The ladies on our team are SUPER LADIES coming from a background of various job fields. They are easily taking over to do the construction job on this New House/Shelter for the Adullam Kids…of course with huge help from our SUPER MEN guys in our SUPER TEAM lead by Sanjay! Wow, maybe these ladies do some part time construction work in New York City that I just do not know about…I will find it out though…sttts….just between us okay!
I went to the construction house this morning after I gave baths and fed 3 of my babies (Brian 2 weeks old, Ella 3 weeks old, and Eli – the bouncer guy- 1 year old). Surprisingly, the job was already half done. They are making lots of progress.
Afterwards I headed to the Babies House to check what was going on in there. There were tons of fruits, vegetables, juices, pies covering the entire table in the kitchen so I kept walking down to the store room. I saw Zuleika and Lilian were storing the extra supply food from Costco that Zuleika voluntary purchased. I thank her very much for that kind donation to make sure the team is feeding well, now we can enjoy all those “luxury meals” Jesus how we thank You for all these blessings..so lucky we are to have You Lord :)
Fridah’s alarms rang so loud and woke both of us (we are a roommates). I was like “Girl, what time it is?”, and she replied “5:30am.” I suggested we go back to sleep haha. At 7am we both heading to the babies house to join the team for breakfast. Afterwards we headed to the new house where most of the team planned to work on construction.
The Team starting everything: Sanjay and Josh gave instructions to Ursula, Jena, and Fridah while David and Cliff were doing measurements and work on stereo foam. Destiny and Samara got busy counting something while Joe and Dave were trying to figure out something on their role too..wow very busy day today huh?
I know I will have to check on ladies at the kitchen too before lunch so I can record their activity cooking lunch for people, Patricia and Leda are such great cooking partners, trust me! I need to pick up some supplies where Zuleika and Lilian are working. I will be right back folks :)
Praise God in the morning, praise God in the noon, and praise God in the Night. The Team is getting ready for the service at 11:00am at Harden Street Church which belongs to Adullam House. Praise and worship were followed by testimony and preaching by Pastor Justin and Pastor Nick. It was just awesome…awesome :). We also had some time to explore downtown Montgomery from 3pm – 8pm and then we went straight to Mr. Pete & Mrs. Angie Spackman’s house from there. We gathered all of us (The Team and Adullam House Crew) and are getting to know each other better while enjoying the hospitality of The Spackman’s. The kids surrounding us make it perfect :) Thank Jesus…all about You Lord. We just love You!!
We finally landed safely at the Montgomery Airport. Josh, Keila and Enrique were already there waiting for us. Most of the team loaded into Josh’s truck which was attached to the luggage car. The rest joined Enrique and Keila in the Tahoe. We head to downtown Montgomery and visited the Martin Luther King Church and some other parts of the town. It was about almost 12pm when everyone was starving. Our team leader Sanjay had told us a couple days before departure that Josh would be taking us for the best Southern Food (Soul Food) ever. Cannot wait! We got to the stated restaurant and…wow….wow the food was very delicious. It was one of the best places I’ve ever tried. I was eating my meal as Jenny, Zuleika, and Lilian were talking. I couldn’t hear what they were discussing because I was enjoying my food so much.
Now, Adullam House here we come! As we entered the gate of Adullam House, we could feel it ..sense it..know it…that this is a real place for kids, sort of like a Disneyland for them. There is a huge area covered by trees, flowers, bare land, plus donkeys, goats, chickens etc. This place is so lively. There is a long bride connecting The Babies House, The Spackman Family’s House, and the New Building where we are working on now. The bridge was a gift from Bethel Church in Lousiana. Thank Jesus :)
We walked into the Babies House and became speechless, our eyes just staring at the heavenly babies all over the place. It feels like we’re in the Eden Garden with all different ages of babies around you. It presents an amazing atmosphere that is very difficult to describe. Only God knows, and you can only imagine.
Today is our last entry on the trip. It is amazing how God has enabled us to accomplish so much in a short time. Today we took on some additional challenges because we had the time. The team tiled part of the kitchen floor and did some templates for making a section of moulding to complete the wood walls we constructed. Our plan was to leave all the tools that we brought over to the local workers as a gift. They loved them. Certain members of the team formed relationships with the Ukrainian workers and they were really sad to see them go because it’s God’s love shared between two people. It is awesome to see this type of close fellowship. These interactions are what missions are all about-it is and will always be about people, it’s not about the amount of tile we installed or the stairs and drywall. It is about sharing a common goal: the love of Jesus Christ and expressing that love to each another. My fondest memories are people that I have served with in the field side by side with God, that’s where He will be and is also where you experience a joy and peace you will never forget. In closing, we were so blessed to get to know the Crowe family and experience their hospitality. It is so exciting to know we had a small part in something that God will do in a big way at the cafe. I am so happy I was able to see and spend time with Pastor Neil and sister Noline. They are doing great and excited about what God is doing in Ukraine and Poland. They have never looked better or had more energy. Time Square Church, it’s an honor to have been part of the effort. Thank you, Blessings!
I can’t believe it but we have only one more day to work. This morning we rose early and met with other missionaries at the cafe to pray. God has assembled a group of people that have moved here with one goal in mind: serving Him. It is truly Christianity in it’s purest form and awesome to see. Today we split up into two groups, one group continued to do woodworking while the others built shelves to store items for a center to help the poor. We met some local business owners and they are excited about the cafe opening. The time has flown bye and we have only one more day.
Well it’s Monday and we’re back to work. The bathrooms and stairs are done. The drywall has a little more to go so we have moved on to doing wood working. I have been on a few BrickThink trips, but the last two God has really blessed us when it comes to accomplishing work…we are getting a lot done! I prayed for two months for God to assemble the team that He wanted to go and as the leader of this trip I could not have ask for a better group of men to work with. They work with so much energy and don’t take a lot of breaks. I am honored to have them and thank God for them. The team has bonded with the follow workers and we all are having a great time. They teach us Ukrainian and we teach them English. This cafe is going to be a great addition to the town and can’t wait to her what the Lord does. God bless and thank again for your prayers.
Today we had a day of rest and we sure could use it. Where do I begin to explain what an awesome day we had in fellowship with our brother and sisters…the team went to service today at the local church and our own John Valentin led worship in Russian. The locals loved it and I sent a video that I took. It doesn’t capture the moment exactly but will give you an idea. Next all of us gave a brief testimony of what God has done in our lives. Our host Bruce Crowe told us even on Sunday we were doing Brick Think work but instead of working on a building, we were building up the church. After the service we all gathered together for a potluck lunch outside. Next we jumped in the van and went to the city of Kiev for a day of sightseeing. What a beautiful city and very clean. Bruce and Debbie gave us a tour of the city from a locals view point and we took lots of photos. Vladimir, a member of our team is from Ukraine and you could tell he was enjoying being in his homeland. Tomorrow is Monday and we will be back to work. God bless.
