Day 6

Today was another incredible day of seeing God's amazing power at work. After the super rainy night that we had, we were all worried that we would wake up and find it still pouring. To our surprise, the sun was peaking through among the puddles everywhere and we were able to do the door to door ministry without getting soaked. God is definitely good! We did have a little bit of rain during the day but by God's amazing grace it was when we broke for lunch. When we were heading back to the kids club in the afternoon, the skies were blue and the sun was shining. We never stop being amazed by God's powerful work!

We shared our door to door stories with each other through out the day. It is incredible how we have been able to touch so many lives in a community that is struggling to survive. We have visited so many individuals and seen them be completely transformed. Each of us has our own stories of who has made an impact in our own lives that we will all be sharing when we return. There have been countless stories of families being broken by drugs, alcohol and disease. What has been the most incredible thing to see though is how so many of these families have not lost hope. The things that they have been through on a daily basis are much more than what many of us ever will experience. I have personally been surprised at how many people do know God and are following Him. When talking with them they acknowledge that life is tough but that they still have faith that God will provide and their situation will turn around. These people are dealing with the loss of an immediate relative to HIV at a young age, the loss of a job in a city where the jobless rate is over 50%, the search for food on a daily basis, staying warm and dry during the cold and rainy night that we just had. The problems that we face on a daily basis, while they may be big, they rarely compare to what this community is dealing with. We are so blessed to live in a world with so much prosperity and access to community welfare programs if we are struggling. I think all of us will be forever touched by this community and leave with a new perspective on life.

The afternoon kids club was a huge success. Yesterday the turnout was low due to the rainy weather. Today the kids came out from all across the community to participate in the activities of the day. We probably had at least 200 kids in attendance. While the kids were still filtering in, all of us were playing with the kids. Some were singing songs with them, others were playing soccer and others were simply sitting around and talking to them. One of the touching experiences of the day was to see the joy in the eyes of these kids as they played with us. All of their problems that they came with disappeared and their faces glowed with happiness. The pictures from the day capture the excitement that was in the air. It is amazing how something as simple as a soccer ball can completely transform a kid and bring so much joy. This simplicity is something that we are missing in our society. How often do we take the time to enjoy the simple things in life? We seem to constantly be bombarded by technology and the activities of the day that we often lose sight of the little things in life. We are so accustom to having the TV on while the family is eating dinner or convincing ourselves that what we have is not enough. These people in Overcome Heights have next to nothing yet the simplicity allows them to be filled with so much joy beyond what I have ever seen. They are truly an inspiration to us all.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us. Our group is breaking up to do both door to door ministry in the morning as well as helping Living Hope with HIV/AIDS, diabetes, TB and blood pressure testing. It is going to be a moving experience to be able to witness first hand when someone hears the news that they have now been diagnosed with HIV and will have to deal with this disease for the rest of their life. Please pray for us so we can be a light to these individuals who may hear the life changing news and that we will be able to provide them with words to comfort them and God's love to restore them even among their brokenness. The evening we will be leading a worship service at the church in Overcome Heights. Please pray that we can be an inspiration to those in the community and strengthen their faith.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. They are much needed and much appreciated! God has been doing amazing things both in the community of Overcome Heights and the team members here on the trip. We only have a few more days left so pray that these days will be even more amazing and that we will continue our strength as a team.