Behind the stage the last minor details are being checked – did we make enough beds, are the spaghetti sauce ready, did all the construction materials get here in time? We are lining up for one of our summer teams – the kids are waiting in the yard - anxious to see the yellow bus roll in filled with smiling and excited faces, some recognized and greeted eagerly immediately, others welcomed for the first time with the same joy.

Activities, games, visits to the store, hugs and laughter entwined with the building of playgrounds, repairing of fences, crafts, remodeling children’s homes, training teachers, pouring cement, developing data bases, cutting hair, among dozens of other projects are on the calendar for the week the team stays.

Relationships form, lives are touched – on both ends – Emmanuel and the children get under your skin and even when you leave them a part of you stays behind.

Teams have over the years become a solid part of the Emmanuel Family. They come with encouragement and fresh energy and both children and staff at Emmanuel are richly blessed through these weeklong interactions.

This summer has been especially busy as both teams and individual visitors have partaken in our daily activities as well as headed their own projects and plans.