Today we went to DC Central Kitchen and helped prepare the food for lunches. After that we went to the National Arboretum to do devotions and while we were there we walked through the Bonsai Gardens and saw the old columns that held up the Capitol dome. Next we went to our final day at VBS, the message being ‘God will lead me. I will follow.’ We played a game where we reviewed all the messages of the week. Later our group did our urban plunge, like the other group we had a limited amount of money and had to figure out how to find food for everyone and one other homeless person. However, challenging both groups succeeded with even a little money left over. After that we debriefed at the FDR Memorial and Kera guided us and explained the symbolic meaning of each part of the memorial. Finally we debriefed by the river and finished off the week by sharing what we learned and how it changed our views on poverty and the city, all of us hoping to comeback to continue the work started this week.
-Rachel J
Friday blog-
The last day of the week also could be considered one of our longest. Previous late nights to what seemed like early, eight to eight thirty morning wakeups had not prepared us for the sleepy hard ships of this morning. Waking up at five thirty, and out by six ten, we started our day on our way to work in what was much more then a food kitchen. Arriving at So Others Might Eat (SOME) sleepy eyed yet eager to serve we dressed in identical lime green aprons, and were assigned different jobs before the rush of men and women a like came in for their breakfast. The people passed on their way as we studied them, wondering about their stories, startled and touched every time they made their faith apparent with a, “thank you, Gob bless you”. We prepared, served, cleaned and repeated for a total of seven hours. After snacking on the days leftovers we headed to the last day of VBS. In remembrance of the lessons we have learned in the previous week we relaxed and played games. The kids recited the things we had thought they never heard, showing us they actually do listen, we actually had touched them. At the end of VBS we headed to a place close to home to learn about Vietnamese culture, and then to the FDR memorial for debrief. Mesmerizing as it was nothing could compare to the closing we shared together upon the river front. We shared the ways God had touched us this week, and the ways he had shown himself through out the things we had experienced. Discussing how we have grown closer with god, and the things we had built spiritually rather then physically on our trip. We finally closed in a prayer asking god that the lessons we had learned, and they yearn to serve we had gained would continue beyond this week and beyond this trip.
-Gabby and Samantha
Friday Blog
Although it was sad to have to say goodbye to all the ADORABLE kids and all the people we’ve met and started relationships with, we know that this has been one of the most memorable days. In the morning my group went to S.O.M.E. I was amazed to see all the smiling faces and the warm greetings from those who are in some of the worst situations I’ve ever seen or heard of. These people have so little, yet they have so much trust in god. They have touched me forever. We served both breakfast and lunch, and were thanked continuously through out both meals. As we traveled to VBS for the last time, I looked back on the week. I realized how big of an impact we have had on these kids lives, and more importantly, the huge impacts they’ve had on me. As “lil Richard” (the small 2 year old boy with whom I’ve become friends with) ran towards me with a smile on his face and his hands reaching up in the air, squealing “Up! UP,” I thanked god for everything he’s given me. Richard and I played the whole time and he FINALLY learned my name….although he pronounced it “Hanned.” I thank everyone who has been praying for us and supported us through our trip.
God Bless,
Hannah Berlin
Friday Blog
As this week comes to end, I can truly say that I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to the place that we have called home for the past 6 days in downtown Anacostia. This trip has made an impact on the way I view things and the spirituality of the people who surround me, whether they be strangers that I meet or my closest friends at Floris. Today while serving at S.O.M.E, I felt a strong willingness to serve and to love those who I encountered. For the first time this week, I was completely unafraid and extremely comfortable around those who I would have never even glanced at before this trip due to my old stereotypical fears. At the beginning I met someone who told me that it was okay to leave my comfort zone and go outside my personal “square”. I took his words to heart and went through some of the hardest mental transformations I’ve ever had to endure. He wasn’t the only one who impacted my life. In the bible Jesus tells us to be like children in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. This week a certain heart showed me what that meant. “Lil Robby”, was the troublemaker of the group, the one year old boy who people had a hard time handling. His long eyelashes and wild hair was God’s way of calling me to take on the challenge. Four long days of chasing, screaming, kicking, and being made into a human coloring book, I couldn’t have enjoyed myself anymore. He taught me that God can show himself in any form and any place. This mission trip has showed me so much and I won’t leave the same.
