Alabama – Bayou La Batre Day 4

Alabama Blog Day 4:

“Today we went out and did work projects and we worked on two houses and we painted both of them and scraped the second house and then painted over it. Then we went out tonight and go ice cream and drove around and we just had a good time and had some good laughs. So today I saw God working in a girl with this dog we found. She saw that he had no water on a hot day so she got off of the bus and walked over to the dog and gave him some water. I saw God in this kind act.”

– Skyler Smith

“Today I had the opportunity to go and paint a lady’s house. We were able to finish the walls and start the second coat on the ceiling, but we were unable to completely finish it today. Hopefully we’ll get to go back and finish tomorrow. This evening we went out to  a homemade ice cream shop and got some good ice cream. We also had a chance to hang out and some of us played Pokemon Go in the parking lot. It was a lot of fun. Today God was working through my group as we worked together to help this lady. I saw God through her when you could see how thankful the lady was as she told us how great our painting looked.”

– Madison Anderson

“Today I had the pleasure of helping with Kids Club. This club offers the opportunity for local kids to have a safe and structured environment where these kids could play with no worries. I had the chance of playing four square with some kids and running their story time. I was later told that “I have never seen those kids that quiet and attentive at once.” I saw God in this moment because it offered me a glimpse into how I can help lead children as an act of service. Today has been a lot of fun!”

– Caylynn Westberg

“Today I visited a daycare that had been converted into a food pantry for my service project. The pantry had allowed a homeless family to stay in he building for a week. Unfortunately that one week turned into several months and the staff of the pantry were forced to evict the family. This made the family upset, and they laid waste to the food pantry as they left. So my group was assigned with both bringing in food that had been donated and with cleaning out the trash in the building. I saw God in the staff of the pantry who were apologetic of the mess that we were there to clean up. They were thankful for the help and God was there in that moment.”

– Bethanie Stauffer

“When I first got to Alabama I wasn’t really feeling the 108 degree heat and the suppressive humidity. Since our first day the AC has been working a bit, which can only be described as the will of God. After escaping what kind of felt like certain death, the rest of the week has been great. Today we got some ice cream and even got to play some Pokemon Go. My project today was painting a house that was falling apart. Despite the circumstances, I could see the kindness shining in the eyes of the family who owned the house. It opened my eyes to the hope that God instills in us in the worst circumstances.”

– Jared Hensley

“Today I participated in a work project at a house where I got to help hack and cut down weeks that were taller than me and were thicker than a quarter in diameter. It was a lot of fun to use the machete and the weed whacker to cut them down. I saw God working today when a man who was mowing the lawn at the Methodist Church across the street from the worksite decided to help us by running over the weeds with a lawn mower. It got the job done a lot quicker than we expected.”

– Charles Langlais