Monday's Post

Hi senders,
Jessie here. Today is the third day of the mission trip and we started it off with a great breakfast [Editor's note: made by the boys :)]. Then us girls headed out to the We Will Go coffee shop together. When we got back to the VOC house, Sam Pollard, the volunteer coordinator, came to lead us to the work site we will be at for most of the week. There we met Greg and Bobbye. Greg has tongue cancer and so he gets tired much faster. This week we will be serving their family by painting their house and fixing their kitchen floor. Mrs. Kishbaugh and I worked together on chipping off loose paint on their porch. Allie helped Mr. Kishbaugh tear up the kitchen floor and bring it outside. Everyone else worked on chipping paint or washing the house. One of the bigger challenged was the problem with the wasps because they surrounded the ladder so we could not chip the paint off of one side of the house. 
The highlight of our day was the opportunity to hear John Perkins speak to us. We read his book so we felt very privileged to see him in person. He spoke to us about racial reconciliation. He told us that God did not create two different races (black and white), he created one human race. He spoke about how reconciliation begins at the cross, at a common ground. John Perkins said that the whites and blacks must forgive each other, and forgiveness is only found at the foot of the cross. Reconciliation comes from conversations of love and understanding. Today was a great start to the week ahead.

Sending thanks for your prayers and support,
Jessie