The Kingdom

Let's start a few days ago. A good thing happened. Tim Cummins showed up at our place with a washer and dryer! In Chicago, where we lived before moving into the International Village, having laundry machines in your apartment was a pretty big luxury. We're feeling pretty pumped, as is Uncle Tim in this picture.

This morning, Ruthie had a "Village Gathering" with a missions team from Texas. Jennifer and Vanessa joined her, and they managed the cash box while tracking sales. They have become regulars at Refugee Beads, their help has been life-saving, and Ruthie's relationship with them keeps getting better and better.

Nivin and Purna were able to come to the village gathering to share their stories. Nivin is from Egypt, and Purna is from Bhutan. Since joining Refugee Beads, they have become close friends. I love this picture because both of them are totally in character.

These girls from Texas were able to bless Nivin and Purna by buying some stuff, and now they are blessing this blog with awesome smiles.

Our friend Connie, who we mentioned a few entries back, told us we didn't have enough pictures of us, since we are always behind the camera. She took this hilarious, somewhat strange picture of Ruthie and Julie having a laugh.

And finally, I'd like to link to one of my other blog projects. I wrote some lyrics about seeing traces of the kingdom in my work with immigrants and refugees. If you get a chance, hop over to Ghost Town Revival to hear my friend Jonathan Kotulski playing the song beautifully.