Day 5

I had another eventful day today.  I think from the time that I woke up I did not stop moving until about 9:30 this evening.

So first let me explain the showers.  The church that we are staying at is awesome, the Pastor and people are welcoming and inviting, and we are staying in there fellowship hall building which is actually a building that is seperate from the main church building.  We are sleeping in air mattresses in side rooms and we have a guys room (man cave!!) and a ladies room.  Each have 5 of us in the room.  Very accomodating kitchen facilities so we can keep and prepare our food and snacks and of course a coffee maker!!!  A Christian cannot go anywhere without coffee, lol.  But here is the thing...the showers are not on site.  We actually have to venture out to George Washington REC Center.  The showers are hot and there is even a sauna that helps us to dry out a little bit (not bad).  But the showers themselves are more of a community type shower.  There are seven shower heads on the walls in an open room.  So I will not give any more details but when you are not used to taking showers with several other men, it can be a tad uncomfortable.  'nuff said...

So the day was yet another Spirit filled day and I must say that the prayer service that two of the women on the immersion led was one that I am still pondering within my heart and my soul.  I cannot describe the feeling in words.  There was something that touched and gripped my heart.  It touched on the effects of mental illness in ones life and how through God's Amazing Grace we can be made whole.  Following the service we had lunch and I sat next to a Muslim young lady, 19, from Sierra Leone, who had a baby two months ago.  She is really shy and there is a slight language barrier (the people speak a type of French/Creole) but she speaks English fairly well.  It broke my heart to hear her story. (Once again I will share more on the 20th...hint, hint, come to one of the Sunday services at Kenton...)

Almost the entire afternoon we watched a video called, The Line, and discussed its impact on us.  I am ordering the video and I will be showing it at a later date...stay tuned for the time and day...but a quick synopsis is that they interviewed homeless people around our country and talked about the different types of poverty that effect people.  A banker making six figures whom cannot find a job to a shrimper in Louisiana who is barely making ends meet.  These were amazing stories of people like you and me who in the blink of an eye, lost everything.

Then for my final service for the night I assisted in setting up for the Hypothermia Center.  This center, which is at Rising Hope Church, can house up to 25 people at a time.  They have to come in by dinner time, 7:15 pm and plan on staying for the night.  Once they are in, they cannot leave unless they want to lose their place.  These are not extremely comfortable accomodations.  Basically it is a foam mat on a tiled concrete floor and you get a sleeping bag.  You can have four supervised cigarrette breaks at 8, 9, 10, and 11.  You get a hot meal when you come in for dinner, breakfast in the morning, and we give a bag "lunch" for the day but you have to be out by 7:15 am.  When I left there were 17 people there which means that up to 8 more people could come in throughout the night and we would have to give them a place to stay to get out of the cold.

So I left there and came back to Wesley in plenty of time to talk to Dawn and the boys.  Only 8 more days until i get to see them face to face.  I have been missing them very much and I have been praying for those who are gone for more than two weeks.  Families that are seperated by military deployments, job transfers, or even imprisoned.  Families that will be seperated for months or even years.  It makes this two weeks not seem so long especially compared to those who have lost loved ones and will not see them again until they meet in Glory surrounded by the light and love of the Christ.  I pray for all of those who are seperated from a loved one.  I pray for my grandfather, Leon. who has been seperated from my grandmother Mildred for over a decade.  I pray for Dawn's grandmother, Polly, who has been seperated from her grandfather, Chuck.  For all...I pray for peace and comfort but mostly for an excitedness in their hearts that they will see each other again.

Esperanza!
Pastor Scot