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.

What are you doing?

Many have asked me what I am doing this summer and I honestly did not know. Well, times have changed; I'm in Houston and I FINALLY know what I am doing this summer. For the next two months I will be a Critter* at the Baptist Mission Center. The BMC serves the community by providing food, clothing, ESL classes, and afternoon clubs for all ages 4-17. There are three community centers: Gano, Fletcher and Joy. Critters help run all the services. Volunteers come through out the summer to help at the centers as well. They come in groups from all around the country; many individual volunteers come from Houston. We need them because the BMC offers so much! When volunteers come they help with the different ministries. For example, while Critters are teaching Bible lessons volunteers are keeping the kids quiet and still. Unfortunately, us Critters are on our own for the first week and volunteers will start coming the second week.
We work Monday through Thursday. The days will be very long! Fridays we have house meetings and do the chores. Saturdays will most likely be free. On Sundays we go to different churches. Many of them ask us to speak and lead worship. They also feed us. A lot of people feed us. All of our meals are donated by people, especially by churches. We live in the Mildred McHorter Missionary Building. It is right next to the Gano community center. The building is very new; it just opened up a couple of months ago (picture above). Sometimes it does not feel like we are on a mission trip because the building is very nice. Everything, including the money to build the building was donated. It's amazing what people have given in the name of Jesus. Someone donated a brand new 2007 Toyota minivan anonymously; a former Critter donated about $3,500 to decorate our lounge (picture to the left) and it is nice!
We have had orientation all this past week. We start the actual work this upcoming week. Please pray for strength during the first week. We know that our days are going to be busy from the time we wake up to the time we lay our head back on the pillow. Even though we know that we will have long work days, we are still very excited to work with the community!
*They call us Critters because many, many years ago the previous director got really mad at some of the summer missionaries because of something stupid that they did. She tried to avoid saying a bad word and critter is what came out of her mouth. Ever since then, summer missionaries at the BMC have been called Critters. It's a big thing! When we visit churches the bulletin say that "the Critters are here!"