Pre-dawn view of Sheriff's Joe's tent city

I'm sure most of you have heard about the hard-nosed, no-nonsense law enforcer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona. Turns out we now live in his county, and so do the Karen living here in Phoenix. VERY early last Saturday morning, (3:30 a.m.), I accompanied Pastor Ramey and a Karen man who had gone awry from the law and had to surrender himself to serve 15 days in Sheriff Joe's tent city. I now know where Sheriff Joe's county jail is located, that he doesn't make anything easy for those who break the law under his jurisdiction, and that at least the few deputies we met were all-business, probably like their boss if you know what I mean.

A few hours later, Helen and I played limo drivers with our two cars in order to get a number of Karen children and teenagers to a local park for their soccer league picture day. About 45 Karen kids play in a soccer league of about 200 kids that is sponsored by a large Baptist church. Self-less servants of God go out of their way to make it possible for not only the Karen kids, but many refugees from African countries to play in this league. It was a joy to serve in this way and to see this type of ministry in action. This type of thing is CRUCIAL for refugee kids in particular, helping their acclimation to life here in America, obtaining English skills, and avoiding too much free time--where trouble is usually found.

On Sunday, I was blessed to teach at the Karen service and then the English service. I shared from Acts chapter 2 on the three foundational reasons for the existence of the local church, and the response was very positive.

And finally, we unpacked our last two boxes today and even put a couple of pictures up on the walls. And believe it or not, I've even been doing some handy-man type things and I haven't injured myself yet or done damage to the apartment--which is no small thing!