When I heard Monday that I was going to be at Outrageous
Sports Camp all week I was pretty excited. To say the least I’m pretty
exhausted with one day left. But most of all Monday I didn’t expect to leave
the camp today with makeup on my face. There’s a first for everything in life,
and this is one of them. The kids there are so fun and energetic, and it’s
overall just a great time. While I wasn’t the happiest to have makeup put on me
(they held us down) they just seemed to be having the best time. I guess I managed.
–Adam
So it’s my job to work with kids. I thought it would fun
playing games and sports with them. Well I was completely wrong. The kids are
5-16ish years old and that is a big age gap. Adding on to the age gap problem the
kids we were working with were complete nightmares. They would scream, hit,
bite, etc. to us. They didn’t seem to know the word NO. Then Troy took us on a
detour on the way back to our living space. We saw where the kids were living
and only a portion of what they had to go through at home. There would be over
6 or 7 kids living in one tiny home and they were all either cousins or siblings.
Maybe there would be a parent to take care of them but the majority of the kids
are taken care of by their older siblings or a grandparent. We now could
understand why the kids were acting that way. They just wanted attention. A
thing that they craved and much needed. So we gave it to them and they calmed
down and listened. We had a rough start but now the games are going much
smoother. Oh, did I mention the game of the kid’s choice was basketball? (Matthew
you would love to be in my group.) They had some pretty sick moves and broke at
least everyone’s ankles twice.
Ok, back to the parent situation that the kids were going
through. We spoke to a person that was part of the native tribe there. She explained
to us that the parents drink and do drugs because the things the white people
did to their ancestors. It makes so much sense to me now. She told us this was
the seventh generation and the children should be better and spread their
culture. I hope the children do.
Today we had a cookout and some of the community came out to
eat with us. I decided I wanted to sit by 2 elders of the tribe. They had a lot
to share. They shared their view points on the world and the TV shows they
watch. Did you know they know who Gene Autry was? If you don’t know pour ice
water on your head to wake you to the world and look up on Google the greatest
cowboy who ever lived!!!!! At the cookout the “people” (that’s what the Natives
want to be called) got into a drum circle and sang songs in their language. Earlier
in the week we learned a Native dance and we danced to the music. I was dancing
the shawl dance but without a shawl so I just looked like I was flinging my arms
around. It was so much fun (we got in trouble because apparently we disrespected
the dancing circle. I found out it was because one of the girls picked up a
child and was dancing with her in her arms and that was a big NO NO). On our
way back we stopped at Dairy Queen and the ice cream cones where payed for by
the church. So I made sure that I got a large cone. When we finally got back we
did our usual Jesus time but at the end of it all the worship leader told us
that he would sing more Christian songs for us and it was awesome.
Sorry, it late and I’m just not that coordinated but I’m
going to tell one more story about our trip. So I swam in the Mississippi river
in my clothes. It wasn’t planned but I was like when will I ever get another
opportunity to swim in the Mississippi. I of course was the first one in then
everyone followed me. I regretted my choice as soon as I had to ride to our
sleeping area in wet cloths. Not only was I wet we were battling a major storm.
I couldn’t see the road and lighting was all around us. I thought I was going
to die! I finally couldn’t take it anymore and I passed out. Which is what I am
about to do now so Goodbye and wish us good luck for our trip back home. (sorry
for my spelling and grammar right now it’s 11:30 at night and lights out was at
11:15) -Emily
Hi. Day 3 of service is over. Today, as a part of the
Mystery Moose crew, we went to a woman’s house and did various remodeling that
all was to come together to paint the areas we had scraped, washed, and
replaced. It was supposed to be much hotter than it turned out to be, so with a
breeze, it was perfect (Yay God!). We started out scraping away loose paint on
the shudders, deck, and basically everywhere paint was chipping. Some of the
boards just beneath the roof were decayed and rotten so Russ (the adult from
another church) and I nailed in new boards.
The best part of the day of service was probably this little
girl. She was one of the five grandchildren Connie (the lady whose home we were
working on) takes care of permanently. I never learned her name but she was
probably about five. Anyways, I gave her a piggy back ride. It lasted for about
45 minutes and consisted of me sprinting around the house and yard and hearing
her squeal with excitement all while everyone else was busy doing the work we
were more sent to do. It really made me feel good to make her so happy because,
living in a one “parent” home with five other children, I am sure she doesn’t receive
significant attention. I am very excited for tomorrow because I am hoping she
remembers me because even though I was very exhausted after running so much, I
was very happy.
Finally, tonight we had a little bit of extra worship time.
Russ had brought his guitar and has been the worship leader all this week. We sang
about 6 more songs and it was a very uplifting experience. Everyone sang like
they didn’t care who heard and in between songs we had times of praise and
silent confession, and overall it was just a very freeing moment.
Just one more day of service tomorrow! Praying that it goes
well and that we are able to keep doing God’s work. See you all in a few days!
-Matt
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