HOME SWEET HOME

I'm home! Thank you all so much for praying for me. I could not have gotten through the summer without it.
Please continue to pray for the move. Their is a lot that we have to do in the next week :)

Our first Sunday
GANO BABY!!!

After dark games!!!

Big Move

I'm sorry that this announcement is not personal, but I do not have enough time to call you all.
Titus and I have decided that it is best if we live together. He just made it to Fort Bragg, North Carolina this past weekend. We have a townhome on post. Unfortunately, this means that I have to take a semester off from school.
Please pray for us. Thank you!

Teen/Pre-Teen lock-in

Me with some of our pre-teens playing Ziggity.

Yesterday, Friday, we had the teen/pre-teen lock in. In the past, BMC and the kids went to First Baptist of Houston to worship, eat food, hang out and play games. The church is really big! It has two full size basketball courts, three racket ball rooms, an indoor track, a bowling alley, air hockey, foosball, and pool. The lock in is usually over night; but we had four people scheduled to leave today so the event was from 4pm-11pm. This summer we were not able to get First Baptist for the whole time so all the teens & pre-teens from Gano, Fletcher and Joy met in the Gano gym for icebreakers, pizza & worship. After that we carpooled to the church, it took about three trips, and hung out until 10. Then the kids were carpooled to their centers where their parents picked them up. That day one of the Fletcher teens got saved. Jonathan prayed for her and it was amazing!

NOSE and APPENDIX

Guess what! I got my nose fractured! Isn't that cool? I was playing basketball with the teens and one of the other Critters, Kieth, hit my nose with his GIGANTIC head. No, I am just playing. He has a normal sized head, but it hurt! There was blood everywhere. My nose was swollen and ugly! I went to the doctor on Tuesday and got an X-ray of my nose. The next afternoon they called me and told me that it was fractured! Thursday morning I went to a cosmetic surgeon and he told me that I do not need surgery and that the swelling will go down. And it has! The pain has also lessoned. My mouth felt like my gums were swollen too, and my head was hurting a lot. I have been really tired this past week, but today I feel much better! I have a lot of energy and a little pain.
Thursday night Daniel, one of the Puerto Ricans was sick. He went to the hospital on Friday and found out that he had appendicitis. Friday night they took out his appendix. All three of the Puerto Ricans were supposed to leave today but of course, Daniel did not leave yet. Chris is staying with him in the hospital. Jonathan is on his way to Puerto Rico. Please pray for him because he does not like to fly and he is by himself.

Saying good-bye to Jonathan at the airport.
Lyndsey left this morning. She is safely back home!
This is a picture of the Gano girls!

Also, please pray for healing for Daniel and myself.

At the hospital with Daniel.
(from left to right)
Momma Glenda, Christa, Chris, Me, Joe, Morgan, Josh,
Ashley, Noemi, Haley, Kiely, Kieth, Viviana and Kristen
and Daniel is in the bed :)

Hillsong Concert

This past Sunday we went to a Nigerian church in the morning. I gave my testimony and had a lot of fun! This church clapped and moved when we sang, so I felt at home. We also celebrated Chris' birthday at the church.

That evening we went to a concert.
For those of you who know who Hillsong is, I went to a free HILLSONG concert!
For those of you who do not know who Hillsong is, I went to a FREE Hillsong concert!
The concert was at Lakewood Church, Joel Osteen's church.
I had never heard of Hillsong before this summer. I fell asleep listening to their music every night last week so that I could enjoy the concert. The concert was pretty good, but I barely knew the songs. I was happy that they had the words on the screen, although they always appeared after the part had already been sung. The Critters had a great time!

At the church.
Can you believe that this is a church?!?

Religion Day

This past Saturday we went around Texas exploring different religions and what they believe. It was an eye opening experience. Some people actually believe in waking their Gods up, changing their clothes, feeding them, and putting them to sleep. If you have never visited houses of worship of other religions, I would encourage you to do so. It is completely different from reading about them. The visitation makes you appreciate what Jesus did for us at a higher level!

