Village Bible Church || Aurora | Indian Creek | Sugar Grove | IL

Today we had a great day! Since this is such a large playground, we have had to rely on a lot of help from city workers and local people just passing by. We have developed some great relationships with these people and have had some fun along the way.

There is one little man in particular that we have gained a lot of respect for. He is really small and looks to be in his late 60's...but is around 50 years old. He has been working with us every day. It seems he just wants to be part of the excitement that is spreading around the city with this playground. He works very hard and doesn't say much. No one is paying him to work with us...he just wants to help.

It seems each project we have there is a person like this. They gravitate to us because what we are doing is exciting and perhaps could be one of the more exciting things to happen in their city. What we have been realizing that is different in this city and country is that not a lot of people are smiling. There is a very somber look on the faces of most people we meet. But when you look at our volunteers and the local Christians we are with, we all have smiles. They can tell there is something different about us. They can see the joy and hope we have and want to be part of it.

We hope these relationships and our time here will have the people we meet wanting to know more about the hope we have. We hope the playground will open up these possibilites to the local Christians and churches we are working with. They have already expressed gratitude for the doors this project is opening up.

We feel blessed to be working here with local Kyrgyz people and the local church. We know our investment in this city will reap great rewards in the future.

Thanks again for your prayers for our team. Tomorrow we will be finishing up our project and preparing for the dedication on Thursday.