Wow.

I'm not really sure how to sum up the SMI experience so far. Part of that is because I've had to work the past two nights, so I haven't had the full experience so far. But, I will update on what I can.

We arrived to the SMI house on Saturday around 4:30. Everyone except Dave and I are staying at a home owned by Susan Post, Esperanza's Executive Director. The house is in the Hunting Park neighborhood of Philadelphia (zip code 19140 if you want to Google map it). Susan owns the house and lives in one next to it, and has for 10 years, so she really knows the community. She gave us a brief introduction to the neighborhood, and we all had a chance to talk about ourselves and how familiar we are with Philly. By the time the SMI director, Susanna Linton, showed up, we were ready to eat.

After dinner, we had some group worship time, followed by a general orientation to the weeks, including the schedule! Excellent!

At that point, I had to leave for work, so I missed what all happened between 10pm Saturday and 4pm Sunday - but I do know that they went to church at a church plant nearby called Spirit and Truth, and got to know the 'route' we'll be working on for our community health screenings.

Monday is another day of orientation - specifically training on how to perform blood pressures, glucose tests, etc. Then on Tuesday - we actually begin in the community.

Before I go I want to talk a little about the rest of the team:

Susanna is our fearless leader and RN.

Kelli is our discipleship group leader, RN and Nurse Practicioner student at the Hershey Med Center. She actually attends Dave's old church - Hershey Free!

Casey is a nursing student at Messiah. She also attends Hershey Free! Small world!

Danielle is in the process of applying to medical school. She's from Cameroon.

Jenna is from South Dakota and just finishing her undergrad. She's spent a few summers in Philly before.

Johanna finished her undergrad at Johns Hopkins last year, took a year off to do ministry, and begins at Harvard Med in the fall!

Dave C is about the start his 4th year at a med school in New Jersey and he is the guys' discipleship group leader.

Dave C (I know, a lot of Dave's, right?) is a friend of ours from PCOM. He's in the same year as my Dave and also a leader in the Christian Medical Association at PCOM.

Chris just finished his first year at Jefferson Med in Center City Philadelphia.

Zach is a Temple Podiatry student who originally hails from Texas.



So, there you have it! We are getting prepared for an adventure! Please be praying for us in the next few days. AND - I have a job interview on Tuesday for a position in home care. This would mean I would no longer be working nights at the nursing home on any sort of regular basis. It also would allow me to go on vacation after SMI is finished!!!

I'll try and cajole Dave into posting something at some point today - so look for it!