Reptile Rampage

Because we were at home, and because our work was at home, we ended up working through our days off for two weeks in a row. As you can tell from the picture above, I was determined not to let it happen again.

Also, our home air conditioning was out, so we had no desire to sit around in our sweltering apartment waiting for the maintenance man.  So we got in the car and drove up to Amicalola Falls in the North Georgia mountains.

 

Since I grew up in the Philippines, I see stuff like this and immediately want to climb around and up it.  However, this is not the American way.  Instead, we gather in large groups in fenced in areas and stare.  Here is one of Ruthie doing just this thing.

When we got home that afternoon, the heat had given our cold-blooded iguana the boost of energy he needed to charge angrily around the apartment.

First, Ruthie let him out onto our patio, where he trampled her flowers:

He followed that fiasco up by hacking into Eric's computer:

Then he charged up Eric's leg, devouring Eric.  As Ruthie and I looked on in horror and Rocket clambered toward his prey, Eric was able to snap one final picture:

Eric would have turned 19 today.  He was a great young man, and it's too bad that rocket devoured him in the prime of his youth.  Happy Birthday, Eric.  You will be missed.

Tina's Ranch

Tina hosted a village gathering today out in Grayson, GA. The sharing time was rich, and we loved learning dance moves. We introduced our friend Jennifer Sosa and the refugees to Tina's horse. Jennifer loved it, but Rania, Randa, and Purna were a little nervous.

Village Gathering (Jesus is Mine - LIVE)

Last night, Ruthie had a "Village Gathering" with a women's prayer group from Grace Fellowship in Snellville, GA.

Ruthie picks up the refugees she works with and brings them to different communities, where they share their lives and testimonies across cultures. Grace Fellowship is very focused on reaching different people groups, and the event was a huge success.

Rania and Randa brought Rosada and Rayna to help them sing "Jesus is Alive" in Arabic. Check it out:

Ruthie got Rania and Randa to sing as they were working on jewelry today. Behold!

Administration Station

Spent today working on getting the newsletter printed out and stuffed in envelopes. It's now ten at night, and I still have hours' worth of work left to do before tomorrow.

Thankfully, a YMCA team was here to work with the kids, and Tim Cummins helped us get new tires for our car when we couldn't afford them. Two extra worries taken care of.

Some days it seems like there is more to do than you could ever get done, and then something happens that puts you out of commission for hours that you didn't really have free to begin with.

Pray for us. It's hard to work our day jobs, keep up with all the logistical stuff, and still have some energy for the actual person-to-person ministry.

Aziz and His Giant Sketch Pad

After getting a YMCA group going with the kids at our apartment complex, then running 5 miles around Stone Mountain, I picked up Aziz to do dinner at our house. We looked through a database of Charter schools in his district, but the information was difficult to decipher.

Any educators out there who can help me figure out if any of the charter schools in the area are good for Aziz? I'd really like to get him into a strong program ASAP for several reasons. The main one being that he wants a better education.

Aziz noticed a picture of Van Gogh's "Mulberry Tree" on our wall, and really connected with it. He had never heard of Van Gogh, so I gave him a rundown on the artist's struggle with depression and the distinct look of his pieces. And of course I had to mention the ear thing.

On the way home, we stopped by Michael's and spotted a giant sketchpad. We had given him one of Ruthie's old easels, so the sketchpad seemed like a good way to put it to use.

He looked at the size of the pad and remarked, "I'm going to need to put a lot more information in my drawings now."

I can't wait to see what happens.

It's Official!

Yesterday, our close friends and family joined us at Clarkston International Bible Church (CIBC)for our comissioning service. We took stock of where we have been, how we got here, and what we hope will happen with our work here.

A little about the crowd: Directly behind me is Alan Hill and his wife Emily. They are the parents of my high school friend David Hill. I spent a lot of time with their family when I lived in the Philippines, and they are now leaders at CIBC. They're heroes to me.

The dashing young couple in green and yellow shirts beside me are Adam and Kristi Fites. Our friendship with them has been, well, super cool. They have a big impact on what we do here, and I secretly think of Adam as a mentor, although I don't want him to get a big head about it.

Next to Ruthie are her mother, father, and aunt, and on the far side is Vanessa, one of the kids from Huntington Creek, where we do much of our work.

Behind the camera is legendary missionary Tim Cummins, who is pretty much responsible for us meeting, getting married, and coming back to Georgia to work.

We rise or fall with our community, and with these people around us, the forecast is pretty good.