Today we were asked to caulk a wall and to paint the exterior of a whole house. This house belongs to William (Will). Will is a police officer whose house got four feet of water inside of it. He just got $15,000.00 from FEMA to fix his house. There is no way that his house could be back in shape with that amount of money. He had done some major repairs in the house and he refurnished some of it.

Will works from 4 pm to 5 am and he has no more vacation days available nor PTO left. He mentioned how a great blessing is for him to have us helping him out by painting the whole exterior of his house. Will is looking forward to seeing the outside of his house painted and with God’s help we will make it happen.

Derrick, Emma, and Elena took an extra project to help load and unload gravel at a worksite where the Missouri team is working at the moment. They worked hard and the heat outside was remarkable, but the most remarkable thing is to see the work they did to help other team move on with their project. I am very proud of the heart and compassion of our youth, and I am very blessed to see them learn how to be team players with other mission groups.

Our hosting church catered a dinner for the mission teams, and we had Mexican food. We had a good dinner and we learned that the Tennessee community can make Mexican food taste yummy.

Tomorrow we hope to finish painting Will’s house.

Here is the link for today’s devotional: http://paintedprayerbook.com/2011/05/15/easter-5-many-rooms/

Peace be with you,

Everyone is doing well.

Today we were assigned to do two more projects apart from the basement work. The painting team sealed a deck that belongs to a single mother of six children. Our group was moved to compassion as we were told about the struggles of this family as they try to make their home feel like a home again. Derrick, Emma, Elena, Rachel, Carey and Virginia finished this project with Steve Kotz’s leading.

On the other project, leveling the basement, Ellyn and David woke up feeling sore, but they kept a positive attitude that helped them to finish leveling the basement. Today Ellyn encountered a snake and a salamander in the dark. It was a breath taking experience, but Ellyn was not intimidated by it.

The third project was to spray clean a deck at Barbara’s house. Barbara is a loving women whose house was flooded by about 3 feet of water.

Our team decided to not divide and conquer as we all met to have lunch together and to finish the basement project. Ellyn, Steve, and David finished it as the last part of this project was more challenging.

We did it!! We finished leveling the basement, and it looked Amazing!

We left to Barbara’s house who received us with a beautiful smile and with cold bottles of water. She invited our youth to come in her house and to see some pictures of the flood at her house and her neighborhood. Our youth spent some time listening to her stories. We went outside to spray clean the deck, and trim dead branches of a tree in her backyard. Barbara’s backyard has a beautiful view, and some of our mission team members enjoyed it.

Barbara gave us a beautiful thank you card that we hope can make it to the July-August Valley Chimes newsletter (church’s newsletter).

We will return to Barbara’s house on Friday to finish trimming more dead branches of her tree, and hopefully to seal her deck.

We are so blessed that Steve flew into Nashville and set time aside from his busy work to come and join us for this mission trip. As many of you know, Steve was born and raised in Tennessee , and graduated from the University of Vanderbilt. It has been very helpful to have him with us because he leads our teens with compassion and also it has become very handy that he knows Nashville as the palm of his hand. That being said, Steve guided us to visit the Opryland Hotel to see another snapshot of Nashville. It was a beautiful experience and we all enjoyed the water fountain show. We had dessert there and visited a beautiful garden.

It was a very busy day, but we continue to find blessings in the ordinary things and extraordinary things we have done here in Nashville.

Here is the link for today’s devotional:   http://paintedprayerbook.com/2011/05/09/easter-4-blessing-of-the-gate/

Greetings,

I wish I could have kept up with this mission trip blog as I had hoped, reality is; we worked very hard, with the little free time we had, we used it to be together, to rest, to do our devotionals, to reflect about our day and to visit the Music City of Nashville.

Our youth are still recovering from a 1220+ mile ride, but we are all excited about the workday. Today, Monday, was our first day of work and we were assigned two projects. The first one was painting a wall at Lanilla’s house. Steve Kotz led this work team formed by Emma, Elena, Rachel and Virginia. Ellyn Medrano and David Martinez led the second project with the help of Carey Tarr and Derrick Medrano.

Both teams did an amazing job and the painting project was finished right after lunch. Our youth listened to Lanilla’s story and learned more about her. Lanilla was so happy to see the interior of her house painted, and her face reflected thankfulness.

The second team also had tough work to accomplish. Ellyn led the leveling of the basement, and she prepared the way for the rest of the team as she got rid of huge spider webs and humongous crickets. We were able to finish leveling half of the basement.

Our group stopped on our way back to the church to see the replica of the Greek Parthenon. It was a nice visit and we got to see a nice view of the city.

Tomorrow we will try to finish the basement project.

Today’s devotional can be found at: http://paintedprayerbook.com/2011/05/05/easter-3-known/

This venture continues to be a big success, as with the purchase of these bags congregational members are able to help the homeless and hungry on the many street corners of the city. These quart-sized bags are filled with high protein foods as well as a booklet of the Gospel of John. They are available for purchase the fourth Sunday of each month in the Gathering Space or from a Mission Committee member. The price of the bag covers the price of the purchase.

Puppets of the Valley, POTV, made its debut at the 2006 Chile Fest and has been an active ministry in the life of Shepherd of theValley ever since.

The team serves as servant disciples of Christ, with each person using his or her God-given gifts "to minister to people of all ages through drama, music, humor, and personal testimony".

Weekly rehearsals include a pot luck lunch, devotions, puppet and rod-arm movement, lip synchronization and great fellowship. There are also opportunities for sign and prop designing and puppet choreography.

POTV performs a benefit for Angel Tree in November, for the family Christmas Eve Service, Palm Sunday/Easter, occasionally for SonCatchers and other at other venues. POTV rehearses weekly from 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm on Sundays.

Members are expected to commit from September through the following May. Other requirements include a strong arm, patience, a joyful heart, and a willingness to learn something new!

POTV currently has 15 members, but is always willing to "train" more.

 

Col. 3:23 ">"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24 NIV.