Initiation: Two Teams at Once!

Last week marked a milestone for me (Russ), as I got the opportunity to host my first team(s) ever.  Let me tell ya, handling one team can be a handful, two teams though.. well that's just plain fun.

Me with the TCIS crew.

My duties here consist of handling all of the logistical details connected with hosting a team.  So before the teams got here, I was emailing with them about what they'd do, getting their rides to and from the airport set up, getting their housing ready, connecting them to our Children's Home and the church next door, making sure they had all the equipment they needed, etc.  I picked up the first team, Taejon Christian International School from (appropriately) South Korea.  They worked hard all week running a Vacation Bible School for our Children's Home kids, helping build a home in the community for one of our workers, repainting the basketball court next door, and also jumping into the construction that our other team was working on.  We were very blessed to have such a great group of high schoolers join us in the efforts to build up the Kingdom of God.

Here's a little slideshow of some of the things the TCIS team did.

Most of the ICS Hong Kong group.

The other first team I had the chance to host was from International Christian School in Hong Kong.  This team came with a singular goal: to build the third floor of a multipurpose building at the back of the YMC (our ministry center).  The first floor is an automotive and electrical training center, the second floor is a library for our school, and the third floor will become the office space that KIM has needed to keep our efforts centralized and unified.  It is such a blessing to have that space built, as it will aid in our ability to create a team space where we can have meetings and see our ideas, maps, calendars, etc. on the walls.  They came with funds and servants' hearts and worked all week at hauling materials up three flights of steps and mixing/pouring cement.  They were a great group that comes more than once a year, and we plan to see them back again in 2011.

A slideshow of ICS Hong Kong's efforts