In his name,
Marie Meador
Friday Blog
At the lovely hour of 5 a.m. my alarm clock (aka Aunt Patti) jumped on my bed and woke me up to get ready for the long day ahead. Our group enjoyed serving breakfast and lunch to the working poor and homeless at S.O.M.E. After the smiling faces at our morning activity, we then went back to our VBS location and hosted another fun day for the kids in Anacostia for the last time. The saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” was shown when the kids at VBS suddenly had to go home after 2 hours of activities. Our day came to a close as the sun started to set. We began to debrief for the day as well as the week and I really started reflecting on our mission trip. Spending a whole week serving in DC taught me a lot about the realities and causes of homelessness. I also realized the amounts of people other than the homeless that need help in what is basically our backyard. I definitely want to pursue serving others through our church because I realized how much I enjoy serving through all the soup kitchens, elderly homes, and other activities we participated in. We have to come back next year to CSM as well!
God bless,
-Katie Athearn
Monday, July 27, 2009
CSM D.C.: Day Six
Today we went to DC Central Kitchen and helped prepare the food for lunches. After that we went to the National Arboretum to do devotions and while we were there we walked through the Bonsai Gardens and saw the old columns that held up the Capitol dome. Next we went to our final day at VBS, the message being ‘God will lead me. I will follow.’ We played a game where we reviewed all the messages of the week. Later our group did our urban plunge, like the other group we had a limited amount of money and had to figure out how to find food for everyone and one other homeless person. However, challenging both groups succeeded with even a little money left over. After that we debriefed at the FDR Memorial and Kera guided us and explained the symbolic meaning of each part of the memorial. Finally we debriefed by the river and finished off the week by sharing what we learned and how it changed our views on poverty and the city, all of us hoping to comeback to continue the work started this week.
-Rachel J
Friday blog-
The last day of the week also could be considered one of our longest. Previous late nights to what seemed like early, eight to eight thirty morning wakeups had not prepared us for the sleepy hard ships of this morning. Waking up at five thirty, and out by six ten, we started our day on our way to work in what was much more then a food kitchen. Arriving at So Others Might Eat (SOME) sleepy eyed yet eager to serve we dressed in identical lime green aprons, and were assigned different jobs before the rush of men and women a like came in for their breakfast. The people passed on their way as we studied them, wondering about their stories, startled and touched every time they made their faith apparent with a, “thank you, Gob bless you”. We prepared, served, cleaned and repeated for a total of seven hours. After snacking on the days leftovers we headed to the last day of VBS. In remembrance of the lessons we have learned in the previous week we relaxed and played games. The kids recited the things we had thought they never heard, showing us they actually do listen, we actually had touched them. At the end of VBS we headed to a place close to home to learn about Vietnamese culture, and then to the FDR memorial for debrief. Mesmerizing as it was nothing could compare to the closing we shared together upon the river front. We shared the ways God had touched us this week, and the ways he had shown himself through out the things we had experienced. Discussing how we have grown closer with god, and the things we had built spiritually rather then physically on our trip. We finally closed in a prayer asking god that the lessons we had learned, and they yearn to serve we had gained would continue beyond this week and beyond this trip.
-Gabby and Samantha
Friday Blog
Although it was sad to have to say goodbye to all the ADORABLE kids and all the people we’ve met and started relationships with, we know that this has been one of the most memorable days. In the morning my group went to S.O.M.E. I was amazed to see all the smiling faces and the warm greetings from those who are in some of the worst situations I’ve ever seen or heard of. These people have so little, yet they have so much trust in god. They have touched me forever. We served both breakfast and lunch, and were thanked continuously through out both meals. As we traveled to VBS for the last time, I looked back on the week. I realized how big of an impact we have had on these kids lives, and more importantly, the huge impacts they’ve had on me. As “lil Richard” (the small 2 year old boy with whom I’ve become friends with) ran towards me with a smile on his face and his hands reaching up in the air, squealing “Up! UP,” I thanked god for everything he’s given me. Richard and I played the whole time and he FINALLY learned my name….although he pronounced it “Hanned.” I thank everyone who has been praying for us and supported us through our trip.
