Day Two!

Hey everyone! We had another awesome day today in Gloversville. Today was a little different, there was spray painting again, except this time it was spray painting a white wall with white paint, mostly to get rid of the graffiti and also to help the outside alley look nicer. Other groups went around the city and handed out fliers for the Change of One Soccer camp. I think everyone was the most impressed with Donn's oldest son, the little evangelist, Ayden who handed out so many fliers in the coolest places that people would really see. It gives me hope for the upcoming generation of Christians.

We had a lot of cool stories from today that happened during the block party and a lot of sad ones too unfortunately. One thing that Phil Daniels pointed out is that there were so many young couples with children. I mean I am eighteen, and to put it as Mr. Holmquist said, "if we had taken a left turn instead of a right, then we would be them" and it's true, if I had taken a wrong turn down the road, then it could be me pushing the stroller down the street. However the good part of that story is that they were coming out into the community and trying to be a part of the awesome block party. Another bad thing that happened today was while I was running the bounce house and Peyton was inside, someone tripped over the cord and it started to deflate, needless to say we were freaking out, however the kids seemed to be fine.

But now for the good stories. The Holmquist Trio met a potential faithful servant named Joshua. Joshua received one of the bibles that we had brought with us and Quinn highlighted some major verses. Joshua clearly had a curiosity and a passion for more knowledge about Christianity. Joshua's story reminded me of a book that I have been reading named The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Shane is this awesome guy who graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and runs The Simple Life in Philadelphia. Part of Shane's "simple life" involved a summer working alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta. After cleaning the wounds of a leper, a job that no one would stand up to do, the leper looked Shane in the eyes and said "Namaste." So many people think that word is just a yoga term, but it's so much more than that. One definition is "the God in me sees the God in you." I think the Holmquist's could truly see God in Joshua, and I can't wait to see Joshua grow and find our Savior.

One more good story is about Duncan. We all had specific jobs, and Duncan's was face painting. He didn't consider himself an artist, especially when he was working by Kirk, but he had me fooled. Duncan was doing such great work with face painting, and every butterfly and heart that he painted on a kid meant the world to them. But then Duncan's chair got taken, and he had to start face painting while he was one one knee. His knees started hurting and he was tired, but he kept doing the work, and that is what this week is about, that is what the main verse for the week is about "be strong and courageous and do the work," that is what we are doing, and that is what Duncan did today.

So, today's song is called "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. I chose this one because that is what the block party tonight was all about. It was us youth surrounded by a hurting community that needs help and love. And just like song says:"Cause I, I love you I want you to know That I, I love you I'll never let you go"We love this community, and we won't ever let it go.