Dave 5 is done and Day 6 has begun!

This was truly a long day. We finally got back to APC at 11:00 p.m., and as I write this, it is going on 1 a.m. on Tuesday and 10 of our folks will be heading into the city in less than four hours! Words cannot describe today, but I have not had time to download pictures, so words are all we have! Today, they come from 4 youth.

Racheal --
"Today is the fifth day and also the day we started working. I worked at the Door of Faith Center cleaning the Chapel and washing windows. There, I met a man named Dutch that was living in the center and going through a recovery program. We quickly struck up a conversation and became good buddies. However, the man that impacted me most today was a man named Larry. He was talking about the relationship with he had with his son and the words that stuck to me were, 'You can't change others, you can only change yourself.' They stuck with me because it reminded me of my relationship with my father and how I can't change him. I can only go down the right path and set an example of the way I hope that he should want to live. I was so awestruck that a man I just met could connect so deeply with me."


Mary --
"Today we met a homeless couple (Tina and David) who had recently gotten married. They had received donation after donation to make their wedding a reality and it wasn't until close to the end that the man in charge had realised that after the wedding, all they had to go back to was the tent camp on Raccoon River. So, once again, the man in charge (David B) asked for donations, but what he recieved was more than anyone expected. The landlord of an apartment complex had a tenant who was willing to pay first month's rent if she accepted them. She did with no questions asked and others (including our group) have donated money for the second and third months as well. We all decided to go and help them move into the appartment today and afterwards we blessed the appartment. I even decided to pitch in myself, so I gave Tina a twenty dollar bill. The look in her eyes when we did all of this for them was so touching and so thankful, and by the end, she was almost in tears. That touched me so much, and I was grateful that we were able to meet them."


Taylor --
"Wow is the word for it! At first when I found out I was working with homeless people I was not happy at all. I have never really gotten a great connection with them, and when I go any where like Church Under the Bridge, it just never works out for me that great. But when I got to the mission center today, it was amazing and I connected with a few people and they were normal people like you and me. It amazed me that they were so similar to me and that we connected so easily, and I don't know why that was so surprising to me. Today made me so happy for what I have in my life that I take for granted everyday."

Kody --
"Today was amazing. I don't if any of the other mission trippers have told this yet, but there was one couple who really touched me. It really was a reality check. The couple's name was David and Tina Friend, and they have been living in a tent camp since February of '09. Since then they have both accepted Christ Jesus in their lives, they got married, 2 weeks ago today. With donations and help from Hope Ministries have both gotten jobs. Also, with a little help from us and others, the have moved into an apartment complex. But that wasn't really the touching part. The touching part was to see how the works of God have unfolded for this couple after accepting Christ in their lives. We were blessing the apartment and in the middle of singing 'Sanctuary' four 4 military jets flew overhead. It was almost like God was sending his version of a fireworks show finalizing the move. David and Tina were glad to find out that 3 months rent has been paid for, This will help get them on their feet and save up the money from their new jobs. They were truly thankful and it was just one of the best feelings I've ever felt."