Day Two in Portland

We awoke to a beautiful day in northern New England.  Our group is divided into two, based on preparation for two days of Kids Club.  YEsterday one group worked in the soup kitchen all day, while the other group painted a public housing unit.  Today we had new assignments.  One group prepared for our first day of kids club while the other group took their turn at painting and yard work for the Portland Housing Authority.
Once again we were proud of our youth.  The preparation our group engaged in really showed.  In our meetings we had rehearsed the skit each group had for kids club.  We also practiced a classic campfire song, "Boom Chicka Boom," and our youth pulled it off verse after verse, to the delight of the children.  Elisabeth is a pro at the kids club stuff and had all the crafts ready to go.  So Kids club was a success with a large group of children (mostly from African refugee families).
The group that worked hard outdoors came back tired, but once they had a few moments to sit we all got back to work.  Our next assignment late in the afternoon was to decorate the hall for a dance party for the neighborhood kids.  They really make the most of this facility in service to the community (and they make the most of having our youth here ready to help)!
Pastor Dale

Today was a really crazy day so far. My group was assigned to work with the Kids' Club here. Kids from the area came to the Root Cellar. We served them a free lunch, played games with them, performed a skit for them to teach them about patience (the theme of the week), taught and sang them songs, and helped them decorate wooden chests to take home. Altogether we were with them for around three hours! They were all very sweet, even if they were super crazy, and hanging out with them was so much fun. Today is one that I definitely won't forget, not just because of the unique experience, but because of the unique kids that we got to know and the unique friendships that we formed with them. Luckily we will probably be seeing them more throughout the week. Right now it's about 4:30 we're all pretty exhausted, but we can't rest yet. Tonight the Root Cellar is having a dance party for the kids so we have to prepare for that now, eat dinner, then go to the dance. It's going to be a long day, but a rewarding one.
Gianina