Day two of the DC Mission Trip provided many more opportunities for us to grow closer to God and each other through service in our nation's capital.
Serving Group 1 (Led by Lex Kincaid and Kyle Lung) started out their morning by returning to Brighter Day Ministries to build relationships with their new friends. Your students continued to serve by tutoring the children and rehearsing Bible songs and skits for an upcoming performance! They met up with Serving Group 2 for lunch at Anacostia Park along the Anacostia River. In addition to the walking trails and playgrounds, the park also has a free skating rink, which the students took full advantage of. After lunch, the team headed to ROJA summer camp to play games and build relationships with more inner city children. While this program was not quite as structured as some of the other sites our teams visit, the Chapel team responded extremely well by initiating games and connections themselves. The group leaders were very impressed with the way your kids dove right in to jump rope, play football, and even act out scenes under the direction of a spunky 8 year old girl. By stepping out of their comfort zones, this group was able to be "Jesus with skin on" to the kids in Anacostia throughout the day.
Serving Group 2 (Led by Margaret Anderson and Aaron Sprung) had a fun morning working at Food and Friends! The group divided and conquered by splitting into one packaging group and one delivery group. After lunch and an adventurous time roller skating with Serving Group 1, the group went back to see their friends at Children of Mine. They spent the afternoon cleaning the playground and preparing dinner, as well as coloring, playing card games, watching a classic movie ("The Sandlot"), and enjoying a fun game of pick-up basketball with the kids there. For dinner, the students supported Food for Life, a local training program for culinary students, and had a delicious picnic meal of pork chops and lemon meringue pie by the Nationals baseball park. These shared experience continue to unite the group in ways that can be explained only by our unity in Christ and our common desire to serve Him.
Serving Group 3 (Led by Tarah Romano and Andrew Sedlacek) began their work at DC Central Kitchen, a food preparation and distribution ministry. The kitchen prepares over 5,000 meals a day and runs a great volunteer program. Your kids rose to the challenge of preparing and packing over 250 meals, slicing and dicing hundreds of tomatoes in the process. Following lunch on site, the group had the opportunity to drive by a few memorials and then stop and walk around the MLK memorial. It was a nice treat to experience some of the monuments that D.C. has to offer and to reflect on our country's rich heritage. The Urban Plunge took place this evening for this team, and by splitting into two groups, each one with a leader, the group was able to interact with the homeless people of both Chinatown and Dupont Circle. Your kids were astonished by the kind hearts of the people dwelling in the city. Instead of a meal, one of the gentlemen asked the group to buy him a Bible instead, reminding us that Jesus really is the "bread of life." This has been a wonderful day of serving and a great bonding experience for the whole team.
Serving Group 4 (Led by Craig Blocher and KK Anderson) started out their day by waking up before the sun rose! They headed to Charlie's Place, a food service ministry, by 6 in the morning. The students helped serve food, clean in the kitchen, and pass out clothes to homeless/low-income men. Despite the early wake-up call, the group served with great energy and love. The team then went to H street, the street our housing site is located on, to do a prayer tour and explore the community. Everyone was impressed with the diversity that can exist within such a small area. After the prayer walk, your kids got to experience Middle Eastern cuisine at Old City Cafe before returning to the church to rest for a couple hours after the early morning. From 4pm-8pm, students got to serve at DC Central Kitchen, another food preparation and distribution site. The time was spent cutting up food, making sandwiches, and preparing for the rest of the week. After completing their assignments, the team returned to our housing site to reunite with the other serving groups.
In order to really begin processing our experiences in Washington, DC, the entire team took time this evening for small group discussion. The small group leaders were excited to hear your kids share about where Christ is calling them to grow and step out in faith, and we all look forward to applying these insights throughout the rest of the trip.
The ministry opportunities this week have been fulfilling thus far, and it's only the end of day two! We have an exciting day tomorrow and we can't wait to continue fellowshipping and serving. Please pray that God continues opening our hearts to His word and His will.
