Today's ministry started with a team of 12 going to Habitat for Humanity's Restore.  The store is moving into a new location on Friday and used the team to pack boxes.  They said we accomplished more in one day than many do in two.  We also had a team of 11 at Second Harvest which packs food for the Bridge Ministry and other local charities.  Our team packed 5,272 lbs. of food!  That's a lot of food.

Two teams spent part of the day doing a project called "ATL - (Ask the Lord).  ATL challenges even me as an adult to step out of my comfort zone, but these kids stepped right up to the challenge.  The first group ended up downtown passing out water bottles and striking up conversation with complete strangers (sorry Moms). The second group gave out water bottles as well and granola bars to some utility workers where they ran across a spitfire of a man preaching to them...it was all good.  They ended up downtown at the Bicentennial Mall where there was a lot of kids playing in the water and people of all ages watching.  They met several homeless persons who told us they would see us at the Bridge Ministry tonight and we did see several of them.

Right after dinner, the entire group went downtown to help at The Bridge Ministry.  They unloaded and set up chairs, became a human chain to unload boxes and boxes of food, and helped in many other ways.  There was over 400 people who received a wonderful meal, gospel singing, preaching, and walked away with a bunch of groceries.

They came back to the church and had Laura's brownies with ice cream and sang Happy Birthday to two people and one leader.  It's 11:11 and I think almost everyone is asleep.  I'm wiped out as well, but it's been so awesome to see God move.  Thanks for sharing your kids.  I believe they will go home with a better understanding of what it looks like to serve others.