Day 4 being intentional Fort Collins June 2023

It was day 3 of VBS which is salvation day! We had 2 kids give their life to Christ in the 2nd and 3rd grade group, Annie and Zim were able to lead them through the prayer and talk to the kids about salvation. There were other kids that did too in different groups and when we debriefed at night it was so awesome to hear their stories!  Some of us felt we didn't do it the right way but we all agreed we were trusting God and praying through the entire thing.  It was also the last day helping in the trailer park, where we gave one of our new friends named Austin some new clothes, shoes, and toys to say thank you for helping us out! Austin was a little boy who showed up on the first day to ask what we were doing and if he could help.  One day as we jumped into trailers one of the leaders stated he wouldn't be able to ride with us since our parents had signed waivers and he said "ok I'm gonna run home and get my bike where do I meet you guys at ?" and he was there waiting for us.  Every day he was there and a couple of us noticed his shoes did not fit, had holes, and were not the best for him.  So leaders from Genesis Project and Woodmen put together a thank you gift for him, it had new clothes and shoes, chalk and glow sticks.  As he went through the bag his face would light up but when he saw those shoes he stopped looking and got so excited!  He said "these look so fast!" and put them on.  It was so amazing to see his reaction and just how God can work through even the smallest of actions. Then, some of us heard a testimony from Precious. She grew up in the trailer park we were working in, Collins Aire. She also at one point moved back there while she was homeless with her children. She says she remembers a lot of darkness, but on the contrary, her kids remember it being a blast because of the community they were surrounded by.  She started going to church at Genesis Project and her husband refused, but now he also goes too!  She was crying as she described what all she had been through, growing up too fast, joining the military, going to war, and then being homeless with a family.  They now live in a big house but she wanted her children to help so she has been coming every day with her kids helping us, she was so strong and one woman told a group of us girls "you need strong men go get the strong men", but Precious just told us what to do and we got all of her stuff moved, even a fridge and that woman was so shocked!  Precious talked a lot about the "culture" of the trailer park and she prays it can change.  When we got back to GP we ate dinner with the GP and Ogden students it was Italian night and we even got stick on mustaches, and then went to Fort Fun. We played mini golf, went go karting, and just had fun all together. We ended the night back at the church with ice cream floats and then some of us said let's worship and so we all did!  Also today was Sydney’s birthday and to quote her she said “it was the best day ever!”  Her favorite part of her birthday was helping at the trailer park! 

- Caleb, Zim, Elliott, Evelyn, Sydney, Anna and more friends