Osage Mission Trip- Day 3

Starting out pretty tired and slow, most students weren't to excited about going to their mission sites. But when they got there God started using them and turned the day around quickly. A different group of students went to the house that my group scraped. They started painting and it is already looking better. We are very excited to see the end product. Other groups went to sports camp and kids club. The group at kids club did a great job interacting and playing with the kids. There were a few boys that wanted to cause trouble but our youth guys stood by them and got them to participate just by being an example. Jake was one that really stooD out to me today. He had a kid that really wanted to break the rules, so he was able to play with him outside to calm him down and get him to participate with everyone else.

For church since it was Wednesday night, we went to a small church in Pawhuska where a preacher spoke about the Power of Jesus. It was a huge blessing. Most of our students have never experienced church like that, but once again, Juliann and I felt at home. He was a powerful speaker though and the students were hanging on every word.

For church group time we usually do a recap of the day, but I felt like we should talk about them theme of the day which was forgiving others. I really just wanted to recap and let them know how we are supposed to be different than the world, and forgiving others is one way we do that. Well little did I know that the Holy Spirit was at work. Some of our leaders started sharing some personal experiences they have had where they had to forgive someone. Then the students starting doing the same. Then the students started sharing about how they have been hurt by people and are trying to forgive them. It was a powerful night that some of our students needed. They were able to let some stuff go and now they know that they don't have to do it alone. We prayed for them and spent a few hours talking to some of them individually. These kids have seen so much and some of them have been hurt so bad. I just hope they can find God's comfort in their lives and will grow from their experiences. I know I will continue to pray for each one of them.