Buffalo, New York - August 2024

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. - 1 John 3:1-2

We were in Buffalo, NY for 2 weeks, getting ready and serving the Ellicott District.

Ryan stocked up for his roofing jobs and helped other leaders from Eight Days of Hope to prepare their jobs. One of many important jobs was getting all the tables and chairs needed for the dining hall set up where we would be eating. During the event, Ryan led a roofing crew and was done with all of his assigned roofs in 2 days! For the rest of the week, Ryan and his crew did other jobs, helping where help was needed, such as deck repair and building a couple of porches.

Sarah helped with registration for the first couple of days, and then for the rest of the event, she helped with the park project. Each year, a park is chosen to be cleaned up and made to look new again. This year, it was JFK Park, and it was massive! It included a basketball court, tennis court, soccer field, football field, an amphitheater, baseball diamond, AND a pool! There was lots of painting and landscaping that took place. What was even more amazing was that we actually finished 3 days early! Another smaller park was chosen, Willert Park.  Even then, that park was finished a day ahead of schedule.

While we were there, 1,805 volunteers from 37 states and Canada came to bless and help 351 families. However, the best news is that 6 people came to Christ! This trip was unique because Buffalo did not have any disaster happen. This trip was an outreach to the people of Buffalo, NY. We know that many saw Eight Days Of Hope loving and serving the Ellicot District, and our hope is that it has reached into the hearts of locals and volunteers like the light of our loving God.