Los Días y Las Noches en la Casa de la Comunidad de Amistad

     !Hola! Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I am thrilled to update all of our friends, supporters, and prayer warriors on the progress of Friendship Community House in Longview, Texas. As always, my intentions here are not to brag or to violate anyone's privacy, but instead to give praise to God for his blessings on us and to encourage others to brighten the corner where they are.

     We have seen in recent weeks an increase in the number of friends that are faithful to community functions and friends who are faithful to our cause. During the week of Spring Break, we opened our doors to twelve new friends and were able to minister to each of them spiritually and physically. Most of those folks have returned at various times and seem to be building trust in us as a pillar in the community. GOSH! All of the stories I could tell about individuals and their problems and their progress. But if you were in their shoes, you would not want your business shared, would you? Especially since one of our goals is to give people dignity and security. BUT OH the wonderful stories I could tell you of deliverance and progress. All I can say is COME SEE FOR YOURSELF! We are growing in love with each other and building a family where there was no family.

      I AM TEACHING AARON HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO! (and he is doing it well and very quickly!) And he also created a "window pane to the brain," which has become a noteworthy subject of conversation at church.
     AARON IS TEACHING ME HOW TO SPEAK SPANISH! I was a bit terrible at it in the beginning, but I have made a goal to be fluent in Spanish by the end of the summer through immersion. It's all spanish music, spanish movies, spanish games, spanish bible reading. And I'm really, really catching on.
     ANDREW MOVED INTO HIS NEW HOME SATURDAY! We are praying for him and mystery (the ferret) that they will enjoy the peace and security that comes with a Christian home.
          
     Our spring flowers are in bloom! In fact, this Saturday is planting day. We are turning the middle yard into a vegetable garden. There will also be rose bushes growing upon lattice. There will be a grape vine. There will also be an herb garden and a flower garden in front of the house. We will certainly keep you updated on the progress of the garden.
    

     We have been blessed to network with many local nonprofits and work together. I have been invited to speak at several meetings and gatherings for the purpose of sharing our mission with the local community. My students have been especially responsible for this networking. They are required to do service learning projects in my classes. Thereby they come in contact with many local charities and share the work of Friendship Community. We are proud to be a part of Upward Bound in Gregg County who will doing their summer project at FCH. We are also proud to be part of a Nursing Leadership class for Kilgore College. We are thankful to local organizations such as AMBUCS and Longview First Church for their generosity in fostering our dream.