest of us went to an El Salvadoran restaurant, El Patate. Can I just say, "YUM!"? One of the cool things about a CSM trip is that the students get to experience other cultures, including some of their foods. And not only was the food great - we also got to do the Macarena...twice! Fun times! After dinner, we had our orientation, grabbed showers, and headed to bed. Our accommodations are pretty cramped, and I'm pretty sure many of us guys are sleeping on box springs instead of mattresses, but it's all good. I didn't hear anyone complain about a bad night's sleep.

This morning, everyone got up at various times for breakfast and to pack lunches, had their team devotions and headed out to ministry sites. At this time, I can't give you a great summary of what everyone did today. It was a little scattered for me as I was trying to get out the door to blog and upload pictures...which didn't happen so much. After a stop at Best Buy to get a cord for my GPS unit, I discovered that the lighter in the car I was borrowing didn't work. Lovely. So I went to get David and Rachel from the airport. We decided to run to Wal-Mart or Target to pick up some supplies, which turned into a major ordeal. The roads and highways around here are a bit confusing, so we did a lot of driving and not much finding of the Wal-Mart. We finally did and got our supplies, grabbed some lunch, and I left to take Rachel to her site (David's group was at our housing site when we got there, so he went with them). That involved more getting lost. We finally showed up and Rachel and the other students in her team facilitated water games with the kids in the apartment community. It was HOT! But the kids had a great time with our students, while getting soaked. I was proud of how their whole team interacted with the little kids. I had to bail early as Izzie was feeling sick but was there long enough to be really happy about what was going on. Ken was also not feeling well, but he stuck it out. Now here I am at Starbucks...

A couple of anecdotes:

• We have decided that Brett is no longer allowed to be in charge of keys. When we were heading to our vans after our church service, Brett unlocked his van with the remote, and subsequently lost them. All of the SIMYs were out of the vans looking for them in the grass. Then Brett remembered that he put them in his backpack. Then when we arrived in Houston, he managed to lock them in the van. Thank God for AAA!
• Brett is also not allowed to be in charge of signage. I made signs for the vans. Brett got some tape to tape the sign on the inside of the window...only he put the tape on the wrong side of the paper. Fortunately I made two signs, so he had another chance...only he did the exact same thing again! I'm glad Brett is here, and not only for the comic relief.
• Houston had what he said was a great experience today. His team went to site at which they made lunches to deliver to children and families. They then went out to the neighborhoods and delivered the food out of the front window. He was sitting up front so he got the joy of actually giving the food to the people. I sense that it really made an impact on him.

I will be touching base with the SIMYs and team captains tonight and every night, so check back for more blog-worthy content. Tonight we will be taking a prayer tour of the city, which I know was very impactful for our students last year in Chicago. I expect the same this year.

Don't forget to check out the pictures we have so far on our Flickr site. Thanks, and keep praying for us, please...

Birmingham Pictures

OK - the wi-fi here is CRAZY slow...I've been trying to upload pics this whole time...and nothing. So I will try to find another option for uploading pics but it probably won't happen until tomorrow. Sorry:-(

Birmingham, Day One

Well, today is officially the first day of the Birmingham mission trip. We traveled all day yesterday - and successfully turned a 6 1/2 hour trip into a full 10 hour trip:-) Whoever said it only takes 6 1/2 hours obviously has never done the trip with 29 people.
The trip down was awesome - a little rain early on - but then beautiful the rest of the drive. We stopped for lunch in Memphis and picked up Cody House there - we should have known there would 'timing' issues when we didn't leave Memphis until after 1:30p!
But seriously - we made it to the mission site in plenty of time. We would have been EXTREMELY early if our kiddos would have had bigger bladders.
The church that we were originally supposed to stay in this week had a fire a couple of weeks ago (that's maybe an understatement, it's no longer standing really), so we were blessed to be welcomed into an old school house next door that has taken in the church family as well and is allowing them to meet there while they rebuild.
It's quite warm down in these parts - and without a beach nearby - I think we are all realizing very quickly how spoiled we are!
After dinner, we had meetings to prep us for all that's going to be happening this week and the kids were divided into their work groups that they will stick with for the rest of the week.
Here are a few of the places we'll be working:
BEAT, Church of the Reconciler, Cornerstone School, and The Foundry.

