Magrath - Week 1

Here is a brief update of our first week or so on the field in Magrath. Our first day, we just went around town, looking to meet people and try to find places to volunteer in the community. We were very fortunate to find several places to do that. We went to the Town Hall, talked to them for a bit, and they suggested that we go see Johnny, the president of the Lion's Club, who also owns the Hardware Store in town. We went and saw him, and he suggested that we go to the Good Samaritan Society, which is in the old hospital and serves elderly adults now. We decided to head over there and see what we could find out. On our way there we walked by this place called "SASH" and they had a sign for a pizza place, but more interesting to us was their motto, which was relating to building community, which is one of primary goals as a team for the summer. We went in and found out that this place seeks to put mentally handicapped adults to work in the workforce. We volunteered to help, and they said they would be glad to have us. We have been there almost every day since, getting to know all the people there, especically the workers who help out with those that have disabilities. We have already been invited to Heather's for dinner one night, which might not seem like a big deal to many of the Southern Americans that will read this, but for a Canadian to invite you into their home for a meal, after only knowing you for 4 days is huge! We are planning on doing that this sometime next week.
Eventually we did make it to the Senior Home run by the Good Samaritan Society, which is part of the Lutheran Church. They said that they would be happy to have us volunteer as well, but we needed to get a background check completed from the police first. We got that done the next day and have been at the Senior home most afternoons since. We are beginning to build significant relationships in both places.
We also led the Bible Study group on Sunday for the first time, and that went really well. The group normally only meets every other week, but we are going to meet every week while we are here for the summer, since we'll only be here 6 weeks. Overall, our fist week was incredible, and we are anticipating great things to happen over the next 5 weeks. Until then, I'll try to update everyone this weekend, which by the way Saturday July 1st is Canada Day, which for you Americans is the same as the 4th of July in Canada. I'll try to update this weekend on that, and hopefully again soon after our Bible Study on Sunday, which I will be leading this week!