A few pictures...

Joe's is in a small strip of four stores. Joes is on the end. Next to us is a convenient store. On the
end is another place that Joe's owns. We have been in the process of fixng this place up. This is where we will serve our thanksgiving meal and have children's programs. There is also a lot of people that want to start tutoring and haveing GED, ACT, SAT prep out of it. It once was a small diner, but had been empty for quite sometime. When a huge church in the area heard about what we were trying to do in and around this neighborhood, they decided to use their resources to help starting with man power and electrical skills.

This is the inside space being painted and cleaned!

Everything was pulled out into the parking lot to be cleaned and painted. While others cleaned the windows and painted the outside of the building.

Behind the orange paint is where the kitchen was and where we eventually want to start Angel Food out of.

You can see Joe's on the far left of the picture. The gast station/convenient store in the middle (blue) and then the start of new location on the far right. It will be painted the same as Joe's. It was incredible to see the Body of Christ join together to help with resources and skills that other parts might lack!

Just a few pictures

...but more pictures to come

Short Update...

I am sorry it has taken me awhile to write anything. I have started having to filter my blog more than normal. I realized that using specific names (i.e club names and people names) makes me easily seen on a search. Because of the opening of the newest club, I am having to be more secretive and protected with my words.

Excitement: One of my friends from next door gave me her phone number! Yes, we will more than likely get to hang out soon :).

The coffee shop had its first karaoke night. It went awesome. We will continue to have these every wednesday!

that is all for right now

...sorry

A few stories...

I have been here for a little over a month now. One thing that I am learning is patience. Waiting and trusting the Lord means sometimes you have to wait. However, I do want to share a few of the stories that I have heard or situations I have been a part of:

Bouncer next door- He comes in fairly regularly. He comes in a lot when I am here. Last Saturday, a night I wasn't supposed to work, I was here and he came in and played skipbo with me for a while. He started talking to me about his life and then brought up the topic of God. So i was more than willing to listen to his perspective. After explaining his views, he made a statement that has become a driving force in my prayers. he said "I just don't believe that God can work/do anything in a strip club." How this has stirred my heart. He may not believe that God can work in a club, but I sure do. Therefore, that is what i am praying for.

Dancer next door- She seems very independent and has a hard edge, but she is a tiny woman. Either way, she comes in a lot while I am here. Every time she comes in, I say hello and ask how she is doing. The 3rd time, she smiled when she first saw me working. The 4th time, she answered my question and asked how i was. The 5th time, she asked how i was before I even said anything to her. There has been a noticeable change in her demeanor whenever she is in here. The last time she came in, she started talking to me about dancing and what she thinks about it.

Surgery Man- I don't know his name, but he just walked in today and it was the first time i have seen him. He got his coffee and said he was on his way to surgery. I asked what he was having done. He explained that he is having ulcers removed and he has been throwing up blood. As he was headed out the door he said "My wife died, my daughter was murdered, my son drowned and my parents died...it has been unreal" and out the door he walked. I normally say as people are leaving "have a good day" but at this moment, I had no idea what to say. So i feebly suggested "stay warm." After kicking myself, I began to pray. I want him in here again. I want to be able to talk to him! Or i want someone to be able to talk to him or just be able to listen to him.

...to help direct prayers.

First time...

This past Friday, Me and two other women went to take our gifts to our neighbors. We had planned for almost 50 girls between the three clubs and soon found out that was an underestimation. There were, in fact, 70 girls between the our three little clubs along the street. Even that number will so be too small to include the new "high class" club going in on the left. We put a bath liquid item, nail polish or lip gloss, chocolate, and a free drink card in each bag. As soon as we had separated enough bags for the three clubs, we walked towards the biggest club. After walking in, we were warmly greeted by the doorman and the manager quickly journeyed to us. He began in conversation with one of us and next thing i knew, I was hearing our coffee shop advertised over the announcement speaker. The manager had taken it upon himself to send people from his club our way. (Umm, yes, of course you can do that!! Please send people to us from your club. You have no idea what you are doing :). After all three of us met him, we began to head out the door. The manager gently grabbed my arm and said that he wanted to talk to me for a second. I quickly replied that I had to help deliver the gift bags to the other two clubs and i couldn't stay. When Jamie turned back to help, he motioned her away as if to say "no, i just needed to talk to this girl (me)" However, i kinda reached toward Jamie and we trotted out the door together. Once outside, I breathed a huge sigh and said "thank you." We began to head towards the next club (the one with the least business) and walked in. After explaining why we were there, we walked towards all three of the girls that were working at the time. They were all sitting by the slot machine wasting time. When we handed them the box of bags we had prepared for that club, we saw their genuine smiles. They seemed genuinely joyful to receive anything from anyone. The last club we went into, we know the most people from. We went in and were warmly welcomed by the girls that new us. They smiled and gave us hugs.
Several of the girls have come in already and thanked us personally for the gift bags. How neat it was to be able to give them something without any expectation from them.
We are trying to do something like this once a month. We all three felt like the way was completely paved for us to go into all three of the clubs. What provision we had

...in the clubs :)

Slow..

Is hard!

I feel like things here are moving slowly. That is different from the pace that i most enjoy going at. However, I am constantly learning to be patient. I meet people regularly and have started making conscious efforts to get to know the community that I now live in.

Being here so far has been:
exciting
scary
frustrating
overwhelming
slow

Some things that we are trying to make happen:
1.We are looking to get a karaoke machine. I have been told 4 times by 4 different people that as soon as we get the karaoke set up, all of the people from our neighbor club will be in here. YEAH! So we are looking for the karaoke machine. I am trying to figure out how to get one.

