Today we got dirty... literally!

We begin by begging your forgiveness for our lack of updates. It can be a challenge to find the time to write a post. We determined today that we will try to avoid big, long recaps of our days - and instead, offer you quick, short posts along the way (a subliminal message to advertise Brian Mease's blog). But, since you have missed a lot - consider this the last lengthy post. Here are some highlights from our time so far:

1. In spite of our late departure, we arrived in time to make the Happy Church service. We walked in the front door and several of our students were met with immediate hugs. I was reminded of Hope Church's heart for 'relational missions'. The kids of the Happy Church remember our students and love to see them return year after year.


2. On Sunday Night we put on a youth service. Our students hung out with Happy Church students. Timmy & Austin led worship. Joseph Metzger got tricked into sitting on a wet sponge. The Happy Church teens surprised our students w/ water balloons. It was a great time of laughing and learning. We closed the night out by learning the story of Ehud. Read it for yourself for a great time.


3. Monday morning we got our VBS set up. Everything made it. No broken pieces.


4. Project 5-2 arrived on Monday afternoon with 35 people from Cincinnati. We weren't anticipating such a large group joining us. It was organized chaos. But, very cool to see so many Christ followers reaching out to this community. Our students had opportunity to deliver food boxes to homes in the community. While at doorsteps, many of our students prayed w/ members of the community. As always, it was a sobering for our team to see the living conditions in Jackson.


5. We have had really neat times at team debfriefs in the evenings. Students have been eager to share their experiences. We tend to follow a format that includes positives (words of encouragment to one another), victories/defeats, what we learned about God, what we learned about mission, Bible study, prayer. Last night we got into an awesome discussion on Ephesians 4. What did Paul mean by 'prisoner for the Lord'? Hmmmm....


6. The Happy Church has a growing relationship with a local Christian School. Yesterday, the Christian school flooded w/ all of the rain. We went mud-tropping this morning to help clean up the mess. We mopped a flooded basement and removed debris from the school yard.


7. We rushed home to jump straight into our first VBS! The day was fantastic. We had 35 Happy Church kids come for our first day. This is a bit less than we were expecting. Of course, we were showing up very early in the morning - so many of them were still sleeping (it was 11:30am). Yes, in Jackson, that's early. Wait, that's early in Mason during the summer!

The team is currently cleaning up from the VBS. They now have some free time to get ready for tomorrow's VBS, take a nap, or relax. The team is pumped for Tacos tonight. One quick note, today's VBS was on the subject of 'Gratitude'. At the conclusion of the day, Happy Church kids were invited to write something they are 'thankful for' on a sticky note. They then took the sticky notes and placed them the cross that sits on the stage.

The Happy Church students wrote down some things that are very encouraging to our team (and hopefully to you): They said they were thankful for: 'The Hope Church'. 'My group'. 'Olivia'. 'Timmy'. 'Todd.' 'Joe'. 'Everyone.' 'Power Rangers.' 'The Ohio Peoples.'

On a sad note: Pray for a girl named Haley. She wasn't in the van for 5 minutes before she had me crying. She is nine years old. Her sister "wasn't coming today because she is in a hospital for cutting.' Her dad died a few weeks ago in a mining accident. Her mom is a drug addict. Haley is responsible to take her brothers and sisters out of the house when her mom is 'snorting.' I end on this note to remind you of the gravity of the situation here in Jackson. These kids are in desperate need of love, hope, and salvation.

Our team is humbled to be here doing our best to "tear a little edge of the corner of darkness." Please pray for Haley. Please pray for the Happy Church. Please pray for our team.

Okay - our book is done. We are going to post some pictures too. From this point forward, quick posts - more often. Thanks for your patience.

Love - the Team.