Salem Day 5

Today we went to UGM (Union Gospel Mission). That is the men's mission. It is only about 5 minutes from West Gate church.

In the morning, we helped weed some flower pots and around trees in the sidewalk. It seems that spring has really spring over here in Oregon. It is nice to go outside in the nice spring weather. I am afraid it is going to be a bit of a shock when we get back to Dillon. We will actually have to wear coats outside!

After weeding, we went inside to help with lunch. They served llama goulash for the meal. Yum! It actually wasn't too bad except for the fact that we ate lunch about 10:45am. That was a little early for me.

Dan, the head of food services at UGM gave us a quick tour of the food storage areas. Last year he was just starting when we were there for spring break. He was telling us of some improvements that had been made over the past year. Number 1 they had a HUGE mouse problem last year. Dan said they were catching 35-40 mice...per DAY!!! They filled all the holes with steel wool and spray foam and have had 0 mice for the last 8 months!

After lunch, Sharalyn (I spelled it wrong yesterday) gave us a short tour of UGM. we got to look at the wood shop where some of the men work if they are in a recovery program. Also, she just visited with us about what Dillon is like and how God is working there.

After the tour, we went back to the mission store. We helped put price tags and sizes on clothes before they go into the actual store. We also helped sort and hang coats. There were some pretty fashionable items in there...for instance about 10 brown, matching pleather/fur jackets! Yikes.

We went back to UGM about 4:30 to help with supper. For supper they had llama hamburger steak. It wasn't too bad either. Tasted pretty close to beef...a little tough but the flavor was alright.

Here's a little tip---if you ever want to try exotic meet, just help out at a homeless shelter/mission. I'm sure you'll get to try something new. Last year we had bear!

Chapel was at 7. We didn't lead chapel, we just sat in and listened to the speaker. There was actually a family that led worship and the message portion of chapel. It was really cool to see how they interacted with the guests. Candy, the wife, said they have been coming to the mission since '91. She said it had been really cool to see growth with people over the years.

After chapel, it was off to the YMCA for showers, a quick stop at the grocery store, evening snack at Burger King, a little Jesus time, and then off to bed!

Again, Thank you so much for praying. We really appreciate it.

Here are a few prayer requests:
-safety as we travel to Portland for night Strike
-interactions with people at Night Strike
-that we would serve joyfully in whatever God wants us to do at Night Strike. We have the options of serving food, washing feet, grounds clean up, cutting hair, delivering food, and a prayer walk. It is pretty likely that we won't all be in The same group.
-Max hurt his ankle a while ago playing basketball, and it is still very sore. It is painful for him to be standing and walking around all day...and we are doing a lot if exactly that. Pray for the pain to go away and healing
-blessings for the West Gate church. They were really gracious to let us stay. They have given us food as well. Also, they just hired a new pastor, Nathan Headley. They have to move from Colorado.
-praise! We found a place to stay in Portland. Before Tuesday, we were planning on driving back to Salem Thursday night to stay at West Gate, but Sara was able to get a hold of the Chi Alpha director at Portland State, and we can stay at the Chi Alpha house there!