God Bless,
Hannah Berlin
Friday Blog
As this week comes to end, I can truly say that I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to the place that we have called home for the past 6 days in downtown Anacostia. This trip has made an impact on the way I view things and the spirituality of the people who surround me, whether they be strangers that I meet or my closest friends at Floris. Today while serving at S.O.M.E, I felt a strong willingness to serve and to love those who I encountered. For the first time this week, I was completely unafraid and extremely comfortable around those who I would have never even glanced at before this trip due to my old stereotypical fears. At the beginning I met someone who told me that it was okay to leave my comfort zone and go outside my personal “square”. I took his words to heart and went through some of the hardest mental transformations I’ve ever had to endure. He wasn’t the only one who impacted my life. In the bible Jesus tells us to be like children in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. This week a certain heart showed me what that meant. “Lil Robby”, was the troublemaker of the group, the one year old boy who people had a hard time handling. His long eyelashes and wild hair was God’s way of calling me to take on the challenge. Four long days of chasing, screaming, kicking, and being made into a human coloring book, I couldn’t have enjoyed myself anymore. He taught me that God can show himself in any form and any place. This mission trip has showed me so much and I won’t leave the same.
In his name,
Marie Meador
Friday Blog
At the lovely hour of 5 a.m. my alarm clock (aka Aunt Patti) jumped on my bed and woke me up to get ready for the long day ahead. Our group enjoyed serving breakfast and lunch to the working poor and homeless at S.O.M.E. After the smiling faces at our morning activity, we then went back to our VBS location and hosted another fun day for the kids in Anacostia for the last time. The saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” was shown when the kids at VBS suddenly had to go home after 2 hours of activities. Our day came to a close as the sun started to set. We began to debrief for the day as well as the week and I really started reflecting on our mission trip. Spending a whole week serving in DC taught me a lot about the realities and causes of homelessness. I also realized the amounts of people other than the homeless that need help in what is basically our backyard. I definitely want to pursue serving others through our church because I realized how much I enjoy serving through all the soup kitchens, elderly homes, and other activities we participated in. We have to come back next year to CSM as well!
God bless,
-Katie Athearn
-Rachel J
Friday blog-
The last day of the week also could be considered one of our longest. Previous late nights to what seemed like early, eight to eight thirty morning wakeups had not prepared us for the sleepy hard ships of this morning. Waking up at five thirty, and out by six ten, we started our day on our way to work in what was much more then a food kitchen. Arriving at So Others Might Eat (SOME) sleepy eyed yet eager to serve we dressed in identical lime green aprons, and were assigned different jobs before the rush of men and women a like came in for their breakfast. The people passed on their way as we studied them, wondering about their stories, startled and touched every time they made their faith apparent with a, “thank you, Gob bless you”. We prepared, served, cleaned and repeated for a total of seven hours. After snacking on the days leftovers we headed to the last day of VBS. In remembrance of the lessons we have learned in the previous week we relaxed and played games. The kids recited the things we had thought they never heard, showing us they actually do listen, we actually had touched them. At the end of VBS we headed to a place close to home to learn about Vietnamese culture, and then to the FDR memorial for debrief. Mesmerizing as it was nothing could compare to the closing we shared together upon the river front. We shared the ways God had touched us this week, and the ways he had shown himself through out the things we had experienced. Discussing how we have grown closer with god, and the things we had built spiritually rather then physically on our trip. We finally closed in a prayer asking god that the lessons we had learned, and they yearn to serve we had gained would continue beyond this week and beyond this trip.
-Gabby and Samantha
Friday Blog
Although it was sad to have to say goodbye to all the ADORABLE kids and all the people we’ve met and started relationships with, we know that this has been one of the most memorable days. In the morning my group went to S.O.M.E. I was amazed to see all the smiling faces and the warm greetings from those who are in some of the worst situations I’ve ever seen or heard of. These people have so little, yet they have so much trust in god. They have touched me forever. We served both breakfast and lunch, and were thanked continuously through out both meals. As we traveled to VBS for the last time, I looked back on the week. I realized how big of an impact we have had on these kids lives, and more importantly, the huge impacts they’ve had on me. As “lil Richard” (the small 2 year old boy with whom I’ve become friends with) ran towards me with a smile on his face and his hands reaching up in the air, squealing “Up! UP,” I thanked god for everything he’s given me. Richard and I played the whole time and he FINALLY learned my name….although he pronounced it “Hanned.” I thank everyone who has been praying for us and supported us through our trip.
