What a way to end our final day of service in Washington, DC! God has really shown up this week in the most amazing and tangible ways, and it has been a privilege to share these moments with you.
Today, it was Group 1's turn to receive the early wake-up call. Like Group 2 did yesterday, Group 1 rose at 5am to be at a local church serving breakfast and handing out clothing to people in need. After their time of service, the group was able to sit down with a man named Paul who runs the outreach operation there. Paul's story of transformation was both an encouragement and a challenge to all the students who served at this location. While Group 1 served at this location yesterday, the team noticed that the facility was running low on summer clothing, especially for men. As a result, our entire group made an impact at this facility by donating some of our own clothing to go to the men and women who visit there for help. It was a blessing to see how quickly our kids were able to apply the lessons they are learning by giving of themselves and their possessions. After serving breakfast and talking with Paul, Group 1 headed to a local library to help them label and bare-code books. It was a nice escape from the heat, and another tangible act of service. Their efforts made what could have been a daunting task for the librarians a very enjoyable end to the morning.
Group 3 also rose early today to serve breakfast at a site called S.O.M.E - So Others Might Eat. Group 3 had a great time serving the morning meal, and really learned a lot by the obvious joy on the faces of the men and women who worked there. After breakfast, the employees at S.O.M.E mentioned that there was no group scheduled to help them serve lunch, so our kids readily volunteered, and actually found even more joy in repeating the process of preparing and serving a meal. This extra time of service cut into their own lunch time, but not a complaint was heard among the group!
Group 2 got some much needed rest this morning, then reported to the same nursing home that another group had visited earlier this week. It was great to meet some of the same residents that the earlier group had talked about at porch time. The students pushed through several potentially awkward moments to give of their time and attention to these often-forgotten people, and Jesus really blessed these efforts by making His presence felt during and after the visit.
After these morning activities, all groups met up at a local outdoor skate park in Anacostia to eat lunch and relax before our final day of VBS. Once at the VBS sites, our students continued to pour out their hearts and love the kids we have been building relationships with all week. We tried to cement the message that "God always wins" into the students' hearts and minds by teaching them that, just like Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, God can bring the "dead" things in our own lives back to life when we put our faith in Him and let Him win over death. One of the most heart-breaking and challenging moments of the week came at the end of VBS. While our teams walked their young friends home, there were several questions such as "When are you coming back?" It was almost as if Jesus Himself were asking us, "Are you going to continue to love me by serving me, no matter where you are in the world?" After lots of hugs, we loaded up the vans and headed for our final adventure of the day.
Group 1 was able to spend the rest of the afternoon doing a little sight-seeing before eating their final DC dinner at Pollo Granjero. Groups 2 and 3 got to spend their early-evenings participating in the Urban Plunge activity that Group 1 had completed earlier in the week. Students and leaders were broken up into groups, and went to several different DC neighborhoods in order to serve homeless men and women by taking them out to a meal. Students were also challenged to ask questions of the men and women they ate to find out more about the issues of poverty and homelessness in urban areas, and these questions led to some very interesting encounters and responses. Overall, the groups really enjoyed "plunging" into one of the city's more difficult issues and seeing how God is working in the midst of it.
Finally, all groups met up at the Basilica for our final Porch Time of the trip. During worship, passersby could tell that we were tired and our voices were strained; nevertheless, we raised our tired voices into the night to praise and worship God for all He has done in us and through us this week. Travis gave a great talk, and asked us to think about the question: "Will you let yourself be used as a result of your experience in DC?" Will we continue to let God use us to carry His message and light into the world, including our own homes? We finished Porch Time with a service of communion, in which the students took the elements, and then served each other as a symbol of what it means to receive God's ultimate expression of love and then share that love with others. We had a short small group session after the closing song in hopes that the great lessons learned on this trip would really start to sink in as we process our experiences together. Praise God for who He is and what He has allowed us to do this week.
We expect to wake up around 8am tomorrow (Friday) and depart our housing site between 9am and 9:30am. We will send out a text when we depart, and then will continue to send texting updates as to our estimated arrival at the Chapel. If you are not on the texting list, please send a text to the number 41411 with the message DCPARENT (all one word). You should receive a confirmation text once you are added to this listserve. Please pray for safe travels and no traffic as we return tomorrow. Your kids can't wait to share with you in-person all that they have learned and experienced.
