Mission Trip Post #4- Wednesday Night

Wow! Today was our best day. Everyone felt fulfilled in the work that we did. My group served lunch at the Salvation Army to an extremely diverse clientele. Others switched to work with the elderly and others did Kids Club for the first time. We were all blessed by and through the work that we did today. I must confess that my group's day started a bit rough. We were an hour late for our worksite because we set out for the wrong Salvation Army. To make matters worse, we got lost looking for the place that we weren't supposed to go to. Sometimes I am not so bright! When we called to get corrected, we were told that our site was about 5 minutes away from the church. Oh well, at least we got to see new parts of Brooklyn.
The real power of the day came in the evening. We got to go have fun at the world famous boardwalk area known as Coney Island! We rode the "Wonder Wheel," played games, ate coney dogs, and had some much needed fun. When we returned for the evening worship time, the spirit really moved us. "Club" time is what they call it when all 65 of us gather together to sing, listen to a helpful talk about the day's theme, and pray together. The other part of the night is spent in our own church groups. That is when our kids had a time of spiritual purging. The mood had already been set in the large group, and we continued it in a powerful, Holy Spirit filled way. We affirmed one another, forgave one another (for those who needed to do that), sang togeher, cried together, prayed together, and knocked down some major walls spiritually. Our youth became more real to one another and to God tonight, because He became more real to them.We were weak, but Christ was definitely strong in our weakness. I am very excited for tomorrow's day of service and tomorrow night's grand finale. The Holy Spirit is moving, and I am just trying to hang on to it for our kids' sake. I'll see you tomorrow. Keep praying! Amen!!!

Mission Trip Post #3-Wednesday Morning

Sorry gang, that I didn't write last night, but immediate sleep sounded better. Yesterday was a good day, too. We repeated our work sites and will be switching sites today. My group will be going to the Salvation Army, while others will be switching to elderly care homes or kids club (VBS) sites. Our youth who have been working with the elderly have been pleased. They are meeting many people of great diversity, and with wisdom in their stories. I told you earlier that we are in a neighborhood with pockets of diversity. One section is Chinese, another Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Hassidic Jews, etc. They asked us last night if we live in cities with "pockets" of diversity. I told them that we live in the Swedish ghetto with a few Germans and Danes mixed in. I said it has explosive potential, but we maintain the peace pretty well. It's interesting that the peace in Brooklyn is kept pretty well. We are free to walk in these neighborhoods in our free time (not night time), with an adult. We have not felt threatened or unwelcomed at all. To me, that is a taste of the Kingdom of God. We are not where we should be in our integration, especially of the Gospel, but getting a taste makes me want to strive for more.
OK, I'll give details of our new work sites tonight after we visit Coney Isand. Amen.

Mission Trip Post #2- Monday Night

We survived our first day at our worksites in Brooklyn with a mixed bag of responses. Most of our group were working with elementary aged children, while some worked with the elderly. Not everyone had a moving experience. Some of us were left feeling useless and wondering what good we were doing. Others were very inspired and even one was moved to tears. Kyrstin met a boy at VBS who told her that he had recently witnessed a shooting. A handful of other children were talking about other, similar, experiences that saddened our hearts. We all agreed that 6 & 7 year olds should not have these experiences. Despite the variance of emotions and expriences, just on day one, we all believed that God was at work and that we would all be challenged in many different ways. We have been talking about stepping out of our comfort zones and trying to see the world around us with God's eyes. This is not easily done, but it is definitely worthwhile. We will keep striving toward those goals as we journey into day 2.
Personally, my highlight of the day was singing, loudly, in the subway station! There is nothing like praising God in unique places. I'll talk to you all tomorrow. Please keep the prayers rolling. Amen.

p.s. The Brooklyn Bridge is very cool! We got our picture taken with some aspiring models. How fun!

Mission Trip Post #1- Sunday Night

We made it to Brooklyn! We weren't the last ones and we made it without incident. We did get a little turned around in Newark, NJ, but that was just a hiccup. Kathy and Dawn split the driving in one van and I, miraculously, (with the help of a bottle of "5 hour energy" and some great worship songs) drove the entire trip on only 3 hours of sleep. God is good! I never felt tired, or that I was putting any of our kids in jeopardy. Overall, the trip took appoximately 14 hours, including the stops. The kids were great. They mostly slept, but we did have some fun interactions as well. We arrived in Brooklyn driving through Staten Island. We could see the Statue of Liberty off in the distance as we crossed from the island to Brooklyn. We arrived at our church by traveling through a smaller, but highly populated version of Chinatown. The  community we are in is highly diverse with "neighborhoods" sectioned off in different ethnicities. I mentioned the large Chinese section. In addition, we are close to a Puerto Rican community, Hassidic Jewish community, Indian, and Middle Eastern communities as well. We begin our work tomorrow, and I am very excited for our youth to be working amongst and with this broad range of diverse people. Now, I am off to pass out! Good night and Amen!