Friday Recap

Today half of us were able to continue working on the houses we had started yesterday and the other half was able to continue bonding with the children. Justin, Sami, and Rob, along with their group, were able to almost finish painting a house. Autumn, Tessa, and Lora continued to bond with some little girls by coloring, reading, and making painted T-shirts. Today was also the community cookout and we were able to have dinner with many members of the town. A woman whose house we painted, Mable, was unsure of Youthworks and, when invited to the cookout, made up excuses not to attend. It was surprising to us when we saw Mable with her children at the cookout. Lora felt the need to talk to her and really connected to Mable. When Mable had to leave she asked Lora if we would be back. This is a great example of how our ministry has affected the people of Martin.

After all the townspeople went home Alex, his kids, and some friends danced a Pow Wow for us and we joined in. We did a friendship dance where all of the Youthworks participants joined hands in a circle and side stepped around. It was great to feel connected to all the people here. After the Pow Wow a Lakota friend of ours sang a love song to Tessa. He was much older; don't worry.

When we came back to the school for CLUB time we had our lesson and worship. The Youthworks staff then proceeded to wash the feet of the leaders and pray over them. Our leaders then did the same for us. It was a powerful experience none of us will forget. It put most of us in tears, but our relationships grew stronger.