Mission Trip...after 2 days

Well, we are 2 days into our Outreach to Lafayette, and, although crazy and sometimes verging on chaotic, it has been an absolute blast!! We have seen love given, received, and returned so many times that we cannot even begin to count them. We would be defined by most as the "givers" in this week, but we are receiving tons!! And to think that most Americans feel like they need to go somewhere outside their own town to have such a wonderful experience!

In 2 days, we have seen almost 100 patients in our makeshift clinic - thanks to Bob Wollenburg and the Red Cross for letting us use their conference room! Not one of them has paid a nickel and nearly all of them have no ability to pay for any doctor visits at all. Many of

them have not been able to buy any medicine for months because they have no means to buy it and we have been able to buy dozens of their meds for them - helping them live healthier lives. Plus, we have been able to connect them with resources in our community where they can continue to receive care and assistance with their medicines, allowing the help to continue after we are done!

Many, including a bunch of our kids, were able to helped to stock the food pantry with Lafayette Transitional Housing and helped sort and place donations in their clothing pantry as well (Madison, 6 years old, even told me that that was the hardest she had ever worked in her life!!). They got to help as people came and got food and clothing for their families yesterday at Transitional Housing (By the way, these people are heros - we are doing this for a week and they spend their lives dedicated to helping people get food and clothes, places to live and jobs - if you ever are looking for a worthy cause to give to - this is one!!)

Some of us were in homes, cleaning up basements after flooding so that people can have a better place to live. These guys worked their butts off and had a good time doing it.

Our wonderful cooks have made breakfast, lunch and dinner the last 2 days for us and the folks at Transitional Housing (with help from a wonderful group of church people who come and cook for them every Monday night!!) and the compliments can't be big enough for the quality of the food!

Our babysitters, Sam and Ashley, have taken the week off work and are tirelessly (ok...they're tired too!) working like crazy to keep the kids entertained and corralled - not to mention helping with the service stuff, along side the kids.

Then there was "shoe day." Today, any folks not cooking or working in the clinic part of the trip watched 300+ people who can't afford to buy shoes, file through and sign up for shoes for their families...615 pairs total! It was quite a scene! In the middle of the day, these slips, one for each family were taken to a local store, where the staff there filled the orders for us, and we picked them up, paid and got them back to Howarth Center just in time to begin giving them out to everyone! It was a remarkable sight to see so many in our own community who need so much that we take for granted - ask me how many pairs of shoes I have and I won't want to answer after today...

One of our folks was coming into the building as an older man was standing by his car int he parking lot and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him quietly lift up the shoes he had been given and kiss the box.

One little girl, so excited about her new shoes, ran back and gave a 4 leaf clover to Melissa and a big hug, along with a "Thank you."

One man remarked at dinner that his feet already felt better in his new boots!

This is just a sample - I can't even tell you how many touching and amazing things have happened in the "doctor" part of all this - my heart melts thinking about it!

As I discussed with the team last night - we like to talk a lot about love in this country, and especially this group. But love was not made to just sit still - it goes and goes and goes after what it loves. We...love people...and we...are going.

This is the kind of love that God shows us - He loves us so much - but He was not ok with just being far away loving us - He chases us and runs after us - He wants us to find our true place in life, a better way, "More" than all the things that Americans spend their time running after and find themselves so empty and lost in - and the only way to really do it was to come Himself - as Jesus - because He loves us. This love - this is the kind of idea that changes worlds - revolutionary and wonderful - and right now...I'm basking in it...