Our blogger tonight is Cathy Baumann. Cathy is a member at Ballwin Baptist. She and her husband have attended mission trips with us in the past and joined us this week.
What a hot day it was, but God is so good. Today was our fun day and we took a trip Columbus, Kentucky and visited a museum in a state park where a civil war battle took place. It was the first battle that Ulysses Grant was the commander of the Union Army. They had a snack shack there, so lunch was sandwiches and eating in a pavilion overlooking the river. We had a team devotion of Win Lose and Draw with the emphasis on what our mission trip was all about. After a quick trip back to the snack shack for ice cream, we were on our way back to Charleston to get prepared for the Kid’s Club. We hit the ground running with having to prepare hamburgers on a grill, get our stations ready and get the sound system up and running. There were many calls that day asking if we were having the event outside since it was so hot, and we told them we were going to be outside and they said they would not be coming. We prepared ourselves mentally for fewer kids. As 4:30 approached a few kids started coming and then a few more and before we knew it we had at least 20 kids more than last night for a total somewhere around 90 of community kids. 3 teen girls were watching from the boundaries of the property and Pastor Dean invited them to join us and they came and said they would be back. These kids have tough exteriors, but they are longing for something better and we know that Jesus is the answer. We try to show the love of Jesus in each activity and I am so thankful that God has allowed Steve and I to come on this trip with our dear friends at Genesis. Tomorrow please pray that the community will come for the clothing drive. We literally have thousands of clothes to give away, some with the tags still on them and we so desire to show God’s love by giving them something they need. Whatever the outcome, the clothes will be used in the area, whether a gift from Genesis or given to a teen shelter or other clothing charities in the community. Thank you for your prayers. We truly feel them and know that God’s love is being shown this week.