Chicago Three and More

They came into our home during the wee hours of Friday morn. They napped perhaps four hours after their twelve-hour plus journey from Chicago. These were three young adults, who will be part of our Kenya Mission Team and will travel with us in early October to “the dark continent” and help us build a Habitat for Humanity house for an IDP (Internally Displaced Person).
They put in a long day’s work at our fish-fry fundraiser to help support our Mission Trip. They all have good jobs working for corporations in Chicago but were willing to take time off work to travel to Pontotoc.
Karen, an employee of Accenture, is our team leader and has participated in Habitat builds in Pontotoc for several summers. She is also the person who conceptualized our mission trip.
Mel, aka marvelous Mel, works for Morningstar and has also participated in Habitat builds in Pontotoc as part of the Charis Ministries group of which Karen is also an active member.
We had not previously met Eli, but since Mel vouched for him as one of her Morningstar friends, we welcomed him into our home and were thankful for another pair of hands and feet to help with the fish fry.
Already, Barbara and I think of them as family and are looking forward to strengthening our relationship with them while on the Kenya Mission Trip. The three nights they were in our home went by all too quickly, and now they are driving back to Chicago.
On Sunday afternoon we invited our other local team members into our home not only for a team meeting but also a meal. Gloria, Mattie and Keith each have special talents that will be needed if we are to complete a house in the nine days we will be working in Kenya.
Our Mission Team’s Pontotoc contingent will rendezvous with the Chicagoans in roughly one month where we will board an aircraft to fly first to London and then into Nairobi, Kenya. The excitement is building, and we will surely have lots of experiences to share when we return.