Before we left Gary Campbell designed a heart shaped necklace for the group. At the beginning of the week I challenged everyone to ask god to enlarge their hearts. Here are some of the ways God answered; a small boy named Abdul who got into things, Ann ame, 99 year old women at the retirement home, The families that joined us for kids club, Tough kids at tutoring that softened up at the end of the week, seeing a lot of need in difficult circumstances like mowing a widow’s lawn and meeting a new neighbor, spending time with a joyful group of seniors who call themselves J.O.Y, seeing the joyful faces of kids at kids club breaking piñatas mostly who have never done one, serving along side of a White Mississippi and a Black St.Louis group.What seems clear to me is that God uses people most to enlarge our hearts. after 6 years I can say this was the smoothest week yet. the credit goes to our team who where amazing. one of the most dreaded jobs of the week is cleaning out the trailer to pack for home. after kids club and construction projects the mess of popcorn, tools, wires, games, wood, saw dust, screws and assorted junk make for a really good challenge. everyone in our group tackled the huge mess in an hour with an unbelievable teamwork.
in the afternoons we built wood shakers with the 5th and 6th graders. these were made out of oak drawer scraps from home. they took 3 days to glue, sand, stain, and fill. the last day we ended with a drum and shaker session outside. it was very satisfying to see 30 colorful would shakers drying in the sun. 
Of course this would not be a trip without a car repair. the radiator in the green van was leaking a little in the beginning of the trip and started to leak a lot in the end. not wanting to risk a road side repair in Illinois, I bought a radiator. Ryan and I did the repair this morning, it took about 3 hours. we only lost one screw!! A happy report, it was a success. this gave the group a chance to pack up and clean their rooms and say some goodbyes to friends they made along the trip. 
this year’s tutoring theme, was called “around the world” Gloria, Alejandro and I did a presentation for the new city group on Tuesday, and a presentation on Wednesday in south city. it was informative and entertaining. we put together stereotypical statements about Mexico. for example: everybody in Mexico has a Chihuahua, does everyone like tacos. Gloria and Alejandro shared stories about growing up in Mexico . Alejandro had to face his fear of public speaking. the applause and love of the kids. a funny moment/ I told Alejandro to “kiss the mic’ which means to just put your mic closer to speak. Alejandro thought I actually meant to kiss the mic and alejandro started kissing the mic. the kids thought it was really funny how he did that and wondered why he did that. even after I explained kissing the mic to everyone that kissing the mic meant bringing it closer to your mouth Alejandro thought it would be funny so he started kissing the mic while I was explaining to the the kids. He is a natural on stage. Parents, friends, and church family you can be proud of the work everyone did. It was sweet experience for me to enjoy a week of close spiritual community.
A group from St. Louis will be coming up to Wisconsin for labor day weekend for a weekend of service. we will go up to the Menominee residents to cut and split firewood and build wheel chair ramps. we will be looking for host families to house the groups. I look forward to this new serving venture. Grace and Peace Mike C.
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