The original plan was that I (Angel) would go from site to site taking pics, making sure everyone had what they needed, blogging for parents, etc. However, once we divided into teams, it was necessary that I lead a team with Tammy to keep two leaders per site. SOOOO, I'll be depending on the info I get from the other leaders and the pictures they take to keep you completely up to date on things.
My group (Sarah S, Rachael D, Alex E, Kelsi M, Meredith C) is at The Foundry for the next two days and we are totally pumped.
There's a group called Soles4Souls that donated 10,000 pairs of brand new shoes to The Foundry's thrift store. Today we are organizing boxes upon boxes of shoes by size and style and tomorrow we actually get to help distribute the shoes! What a REAL impact they are making on showing God's love to the people of Birmingham - and the fact that we get to participate in His big plan is amazing.

Last night we had an evening devotional to discuss our hopes and fears for the week. We had lots of sharing which was great...here a few of the hopes some of our students shared with us that they have for this week (my :shorthand" method of taking notes isn't great, so I'm sure I'll be paraphrasing a few of these):
Holly - that she experiences a real connection with God
Kelsi - that we will draw closer to others on this trip
Ashley - that she will know what it feels like to serve God outside of her comfort zone
Rachael - that we will learn to serve with a true servant's heart; serving when no one is looking
Larissa - that we influence the people we come in contact with and actually make a difference.
Ryan - that he will reconnect with God
Austin - that he will remember the week and actually put it into context in his life back home - he doesn't want to forget everything he learns this week
Meredith - that we would not judge people - that we would realize that they all come from different backgrounds and that they are deeper than what we see on the outside
Sarah - that she would do everything this week with a joyful heart and be as selfless as possible while always maintaining a positive attitude.

As you can see - our students have alot of hopes for the week! They don't just come up with this stuff on their own - you all (parents) have a lot to do with shaping their minds and environment - and you are apparently doing a great job:-)

At the end of the night, we had a little time with just our group (La Croix). JT reminded all of us that we aren't doing this to get attention, but to bring glory to God. We were encouraged to make friends with the other church we are serving alongside and to make it a point to interact with the people we come in contact with.

JT also encouraged the students to journal this week..."just like when you are a kid and your parents put you up against the wall every six months and marked your growth on the wall - journaling is a great way for us to measure our spiritual growth."

Well - as you might have guessed the Foundry does not have wi-fi, which means I am currently a block up the street sitting in a Krystal blogging to you, as my girls are working their tails off with Tammy. Thus, I'd better stop rambling. I am going to upload some pics of the trip down on the Flicker site (no pics from today yet - I'll do those tomorrow...no wi-fi where we are staying).
If you make any comments on the site, I'll relay them back to the group...
Thanks! Until tomorrow...

Houston, Day One

It doesn't feel like Day One. I guess two days of travel will do that to you. But we are doing OK. I only have a few minutes until I have to leave to pick up a replacement cord for my GPS unit and get to the airport to pick up David and Rachel. It will be good to have the whole team here!...Just checked the time - I have to leave already and the photos are not even done being uploaded yet. Crud! I guess I'll be checking in later today. You can check out whatever photos have been uploaded at flickr.com/theporchlacroix. Write to you soon!

Birmingham Update

Angel asked me to let y'all know that they got to B'ham safe and sdoun. She will be blogging later today...

Houston trip is underway...Day One

I have received word that the Houston team has made it safe and sound to Texarcana - their stopping point for tonight. They will leave in the a.m. for the 2nd leg of the trip. Pray for more safe and fun travels tomorrow.
They are staying in a location where Fitz does not have wi-fi, so hopefully tomorrow he'll be able to share more.
I will be leaving with our Jr High students in the morning for Birmingham...think I'd better get some rest...it may be the most sleep I get for the next week:-)
Good night!
Angel