Park Road Presbyterian Church

First Presbyterian arrived first at 12:30 this afternoon and headed into Northview Heights to partner with KABOOM. They quickly got to work on helping with the Playground build. They filled wheelbarrows full of mulch, played with the neighborhood kids, picked up trash and had a great time! The Mayor of Pittsburgh even showed up for the ribbon cutting of the playground! First United Methodist arrived around dinner time, and both teams got quickly settled. During our meeting, we were likened to Christopher Columbus, Louis and Clarke and Amelia Earhart, and even had a ribbon cutting ceremony! We are the groundbreakers, the explorers of Pittsburgh! This is our first year, our first week, our first day in this new and exciting city, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us, and for the people we will be meeting!

God showed up every hour of today. During breakfast, we had a local social worker come in and speak to us about the refugee population of Pittsburgh, and how they can get acclimated to culture when they arrive. After breakfast, we went into the community of Northview Heights to worship with Church of our Savior. The church was so welcoming and Pastor Diana received us with open arms. They are so excited for us to running a VBS and Sports camp through out the week, and so are we! After church, we went down to the Strip District, Pittsburgh's cultural district. We got to eat food from Poland, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries! It was so much fun to explore, and see the many different nationalities that make up Pittsburgh represented. This evening we had an African night! The church that we are sleeping at, Cornerstone Church, is home to many refugees from Burundi, Africa and they wanted to put on a Choir performance for us. Some of the African ladies and teens came early to church to start preparing the meal for us. Dinner was delicious and the choir joined us for dinner. During the performance, both us and choir were able to share some testimonies about how God is working in our lives. It was a powerful night full of music in Swahili and Kirundi, and of relationships being built. Tonight during the meal and performance, three different churches came together as one. Stories were shared and friendships built over a meal, just as Christ had done. This is what the body of Christ looks like, and it's a powerful thing. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” He was with us tonight, and was seen and felt in all aspects of the day. God is so good, and we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

This morning was full of work projects from scraping old paint, cutting brush, digging out stumps, and all around yard work in preparation for tomorrow's planting. The team worked hard and got a lot accomplished and are excited to continue working on them. This afternoon we led a VBS and a sports camp. Fifty kids showed up for VBS, and even some of the youth girls and parents hung around to see what was happening. The kids had a blast and learned about how God provides for all their needs. Sports camp went well, and the teens had a great time playing football and basketball. A lot of great relationships are being built, and one of the church ladies told us how happy she is that we are there serving with their church and in their community. She also said how she felt like we were all old friends and how excited she was to be spending the next few days with us. This is what we are striving for. To build relationships! After dinner, the rain started to come, but God answered our prayer and kept it away so we could go on the Duquesne Incline. We got an amazing view of the city, and were able to spend time in worship and praying for the needs of Pittsburgh. We are excited to see how God is going to break down walls in Northview Heights and in Pittsburgh.

Today was a busy day! Work projects continued, and so much got accomplished! While working on the brush clearing and landscaping, a few of the community kids showed up to hang out and help the team. After lunch, a few people went out and got the word out to even more kids about the VBS and Sports Camp that was happening at Church of our Savior. We had 55 kids show up today for VBS, and a few new faces at the Sports Camp. Some of the teenage girls gathered and painted nails and just hung out. It was a great day at VBS, and we really got to share even more about who Jesus was, because some of the kids had never heard of Him. How amazing that God chose us to be the ones to share Jesus with these kids! After VBS finished up, we headed out to Primanti's for the traditional Pittsburgh sandwich- Italian bread, meat, provolone cheese, tomato, slaw, and fries! We really enjoyed the sandwiches, and have come to realize that Pittsburgher's love to put fries on things! We ended the night with a team meeting and talked about our highlights, before breaking apart and praying for each other and the community. It was a great way to finish the day. God has been so good, and we can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Work projects were awesome today! So much got accomplished at both sites that our team was working at. God kept the thunderstorms away that threatened all morning, and we were able to finish up some of the painting projects and make a huge dent in the brush clearing. We wrapped up our final VBS and Sports Camp, and the kids had so much fun over the past few days. We ended the day with Ice Cream Cones for all the VBS and Sports Camp kids. The kids of this community really made an impact on us, and it was hard to leave. Pastor Diana served us dinner tonight, and we were able to pray over her, and she prayed over us. There is such power in prayer, and it was great to be able to use that tool to encourage her, and her church as they work in this community. We ended the night with affirmations, and went around our group and really got a chance to encourage each other. God has been moving, and look forward to see what He will be doing in Northview Heights!

Work projects were awesome today! So much got accomplished at both sites that our team was working at. God kept the thunderstorms away that threatened all morning, and we were able to finish up some of the painting projects and make a huge dent in the brush clearing. We wrapped up our final VBS and Sports Camp, and the kids had so much fun over the past few days. We ended the day with Ice Cream Cones for all the VBS and Sports Camp kids. The kids of this community really made an impact on us, and it was hard to leave. Pastor Diana served us dinner tonight, and we were able to pray over her, and she prayed over us. There is such power in prayer, and it was great to be able to use that tool to encourage her, and her church as they work in this community. We ended the night with affirmations, and went around our group and really got a chance to encourage each other. God has been moving, and look forward to see what He will be doing in Northview Heights!