Picante Muchacha

The Picante Muchacha aka Allison.


Allison was an amazing help in NYC as well as a HUGE HUGE help getting things ready before we headed out. She marked a heap of stuff for the garage sale as well as pulled together many of the art projects we prepared for the Taft House. When we arrived in NYC Allison continued to lead the way getting things ready and prepared for the kids. While many of the students were outside running around "like a crazy person", Allison was busy at work inside the Taft Center making sure that the chaos that was outside would transition into a calm place to explore their artistic gifts. She was a huge help!

If any of you know Allison she likes things to be planned and scheduled. She is gifted at making sure things come together and that all the details are met. Well... the NYC Trip was anything but planned!! It seemed that with every subway ride came a new surprise. With every plan came a Plan B.

This is the kind of stuff that typically puts a huge stress cloud over Allison. But early in the week she had shared with our team that she wanted to let God be in control and try not to worry to much about the details of the week. Those words were extremely prophetic.

God stretched Allison in a great way the week we were in NYC. Her attitude was never poor. She always focused on being Jesus to the kids at the Taft as well as the students from Fugo. She was such a blessing to everyone who was along in the trip.

Below are her words about the trip:

"This was truly an amazing experience.

Our first day at the Taft House was really what made the trip. We went in with all of these plans and expectations and God completely threw them all aside. We were completely taken off guard when we arrived only to find that there was already another group running their VBS. Talk about uncomfortable! You could just feel the tension. It was awesome to discover that while the leaders were busy trying to figure out the details, our students had completely engaged the children. The kids at the Taft House were so ready to embrace (I think Bebo grew an attachment that day) our students. Once we all realized that, everything else pretty much just fell away. It was really the encouragement that we all needed.

The rest of the week was spent building relationships. Many of the children were in attendance every day, but there were those few that we were lucky to only hang out with just once. Kalil was a little boy that we met that very first day. In the beginning he really wanted no part of what was going on. By the end of the afternoon he was sharing his artwork (he was quite gifted) with us, asking for autographs and pretty much talking with anyone who would listen. After following us halfway to the subway and several reassurances that we would be returning he decided to rejoin his brother and head home. He never showed up the next day and I found myself looking for him every day after that. I don't think any of us realized how much of an impact these children would have on us. Hearing their stories, watching and playing with them, experiencing their joy are what each of us will keep with us. When we said goodbye on Friday, it really felt like we were saying goodbye to a younger brother or sister. We all expect to see them again some day.

While in NYC I also saw a tremendous amount of growth amongst our students. Not only did they stretch themselves with the children of the Taft House, they opened themselves up to each other. When we started, many of the students did not really know one another. It was beautiful to watch their relationships progress throughout the week.

This was truly an amazing experience.

I feel so blessed to have been able to serve! Thank you to everyone who supported us!!

much love,

Allison"