God Bless,
Hannah Berlin
Friday Blog
As this week comes to end, I can truly say that I’m going to be sad to say goodbye to the place that we have called home for the past 6 days in downtown Anacostia. This trip has made an impact on the way I view things and the spirituality of the people who surround me, whether they be strangers that I meet or my closest friends at Floris. Today while serving at S.O.M.E, I felt a strong willingness to serve and to love those who I encountered. For the first time this week, I was completely unafraid and extremely comfortable around those who I would have never even glanced at before this trip due to my old stereotypical fears. At the beginning I met someone who told me that it was okay to leave my comfort zone and go outside my personal “square”. I took his words to heart and went through some of the hardest mental transformations I’ve ever had to endure. He wasn’t the only one who impacted my life. In the bible Jesus tells us to be like children in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. This week a certain heart showed me what that meant. “Lil Robby”, was the troublemaker of the group, the one year old boy who people had a hard time handling. His long eyelashes and wild hair was God’s way of calling me to take on the challenge. Four long days of chasing, screaming, kicking, and being made into a human coloring book, I couldn’t have enjoyed myself anymore. He taught me that God can show himself in any form and any place. This mission trip has showed me so much and I won’t leave the same.
In his name,
Marie Meador
Friday Blog
At the lovely hour of 5 a.m. my alarm clock (aka Aunt Patti) jumped on my bed and woke me up to get ready for the long day ahead. Our group enjoyed serving breakfast and lunch to the working poor and homeless at S.O.M.E. After the smiling faces at our morning activity, we then went back to our VBS location and hosted another fun day for the kids in Anacostia for the last time. The saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” was shown when the kids at VBS suddenly had to go home after 2 hours of activities. Our day came to a close as the sun started to set. We began to debrief for the day as well as the week and I really started reflecting on our mission trip. Spending a whole week serving in DC taught me a lot about the realities and causes of homelessness. I also realized the amounts of people other than the homeless that need help in what is basically our backyard. I definitely want to pursue serving others through our church because I realized how much I enjoy serving through all the soup kitchens, elderly homes, and other activities we participated in. We have to come back next year to CSM as well!
God bless,
-Katie Athearn
Sunday, July 26, 2009
CSM D.C.: Day Five
At the beginning of this week I wasn’t sure what to expect, the only thing that I could hope for is that it would be one of the greatest experiences of my life. The week didn’t begin the greatest way it could have this week, the first day we got here the air mattress had a tiny puncture that was unable to be found. The next morning I woke to a deflated air mattress with my body practically on the ground. That night we decided the solution would be to use couch cushions under my sleeping bag.
Every night we went to a different ethnic restaurant, starting with a nice Middle Eastern restaurant, to things like Ben’s Chili Bowl, and my favorite of all, a very fancy Scottish restaurant called McDonalds. After eating at these restaurants with different cultures of food we went to a memorial and debriefed for the day there. We went to places like the National Cathedral and the Lincoln Memorial. These were the best parts of the week.
The worst parts of the week were waking up. As a teenager that has stayed up until two o’clock or later everyday, or should I say morning? During this summer made it very hard to wake up at 7 or 8. I think the only reason it was possible for me to wake up was because of a man named Joe Apple (He managed to get me up before 5 in the morning!). Every morning I’d hear the door squeak with a loud and bold voice saying “RISE AND SHINE”. Acting as I would at home, I completely ignored him, rolled back over and closed my eyes. Next thing I know, the sleeping bag is shaking, almost knocking me off the nice comfortable bed onto the hard floor. A couple of times Joe threatened us with water torture. This is where he gets his water bottle and drips water on us, and if that doesn’t work, he will dump the whole bottle of water on you! Luckily for us, he never got to this step of waking a teenage child up, it took the occasional “RISE AND SHINE” or shaking me out of the sleeping bag.
I’m very glad I decided to go on this trip. If I had not gone I would have missed out on some of the most memorable experiences of my life. Like the singing in the car, to the performance at the church with Joe’s dance, and one of the most important, helping the many people in need at D.C. When I said that I hoped this would be one of the greatest experiences of my life, my hopes proved to be correct! CSM was AMAZING!!
Kevin Hyerer
Every night we went to a different ethnic restaurant, starting with a nice Middle Eastern restaurant, to things like Ben’s Chili Bowl, and my favorite of all, a very fancy Scottish restaurant called McDonalds. After eating at these restaurants with different cultures of food we went to a memorial and debriefed for the day there. We went to places like the National Cathedral and the Lincoln Memorial. These were the best parts of the week.
