welcome home – first week in NC

Hi friends! 

 

My team and I safely made it to North Carolina earlier this week. Thank you for all the prayers. We are living on a college campus ( https://theexcelcollege.com ). When we arrived, we were able to actually logistically find out what was going on ministry wise for us. On Mondays and Fridays we will be working on the college campus. The remaining days will consist of serving at the thrift shop and coffee shop like how originally planned and shared in my other emails. Today was our first full day of ministry. It was a lotttt. Definitely not what I was expecting. We tilled soil and worked on growing and preparing the land for a soccer field the campus is trying to build. It reminded me of the Chosen when James and John filled the soil ( https://youtu.be/bGQ7dgz6mE0 ).  We had to rake the soil and lay seeds. It was a lot. My body was definitely not used to the manual labor we had to do. It was hot and a lot of physical hard work. Blisters are already forming all over my hands! I had a lot of fun with my team though. Being out there under the sun together for 7 hours and working together the entire time was great for us. We got to tell stories, jam out to music, but also have good laughs. Being here also has allowed us to build friendships with the college students here. We have community dinners together and get to live alongside them in the housing. Tomorrow will the our first day serving in the coffee shop and thrift shop. I’m really excited to see what that’s all about and the things God will do in this community though my team.
Please continue to pray that our hearts will be in a posture of serving and not of complaining especially with the physical labor entailed. Also pray that we will grow together as a team but also with the others in the community (college and the city).