Director's Night

Every summer each of the centers (Gano, Fletcher & Joy) spend an evening together away from the work environment to go do something fun. There is a spending limit; this summer it was $15. Basically, the group has two options. Eat at a nice restaurant and do something really cheap or eat fast food and do something expensive, like going to play laser tag or to the movies. However, if you go to a restaurant you have to remember that the drink and tip is included in the $15.
The Fletcher and Joy teams were told what they were going to do. Fletcher went to a honeybee concert outdoors and to Chilis. Joy played putt-putt. The Gano crew decided as a group what we wanted to do. It was kind of a long process, but we finally decided on eating at Red Robin and going to James' house (the Gano director) to swim and play games. We had a lot of fun!

The Gano group (from top left --> bottom right)
Joy*, Clayton, James, Lyndsey, me, Noemi, Keith, Chris and Haley)
Ms. Dora the Assistant Director was also there.

*Joy is James' wife; and Clayton is their son. Clayton is 6 months old and Joy is 10 weeks into another pregnancy! They would like to have 5 kids by the time she's 35, and adopt 2 to have 7 kids altogether.


Chris just turned 22 on the 15th. We celebrated his birthday at Red Robin. Noemi and Kieth smashed his face into his ice cream, birthday dessert. It was funny!

Needed Prayer

Alfredo, Lizeth, Cindy and I during kids club.

Please pray for the kids who come to kids club and the community that we minister to. I have seen some things and heard some things that have touched my heart. We have been told to expect things like this; but it's not real until you have first hand experience with it. Please pray for protection over the kids and that through everything that we do we can show them love. By showing them love we are wanting them to see that we are loving because we know Jesus as our personal savior and that they can be loving too through excepting Him as their personal savior.

Lyndsey and Jackie (Cindy's older sister)

Salvation has already began to take place this summer. Yesterday one of our preteens, Jackie, prayed The Prayer with Lyndsey. After accepting the Lord, we gave her a Teen Bible. She was VERY happy! This week has been very hard but God blessed us with a happy ending!

Mail Update

Thank you so much to those who wrote me! I have gotten two packages and a lot of letters! My Baptist Campus Ministry sent me a care package of SpongeBob things and other gifts. I have been so excited that I have not even opened it. I just look at it and feel loved! Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

Me and my gifts from the College Park BCM.
Some other letters that people sent me.
As promised, it's posted on my bed for all to see!

SPECIAL VISITOR

This past weekend was really fun! On Friday we had our final Critter come. His name is Joseph and he is from California. Unfortunately, Lydia and Angie left to return home. Lydia (AR) has orchestra camp coming up and Angie is going on another mission to Brazil! Please keep the both in your prayers.
We took Angie to the airport at 7 on a Saturday morning! SHE IS DEFINITELY LOVED if we were willing to get up that early on the only day that we get to sleep in. Later in the day the Critters took Lydia to the airport and then went to NASA (HOUSTON we have a problem). After NASA, everyone went to Fudruckers.
However, I was not there in the afternoon. My husband came to visit me! After a very long trip, he finally made it to the BMC Saturday morning. On Sunday, Titus came to church and lunch with us. We visited Sagemont. During Sunday school Noemi and I talked to the single adults about the BMC. After the 15 minute talk we went to the college Sunday school class. This church is huge! It had a greyhound bus that drove to the youth building across the street. We attended the 10:30 service. After service, the church took us out for lunch to a steak house. That evening some of the Critters went to a coffee house church and others went to the park and played in the mud. I spent the evening with Titus!

Forth of July

Happy 4th of July! Hope you and your family had a great holiday.

Chris and I trying to look cool @ the Astros game!The Critters went to an Astros game. They lost to the Philies; but we had a great time! Ms. Glenda and Mr. Wayne (our house parents) made eggs, bacon and biscuits for breakfast. Every morning we have cold cereal, poptarts, etc. so that was a real treat! At noon we left for the game. They gave us free mini flags at the game. We were really high up in the nose bleed section. The Astros baseball field is called Minute Maid Park; the stadium has a retractable roof. Unfortunately, it was raining during the game.

