Let you light shine into this world!

Let your light shine into this world!

Coffee! One of if not the greatest drink invention ever to benefit mankind.
Surprisingly enough someone had already brewed 3 pots of this warm elixir of
morning life by the time we got over to the kitchen at 7AM. We never
could find out who this angel was but God bless them!

After everyone finally got up, some had slept for 10 hrs, we gathered for a
quick breakfast. Henryville UMC has an 8:55 service. This is followed by a 9:45 Sunday school and then the 11AM service. At their coffee fellowship
before Sunday school school we started seeing more faces that we remembered and
that remembered us. It felt good to see so many people that touched us 2
years ago. It was nice to see Mildred again. This was an elderly lady who
brought us snacks last time and wrote us a very moving note. The team split
up and went to various Sunday school groups. Some of the ladies went to the
young kids' class (grade 1-6) while others went with the Senior high kids.
Rich, Parker, Ford and I stayed out in the fellowship room with Pastor
Marvin and his wife Kim and just talked. Mainly about the works of today's
church. It was a good prelude to his sermon. The worship service, like in
the past, was spirit filled and at times emotional. The message was on
Matthew 17:1-9. Pastor Marvin basically challenged us all to bridge the gap
between the church and the world. He stated that the world will base the
message of the church by our actions. One of the lines that really caught my
attention was when he said that instead of preaching believe in Jesus or
you'll go to Hell we should teach believe in Jesus and experience Heaven on
Earth. At the end of the service Pastor Marvin called the team to the front.
Then he called the entire congregation up to surround us and lay hands on
us. He said the benediction and we hugged and shook hands with most of the
folks there. While we were up front talking we learned that most of our
evening meals were going to be provided for by members of the church. We
were also asked to take part in the Wednesday night Ash Wednesday service.
As we would hear later in our nightly team meeting several of our team
members were moved by the sermon and the congregation and how they felt the
Holy Spirit moving today.

We left church about 12:30 and headed for Bruce's. Now Bruce's is a local
diner that we have visited the last two times we have been here. It is all
you can eat good old down south home cooking. All that topped off with
homemade banana or peanut butter pudding. We discussed about walking back to
church after this.

When we finally got back we split the team up. One group went with Rich and
Pastor Marvin to check out the job sites. 4 of the students and I went to
get some supplies for the week. Through the generosity of all back home we
didn't need to buy a lot of items. We headed out for our Wal-Mart run
(what's a mission trip without a Wal-Mart). We got our items (a long with a
few souvenirs) and headed back. The plan was that once the team was back we
would head out to a local park and enjoy the warm temperatures. It got up to
72 today!

Once back at the church we unloaded then got into one of the church's 15
passenger vans that they have loaned us and headed for the park. Now
Guntersville has this giant lake that goes through the town. The park we
went to looks out across the lake. One of the pictures attached shows the
sunset at the lake. The other picture is of the team hanging out on some of
the playground equipment. It was taken by a man who was there with his two
kids. When he asked us who we were and why we were there he was very moved
and kept saying "God Bless us" for the work we were doing.

After we left the park we headed to get pizza. While we were waiting for our
pizza to bring back to the church we decided to play a game. Now on the way
down the ladies in my vehicle played this game called ABC. Basically what
you did was to have a category and the say a word that started with a
letter. Then the next person would say the word you just said and their word
would be with the next letter. This would go on and on until all letters
were used. We this time our world had to be a biblical word. It was fun to
see how well you could remember what was said and to see how creative you
could be. This took almost the entire time for our pizzas.

We got our pizzas and headed back to church. After eating our fill and
laughing at the way some peeled their oranges (by picking all of the white
stuff off before eating) we headed off for our nightly devotions and team
meeting. Marisa and Molly had tonight's devotion. It was based on 1
Corinthians 12:12-31 the body of Christ. After reading the scripture they
had each member say what they saw in the other members. It got to be a very
emotional time of sharing about the strengths of each member and how that
member has helped other members of the team. It was a powerful statement of
how we with our many talents and gifts come together to form the body of
Christ. After this I asked each member to share a little about what they
have experienced so far. Here is what each shared. Rich>the worship and the
welcoming by Henryville UMC.  Amy>the welcoming and worship and the trusting
of the church. Ford>the hospitality and Pastor Marvin. Megan>overwhelmed by
how welcoming the church is. Marisa>Loves the people here and Pastor Marvin
makes the Gospel real. Molly>just as good the second time around. Looking
forward to the opportunity to bring the light out. Marissa>working with the
young girls in Sunday School and how welcoming everyone is. Cindy> the
choice to go to any of the Sunday Schools and help along with the worship
service. Parker>excited for the week ahead. Morgan>the chance in Sunday
School to talk with the Senior High kids about college and the worship and
to see the jobsite. Jeff> excited and blessed to be here with all of the
team members.  I gave out to the team members cards that folks at Farmville
UMC wrote as notes of encouragement to each team member. Thank you for all
that gave of your time for this ministry.

We then got into our jobs. On Monday they are calling for rain here at least
through the morning. So we are dividing the team up. Rich will be taking 3
with him to work on the inside of a trailer. They are hoping to work on
relocating a washing machine, working on a sink and cabinet along with
replacing a counter top. The rest of us will be at the church painting some
boards that will be used as fascia boards and soffits on a house later in
the week. If the weather breaks in the afternoon the whole team may be going
to the trailer to do some major brush removal before we can do the outside
work. We will report on these and on the homeowners tomorrow.

The Holy Spirit is truly moving through the team. The hospitality and warmth
of the Guntersville and Henryville UMC is awe inspiring. Several members of
the team expressed sentiments that past teams have shared about here. That
is the people here are so welcoming and thankful that we are here and we
haven't done anything yet.

All have gone to bed. It is 11:25 as I wrap this up. Tomorrow starts a
new day and another day to see what God has in store for us. We are keeping
all at home in our prayers. We thank you for your continued prayers. I am
looking forward to sharing more Tomorrow night. Good night and may God
bless!