Day two began with breakfast at our housing site followed by our departure to our first ministry site, Union Mission Ministries. The head of public relations at this homeless shelter, Linda Jones, began by giving the team an overview of all the ministries at the homeless shelter including: a men's shelter, a women's shelter, a family shelter, a thrift store, on site job training, budget counseling, chapel services and many other things that cared for each individual holistically. She did a great job of interacting with the kids and allowing them to ask all of their questions. It was amazing to watch your kids have a genuine interest in the work that goes on at the homeless shelter. Also, Linda was overjoyed with all of the toy donations we brought because they had run out of toys last year during Christmas and so they really wanted to make sure that did not happen again this year. After the overview, the team was given a tour through many of the buildings to see what the homeless shelter looked like and all the things that go into running a successful homeless ministry.
Following our time at the homeless shelter, the team went to a local park to eat lunch. After lunch we went to a local nursing home called Consulate Health Care. We got to play a bingo-like game with the residents and all of your kids sat with a resident and helped them play. It was moving to watch everyone live out the Matthew 25 passage Luke spoke on the night before as they served the sick and needy. We closed our time at Consulate by pushing the residents back to their rooms and saying our goodbyes with big smiles on both sides.
Next, the team changed into their swimsuits and headed to the beach for a little fun and relaxation. It was a great shared experience as the team bonded with refreshing water on a hot day. After the beach and dinner, the team headed back to Spring Branch for our evening porch time. We took some time to share all the places where we saw Jesus throughout the day, sang praise songs, and listened to Luke give another talk. Luke used Ephesians 6:10-18 to talk about why our faith always seems to make so much more sense on a mission trip. He talked about the reality of a spiritual dimension to life and how we often give up the spiritual for the physical in our lives and miss out on the things God is trying to show us in our everyday lives. He challenged us to not go back to Williamsburg without letting God change us and give us a fresh perspective on life and the world around us. We closed our evening by splitting into small groups and discussing further our experiences on the trip and the things Luke spoke about during porch time. It has been another wonderful day filled with God-inspired moments and we look forward to our final day here in Norfolk tomorrow.
God Bless,
The SM Staff Team