The worst parts of the week were waking up. As a teenager that has stayed up until two o’clock or later everyday, or should I say morning? During this summer made it very hard to wake up at 7 or 8. I think the only reason it was possible for me to wake up was because of a man named Joe Apple (He managed to get me up before 5 in the morning!). Every morning I’d hear the door squeak with a loud and bold voice saying “RISE AND SHINE”. Acting as I would at home, I completely ignored him, rolled back over and closed my eyes. Next thing I know, the sleeping bag is shaking, almost knocking me off the nice comfortable bed onto the hard floor. A couple of times Joe threatened us with water torture. This is where he gets his water bottle and drips water on us, and if that doesn’t work, he will dump the whole bottle of water on you! Luckily for us, he never got to this step of waking a teenage child up, it took the occasional “RISE AND SHINE” or shaking me out of the sleeping bag.
I’m very glad I decided to go on this trip. If I had not gone I would have missed out on some of the most memorable experiences of my life. Like the singing in the car, to the performance at the church with Joe’s dance, and one of the most important, helping the many people in need at D.C. When I said that I hoped this would be one of the greatest experiences of my life, my hopes proved to be correct! CSM was AMAZING!!
Kevin Hyerer
CSM D.C.: Day Four
Today, my group and I went to St. Thomas Moore, an assisted living center. We split up into two groups, one starting on the first floor, the other on the fifth. Then we split up into 2 person units, and visited residents who were willing to chat. I was paired up with Kevin Hyer. There are two people in particular who are still in my mind. We started our experience on the fifth floor, visiting a man named John McRory. We knocked on the door and asked if we could visit with him; he immediately turned his attention away from the TV and shifted positions on his bed (with much effort) so he could talk to us. He is over 70 years old, and (we think) he had severe arthritis in his extremely deformed hands. Kevin and I stayed with him and talked for about 45 minutes. We spoke about all sorts of things like his family, his jobs, and his favorite sport of all: baseball. The whole time we were with him, I could not help but notice that, in his eyes, I could see how important it was for him to get visitors and how much he loved talking to us. We ended our visit by reading John 3:16, because we wanted to try to read some familiar scripture.
The other memorable person I met was a man who went by the name of “Mr. Jimmy”
Me: I didn’t catch your name. I’m Kevin Cronin.
Mr. Jimmy: Hmm… you can… call me Mr. Jimmy. That’s ‘J’ ‘I’ ‘M’ ‘M’ ‘Y’ Jimmy, 5 letter word.
Mr. Jimmy was full of wise words and advice. He was very fond of spelling out words and going on tangents. Some of his best quotes include:
“What looks like gold is not always gold”
“You need to learn a new word every day”
“What’s the spice of life? ‘V’ ‘A’ ‘R’ ‘I’‘E’ ‘T’ ‘Y’”
“You need to have a firm handshake. Put it here *grabs hand and pulls vigorously back and forth*”
“You need to stay in a group. There is strength in numbers.”
Mr. Jimmy was quite the chatterbox. We then met Tim Ward and Lindsey Merritt in the lobby and they spent the rest of the day with us.
For anyone who didn’t know, the big theme of this trip is in the song God of the City by Chris Tomlin. My van created an interpretive dance to this song (Much credit to Tim Ward). We preformed it on stage to the rest of the group at the debriefing. It was too intense to describe in this blog. Luckily, a video was created. It should be on Facebook soon.
God Bless,
Kevin Cronin
The other memorable person I met was a man who went by the name of “Mr. Jimmy”
Me: I didn’t catch your name. I’m Kevin Cronin.
Mr. Jimmy: Hmm… you can… call me Mr. Jimmy. That’s ‘J’ ‘I’ ‘M’ ‘M’ ‘Y’ Jimmy, 5 letter word.
Mr. Jimmy was full of wise words and advice. He was very fond of spelling out words and going on tangents. Some of his best quotes include:
“What looks like gold is not always gold”
“You need to learn a new word every day”
“What’s the spice of life? ‘V’ ‘A’ ‘R’ ‘I’‘E’ ‘T’ ‘Y’”
“You need to have a firm handshake. Put it here *grabs hand and pulls vigorously back and forth*”
“You need to stay in a group. There is strength in numbers.”
Mr. Jimmy was quite the chatterbox. We then met Tim Ward and Lindsey Merritt in the lobby and they spent the rest of the day with us.
