Love Begins Here

With an exciting few final weeks of planning underway, the Love Begins Here Team was more than ready to get to work today. Though our preparations today were not without hiccoughs, like forgetting the set of keys in Baraboo and someone forgetting their own pin number while checking out at the grocery store, the Holy Spirit provided in the way of spaghetti noodles and the events of the night going ever so smoothly.



(These ladies from the greater Baraboo area are ready to begin love in Pine Bluff!)

At 5:04pm this evening, 16 of our 21 youth this week had safely arrived, with some super cool chaperones to boot. (No need to worry - we were anticipating the late arrival of the other 5 young people and are still eagerly awaiting out final friends tomorrow morning.). Anyways, as the clock struck 5;05, a group got started on a delightful dinner of Lasagna Stoup, while the other half of these young missionaries headed out sided to challenge each other in various competitions. We even had the chance to learn some of the Native Pine Bluffian language. Lucky us.



(Core Team members Ned and Gina face each other in intense physical competitions.)

Anyways, as dinner neared completion, we took some time to get to know new friends and connect with friends from LBH's of the past, as well as be inspired to get to work at making our own stories. We had plenty of time to do so over the aforementioned dinner, which got rave reviews, thanks to the hard work of those who prepared it and Rachael Ray for giving us the Lasagna Stoup version of Strega Nona. We may have some left-overs on hand.



(Feeling like legit missionaries, these cousins jumped in willingly for dish duty.)

Post-dinner was followed by more jocularity and a round of root beer floats to celebrate Rudy's birthday. Happy 15th!! Now that we were all feeling comfortable with each other, we headed to the local crypt. Yes, it is as ballin' as it sounds. Over there, we did some sharing of and praying about the darkness in our lives and how we can avoid the light of Christ at times in our lives. Despite the heavy topic, our attempt at turning out the lights was filled with much laughter, both from the boys and the girls lairs. With all of the joy we experienced in only our first evening together, there is truly no telling what is to come during the next 5 days.

Please continue to pray for us as we head into the community for our first day of service tomorrow!

Location:Gammon Pl,Madison,United States