nyc edition_day-3

i still haven't showered. i made a guy angry on the subway. i had dim sum for the first time. i didn't go in the empire state building. i tried to teach the kid that sprayed me in the head with silly string how to dribble a basketball. i got sprayed in the head with silly string. i beat elizabeth montez at knockout. i lost a game of soccer to 8-year-old zach with the rasta braids. i played an animal game with montez, the jamesons and 4 8-year-olds. i scraped and spackled an entry way with dwayne, jeremy and gary. i ate breakfast at a local diner.
i awoke around 730 to eat breakfast at the park slope diner. i was reading and had the sneaking suspicion they wanted me out of there. so i went back and relaxed until people got up and got ready. we had a meeting with pastor charlie at 930 and he gave us the rundown for our week. we were in there for a while.
during all of this, the other group staying with us was cleaning the place. i think they think we are messy.
most of the group started cleaning the kitchen and getting food to feed the homeless. amanda and montez made some terrific signs for our kidz klub. gary showed me, dwayne and jeremy how to scrape away the old wall in the entry way and spackle it over with new wall. this was fun since the ladders we had were older than us.
the kids slowly began to show up a little after 3. gary, jeremy and i took care of a few more labor projects while the rest of the group played with the kids. then we went back for group time. i had the 8-year-olds with montez and the jamesons. zach and his rasta braids did not want to join. he already knew the lesson (on creation) since he and his dad have been reading the Bible and they were in zachariah. when he came back to the group, we made our creation book crafts and stuck name tags on our foreheads with various types of animals written on them. the kids were good at this.
after we played some games in the gym and most of the kids left, zach and i went back and forth using a small basketball as a soccer ball. i think he has played soccer with his dad too. he was good. when he went home i played knockout with 6 or 7 people. it came down to me and montez. then it came down to me.
after most of the stragglers left, we all went and ate dinner. then everyone got ready for the evening with a nap and a shower. i chose neither. i mostly sat and debated whether or not to take a shower. then, as we were waiting on everyone to get ready, a couple kids came back with silly string. that was fun. then i tried to show one of them how to dribble a basketball. that was also fun. i'm not very good at basketball...i think little kevin got jipped. but i also think he had a good time, and so did the rest of the kids. there were a few that proved my foreboding feelings from yesterday...ok, most of them did. but they still seemed to kiiind of enjoy it, and we all made it through. thanks for your prayers! some of these kids have rough lives. it is easy to get frustrated when you don't know what they are going through. i will need to keep this in mind for tomorrow. please pray that i, and the rest of the group, can do that.
(specific kids that i remember need prayer: zach, jason, brian, kevin and irvin)
when everyone was ready, we headed to the empire state building. but with the train in front of us having a break emergency, slow walkers, picture takers and people wandering away from the group, we did not get there until dark. most of the people that went did not want to see the city at night. still not sure why.
we then went to time square again. everyone pretty much did their own thing here. dwayne and daniel went to watch some of the home-run-derby on tv, rachel helped gary, the jamesons had family night and got a picture out of the deal, and i went with the remainder to walk around. but when they went in to the m&m store, i decided to go exploring. i went up and down a few streets, tried to get in to the lion king backstage door, met an up-and-coming comedian named jose vega and had dim-sum for the first time at some small restaurant named john's shanghai. it was good, but the dipping sauce smelled like feet.
on our way back home i was taking pictures of everyone with daniel's camera. the scruffy guy sitting next to me reading his paper and doing a sudoku seemed thoroughly annoyed with this. he kept huffing and rolling his eyes. but i kept taking pictures. i think he got over it, or gave in.
now we are back at the church, sitting on the front porch. you can deduce what i am doing. belle and montez are talking to ife. dwayne is reading his lesson for tomorrow (i should be doing that...). amanda is reading her Bible, writing in her journal and listening to her ipod. daniel is drawing his sidewalk chalk masterpiece. oh, and i think montez just woke the neighborhood up with a laugh. and through all of this, i have not showered since last night. between sweating in the gym and walking through nyc, this is gross.
that was our day. if you have made it this far, i thank you. and i hope you have enjoyed your read. i also hope you will continue to pray for us. we have 4 more days of kidz klub left, and we are going to need some strength. pray that we can help this church make a difference. pray that God will use us while we are working, and while we are playing. finally, pray that He will show His infinite and wonderful love through us. this is all we really have to let the world know who we are and who He is. we can be knowledgeable and skilled debaters, we can yell fire and brimstone or calmly point out the beauty of nature. but if we are not loving, they won't see the One, True God.
we love you, and we will see you soon!