week two

Week two was cool because Russ came to volunteer in the big CO! It was sooo cool having him here! He was a huge help with the kids. It is definitely something God has gifted him in. He just has a way with people and connecting and building a relationship with them. He was also a humongous help with a group of guys from Minnesota who thought they were God's gift to the earth. He reminded them why they were on the trip and how their attitudes should be and didn't kill them. God definitely stretched him in patience and love.
Week two brought in 80 campers, so a bit of a change from week one. These kids were from Minnesota and California. The kids were really cool and Russ really made a great friend in Raymond, one of the kids from California. We had an awesome new project with Mile High Ministries for this week. We worked with two of their partner organizations, Joshua's Station and Isachaar's Community. Isachaar's Community is a program that takes young adults with leadership abilities and builds into those abilities, training them in how to use them and grow them. The purpose of the program is to get these young adults to establish a life outside of the projects and get a secure job in a position using their leadership skills. So we were able to clean their facility, fix it up and the campers even got a tour around Denver to learn about the community they were serving. The other branch is Joshua's Station. This is an old motel that has been renovated to make small apartments. These apartments house homeless families, they are given the place to live, food to eat, chapel services to attend and they only have to pay $25 a month. They help set up savings for them and help them to secure stable jobs. It is basically a way to help them start fresh. The back wall surrounding the building is covered in art graffiti which looks awesome. Each apartment is painted and furnished for the family moving in. When the family is ready to move out, they are allowed to take the belongings with them into their new home. So our volunteers help to restore the rooms for the next family by cleaning up and painting.
Week two was definitely a spiritually and emotionally discouraging week. I was glad to have Russ there as a support to talk to and confide in. We got to go to Boulder the weekend he was there and we also got to go to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes. this was cool because when we made it to the top, we climbed over the wall and hiked down the mountain, chasing these mountain chipmunks. When we got to a larger rock, russ saw a larger animal farther down and got pretty close to it! It turned out to be a marmot and we got pictures but i think the best part was russ getting ready to come back up the mountain and telling me to let him know if the thing was chasing him. i told him it was and he sprinted up the mountain...which at 12,000ft is bound to take your breath away. We were out of breath walking briskly. It was awesome having him here encouraging me and serving along side me, we had a great time visiting all of the sites and making everyone do boy band poses for their pictures.