Draggin' but Baggin'

So today was our last day of work. We took somewhere around 350 backpacks filled with school supplies to mainly Somali refugee families. We were pretty beat today but pressed on with good attitudes. We went to a Somali Mall and passed out the bags and then we went to two apartment complexes which we would call the "projects". We went into apartments where Somali families were living and it seemed as if we were transported to a different world. The walls were totally covered with bright bright fabric and the ceilings were covered with super bright colored tassels. We heard Somali music and saw all the women dressed head to toe. We delivered backpacks to families whom Antioch church has had a previous relationship with. We were also asked by many lookers on if they could have a bag and it was heartbreaking not to be able to supply everyone with a bag. A few teenage guys talked with me and Todd (pastor Brian's brother and pastor at Antioch). They talked about how it is hard it is to be in America but also how hard it is in Somalia "where it is hard to get food and water". Remember these are 17 year old guys. Another family was a lady with 13 kids who lived in a small apartment with only a window air conditioner. They were muslim and were fasting for ramadan and one of the girls even was not ashamed to pray towards Mecca while we were there. This family, even in their fasting, brought us bottles of water on a platter and shared what little they had with us. One of the teenage guys said that he would rather move back to a refugee camp in Somalia/Kenya just because he would be near his extended family. We laughed quite a bit about soccer and other things, but deep down we could only imagine the pain these guys were going through. Bryan and Alex ended up eating with an Ethiopian pastor and a few of his church members. They had traditional Ethiopian food and ate again with their hands. They also had the opportunity to hear the pastor share Christ with a muslim lady they visited.

What an awesome day!!! Once again there is more the kids can tell you at home, but overall it was a great trip and a lot was learned and experienced.

Creamy Brooley

Today was our "day off" and almost everyone agreed that we should sleep in, have pancakes and bacon, hang out and then go to a mall. Everyone was woken up by one of the adults cell phone alarms (I will leave out the culprit) around 7 and then we fell back asleep until the boys were woken up by a crazy barking dog-outside of course-around 8am. We got up, ate, debriefed our time with Cindy--who laughed at times and used her "surprised" voice saying, "shut the front door!!" aaaahhhh, I can here her saying it now. We got ready and went to the mall of all places just to get out a bit. That was not too exciting, but on the whole, we did not want to do anything too organized. We got back to set up for the kids club, which I have not said includes carrying for around 100 or so feet 2 inflatable bounce houses that together probably weigh 500 lbs. When we were about 30 minutes before the start of the kids club, we realized we did not have the keys to the trailer all of the stuff resides in. After some craziness, we decided to use bolt cutters to cut the 5 locks off and just replace them with new ones. We set the stuff up in record time tonight. The gospel was shared, and we were able to share individually with 2 kids who were really listening and interested, but God still needs some time to work on them. We had a great day and the teenagers got together to buy Tammy Starr something nice for doing all the cooking (very nice coffee mug and super good local coffee). There were some other crazy events that happened that I will let your own kids tell you. When all was wound down tonight, we were treated to what has been affectionately called "Creamy Brooley" which is American for Creme Brulee which Alex took lots of time to prepare for us today (we used coffee mugs). It was very good and after the creme brulee we ate buffalo chicken dip and coke. Our stomachs are full and now I, Brett, have take a shower and get to bed. Its 11:40.


12:05am: I, Luke, got bored and fixed the HTML so the text is no longer one giant link :) Night all!

Creme Brulee
Vietnamese food from yesterday

Dracula Returns

So today was filled with bleaching floors and sweeping up roaches that we killed in a room with some crazy chemical spray for roaches ($14 per bottle). The roaches were only in one room far away from where we are sleeping by the way. Luke and Alex and Bryan finished yard work in super heat so the church would look good for the visitors later on. We ate Vietnamese food for lunch and then went to the Somali mall. We then came back and cleaned a 15 foot long 5 foot wide stainless steel grill. We set up the inflatables for the kids club and there was a hole in one inflatable and it fell on some kids who were jumping in it and then we patched with MacGyver tape.

Then I, Brett, went in the dining area to see how Tammy was doing and I almost stepped on something and it was a bat. Tammy and I both screamed like girls but we held it together and then I put a trash can lid on top of it and it began to hiss and squeal. I put some chairs on top of the lid and went to get someone and Bryan jumped on the chance to get rid of the bat. When he came in he was not too excited any longer, but he and I managed to get a trash bag over the lid and tape down part of the bag to the floor and got the lid out while the bat was still under the bag. the problem became the tape because if we took the tape up, the bat would escape and we were told we could not kill it because it is illegal, so I got a large towel and held it down while Bryan took the tape off the floor. When he got the tape off he ran away but then manned up and held the door open for me while I threw the bat, the bag and the towel out the door which is a basement door with an 8 foot wall then a handrail above it. I somehow missed the wall and handrail and sent the stuff flying. I went out with a broom and finally uncovered the bat that flew away and circled around as it is probably planning its return with 7 of its friends.

Sorry for the terrible grammar and run on sentences and terrible transitions. We again worked a 12 hour day or so and it is 10:53 and the girls are still out taking showers and are not back yet.

Thanks for praying and keeping up with us. Sorry there are no pics of the bat, but there was no time to take one since we were so busy not letting the trash lid up.

She's Here!!!

Well, sorry I have not blogged yesterday or today yet, but it has been busy. Today, Wednesday, we have been non-stop from 9-9. We have painted more, prayer walked through the neighborhood, Bryan and Luke "mowed" down 3 foot tall grass, used chemicals to remove carpet glue (guess who got to do that) set up for kid's club, served winner winner chicken dinner to anyone who wanted it and then some and the gospel was shared. We ate Nepali food with our fingers (see pic below), tomorrow is Somali, and yesterday was Bosnian. It has all been great so far and Tammy Starr is knocking it out of the park with her food. Tomorrow we fill 200 backpacks with school supplies for kids. We also had a special visitor, CINDY SCHMIDT, and within 30 minutes she was ordering people around. It was great!!

Keep praying for strength for us, great attitudes and opportunities to further the kingdom of God

ripping stuff off a wall
Alex and Brett's brainchild so that little rodents didn't crawl around on us. Brett and Jack's beautiful work of art.
Do girls ever stop messing around?
Bryan and Alex arguing over where the line goes.
Went on a scavenger hunt around the town. Lots and lots of foreign food marts.

This morning we painted, in the afternoon we played a game called BaffaBaffa which is pretty much a game where you learn how to interact with different people groups. At nighttime we did a kids club sort of thing where we had inflatables and a huge slip n' slide and one of the guys at the church shared the story of creation. The next four days we will be doing the kids club where they will hear the story from creation to Christ. Pray that kids don't just come to play but that the Gospel will grip their hearts.

Thanks for praying for us.