This is by far and without a doubt my favorite photo from the entire summer. These little boys were at the Calliope housing project for Challenge Circle one night. One of the high school students said I should take a photo so I got down on one knee to be at their height and the little boy in the gray copied me. Then the other one got down too because we were both down on our knees. Sometimes, things just work out perfectly.

This summer National Project was full and busy. We had more than 350 high school students come from across the nation to help us run vacation Bible school and Challenge Circle and we had an average of 50 kids from the neighborhood attend the majority of the summer. The kids were learning the names of God this summer and so many did an amazing job of remembering all of their memory verses and the names they were taught.

Summer is such a great time for everyone and I feel like it really renews everyone's passion for what we are doing here. To see the kids grow in their understanding of God and to see how their lives are touched and changed by all the love they receive from teams and interns is amazing. This year we also sent two teams out into the community, one to Taylor Park to play basketball and one went on a prayer walk. Those who played basketball were able to be a light to a lot of the young men in our neighborhood who need a positive influence. Those who went on the prayer walks were able to see different parts of the city and cover those areas with prayer.

We had an amazing group of interns this summer, also from all over the country. There were three who returned and the other seven were new. They came together so well as a team and handled everything that was given to them with a servant's attitude. I am so excited that several of them have already decided they want to come back next summer!