For anyone who didn’t know, the big theme of this trip is in the song God of the City by Chris Tomlin. My van created an interpretive dance to this song (Much credit to Tim Ward). We preformed it on stage to the rest of the group at the debriefing. It was too intense to describe in this blog. Luckily, a video was created. It should be on Facebook soon.
God Bless,
Kevin Cronin
Thursday, July 23, 2009
CSM D.C.: Day Three
Today our group is serving with an organization called Food and Friends. This organization serves people in the DC, Virginia, and Maryland area who have life-challenging illnesses such as cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and HIV/AIDS. Kelly and I are currently delivering food packages such as soup and frozen meals to the doorsteps of the clients. Overall the trip is going great J. After our last stop we will return back to the facility to help the other people in our group prepare meals.
This afternoon we will run VBS again. The children who attend are so enthusiastic and really brighten up our days. They love to hang on us, play with our hair, and sit up on our shoulders. They truly display God’s love through their desire to be with us.
One thing we’ve learned in these past two days is how much in common every single person is. We all want to be loved and talked to. We’ve learned that the problems come when people are ignored or picked on because of differences. The children at VBS are just like the children at Floris UMC, but people sometimes treat them different. Getting to know them has taught us that it’s not fair to judge and make generalizations about people just because they live in different situations than us.
Hopefully our next three days will be as great as the last three. J
-Kelly and Emily
________________________________________________________________________
Currently, we are driving to our lunch stop at Anacostia Park. The van rides in the District of Columbia are very bumpy. Due to our long, busy days, students nap sometimes during the car rides.
Last night, the seniors convinced our leaders to take us roller skating (free at Anacostia Park!) after a long morning of work. We also suggested an ice cream run tonight which was exuberantly accepted by the leaders. This morning, the van group prepared and packed meals at Food and Friends. The organization’s food packing system ran very smoothly and was easy to catch onto. Our morning went by very quickly since we were always busy and having a grand time.
This afternoon we will spend time with children in Anacostia at Vacation Bible School (VBS). The kids are very excited and eager to play with us everyday. These kids live in the Woodlands housing project. This is a completely different atmosphere than we are used to being in, the children are not fazed by any crime in the community. A lot of the older children accompany their younger brothers, sisters, and cousins to make sure that they are safe. We teach around seventy kids a day. The kids enjoy a lot of individual attention from the students because some do not receive much at home. For example, one three year old came to VBS the second day with her siblings looking all over for “Daphne,” meaning Stephanie. Once Stephanie arrived the girl felt a lot more comfortable and was ready to have fun.
We interrogated Kera (our CSM leader) to find out our dinner destination tonight, which is Indian food. Yesterday we enjoyed an Ethnic plunge at Eden Center, a Vietnamese shopping center located in Falls Church, Virginia. Mr. Berlin especially enjoyed bubble tea and fish eyes (which turned out to actually be fruit gummies)!
We are having a fabulous time and miss you all. Love you!
Ttyt (talk to you tomorrow),
Kate Almen, Jen Mathews, Stephanie Poppe
_____________________________________________________________________
Working at VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the first day was just a little more than awkward. For starters we didn’t know the kids and they really didn’t know us. Some of the volunteers were noticeably uncomfortable around the kids, but some were up and leading the group as if they did this sort of thing every day. Nearing the end the uncomfortable volunteers eased up a little as they adapted to the situation.
The next day showed for lots of improvement. All the volunteers were working there hardest to finish the task at hand, even the ones who seemed uncomfortable the first day. From my perspective everyone, especially the VBS kids, were considerably more comfortable.
Each of the little kids we were teaching began to cling to one person in particular. In a way, they were picking favorites, but nobody seemed to mind. The one kid who I really clung to me was named Jay Jay. He was 5 years old and was probably the shyest of all the kids. At first, he rarely talked except for the occasional “I want to get on your neck,” or “I want to sit on your lap,” but by the second day he was talking to me like he knew me his whole life. He was still very quiet around everybody else, but I could occasionally get him to talk to the others.
Anthony Barbee
~ Anthony “Tiger” Barbee
____________________________________________________________________
Today, we went to two different places. The first group went to Food and Friends. There are 3000 people that F&F bring food to. We were packing bags with prepared meals to meet the specifications of individuals in the program. Majority of these people are not just sick, but dying of diseases like HIV/AIDS. It felt like every bag we packed represented the life of one of these dying people.
