Burning Furnace of Charity

Well, we've officially said good-bye to all teams, and life is back to Jo Wells, me, and Boys Town. We have had an amazing summer that wouldn't have been complete without our friend Emily Sengel. Emily was with us for June and July, and will actually be moving here next year! Emily came on the very first team ever in the spring of 2006, and felt like Jesus was asking her to come here on a more long-term basis. She has displayed the patience of Job in finishing school, and waiting for the right time to be here. She has been an amazing example of loving our friends in BT, and allowing Jesus to give her a heart for them, even from far away. The girls in BT got quite attached to Emily from the very beginning, and they all ask about her when Jo and I are there. They are always so excited to tell the other girls how Emily spent her summer here, but will be moving back next year for at least two years. We miss you lots, Emily!!



Teams are lots of fun for us here, but are definitely a departure from "normal" life. (Though I daresay we have anything that resembles a normal life here.) We are still awaiting final word on the land we're buying here. It has been an arduous process, but we wait with hope. Everytime we go to BT and talk to someone, we just wish we could take them back to our house and feed them, give them a place to rest and be normal for a while. Unfortunately, it's not that simple at the moment. But we long for the day that the monastery will be built and just two blocks away, and welcoming people into our home will be a daily occurrence.

Just the other day I saw a girl named Chicago that I've know for a little over a year. I first met her last June as she stood just inside the entrance of BT, holding her 10-month old son. The baby's grandmother had apparently had enough of caring for him, and had just dropped him off with Chicago with nothing more than the diaper and t-shirt he was wearing. Chicago bears the marks of severe drug use all over her face and body, and we knew she wouldn't be able to care for him for very long in there. The baby eventually went to social services, and he is in a really great government orphanage at the moment. Chicago came to me a few months ago, very happy to be leaving BT and to be pregnant again. She was with her boyfriend who had promised to quit drugs and make a new life for them outside the walls. Last week, a very pregnant Chicago was barefoot and walking the streets of BT again. Tears rolled down her scarred cheeks as she told me, "I'm just so tired, Kelly. I don't want to be here. He hits me, he makes me work, he makes me do drugs. I'm just so tired; I want to get out of here." The only place I knew to send her was to a homeless shelter a few blocks away. They turned her away, saying they were at full capacity. She slept in the park that night. I saw Chicago again in BT on Friday, trying to sell some hair products to the other girls. She has found a place to live with a friend outside the walls.

We know that God has given us this land we are waiting on. Will you pray with us that the paperwork will be done quickly, so we can begin building? We are ready, and so are our friends in Boys Town, for the monastery to be up and running.