Home… safe and sound.  ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………….

 

 

Today was another productive and amazing day. Our ministry ran later into the night, so this will be brief.

 

We were able to complete all of our ministry projects, and several that we didn’t think we’d be able to get to. One special treat – we built a carpetball table from scratch for their teen game room. It’s amazing, and was used tonight.

 

We had our final night of Elementary Club, with about 60 kids again. 8 kids made a significant spiritual decision today.

 

We finished our evening with their weekly Teen Club. Student enjoyed food, music, dancing, games, and a gospel presentation. Our group did a great job connecting with the teens.

 

In the morning we’ll pack up and clean. We’re stopping at a park for lunch, then spending several hours relaxing and exploring at Ohio Caverns.

 

For those of you picking up students, we plan to be back at our scheduled time. Pickup at the church is still 10:30 pm. Everyone on the team is expected to help unpack and cleanup. If we’re running more than 15 minutes early/late, we’ll do our best to contact you in advance.

 

 

Today was a great reminder that we serve in His strength and not our own, as many of our team are starting to get tired. Dependent on Christ is always a great way to serve. 

 

Today we move forward or complete each of the facility projects we we’ve working on. We’re just about done with sorting the clothing pantry. We have just a little bit of touch up painting to do on the shed and the women’s bathroom. We finished painting the main entrance, and we finished painting the parking bumpers and parking space lines. We’ve made significant progress on the carpetball table that we’re building for Kids Inc. We also cleaned numerous ministry rooms in this 48,000 square foot building.

 

Today at Elementary Club we had over 60 kids. God is so faithful. Another 3 kids made the decision to trust Christ for salvation! God is so faithful.

 

To thank the team for their amazing work, we went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Finding a place that can adequately handle 40+ people is challenging, but they did a great job. After dinner we gathered for a time of prayer and worship, which our team really embraces and looks forward to.

 

Finally, we expended the rest of our energy playing several huge games of sardines.  It’s been a very full, fun, and rewarding day.

 

It’s a good kind of tired. The tired that reminds you that you invested every hour and every calorie serving Jesus. I’m so proud of our team – they’re doing an amazing job! I wish you could see them in action.

 

This morning we continued our work projects here on the Kids Inc. campus:

After lunch our team enjoyed about an hour of rest and free time – they’ve worked hard and earned it! After lunch we prepped for Elementary Club. Our group of kids keeps growing: Monday = 30, Tuesday = 45, Wednesday = 60. Each day is an opportunity for us to show Christ’s genuine compassion and love. The kids are enjoying music, dancing, games, snacks, crafts, and the gospel. Today 9 kids indicated that they made a significant spiritual decision, some of them for salvation! Praise God!

 

This evening our team had a very different experience. We went downtown to pray for and with total strangers. We set up a prayer table with a “How can we pray for you?” banner. Our 8 teams were on rotation, with about 1/4 of our group at the table throughout the evening. As we encountered people walking by we asked if we could pray for them. Many people were eager to engage in conversation and have us pray for them. While this was happening the rest of our teams were walking throughout downtown, walking up to people, and asking how we could pray for them. The opportunities were amazing, and the stories of our encounters are super cool. You’ll have to ask our students all about it when they return.

 

Going into our trip this prayer opportunity was one of the more challenging parts for our teens – many of the students were quite a bit nervous. It pushed them out of their comfort zones. Some of our most shy students were the most bold at engaging strangers. As we reflected on the night many of them were asking if we could either do this again tomorrow night or back in Cleveland when we get home. I’m so encouraged by how the Lord is working in and through them. I’m so proud of how they’re stepping out in faith.

 

Thanks for your continued prayer support!

 

Another amazing Mission Indy day is in the books. It was another great day. Our mornings are filled with work projects around the Kids Inc. facility. We tackled quite a few projects before lunch, including:

During lunch the rain came, which was nice as it cooled things off a bit, but also meant we had to change plans for our afternoon projects:

Later in the afternoon we held our Elementary Club (VBS). Today our numbers grew from 30 to 45! Our team is doing a great job. 24 of these children made a significant spiritual decision, many of them for salvation. PRAISE GOD!

 

In the evening we took a walking tour of downtown Indianapolis with a special stop at a local ice cream shop. The cold treat was refreshing. We ended our evening with an extended time of prayer and worship right downtown on the circle (similar to our downtown square).

 

I’m glad to report that our team is healthy, in good spirits, and working well together.

 

Thank you for your continued prayer support!