(from left to right, top to bottom)
Kody, Daniel, Chris, Josh, Lydia, Lyndsey, Noemi, me, Angie, Christa, Kieley and Kieth.

After the game we came back to the house for dinner. Afterwards we went to go see fireworks. There was so much traffic! People were even parked on the freeway! I have not seen fireworks in a very long time; therefore, I was amazed at the new ones. There were fireworks that made smiley faces, hearts, and 3D cubes. Our 4th was great!

Can you see the fireworks behind me?

I love SpongeBob!

Noemi and I with our free mini flags.

*Thank you to all who serve our country... Titus.

Adoption Day

Morgan, Miss Anita and IToday we had Adoption Day. Every year on this day the director asks people to take the Critters out and do something that the BMC could not afford to do. I was paired with Morgan and Miss Anita adopted us today.Ice skating with Morgan

Morgan is my shopping buddy when we go to malls. It was only perfect that Miss Anita took us to the Galleria which is a four story mall that has a high rise hotel in it! Morgan and I went ice skating in the mall. Afterwards we picked Miss Anita's friend up, Ruth, and went to Olive Garden for dinner. Afterwards we went to the movies in Memorial City Mall and saw Ratatouille. She also gave us $25 gift card to Target. We had so much fun!Everyone else went to Galveston which is a small island 40 miles from Houston just off the coast of Texas.
The guys (Josh, Keith, Daniel, Jonathan and Chris) went to a water park and on their way helped a boy who tried to commit suicide on the freeway (long and gory story!).

Angie and Noemi rode a ferry.

Ashley (3rd time Critter from KY who came a couple weeks after us) and Christa went riding on a speed boat that got them soaked!

Kylie and Viviana went to Museums and the Melting Pot.Lyndsey and Lydia road a ferry too.

Address

I would like to give you my address. If you have ever been on a mission trip, gone to camp, or just left home for awhile you know what it feels like to be homesick. I miss you all! Many people here get mail from their family members and churches. A few of us were talking about how we do not get any mail. If the Lord places it on your heart to send us mail here is the address:
Gano Mission Center
Attn: Brittany Davis or Noemi Padilla or Jonathan Bracero
1815 Gano Street
Houston, TX 77009
If you have any experience with teaching little kids please send us some ideas. We and the kids could use some fresh teaching styles.
Just a little postcard with "Hi!" on it is a way to support us. We will put it on our beds for all to see!
(I hope that's enough advertisement to get some mail!)
Thank you!

My Class

Here is an update on my class. I have taught Monday through Thursday for the past three weeks. This past week was a trying week. The week before I had a kid who could not read. Last week I realized that over half my class cannot read. I find it very hard to teach these lessons to kids who have not grown up in the church, who do not have English as their first language, and on top of that, cannot read. But, through God, all things are possible!
This past Thursday the lesson came out of Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43. I am trying to use more visuals so that my kids understand. That day I used the felt board. One of the boys asked me why the devil takes people to the "lake of fire" (hell is considered a curse word to them, regardless if it's biblical). I got to share with the kids about why the devil does that and how accepting Jesus will save them from going to hell! I was touched because questions not only mean that they are paying attention, but that they are understanding and asking questions about things that they do not understand.
I have also been doing the memory verse in Spanish and in English to make sure that they understand it. This also helps me learn Spanish biblical vocabulary.
Please continue to pray for all of the kids and us teachers that we may plant seeds in them that will grow long after we leave. If you have any teaching aids or suggestions, please send them. We could really use them. Thank you!

