AZ random stories

+ My team met G when two nights in a row, she brought these elaborate and delicious cakes she had made for our teams. Come to find out later that she hadn't been going to Amadeo for that long and she lived in San Clemente, the apartment community where we were doing VBS. In fact, she was one of the first people from that community to go to Amadeo and when there was enough momentum to start a home group there, it was hosted at her apartment. She knows all her neighbors well enough to influence them, she's friendly, engaging, and connects people to one another - she has a good reputation among many. She's a textbook example of a person of peace.

+ All through the week, Ben brought in different people to speak on various topics. After every single session, students would gather around the speaker to dive in to the topics with more depth - sponges and vultures. Learning is an intentional posture.

+ J&S run Re:Store, the sister organization that serves to help people in the community with food, clothing and utility assistance. J used to be in a bike gang, wears a lot of leather, has a ton of tattoos and has a wild past. But he also has an enormous amount of clarity about his reality now - that God saved him and prepared him for his job now, helping run Re:Store. Oh and volunteering at the public library two days a week. [Oh and don't you love the name of Re:store?]

+ Amadeo reminded me of the church in Acts 2. There were people at the Cloud's house almost all the time and every time I came in, someone was playing the guitar. Stuff was being shared all the time to meet needs - cars, food, a refrigerator, a mattress - sometimes needs that weren't even shared outloud yet... Re:store was donated half a pallet of eggs [that's 5000 eggs!]

+ We drove back from the Grand Canyon on Saturday and drove through Sedona with a quick stop for dinner. On the way home, AR talked for a few minutes about our team and kicked off a time for everyone to say encouraging things about each other, which lasted about 90 minutes. Always amazing listening to students say why they love each other. Even more special this time because our two girls jumped in.

+ Amadeo hangs out with the homeless every Friday evening. Actually, two people from Amadeo are point leaders for this. Lots of other people have come alongside and many, many of them aren't even interested in 'church.' They even started a little org for this. Ben tells a story of one guy totally disinterested in church giving a ride to a homeless person to church but waiting for them in the car through the whole service. There's something significant when a church is doing something unchurched people dive in to.

+ RyanAyl had his wrist healed during one of the healing prayer sessions. I don't know what you think about healing prayer - I'm not sure I even know what to think. But we did it because Jesus said we should. RyanAyl will be doing an informal internship with Ember this coming school year, tell you more about that later.