Saturday. Our first day of “ministry” for the month.
We woke up at 7 to do our usual morning Insanity work out. However. The electricity was still out from the night before…
Because we had just bought yogurt, we made the decision not to waste what we had just bought. We had 23 cartons left. What were we to do? Why yes, the 5 of us finished all 23. Disgusting? Maybe. True World Racers? Definitely.
(I'm a bit defeated)
A little while later, we trudged to the bus stop only to realize we had just missed our bus. So naturally, we waited [because on the World Race, when you are not trudging, you are waiting]. After 2 buses and 2 ½ hours, we finally reached Hope House where we were put right to work.
Our task for the day? Cleaning the basement.
Our motivation for cleaning the basement? When we were finished, we were going to the beach with the girls!
Since the Philippines, I have never come close to the smell of the dump. Today, my friends, I came very close to that smell. However, we had a job to do, so we did it. The 12 girls & the 5 of us women, along with the head man cleaned that basement with buckets & a power washer. We also moved hundreds of bricks from outside to the basement [They are redoing the plumbing system at Hope House & need to build a platform for the tanks].
When we finally finished [in what seemed like record time], we took the girls to the beach. Why yes, I did swim in the Black Sea. 🙂 I loved hanging out with the girls and just playing around. I have already fallen head over heels in love with this ministry and these girls.
After a few hours, we went back to Hope House for dinner & a meeting to discuss our schedule for the week. We will actually not be at Hope House until Friday. We will be working with First Step — another branch of World Hope that is a daytime drop-in place for street kids in Odessa. I am more than excited to work with First Step this week. The entire time we were discussing it, I was convinced my heart was going to beat out of my chest with excitement. Ahh. This is going to be a great week! 🙂
…oh. And when we got back to our apartment, our electricity was back on. Praise the Lord.