Ribbon Cutting

On Sunday, June 24th we had the ribbon cutting of the new building. This building was finished a week before we arrived. It still needs furnishings, like pictures and things. This place had to be spotless! We spend Friday morning and all day Saturday cleaning. As a reward, Ginger took us to Comedy Sports. It was an improv comedy show. The ribbon cutting went well! Critters were stationed in various rooms to explain the room to all who were there. Each room had a dollar amount of how much was needed to finish it.
The best part of the whole was to meet Ms. Mildred McWhorter. She is a former director of the Baptist Missions Center; she was here for many years and touched many lives. Ms. McWhorter is the woman who named us Critters!! It was a blessing to be able to meet her.The 2007 Critters with Ms. McWhorter.

Crazy Things

God sure has been blessing us! Tuesday morning an elderly woman came to get interviewed to receive food. Noemi was signing her in when her head began to spin (not in an Exorcist type of way). The lady then began to shiver. A man who came into the center told us to get cold towels to wrap around her neck. I was in the food pantry the whole time, but the towels worked until the ambulance came to get the woman. This event frightened Noemi, as you can imagine; but she is much better. God placed them man there for the a reason! He only came to get a Bible and he ended up possibly saving the senior's life.

At the Taste of Texas with my heart-shaped-chicken

Tuesday evening we went to the Taste of Texas. It is a well known steak house in Houston. The owners are Christian and usually have the Critters come once a summer for free! The cheapest steak on the menu is about $23 so it's a big deal for them to invite us. The restaurant played only Christian music. I have never been to a restaurant that did that. The atmosphere was very nice; there were historic Texas pieces placed along the walls. I gave up red meat so I was the only one who had chicken but it was really good! While I was there I thought to myself "I'm in Texas in a REAL Texas steak house!"

Ginger (BMC Director) and I at the Taste of Texas

The whole gang (15 Critters, 3 Interns, 2 House Parents & 1 Director)
eating at the Taste of Texas.The Taste of Texas does us a favor by inviting us to eat there but it comes at a big price. We have to leave Kids Club early. They want us at the restaurant before the rush of paying customers. Therefore we have be there and ready to order by 5pm. Kids Club is from 3-5 so we left about an hour early. However, Seoul Baptist Church was our first volunteer group at Gano. The teens youth group came. Seoul is a Korean church in Houston. They have came to the Baptist Mission Center five out of the last six years. They were a great, hard working group! I have to admit they were the first group of Christian Koreans I have ever met. I do not mean the in a negative way. I have met Koreans before; but I did not know their faith. The presence of the group spoke to me because they reminded me that God loves us all the same, weather you are Black, White, Mexican or Korean.

Please continue to pray for me. I am starting to get a little homesick. I have never wanted to live in a dorm and now I am sharing a bedroom with nine other girls. It is a new experience, not a bad one though. Kids Club is going well! Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray that as I minister to these kids that I am explaining it in a way that they understand. I want them to have Jesus in their heart just as we have Him in our hearts.

Weekends

Note: The following four posts are short because I would like to catch you up on what has been happening but the internet has been down.

Weekends are very nice! We get the time off that is much needed. We usually will do something fun together on Friday night. We also get Saturdays off. Usually we can sleep in late and then go do something as a group together. Lately our free time has consisted of going to they symphony, riding the metro and the best of all: going to the malls! All the malls that we have been to so far have had ice rinks in them!Myself, Kody, Johnathon, Noemi and Angie
on our way to another adventure.Yeah, it's pretty gross; but how many people
can say that they picked Abe Lincoln's nose?
Downtown riding the Houston Metro

Fridays

On Friday mornings we stay around our beautiful home. First we, the Critters, have a meeting with the BMC director, Ginger. Then we break off into a site groups (Gano, Fletcher and Joy) for a meeting. Then we all join together again in the dining room (pictured below) for a meeting with all staff. After this meeting the Critters do chores around the house, such as cleaning the dorms, the floors and the vans. After lunch we go to our sites to clean and prepare to pre-teen club. Pre-teen club is from 3-5. Pre-teen club is a lot like teen club. We play games and sports with the kids for an hour and a half and then we have a Bible study for a half hour. Dinner is at 5:30pm. We have Friday nights and Saturdays off.
(These last three posts have been short because I want to let you know what is going on, but the internet has been down. My apologies.)
Please continue to pray for myself, all the Critters, and the BMC as a whole.

