The Root Cellar is a very unique ministry in Maine's second largest city of Lewiston.  In a low income neighborhood, the folks at the Root Cellar minister to a community that is a mix of elderly French Canadian Catholics who have lived there for generations and newly arriving immigrants and refugees from Somalia, Sudan and other African countries.  This creates a very unique setting as these two very different cultures blend together, and right in the middle is the Root Cellar.  This ministry does everything from community suppers to English classes.  And last week, our 15 year old, Rose, and I went there after school to do a show for their after school program.

There were about 20 kids, almost all were born in Africa and then uprooted to this very different part of the world.  There were also six volunteers.  Some were Bates College students, and at least one was himself a refugee young adult.  Our show was well received.  Of course, the doves were a big hit, and the kids got ot hold one of them after the program.  Although I brought our new rabbit, Cotton, I forgot his illusion.  I introduced him to the audience anyway, and he, too, was passed around when the show ended.

I love what God is doing in Lewiston, as two very different cultures come together and live together in relative peace and acceptance.  and I really love what the Root Cellar is doing to assist in this transition that is a microcosm of a national trend.  If Jesus were here incarnate, he would hang out at the Root Cellar often.