It's late and I am now back at Loyola. It is Wednesday around midnight and all the teens are asleep with their chaperones standing guard. It was a very eventful day. I thought I would start by telling you what the teens are doing on a daily basis. We get up at 6:30am, brush our teeth, comb our hair, and sleepily walk to the chapel area. They bring their bibles and their devotional books, and spend some quality alone time with God. We spread out all over the church and have 15-20 minutes just devoted to Him. (This is one of my favorite times of the day. I think it is harder on the teens because it isn't a normal part of the routine for a lot of them.) Then we get to eat! Today we had french toast and sausage. (Yummy!) We get ready to leave for our work sites. The teens have been split into four groups. Then they got to name their group. We have the Sheet Rockers, the Git-R-Dones, the Crazy Oats, and finally, the Buttercups. (Seriously, the biggest guys in our group are in the buttercups. They did it to themselves. . .I swear!) We patiently wait for the vans to take us to our sites. Each day, one of the groups is assigned to KP and one of them are assigned to help with drywall. This helps break up the monotony of gutting homes every day. The ones who are going to the houses to gut have to put on goggles, hats, breathing masks, gloves, and protective jump suits. (Think Monsters INC.) We look very stylish. (JK) Honestly though, after they saw the work that they had to do, no one has complained about the outfits. It really does protect us. We changed our starting time at the houses after the first day. We moved it up an hour because the heat sets in quickly. We tend to get more done earlier than later.
We get picked up for lunch around 12-1pm. We tend to eat in shifts since the vans don't hold us all at one time. We have a check off list to mark when our group is done, so that the kitchen crew knows when they can stop serving. I'm sure it seems like they are just finishing up from lunch, when they have to start cooking us dinner. It takes a lot to feed 90 people. (Not to mention that the owners of the homes tend to join us a lot also.) It is nice to have some time with them to hear their stories. It's even nicer to put a real face with a home. Everybody is so great and very appreciative of the work we are doing. It's nice to see the tiny difference we are making in this huge area of need. After lunch, we go back to the work sites. It really is hot and miserable there. The temperatures have been running in the low 90's. Unfortunately, that is before the heat index. Today we had a break. It was only 84. . .but it rained buckets! This caused some of our afternoon work to be cut short. I think that was a little blessing from God though, because the teens were working themselves so hard. They could use the hour to get themselves ready to go swimming. We took the bus to Loyola. Richard is our driver. He is amazing. The streets are polluted with trash. Cars are parked where they can. He never even hit a curb. I was impressed. We swam for 1 1/2 hours and then took the bus back. Because of the rec center closing at 8pm, we went before dinner, and the kitchen crew stayed later to make sure we all got fed. (Did I mention the kitchen crew is wonderful???) After dinner, we let the boys shower first. (The girls went first yesterday.) There are always adult leaders standing guard. Not that the teenagers would try anything, but . . . . We have a standing joke that the teens like to repeat back to me. I told them that the boys are blue, the girls are red, and there will be NO purple! So anytime the girls need something from the boys room, or the boys need something from the girls room, we just say NO purple! After the showers, they had a little free time before they had to be back for Club. During free time, the other adult chaperones and I get together for an adult meeting. We discuss the progress made at all of the houses, any issues or concerns that have come up, and what we are going to do the next day. It's nice to get everyone on the same page. We also get to hear other people's stories. It's good. Finally, we have club time. This opens with praise and worship music. We then have Hey Gods, Yeah Gods, and Mad Props. (I know, I'll explain.) Hey Gods are prayers that the teens want to offer up asking for God's help. Sometimes it's for nice weather, but more often than not, its for family and friends back home, or for the people down here. They are very touching. Then we do Yeah Gods. These are prayers that the teens offer up in Thanksgiving for something God has bestowed on us, or others. It could be for a beautiful rainbow, like we saw today on the way home from swimming, or for a heart that was changed towards God. They are fun to hear, and sometimes the teens even explain further. It's a nice springboard for discussion later. Finally, we do Mad Props. This is when the teens get to give Mad Props to their friends for the work they saw them do today. It can be silly (and usually is.) I firmly believe that God smiles on us for lifting up our friends to Him. I know that I can use all the prayers I can get. After the mad props, we move on to our bible message. All of the themes this week are based on water. (Today was on stilling the storm.) One of the teens asked if he could give a witness testimony on trust. Jake did awesome. How much more it meant to the teens to hear it from their peers, than from an adult. They really are opening up about their faith, and sharing it freely. It's been exciting to see God at work through them. After the message and reflection, they get to have a bed time snack, and a little bit of free time to unwind. We say ending prayer around 11pm, and some of the teens actually go to bed. More of them, stay up until lights out at midnight. They still have to get up at 6:30, but so far, it isn't fasing them. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We look forward to sharing our personal stories with you when we get home. God Bless!