Day 4 as Seen Through the Eyes of Julie Loock

Happy 4th of July!

We had a busy day today. It started with getting up a half hour early (I really enjoyed that), so around 7:45am, and traveling to a government-run children's home called the DIF around 10:00am. We did VBS with the kids there and then ate lunch at "PDA park" across the street, appropriately named for the public displays of affection that go on there, although I never saw any. Maybe Jamie and Lucy a little...just kidding. Anyways, after that we went to a Delila's house. She's a widow that Back2Back has been serving and ministering to. We split into 3 groups to work on her house. One group painted, another (my group) dug a trench, and the 3rd did some electrical work. We were probably there for 3 hours or so, although it felt like a week for those of us who were out in that sun. Man! After that we came back to the house to eat dinner - the most amazing tacos ever - and were surprised with a mariachi band! (is that spelled right?) The trumpets were a little to loud for my taste, but it was awesome to see/hear one in person. Then we debriefed and, of course, played some Mafia. For those who don't know, it's a group game where players are assigned specific roles and are expected to lie, deceive, and manipulate one another to win.  Just ask us about it when we're back..we'd love to explain. And don't worry parents, it's a widely accepted game at Christian colleges/organizations, and church youth groups. It was a great day altogether. I've never seen anyone work so hard in my life. The 4 men in my group who dug the trench with me (Dr. Jay, Jonathan, Austin, and Alex) worked themselves to the bone, and never complained once. Not even when we hit about 3 feet of rock stretching across where we needed to dig towards the end. We ended up having to dig out of the way a little to make a new path but they just continued digging as if it didn't even annoy them the slightest. Even Amy Rudge came over towards the end and started to dig...with her broken back! So cool to work with such hard-working brothers and sisters in Christ.

Hope you all lit off a firework for us! See you soon!