Hello again from Odessa,
Praise the Lord for his constant provision!
We entered today with question marks about our service project. The city council had halted our plans of repainting the historic church in town (now a museum), due to the fact that anyone under the age of 18 couldn't use scaffolding under their insurance plan. However, this morning we found a small loophole and realized that we are able to scrape and paint anything up to 10 feet. The students tore into the project this morning. We removed fallen trees and brush from the yard around the building, as well as removed all of the old dead grass to make way for new sod. We have the majority of the church scraped and should finish that task by lunch tomorrow. I have attached some photos that hopefully Brandon will be able to post, take special note of the "hard work" Abby Allen and I put in.
After some hose showers this afternoon we held a BBQ for youth outreach. We had nearly twenty local youth show up for hamburgers and hot dogs as well as a time of worship. We have had the blessing of immediately incorporating some of the church's youth into our activities. During worship tonight, one of the local students joined us on bass (worship picture included). After worship Joel Condreay shared his testimony and did a amazing job of explaining what Christ has done in is life.
We ended the evening with a game of Soccer-Hockey or SocHockey as it is known around these parts. The picture attached will give a better explanation that words could, but let’s just say a soccer ball, two pool noodles and many kicking feet are involved...
Tomorrow we will be finishing up the scraping on the church and begin the process of pressure washing. We have a real bond with a core group of students here in Odessa and many have already joined us for meals and bible study. Some will also be tagging along for our service projects tomorrow. Please continue to pray for our relationships with the students here. That we would be iron sharpening iron and for the boldness to share the gospel with those students who do not know the Lord.
- Jake
2 comments:
Jake and Odessa Team,
Praying for you all and it's great to hear of the loophole He provided so you all can work on that historic church building! Can't wait to see the "after" photos of your hard work. Thanks for the update and keep 'em coming...and don't let Abby work too hard there! =-)
Judy Allen
Jake and Odessa Team,
Excited to see photos, and hear about Joel's testimony. I just went on their city web site, and indeed your church that you are painting is listed prominently on their website. That's so cool to work on a project like that.
Mike McKee
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