"Every Person Matters"

I have been doing a lot of exploring throughout Cleveland, hence the random fun photos. Aside from exploring during my downtime and on weekends, I have been helping out with the ministries here in Cleveland. Along with serving here in Cleveland, there has been a lot of learning about the ministries, the community, the people, my housemates, the team, and myself. It's a lot to take in, but God has been graciously Kind to me during this season of seeking I am currently in. 

Anyways, meet my roommates (missing one). When I think about how God brought five very different individuals to live under one household for the summer, it just doesn't make any sense, but bringing us together this summer made perfect sense. We're all very different in our ways, but one thing I have found we all have in common is our faith. The last few weeks have been fun, learning to live with each other and working together! I have learned to work around our differences and embrace what makes us who we are. I really enjoyed getting to know all of them through our conversations, laughter, and working together as a team. They have seriously made June a very fun-filled month. They have all made hosting our first team of the summer easy. I really couldn't have done it without them! I am so glad we had this opportunity to serve together here in Cleveland. 

The Shop

I'm excited about the shop and the amazing things that will come out of this Shop. In 2019, a few of us from church came down to Cleveland for a short mission trip. We got to be a part of the demolition from the inside. Who would have known that two summers later and I get to come back here to see the almost finished Shop? To my knowledge, this building will become a community center to provide the community with education, life skills, training, etc... I'll give an update when I learn more about The Shop. I am excited to see the shop finished and being a source of light in the community. In the last two weeks, the community has been extremely encouraging. People would drive by and spark up conversations about the building, asking questions, giving feedback, and being excited with all of us. Most importantly, the Hope and excitement they have for their community. While painting the side of the building, a man randomly drove by and shouted "Hey, I pulled out of my driveway and saw how bright this corner looks! Keep it up!" Once we get the building painted, I'll do a photo update. Hopefully, we can get the window tiles up on the other side, finish painting the exterior, add more dry walls to the inside and many more things by the end of summer. By the way, if you'd like to join us, we have a workday on July 17th from 8am to 2pm/3pm, please let me know if you're interested. There's still so much work that needs to be done... and we can't do it by ourselves. Come join us! 😉

The Gardens

Envision Cleveland has two community gardens. These gardens are ways we can build relationships with our local neighbors. We may wonder "what does the garden have to do with sharing the gospel?" We're looking at communities who are new to the country, broken, and hopeless. These gardens are the process of being a light into these communities in hope that we can get to a point where we can share the gospel with them. Most importantly, building relationships with our neighbors and pouring out God's love over them and their children. Simply letting them know that they matter and that they are loved. Many of these families come from places of brokenness, trauma, and some barely speak English. With the grocery stores being so far away, the gardens also provide opportunities for the families to grow their own produce. There's hope that the garden space will create a safe area for families to gather and fellowship with one another. After seeing these gardens, I thought about how my home church can also use gardening to serve our local community. It's possible! 

Anyways, praying over these gardens has allowed me to see how God is moving in these communities and that the hard labor for these gardens well worth the investments. 

"Every Person Matters"

Take a stroll down the street where these children are living, and I promise your heart will break. After our Art camp with the children, I walked a little 3/4-year-old home and my heart broke. It was as if I stepped into a foreign country. The living conditions that these refugees are placed in are just unacceptable! I just couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. I've seen run-down neighborhoods in Detroit, but nothing like what I saw while walking the child home. On the brighter picture, God was moving hearts way before we entered the picture. There were many teens who did not want to come and join us at the beginning of the week. They were on the other side of the fence, just scoping out to see what we were doing. However, many of the teens came to join us towards the end of the week. I praise God for moving in these teen's lives and leading them to join us for the week. One of the teens who hesitated to join us eventually invited Jesus into his heart! 💓😂😂😂😂 I pray that God will continue to place people in his life to walk with him and lead him into a relationship with Jesus. Without going into too many details, these photos are a glimpse of our Art camp with Harvest Downtown from Colorado Springs. Even though it was just a two-half-day camp, it was a safe place for these kids and teens to come together and hang out... to step away from the hardships that life throws at them. At the end of the day, being able to love on these individuals the way God loves us and the joy on their faces surpasses the tiredness the team, interns and I encountered throughout the week. We really couldn't have done it with just our strengths. Thank you Jesus for being our strengths and pouring out your love for us and this community. 

 

Our first big shopping duty for the summer! Yikes! 

     

In the last few weeks, I've learned that "Every Person Matters" and that when I'm out doing things in the communities, it's ok to stop and talk to people. Projects need to be done, but conversations and relationships are more important. Everyone has a story, and we just need to take time to listen.   

In the last two weeks, I have learned the importance of rest. I didn't realize how much I needed some time to just rest. After a full week with the team and doing things, I was exhausted. My spirit was high, but my physical body was tired. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with the team and the interns, but after a week of being around people, I just needed some "no people" time. That's just how I recharge after being around so many people. I have made a commitment to finding time to rest for the month of July.

Please continue to pray for: 

1. The gardens and the families around the garden. 

2. The Shop

    - more hands

    -fundings

    -encouragements for Tom who is overseeing the shop 

3. The kids who invited Jesus into their hearts.

4. Strengths for me and the interns. 

5. Clarity of Direction for me. (July is literally here already.) 

6. Courage and confidence 

7. For me to Trust in God's plans for me. 

8. For my decisions to be led by God and not my comfort. 

9. Wisdom

    -as I begin teaching ESL to our Refugee parents. 

    - seek for directions

10. To be obedient 

Thank you!