2.We have planned/scheduled story and craft time for kids every Saturday. That will start in October!

3. I am trying to determine how/where i can serve best here.

While I wait for these things to get going, the Lord has been throwing me around a little (when i say a little, I really mean it feels like he is drop kicking me constantly) My thoughts and heart have been challenged in so many way: The roaches, the patience, the sp. warfare, my depravity.

However, in the midst of all those things He has given me people to show me where to focus my attention and to challenge my thoughts and attitudes.

One of the things that increases my affections for the Lord is wrestling with scripture. Right now I am wrestling with Matthew 5 (specifically vs. 38-42) Insight, anyone?

Things I have learned

It is exciting the things that I have learned since being in OK. I have learned these lessons in places that I would never have guessed.

lesson 1: Stop stereotyping

It was my unspoken understanding that people in poorer settings tend to be more democratic. It makes sense because democrats tend to focus more on the individual rather than the large organization. However, in Valley Brook, OK this is not the case. Most of the people that live here are rather anti democratic policy. They tend to prefer watching FOX news and will gladly stand in your face and argue politics if you fall on the more liberal side. It was such an interesting thing for me to see. I guess I need to learn that people really can't be placed in a box.

lesson 2: Insects can teach huge spiritual lessons

I have hated roaches for forever. Mostly because they are just so ugly and nasty and I think the are one of the most demonic creatures. With the house the blessing of a house to live in, came the blessing of thousands of awful demonic creatures. This has been a problem through the course of my stay that is now getting under control. As i was talking with my roommate about how they got as bad as they were, she explained that around 6 months ago, she started to see a few. Before she knew it, she wasn't even able to go in the kitchen anymore there were so many. I started to reflect on the reasons I hate roaches so much and a lesson hit me. Many times in our lives we begin to dabble in sin (whatever that may be). Maybe it is once or twice at first. A lie here, a spiteful word there don't seem like a huge deal. However, one time emerges into a second and a third and before you know it, sin has spread to an uncontrollable level. Like the roaches in the house, you don't realize it until someone comes in and says (me moving into the house) this is out of control. That is when restoration starts. It takes community (jamie and jessi and HGM girls) to help with the problem. However, nothing is going to change unless the root of the problem is addressed. Last night my roommate moved the fridge and stove in order to uncover the colonies living there. After spraying them completely, she will sweep them up and the issue will begin to lessen. Although I hate the problem, the pictures the Lord has allowed us to see in the midst of it is incredible.

These are just the things I have learned in the first week.

Strange happenings

This week has been so busy. I almost don't have any time that isn't allocated to some project or responsibility. That is wonderful from one standpoint because boredom was one of my fears coming here. Oh, but that has not been a problem. Boredom has been eradicated from my recent days in peculiar ways:

New experiences filled my days and nights: 1.Slam Poetry. I have maybe heard of this in passing, but in reality, I had no idea what it was. It was the Wednesday night activity of a church youth group. I left feeling motivated and enthralled at the great power of words. How thrilling to see the tongue (such a painful weapon of destruction) being used to motivate and encourage those that heard.

Thursday held some moments where I was scratching my head wondering "really?" A man who started a business to help nonprofits came into the coffee shop. He makes crosses and sells them in the coffee shop. One of the regulars was sitting in the shop talking about Obama's most recent speech. He was livid about Obama's new plan. However, this cross maker said that people just need to prioritize their finances. this is how the conversation went:
Regular: Tell me this who does the idea of having to have car insurance hurt?
Cross-maker: No one
R: Are you kidding me, a single mother has to feed her kids so she has to have enough money for gas and food to feed them, but if she is having to pay insurance she isn't able to feed her children. She gets stopped by police gets a ticket for no insurance and then can't pay anything else. Her car gets taken away and she has no way of working to feed her family.
CM: She just shouldn't drive then
R: She has to go to a job and to the store and to school.
CM: She has feet doesn't she?
R: Are you kidding me. Is anyone able to get a job these days? The jobs in walking distance are in the clubs.
CM: Silence
Jamie and I (thinking): really, are you serious. Do you ever take a second from your sheltered life with your wife being the worker to look at others in this world?

The conversation was way more heated and longer than that, but that was the main part. If the regular hadn't been here, i would have had a hard time not telling this guy off as well. The ignorance of this man made me so sick.


Thursday I also got to experience HGM's girls night. What a fun gab fest that turned into, surprisingly, I sat back in silence in order to soak it all in. On the foggy drive home, I hit a brick or a curb so hard that it tore two holes in my brand new tire's wall.

I walked to work friday morning to have enough time to play skipbo and talk with the regulars. Shortly after, Jamie came with her daughter and we journeyed home to attack the kitchen. With rain boots and big yellow gloves i was prepped to handle the thing that i hated so much: Roaches. Around 30 secs into our quest, I was done. It was at that point that Jessi opened a drawer and what can only be described as a herd of roaches ran out. I turned and walked straight into the living room. I chose to do work on the carpets instead. Jamie and Jessi quickly discovered the tribes of roaches and they did their best to gather courage and handle the situation. This was far worse than I have ever experienced. However, I honestly think this challenge is good for me.

Like John had said to me, it is easy for people to talk about helping and serving the poor. Rarely is it seen someone who can live like and with the poor. Although i would consider the house i live in to be on the up end of the neighborhood, i am definitely experiencing the "bug of choice."

On a different note: Jamie and I are in brainstorm mode trying to figure out how to go about getting into the clubs. As of now, our idea is to get woman-friendly gifts. Pray for our journey and the way to be completely paved.