Monday Update

Hello!  We've just finished our first full day of serving and it was a great day.  We started our morning at Leggett and got to meet the kids that we will be hanging out with all week.  Our team was surprised at how quickly they bonded with the kids.  They thought it would take more time, but already some of the kids were sharing their stories with our team and opening up.

It was very cool to see a few on our team who were nervous about working with kids.  We spent time praying about that last night and it was great to see God answering those prayers by giving our team courage to take that first step.  Some of our students who were nervous, were the ones who made the quickest bonds with the campers!

After lunch, we headed to First Glance to give their building a good, deep cleaning.  It was humbling service, making ourselves low in order to lift someone else up.

Noelle Beck, director of First Glance, shared her team's passion for loving the community of Kenmore. She shared her frustration that people donate items to first glance that they were going to throw away otherwise, because they are "good enough" for her kids.  Noelle, because of her love for Jesus, sees these kids differently.  She loves them, and wants good things for them, not just "good enough."

So, she and her team were really blessed today by our team.  They want a facility that is welcoming, clean and a place where teens want to be.  They want the kids to feel valued and worthy of a nice place to come and belong.   By cleaning, we freed the team at First Glance to do what they are called to do, love teenagers in Kenmore in the name of Jesus!

We then went to eat some ethnic food for dinner.  One team went to Taste of Bangkok, another to Azteca, and lastly one who went to my house to eat some Lebanese take-out from Sanabel's.  It's great to see kids trying new things and experiencing the rich cultures of others.

Lastly, we went back to UV for a time to meet as a team and process through our day and worship.

Unfortunately, we ran a little late, so we didn't have time to get stories from students, but we will do our best to make that happen tomorrow.  Here are some pictures!