By late Thursday afternoon, the Journey Class plus the Maples arrived at Hyaets in time to observe our first group at play with the neighborhood kids.  As group 1 finished up their mission, they hugged many of the kids good-bye and packed up their supplies for the week.  Group 2 had their orientation with Joanie, and Group 1 had their debriefing time with Helms.  At the conclusion, we all had prayer time together and ”passed the torch” for part 2 of the mission. 

The Journey Class began assessing the construction needs of the house and outlining a plan for children’s activities.  We all began work at our respective tasks, including grocery shopping, scraping the house, buying supplies, etc.  Tomorrow morning will be a full day of work with house projects while another group does manicures and snacks for Mom’s.  The afternoon will be filled with children’s activities too.  We look forward to the ways we will see God at work in the days ahead.

We are so grateful for the hard work and love the first team has poured into this week already.  Thank you for setting a wonderful example!

To conclude for the night, here are some notes from Phantagah who was here for the first half of the week and will join the Journey Class for the second half.

“I like seeing the kids with a smile on their faces especially when they were playing in the water.  My favorite part of the week was when we played at the pool with the kids.  I have made a special friend with one of the littliest boys, Ka-Shawn, because of his sweet spirit.  I would rather see all of these kids come do something positive than something they are not supposed to.  I’m glad I’m here and I’m glad we can be a part of this project.  Now that the Journey Class is here, I’m looking forward to having fun with the kids and seeing the kids grow in their personalities during their time with us.”

P.S.  High “Five” to Jon who used his computer skills from home to navigate us through some nasty traffic!