Welcome to Miami!

3 days in and Miami is absolutely amazing! Our team of 40 students and 21 staff (including 7 children...all of whom are absolutely adorable) is really great! Our living condition is not rough...to say the least! We are amazingly blessed to be staying in a condo styled hotel at the Double Tree Grand Hotel. Our balcony overlooks the bay and the downtown skyline so everyday is a constant reminder of what a beautiful creation the Lord has made. My roommates, all six of them, are all so different but we each bring something great to the room! I am staying on a pull-out couch with a girl named Katherine from Mississippi State. She has quickly become one of my very good friends on project and I am so happy to share that "comfortable" little couch with her :) The first three days have mostly consisted of the job hunt. With the economy the way it is and 50 students looking for a job for only 10 weeks...it has been pretty disheartening. Please be praying that all of the members of our team are able to find jobs and use those as our main ministry focus. Yesterday Katherine, Leah, and I had an interview at Brookstone. Which was neat...but what was even cooler was that we got the chance to talk to one of the employees while we were waiting about why we were in Miami and what we are doing here. His name is Lester and he is probably going to come to church with us on Sunday, he was really interested and said that he does not have a lot of friends! So we are excited to hang out with him more!! I am really excited to start getting into the community. Miami is a very dark city and satan has a heavy hand hanging over it but I am excited to meet and interact with members of the community. We are splitting our team into three teams and reaching out to the University of Miami, Florida International University, and to the homeless and disenfranchised! We will also be working with a women's crisis center who helps preganant teens! There is so much to look forward to and I am just so excited about what is in store for the rest of the summer! Please be praying for untiy within our team and that we are able to hold each other accountable and love one another just as Christ has loved us!

Stay tuned!

Jess :)