First Presbyterian Church Northshore (Ipswich)

The team arrived in Pittsburgh tonight after a full travel day. Considering they were sitting in a car for most of the day, everyone is in very good spirits! We got a tour of the church and had a team meeting which included getting to know each other and a time of musical worship. Tomorrow morning we'll join in with our host church's service and then get better acquainted with Pittsburgh. We'll post more updates as we have internet available! Thank you for praying for us!

It's Pittsburgh tradition that if you go into the city then you have to fill your belly up with a pierogi. So, we did exactly that. Our team traveled downtown to The Strip which is full of restaurants and shops. We walked around and tried out various foods such as pierogis, kielbasas, and even a chocolate bacon soda. Word of advice: if you want to experience heaven in your mouth then try the pierogis or kielbasas. If you want to try "the dark side" then go for the soda. The shops were filled with the coolest items and of course black and gold gear was plastered everywhere. After all, it is called Steeler nation for a reason. Don't worry though, your crew continued to wear their Red Sox hats and Bruins shirts with pride. Today was an awesome day and we're excited to see how it continues to span out over the next few days!

Another successful day has come and gone! Let me tell ya, this PPM group is soaring with the love of God everywhere they go! Today, we went to Buena Vista church to weed and tear down a fence. In less than 2 hours they accomplished those tasks and even got started on a project we had planned for them tomorrow. Afterwards we took them to Emmanuel where they spent time with the kids who were eating lunch. They played board games and even took them to a park to play sports. Later we tried out the Pittsburgh famous, "Primanti Bros." and tried different variations of their sandwhiches. Overall it was a fantastic day. Everyone had smiles on their faces and shined out the love of Christ everywhere they went!

Levi worked hard at pulling weeds all morning! After crouching for a long time, he decided to take a different approach.

Buena Vista Church is the site of our primary work project for the week. Buena Vista is an amazing ministry that provides lunch for low-income kids in the city throughout the summer. Without this ministry, many of these kids would not eat lunch most days. We are prepping the property outside the building to plant gardens. These gardens will grow food for the lunches as well as teach children about sustainable, healthy eating.

Part of goal is to transplant this fence to a different location which will keep animals out of the garden. The guys worked hard at breaking apart the cement foundation.

We've had some time to play with some of the kids who are a part of the church we're staying in. Here's one of the pick up soccer games that was played.

Today has been full of awesome adventures and God hugs. We started our morning at Buena Vista where we laid out cloth for the mulch. We also managed to snag out the rest of the concrete that was left over from our old fence. A few of the group members left Buena Vista early and went to New Hope so they could serve the homeless. It was a great experience that allowed the students to connect with those eating there. Each of them sat down with a stranger and asked questions which led them towards building new friendships. They even got the chance to pray with some of them! Afterwards our group helped organize a closet. It was full of donated clothes for anyone who was in need of something. The team did an amazing job and made the place look good as new! Later in the day the entire group handed out lemonade for people walking down the street. Many of them came back sharing so many stories about the people they were able to talk to and share the love of Jesus with. After having polish food for dinner the team went up to Pittsburgh's incline for prayer and worship. On one side we could see the sunset and on the other side we saw the skyline. All of us were in awe of the city, but even more in awe of the fact that we serve a God who created heaven and Earth. We have a God who loves each and everyone of us unconditionally and looking out at the vastness of the city helped us be reminded of that.

Today we continued our work at Buena Vista! We finished putting down the mulch on one side of the church. On the other side the group got to learn how to put cement down and were able to set up posts for the new fence. Afterwards we went back to the church we were at on Monday called, Emanuel. This is where children 18-under from around the area are served a free lunch. Our team sat and hung out with the kids while they were eating and even taught them new songs to sing! And of course baby shark was a favorite. Some of the kids joined in and started doing the moves. They also got a chance to color in some Batman comic books. I couldn't tell who was more excited, them or the First Presbyterian youth haha. Later on they took the kids down to the park where they played on the playground and also tons of games. They played 4-square, baseball, football, and frisbee. It was so cool to watch the youth come together and make an effort to hang out with every kid that was there. By the time we were packing up to leave the park some of the boys from the free meal program at the church came up and were hugging us. They took some photos with us and even tried to hop in our truck as we were leaving haha.

Today was the day of many accomplishments. Since Monday our group has been at Buena Vista working continuously on various projects. This has included: laying down new mulch, building garden beds and a new fence. After working hard for 4 days we were finally able to see the finished product. It was an amazing feeling to be able to look and see the greater picture behind something. Most people may look at these things and just walk past them but to us and the staff at Buena Vista they are something more. We are able to look and see what was once nothing is now something beautiful. We are able to look at these things and be reminded of the conversations we had, the challenges we faced, and the joy we found when working as a team. So many times we get focused on accomplishing a goal without embracing the journey. These projects have reminded us about how God works in our lives. He is continually shaping us. He is constantly growing us in our purpose and desires for us to seek Him out in the process. Later on today we also got the chance to spend time at the zoo. We got to see all sorts of animals and even enjoy the aquairam there too. Last but not least, we came home to the best barbecue to ever exist. Jess's dad is the best cook around and deserves a shout out for feeling our bellies up with food goodness every day.

After a powerful closing meeting last night the team played a few games and then went to bed. We talked about how we can live missional lifestyles back home. Everyone is inspired to bring a passion for revival back to Massachusetts. This morning we packed up and prayed for each other then took off for home this morning. What an incredible week!!! Thank you for sending your family and friends to Pittsburgh. This city was blessed because of their presence.