Wednesday 7/25

Wednesday-

This is from memory, because my computer was locked up downstairs in 101 (the room we stored everything in, and almost a codeword of ours), so I didn’t get to write. Yesterday many many things happened. Of course the morning meant a team going to the widow’s house. But it also meant that we sorted medical supplies and took them to the dispensary, we visited the hospital and prayed over patients, we visited schools where the volunteer younglife leaders taught, and I worked on creating spreadsheets for simon.

Simon keeps his budget on scraps of paper and in a notebook, and does the math with his cell phone calculator. This is the system he knows, but when we saw it, we thought we could give him better tools- especially since one of the things we donated was a lap-top computer with Microsoft office on it. The ability to sort expenses on a simple spreadsheet will do wonders in setting a budget and being able to communicate with donors- simon will know that they need this much money a month for food, or for transportation, or for special projects. He will be able to communicate that they give this much money to the poor in the community in these ways.

We went out to the work site for a lazy lunch, and had a good time of fellowship with all who were there. We had ridden bikes out, but ended up walking back, and we stopped by the dispensary (like a clinic) to drop off a suitcase full of medical supplies.

On the way back from the dispensary, we ran into simon on the road, and he asked if he could show us the younglife property, because as providence would have it, it was right near where we were, and simon had arranged for the owner of the land to meet with him right then. He had stopped by the hotel to see if Michele was there, but heard that we were on the road.

The property is a bit off the road, through a couple of little house clusters, to a wide open field of crops. The space is in between most of the schools, and simon has a vision to have a playground there. Someone has already donated a large tent to have as a first structure, where they will do tutoring after school, and hope to build a large youth center with some housing for their leaders. It’s quite a vision. And we don’t have the property yet- it’s around $30,000 american, and they have no money and no real way to raise it.

We came back to the hotel, and I got to sit with Steve and hear his story. It is truly a story of redemption. We talked of the church, and how it sometimes gets things right, really right, and sometime gets it wrong, really wrong. Then showers and on to dinner. Lovely as always.

We had worship and community time with our team, which was lead at first by Riley, then we had a great discussion on the fruit of the spirit, and Michele read from the message, and from Mike Yacconelli’s book- Messy Spirituality. I need to get that when I get home. We then got to share with our prayer partner, and affirm them on which fruit we have seen in them, and tell them which fruit we’d like to see more of in our own lives. Michele affirmed me as having a peace about me that can’t be shaken, and having a calming effect on situations that she truly values, especially on this trip. I told her I want to be more gentile and kind- I don’t handle people softly, I tent to poke fun and joke and have sharp sarcastic wit. I would rather be gentile and kind.