Monday Update

MONDAY
We split into small groups and worked at His Place Farm, Hosanna Women's Home, and Harvest Thrift Store. The work in the farm and the home consisted mostly of gardening and yard work to beautify their grounds. After lunch we got to hear testimonies from the women at the Hosanna Home...these young women, who are only in their early twenties, shared with us how they got into drugs, pregnancy, and even jail as teenagers by leaving church, hanging out with the wrong crowd and falling in love with "bad boys" but also how by God's grace they were sent to that women's home and they've not only cleaned up but also found Jesus. They shared their dramatic testimonies for almost 2 hours and there was total silence in the room only interrupted by tears. It was probably the most important moment of the trip for me because these women challenged our girls to learn from their mistakes and gave them honest practical advise on issues of self esteem, attention, and finding Godly friends and boys/men in their lives which is a personal concern of mine with our girls. In the evening we got to do our long awaited Rodeo arena concert. We got a good crowd from the community and also young people and their parents that have been following us from church to church because they have liked our kids so much. After the concert some kids from the Lafayette church we sang at Sunday night invited us to go back and play volleyball with them one last time so we did. A couple of their parents were sharing with me what an impact our kids' presentation had had on them and how motivating it had been for their youth at the church to use their talents and gifts for God's glory. It was a full day filled with work, ministry, laughs and tears. Thank you for your prayers. - Leo