"Captives Come Home"
(by Run Kid Run)
goingLOCAL was amazing! I'm sad that it's over, so writing this post is bittersweet for me. I really don't even know where to start...I just don't know how to put into words what I feel inside.
I guess you could say that I fell in love over the course of three days.
And not just with one little person, but with an entire neighborhood. I know that sounds crazy, especially since I didn't actually meet everyone in the neighborhood. But at the very least, I fell in love with everyone that I met! Ü
I'd love to post all of the pictures that I took, but I don't know the rules about posting children's pictures without permission. So I'm only posting pics of the kids I have permission to post, along with some pics where I blurred out their faces & stuff. I left their smiles where I could, because those smiles are part of what caused me to fall in love!
I had some great conversations with some adults and a bunch of kids. I received hugs that melted my heart. The Food Outreach fed 80-100 people each day. A first-grader read me the entire first page of the book of John from one of the Bibles that we handed out. {OK, so I sort of accidentally made her do it. It's a long story. But she enjoyed it & told me that she read more the next day!} And have I mentioned the smiles? Seriously, they'd make your heart do somersaults!
I loved seeing the kids laugh & have fun!
I watched tough little boys [who thought they could pick up a Marine ~ ha ha!]...
...forget their problems for awhile & dance to the songs we played for VBS.
I held the sweetest little girl {who cried when she had to go home}
And that's only what happend on my side of the street. On Sunday morning in the youth room, I got to hear the testimonies of 5 or 6 of our teenagers who ministered to other teenagers (across the street from where I was helping with VBS). Several said that their lives have been changed. They have a greater appreciation for the things they have, and they now see a difference between wants & needs. I almost cried as one student talked about seeing a boy with huge holes in his socks, while he has a bunch of socks at home without holes.
{Thanks for the pic, Amelia!}
There was also an awesome group of people that walked all over the neighborhood talking to people about Jesus. And I think I mentioned before that there were a couple of other mission projects going on in other parts of town (at the nursing home & the prison). I do life with a wonderful community of believers at my church, and I am so thankful to serve there. Over 100 people took time out of their lives to love God & love others in our community last week, and I'm so glad that I was a part of it. We got dirty, stinky, exhausted & sunburnt, but it was totally worth it!
goingLOCAL was amazing! I'm sad that it's over, so writing this post is bittersweet for me. I really don't even know where to start...I just don't know how to put into words what I feel inside.
I guess you could say that I fell in love over the course of three days.
And not just with one little person, but with an entire neighborhood. I know that sounds crazy, especially since I didn't actually meet everyone in the neighborhood. But at the very least, I fell in love with everyone that I met! Ü
I'd love to post all of the pictures that I took, but I don't know the rules about posting children's pictures without permission. So I'm only posting pics of the kids I have permission to post, along with some pics where I blurred out their faces & stuff. I left their smiles where I could, because those smiles are part of what caused me to fall in love!
I had some great conversations with some adults and a bunch of kids. I received hugs that melted my heart. The Food Outreach fed 80-100 people each day. A first-grader read me the entire first page of the book of John from one of the Bibles that we handed out. {OK, so I sort of accidentally made her do it. It's a long story. But she enjoyed it & told me that she read more the next day!} And have I mentioned the smiles? Seriously, they'd make your heart do somersaults!
I loved seeing the kids laugh & have fun!
I watched tough little boys [who thought they could pick up a Marine ~ ha ha!]...
...forget their problems for awhile & dance to the songs we played for VBS.
I held the sweetest little girl {who cried when she had to go home}
And that's only what happend on my side of the street. On Sunday morning in the youth room, I got to hear the testimonies of 5 or 6 of our teenagers who ministered to other teenagers (across the street from where I was helping with VBS). Several said that their lives have been changed. They have a greater appreciation for the things they have, and they now see a difference between wants & needs. I almost cried as one student talked about seeing a boy with huge holes in his socks, while he has a bunch of socks at home without holes.
{Thanks for the pic, Amelia!}
There was also an awesome group of people that walked all over the neighborhood talking to people about Jesus. And I think I mentioned before that there were a couple of other mission projects going on in other parts of town (at the nursing home & the prison). I do life with a wonderful community of believers at my church, and I am so thankful to serve there. Over 100 people took time out of their lives to love God & love others in our community last week, and I'm so glad that I was a part of it. We got dirty, stinky, exhausted & sunburnt, but it was totally worth it!
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