... I am not actually able to update everyday anymore because I won't have internet access where I am living. However, every so often I will be able to visit Matt at his place, and this will be a time where I can fill you in on the happenings.
On Friday I got settled into Amanda's apartment and made the room I'm staying in, my own. She was so gracious to provide me with bedding, a futon to sleep on, a cabinet for my clothes, and a desk where I can do my reading and writing. I put up pictures and hung up my clothes - and soon felt at home. Shortly after, the crew from InterVarsity showed up - Eboni, Bryan, Tiera, Victor, Sylvia, and Joyce. Eboni and Victor are from Texas, while Tiera and Bryan both come from Reno, Nevada. Joyce and Sylvia are both from the bay area. Right away the InterVarsity group welcomed me in. I am the odd one out, since their rules and guidelines for their summer ministry are different than what is expected of me through WorldIMPACT. Nonetheless I can tell we're all goignn to grow a lot through this experience. The dynamic seems to be building nicely with inside jokes already making an appearance. Currently, I don't have any pictures of the group, but soon I will be getting on that and posting some for all of you to see.
The first night we had a family dinner where Tiera and Eboni made some amazing fried chicken, I made potato wedges, and Sylvia, Brian, and Joyce made the salad. What a team! We had a regular feast, and none of us were expecting it to turn out so well. The Lord provides! We were not sure how the eating situation was going to go down since each person on InterVarsity only gets $15 a week for food. We had to spend the money wisely at the grocery store, and pray that we will have enough to feed seven people three meals a day for a week. Speaking of food, we went to the restaurant a few doors down that had a grand opening yesterday, and talked with Jason and Bette (the owners) for awhile, and they appreciate what we're doing for the neighborhood. They gave us seven halves of baked whole bodied chickens, that had amazing seasonings, and also potatoes underneath them, and pineapple and peaches on top. It was soooo good. We also gratefully received a dessert from them - delicious baklava. I had never had it before, but the puff pastry on the top was mmmmmm! We definitely did not deserve any of this food, but I say it again - The Lord provides! We could hardly eat three of the half chickens between the seven of us, so we kept the others for later, so it will help us with some meals later on in the week.
I am feeling my heart being prepared for this adventure - with all of the prayer times and praise to our Lord for the people he has introduced us to thus far. I hope to become a member of this community by the end of my stint with WorldIMPACT. Together after dinner the first night we prayed over the house that InterVarsity is living in and called out any spirits that are not of the Lord. I felt like this was such a unique experience to share with these people. I was admiring the hearts and thoughts of the people I'm going to be spending the summer with. I look forward to being a part of their InterVarsity family.
Friday we also hung up fliers around the neighborhood for the after school program that we are going to be putting on for the kids in the neighborhood. On our walk, Bryan, Tiera, Luke and I met a man named Mr. Watkins who had so much to share with us. He had an organic garden that he loved to work on and he had a bit of gopher problem. He tried bombing them and that didn't work and then he bought some poisonous peanuts to put in them holes and hopefully that will do the trick. We're planning to meet up with him again and maybe help him tend to his garden if he would like that.
I must be going now though - I went to church with Matt this morning and now we're heading back to the West Oakland area so that I can spend the day with InterVarsity, and also figure out some of the logistics with Amanda on the after school program. I forgot to mention that Amanda got back from her trip yesterday so we had a great time getting groceries together and catching up when she got back. I may be able to update again on Wednesday, but until then if West Oakland crosses your mind, shoot up a prayer for the people, and the ministry that we are a part of.
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