We spent the day building risers in the new balcony section of the church for additional seating to handle the growth in attendance. During lunch a few guys from Teen Challenge came by to share their stories. These men were all victorious overcomes who walked away from a life of drug or alcohol addictions. Each story was amazing to hear and filled with such hope, it was hard not to be taken aback by the miracles shared.

The city inspector came by to assess our work today and everything passed, but set us back an hour or so. The main part of the attic was completed and the balcony started. It seemed that the amount of food served was in direct correlation with the amount of hard work that was done today.

Since several people worked last night until 1 or 2 am, there were numerous opportunities for people to lose their tempers, but everyone shared grace instead. It was wonderful to watch so many people translate their end of week frustrations and tiredness into generous gifts of grace and kindness. And, of course, there were a few jokesters making sure we didn’t forget how fun it can be away from home.

I went out shopping with a couple guys after dinner and came across a taped off police scene with blood all over the street. Police were working their way quickly through the crowds trying to find key suspects. The cleaning team arrived and worked to return the street to it’s normal status. As best as we could surmise from the comments, the scene was based on a gang fight.

I plan to shoot more film tomorrow including interviews and hope to see the Irish play “Translations” tomorrow night if possible. There are a couple friends also interested, so we’ll see if we can make it happen. But if not, there is always plenty of other activities to do in town.