Food Interviews

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the exact same. From 9am to 2pm we interview people who come to the Gano center for food. People are interviewed in the gym and then go to the food pantry to get the food. I will work in the pantry on these days because I am the food pantry assistant. Haley, the food pantry director, makes a "grocery list" of what to distribute for the day; we use what we have the most of. We put bags in grocery carts and go around the pantry preparing the bags so that they are ready when the people leave the gym. We have three different carts labeled by family size: 1-3, 4-6 and 7+.
This past week was slow; but I'm told that it can get really busy. Please pray for the families that come in. They really need the food to feed their family. Many have at least three kids. Pray that we touch their lives so that they can spend money on the necessities in life and not on pleasures. Thank you!

Senior Day

So far I have told you about the schedule for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursdays are the days for the seniors in the community. They come early in the morning and hang out all day. They talk, play games and have fun. I am in the pantry for morning because we give the seniors food. We usually distribute 75 bags. We prepare the foods that we will give them on Wednesday afternoons, if we have time. This past week's bags contained mac & cheese, a bag of rice, a can of green beans, a can of soup, some snacks and a package of meat. At 11am we stop to listen to the speakers, one in English and one in Spanish. After the seniors eat we pass out their food bags. Those who do not get a food bag will receive a bag of produce. This past week we gave out potatoes, carrots, and green beans.
The seniors come because (1) they need the food and (2) they would rather be at the Gano center than at their homes. Please keep these seniors in your prayers. They do not have people to talk to at home. Pray for their spirituality, their health, their families, and their finances.
Thank you.

First Day Teaching KIDS CLUB

Noemi, Kieth and I preparing for KIDS CLUB

Today was my first day teaching kids club! I was very nervous. The only teaching that I had ever done was with college kids. I prayed about it and prepared last night. The lesson went great! It was about the story of Jesus calming the storm. I told the kids the story and then I had them act it out. I think the lesson was too short because I was the first one done, but they understood it and enjoyed it. Noemi's and Lyndsey's classes went well too. Please continue to pray for our teaching the kids.

KIDS CLUB

Summer Assignment

The group welcoming Lydia after she spent the night stuck in Dallas.

I have been given my summer assignment! I will be working at the Gano Mission Center. There are 14 missionaries here. I am working with Noemi from Texas, Lyndsey from Illinois, Christopher from Puerto Rico and Kieth from Louisiana. Daniel (PR), Viviana (TX), Lydia (AR) and Josh (OH) are at Fletcher and Jonathon (PR), Christa (FL), Kieley (TN), Morgan (LA) and Angie (SC) are at Joy. As you can see, we are from all over.
Noemi and I at Gano.

Gano only has food ministry. We have kids club, teens club, and pre-teens club. Monday mornings we plan for the week and in the afternoons we go to Moody Park to play with the kids; hopefully they will want to come to kids club afterwards. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we interview people for food ministry. We get a lot of homeless people and single mothers. We also get mothers whose husbands spend their money on the wrong things. For example, we did a prayer walk the other day. Some of the houses look like they are barely standing, but they have cars that are not even two years old in the driveways. On Thursdays we have our senior ministry. The come and play dominoes and do arts and crafts. Critters just hang out with them and eat lunch with them. Two ministers come and preach for half an hour each, one in English and one in Spanish. Gano also has a lawn care ministry; I do not believe that I will be a part of that.
I am the food pantry assistant for Gano. I will help load the food truck, take it to Joy, and then bring it to Gano. I will unload the food in the food pantry, keep it organized, and distribute the food to the people that we interview. Also, I am a teacher at kids club. I am teaching ages 6 and 7. Please pray for me in both ministries so that I can glorify God through all of it. No one leaves Gano without hearing the Gospel.Lyndsey, Me, Kieley and Christa after Gano Block Party.

Noemi and I at the Joy Block Party.