Minot- Thursday

The big thing for me today was Hope Village.  

Sometimes, it's hard to know what to write in these emails because there is a pretty wide range of people reading them, and I don't want to put any of my ugliness out for everyone to see.  It's kind of like writing five days worth of Christmas letters.  (Everything is great!  Howard figured out a solution to an insulation problem!)  But the truth is, sometimes on trips like these, a person can get crabby and not look at things in a Christ-like way.  I am happy to say, though, that God got through to me pretty quick, and I was able to turn it around.  Back to Hope Village-

Up until now, we have been meeting in the church for meals.  Our group has also done devotions in the building.  There is a strong wifi signal and I can get all my photos uploaded, an email sent out, and even play my turn in my on-line Scrabble game with my mom.  Yesterday, however, they set up a tent.  (54x54 round rope and pole with a blue and white striped top and sidewalls in case anyone is interested.)  today they added a floor, and said we would have dinner and the rest of our meals in the tent from now on, and in fact, there really isn't a reason to be in the church anymore, so well, try to stay out of there.  I was a little disgruntled.  I found myself being crabby about losing our space (the tent is colder and the heater makes a LOT of noise-  not conducive to devotions and prayer time.)  So I smugly noticed that there is no way they will be able to feed as many people as they think they want to under that tent.  And then all of a sudden it hit me.  I have nothing to complain about.  I didn't lose my home to a flood.  I lost a little "comfort" and maybe perceived convenience, but I'm not here to be comfortable, I"m here to serve people as best I can.  Then in devotions, other people talked about the same thing.  It has been a little discombobulated since we got here, but we are one of the first groups to come through.  There will be kinks, and flexibility is a must.  The different agencies here need to get their feet underneath them, but it will happen and maybe we are part of that learning curve for them.  We are honored to be able to serve.  That's it.  

As for the work teams, Howard's team did get a solution to the insulation problem.  Bob's team went back to their 2nd site and worked on mudding and taping.  I never knew you could use a paint brush to "mud."  Dave's team is almost done with the drywall in the basement.  Most groups think we will not get everything done.  Most groups also report having some very positive interaction with the homeowners.  It really makes what we're doing seem like it's meaningful when we get to meet the people we are serving.  

I didn't get any new pictures put online today.   And tomorrow is a busy day with trying to get everything done we can, but I'll try to get some more pictures posted.  I did put pictures in our Facebook album for those people that are on FB.  

Lastly, tonight at devotions, we talked about "where next?"  Any suggestions?

Peace!

R

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True faith is never found alone; it is accompanied by expectation.  --C.S. Lewis.