Grace Presbyterian

It’s Sunday, and tomorrow we begin construction and VBS! The day began with worship with the church family at Grace Presbyterian Church. The pastor preached from Ephesians 4:25-32, and spoke on living as a part of the body of Christ. As a part of the Christian church we need to speak the truth, anger is okay when it is a righteous anger, we are to assault the problem and not each other by not using unwholesome talk, and we are to be proactive and not reactive. The team then split into the youth group, Spanish Sunday school, and the adults Sunday school class. The youth talked about the lame man at Bethesda pool and the difference in the rules of the Sabbath from then and now. The Spanish class discussed Jeremiah 43-52 with the applications call on God, follow the Bible, and use your gifts. Tom strongly encourages you to read the story! The adult Sunday school class dwelled in James 5:7-20. The lesson centered around patience with people, the waiting for the Lord’s return, and the power of prayer, confession, and spiritual reclamation.

After church, we were served a wonderful lunch of fried chicken, salad, bread, and different casseroles. We are definitely spoiled with the wonderful meals that are being prepared for us! Right after lunch we had a quick orientation by Jim Boyd, the head of Rebuilding Hope Ministries. He encouraged us to endure through all the difficulties we may have this week by the power of God (2 Corinthians 6:1-10). He also shared some of the stories of the families we will be meeting this week. The families are in need both spiritually and physically. He charged us with working to meet both of these needs.

Jim Boyd and the team meeting after church

The majority of the afternoon was spent on final preparations for the week. Lisa, Mike J, and Emily C. went with Clyde (the long term volunteer here) to scope out the work sites. The devastation they witnessed was staggering. The tornado that came through nearby Ringgold destroyed literally everything in its path. Tomorrow we will be working on two houses: roofing, vinyl siding, insulation, electric wiring, and building handicap ramps. Some of these projects will probably not get finished tomorrow :)

Devastation and two work sites we will be working on tomorrow

The remaining team members worked on preparing VBS stations for the week. Ginger, Austin, Leah (Sparta), Grace (S), and Emily (S) assembled and tested the “Minute-to-Win-It” games. Words cannot describe them. Please see the pictures below. Gwen practiced her Bible lesson for tomorrow which focus on John 10:11. More on this tomorrow. Kristin, Marilee, and Ashley unwrapped cameras and put together the photo books the kids will be creating this week. It should be a great way for the kids to remember the week and remind them who God is. Tom, Ron, Michael, Daniel, Emily (S), and Lydia (S) scoped out Fort Mountain State park and hid geocache boxes (see Wikipedia :) or visit the blog on Wednesday for details). Ginger, Kristin, Marilee, Emily C., Anne, Tyler, and Nate (S) rubber banded shirts to be tie dyed tomorrow. We can’t wait to see the finished shirts! Everyone else (and some of the aforementioned team members) cut out a multitude of wings for the rockets the kids will be crafting this week. As we type, the remaining wings are being cut. Only one Band-aid had to be used on a small finger cut!

Minute-To-Win-It games and the assembly line for VBS materials

We will wrap it up for tonight so we can join in worship. The Larsens should be here within the hour and we are also expecting a group of six men from Hilton Head, SC to arrive sometime this evening. Tune in tomorrow to find out which male has to sleep on the floor due to lack of beds.

Prayer Requests:

• Enough rest and thorough liquid libations for the team
• Safety to, from, and on the work sites
• Timely arrival of needed supplies for work projects later in the week
• For the VBS to run smoothly
• For the kids to have open hearts
• For the hearts of the families, whose houses we are working on
  
• Praise Update: The Larsens and the Hilton Head team both arrived safely