impacting eternity

Well it's been some time since I've posted, but I've been running full speed for the past two weeks. It has been wonderfully crazy.

Our first team that came to work with us was a middle school choir from Chattanooga. They sang in several places and cleaned the river with us, and were just fun to hang around. It was my first river clean up, and I volunteered to walk in the river. It was fun, but I'm not sure how effective we were. I was more focused on staying vertical than picking up trash, but the kids were really good sports. They laughed and screamed and cleaned as well. We also had a church group come and do a day camp in two of the mobile home parks early this week. They were a really sweet group from Manchester, Ga, that were a pleasure to get to know. They had a lot of love for these kids and their families and did an awesome work in those communities.

Last Saturday we went to Walmart and saw a crazy group of teenagers (and a few crazy adults) wreaking havoc in the parking lot. Turns out, they were our next group! We knew then that the folks from Dawson St. Baptist were gonna be a riot. We had so much fun getting to know these kids and their leaders. They put on a day camp in four different parks this week, so we got a chance to really get to know some of them. The team that I worked with was at Pete's Park in downtown Helen, and we only had kids show up on one of the five days. But they were not discouraged! They went to the other sites and lent their hands and their hearts where they were needed. It was great to see them so willing to serve and love these kids. In fact, God used these kids in a mighty way. At two different day camps on Thursday, a child came to know Christ! These kids were open and willing to share Jesus and talk to the children about Him, and as a result God's Kingdom grew. I was floored. It was so awesome. To hear them tell the stories was incredible. We went and hung out with them Thursday night, and got to have some fun and worship with them. God really moved in that group. It was so beautiful to see Him change hearts. I was really encouraged by this group of young people seeing what God can do and get a taste for it.

They performed in Helen last night, and had the opportunity to minister to the people walking by. One girl shared the gospel with a whole family. Only God knows what will come of that seed she planted. It was also really great to watch them love on kids as they tied balloon animals and paint faces. I was encouraged by their boldness to talk to people. I also just really liked them! I don't think I was expecting to love the youth this much. They were super fun and we were so sad to see them go home. But they did an awesome work this week and I pray they will carry home that hunger for God's power and that I will be able to see them again!!

This group also washed windows with us this week, which is probably one of my favorite outreach things we do. We go to the shops in Helen, wash their windows for free, and then ask if they have any prayer requests. Its a really un-intimidating way to ask them some kind of spiritual question, and we also get to show we love them. Thankfully, we so this a lot, so we'll get to know some of the shopowners pretty well (those are going to be the cleanest windows in the world come August).

Next week, Joanna, Colton, Matt, and I will be leading our own day camp and a resort called Mountain Lakes. We designed it ourselves, and will be doing it all alone! It's our first one, but thankfully we've had some experience this week with Dawson St so we can kind of see what works and what doesn't. I'm excited! We're getting our crafts together, and finishing up some last minute details, but it's going to be great! We also have a group coming in tomorrow that will do some service projects and programs with us. It's gonna be another crazy week, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Hopefully I'll be able to post more often, that way I don't forget things and the posts aren't a million years long. So much awesome has happened in the past two weeks, I definitely can't fit it all in here! I appreciate all your prayers and the fact that you're reading. :)

Love!
H.