This week was soooooo much better than the last week! We had Family of Christ Church from Lakeville, MN will us which was so exciting! and we had another group from Florida (seriously, FL is not representing themselves very well because this FL group had kind of an attitude as well - thankfully not as bad as the florida group from last week that busted a hole in our wall). The third group was from Pennsylvania. They were a small group of about 11 people and it was there first mission trip ever. Honestly, I know I'm not supposed to have a favorite group, but this group was my favorite. The adult leaders were hilarious and the youth were really fun and respectful. We played spoons together and I got to ride with them in their vehicle every night to our evening activities. I haven't laughed so much in one week than I did with them this week. The youth pastors wife tried to set me up with one of our service partners at the Emmaus House (because he's 23, plays ultimate frizbe, cares about the environment and is apparently good looking - according to Julie). Needless to say I tried to remain professional, but I couldn't help but laugh. Another one of my highlights with them was when we played spoons during free time. Micah had to leap across the table in order to get a spoon, but Jaimie (one of the youth) had it in his hand. So Jaimie through it up into the air and it landed on Micah's butt - he's still lying face down on the table. Teri (one of the adult leaders) didn't have a spoon yet either so she grabbed it from Micah's butt and then yelled for joy. She then proceeded to tap Micah's butt and say, "I have S-P-O this is no longer a game it is a war!" Seriously THE funniest moment of the week... But it wasn't just their good humor that made me love them so much. On the last night when we do our foot-washing service, I stayed back and watched them for a moment. For those of you who don't know, every week we do a foot-washing service to emulate the way Jesus became a servant to his disciples by washing their feet. So us staff wash the feet of the adult leaders and the adult leader wash the feet of their youth. The Pennsylvania group did something I had never seen before. At one point they saw that their youth pastor was praying over Jaimie and one by one each of them got up and laid hands on Jaimie or the youth pastor or the person in-between them and Jaimie and they all prayed together. It was amazing to witness the faith and companionship that they all possessed. I pray that everyone might find a group that they are comfortable with and feel that type of unity in love and spirit.
