WE SLEPT IN AND THEN WENT TO STARBUCKS!

that’s right everyone, slept till 9:30am then took our time “Getting Ready”.  we even did a little bit of filming…everyone gave some highs and lows: but we took it to the next level as well…when we had our debriefing team time together it got pretty intense.  we’re talking like almost a 6 hour meeting where we all got a chance to look at each person individually and encourage them with the strengths we saw this week, but also to help sharpen them with areas of growth…

that may seem pretty odd, but i truly believe if we are a team…we have to be willing to be real with each other.  the time for being real was so refreshing for everyone…even the ones who seemed totally freaked out about the idea. to give you a peak at that time, you can watch anyone’s video then read some of their strengths…i won’t list growth areas b/c that was just for our group:)

Alex Lawson

Strengths: Hard Worker, Lives life in such a way that makes people want to be around him, makes the best of any situation put in front of him

Brooke Hester

Strengths: Extremely caring, Takes on new jobs well, giving, organized, and a deep thinker

Jimmy Donaruma

Strengths: A Caring Leader, Trustworthy, Wants to See each student fall more in love with Jesus, Real, not afraid to show weakness

Kelly Gramm

Strengths: Protective of students, Surprisingly Handy, Motherly, Sweet, Genuine

Leah Haley

Strengths: Has a Appetite for Life, A Born Leader, Ready to play, Extremely Hard worker

Sean Gaughran

Strengths:GREAT with the kids, Very Insightful, Very friendly, Eager to help

Sean Roger

Strengths: Extremely Insightful, Great work Ethic, willing to do anything asked, plays hard

Victoria Codrington

Strengths: What you see is what you get, eternal perspective, goes where ever is needed, good discernment

Victoria Dew

Strengths: Encouraging, Caring, a Proverbs 31 Woman, full of wisdom, trustworthy

Warren Gramm

Strengths: Good leader for our students to follow, can bridge the physical to the spiritual, lots of fun, grounded faith

then we handed over the keys and had the chance to pray a blessing over the family…here’s what we were able to record:

such a blessing you wouldn’t believe it…

one team went to the house project: they housed the house again.  they got sooo much done it was so cool to see. all the sheet rock up, mudding done, painting, and started on the shelving!

one team went to the retaining wall: victoria and sean took that wall by storm. i was blessed by the reports of the extreme work ethic of those guys.  constant shoveling and moving…really awesome to hear:)

one team went shopping for the family: we saw God move in an amazing way.  after spending $100 on paint and wood for the shelves we had about $200 left. we went to the usual thrift store and they just weren’t willing to haggle.  the family had nothing…so we were trying to get anything we could.  the 1st place only gave us a deal of $200 for a kitchen set and cupboard.  that’s wasn’t good enough for us…

so we went to thrift place number two and the guy spoke english! so we went to work haggling:) we ended up with a full kitchen set (tables and chairs), cupboard, bed frame, 2 beds & Box springs (full/twin), bedding, tons of plates, cups, and silverware for only $170!!  we couldn’t believe it, but God saw fit to move on this guys heart to give us really low prices and we were able to bless this family beyond what we even imagined!

it’s awesome to see God’s hand at work:)

when we got there, i sat on a rock while most the team ran directly into the ocean to play (IT’S COLD!!). like usual we were berated by bracelet sellers, hair braiders, tattoo (fake) sellers, and all that jazz. i just wasn’t in the mood. but alex wanted a bracelet…so they ALL came and were hanging out while the guy made the bracelet.

the man’s daughter (maybe 2 or 3 years old) was running around by us and fell.  she was struggling to get in the sand so i went over (mustache and all) and just helped her up, smiled, and returned to my rock.  within 10 seconds i was joined by the little nina on my rock.  she just looked up at me, smiled, and offered some of her now sandy burrito.  i smiled, refused (i don’t even eat sandy food from my kids!), and told her to eat it.  we just smiled, played, and laughed on that little rock for about 15 minutes…

i think the Lord needed to remind me that this trip is about Him and loving people, not finishing a house…or a slab…or a wall…

we met again as a team last night after dinner and talked through a whole lot and collected an offering for the family of our house.  we’re going to go buy them some furniture and paint for their house!  with just our group, we raised over $235 to go buy stuff with! i love seeing God work in the hearts and souls of our kids.  i wish i could say i’m surprised, but i’m not…God has been moving like this for ages.

it’s time to live with expectancy instead of surprise.  we should be praying for healing with an expectant heart, praying for our generator to start with an expectant heart, praying for God to move in his time in his way with expectant heart…when did we lose this? pray for us….

1st thing in the morning we had a split of our group.  after a full day of working together we were split up into three different teams to take care of three different projects.

Team House: this group continued to push on our house.  they did soooo much work in the am…from spackeling to roofing…they were AWESOME!

Team Slab: this team volunteered without knowing what they were going to do…and boy did they get a job. the video below is a quick look at the concrete slab that they had to pour. the guy in the beginning of the video is the pastor of the house that they poured. he’s family is exploding and they can’t fit into the current house they are in. i showed him the videos last night and he was soooo excited and blessed…amazing man with an AMAZING testimony of God’s work in his and his families life.

Team Retaining Wall: i was the only one from our team on this one. it was the black hole of work. we went to pastor francisco’s church and continued to fill as wall of at least 1000 cinder blocks big. this wall is crazy huge and all we did was take wheel barrow after wheel barrow of rocks and dirt from the bottom of a hill and bring it up to the top to dump in. then sift through it to separate rocks to help with the wall a little more. it was a beautiful way to be used by God:)

when we all got back to the site, a handful went to VBS and the rest hit up the house. i think we’ll come close to finishing today…and be able to hand over those keys:) i’ll post another update soon…almost time for breakfast!