The second group went to Asbury UMC, functioning as an assisted living home for the elderly. Getting a rough and quiet start with the residents, things slowly picked up leading into the morning exercises and into game time. One of the exercises was to ask a woman “What time is it?” She responded routinely, “Time to get your roll on!!” and all the residents started to do an old school disco arm roll. When the game came along, many people went from giving blank stares to being aggressive competitors. The excitement in the room was overwhelming. As the game went on, the people got more intent and focused, as well as comfortable around our CSM students. But, sadly when the residents’ lunch time came, the students left the church and said goodbye to the residents.
At VBS today, we received a slightly smaller crowd, but the connections between the students and the children remained the same. We sang songs, played with some beach balls, and learned about sharing in our message. Some girls even got braids in their hair from the kids. Wrapping up the day with a craft and a nutritious and delicious snack, we left the kids for another night.
God Bless,Bradley Mason, Will Morgan-Palmer and Kevin Cronin
This afternoon we will run VBS again. The children who attend are so enthusiastic and really brighten up our days. They love to hang on us, play with our hair, and sit up on our shoulders. They truly display God’s love through their desire to be with us.
One thing we’ve learned in these past two days is how much in common every single person is. We all want to be loved and talked to. We’ve learned that the problems come when people are ignored or picked on because of differences. The children at VBS are just like the children at Floris UMC, but people sometimes treat them different. Getting to know them has taught us that it’s not fair to judge and make generalizations about people just because they live in different situations than us.
Hopefully our next three days will be as great as the last three. J
-Kelly and Emily
________________________________________________________________________
Currently, we are driving to our lunch stop at Anacostia Park. The van rides in the District of Columbia are very bumpy. Due to our long, busy days, students nap sometimes during the car rides.
Last night, the seniors convinced our leaders to take us roller skating (free at Anacostia Park!) after a long morning of work. We also suggested an ice cream run tonight which was exuberantly accepted by the leaders. This morning, the van group prepared and packed meals at Food and Friends. The organization’s food packing system ran very smoothly and was easy to catch onto. Our morning went by very quickly since we were always busy and having a grand time.
This afternoon we will spend time with children in Anacostia at Vacation Bible School (VBS). The kids are very excited and eager to play with us everyday. These kids live in the Woodlands housing project. This is a completely different atmosphere than we are used to being in, the children are not fazed by any crime in the community. A lot of the older children accompany their younger brothers, sisters, and cousins to make sure that they are safe. We teach around seventy kids a day. The kids enjoy a lot of individual attention from the students because some do not receive much at home. For example, one three year old came to VBS the second day with her siblings looking all over for “Daphne,” meaning Stephanie. Once Stephanie arrived the girl felt a lot more comfortable and was ready to have fun.
We interrogated Kera (our CSM leader) to find out our dinner destination tonight, which is Indian food. Yesterday we enjoyed an Ethnic plunge at Eden Center, a Vietnamese shopping center located in Falls Church, Virginia. Mr. Berlin especially enjoyed bubble tea and fish eyes (which turned out to actually be fruit gummies)!
We are having a fabulous time and miss you all. Love you!
Ttyt (talk to you tomorrow),
Kate Almen, Jen Mathews, Stephanie Poppe
_____________________________________________________________________
Working at VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the first day was just a little more than awkward. For starters we didn’t know the kids and they really didn’t know us. Some of the volunteers were noticeably uncomfortable around the kids, but some were up and leading the group as if they did this sort of thing every day. Nearing the end the uncomfortable volunteers eased up a little as they adapted to the situation.
The next day showed for lots of improvement. All the volunteers were working there hardest to finish the task at hand, even the ones who seemed uncomfortable the first day. From my perspective everyone, especially the VBS kids, were considerably more comfortable.
Each of the little kids we were teaching began to cling to one person in particular. In a way, they were picking favorites, but nobody seemed to mind. The one kid who I really clung to me was named Jay Jay. He was 5 years old and was probably the shyest of all the kids. At first, he rarely talked except for the occasional “I want to get on your neck,” or “I want to sit on your lap,” but by the second day he was talking to me like he knew me his whole life. He was still very quiet around everybody else, but I could occasionally get him to talk to the others.
Anthony Barbee
~ Anthony “Tiger” Barbee
____________________________________________________________________
Today, we went to two different places. The first group went to Food and Friends. There are 3000 people that F&F bring food to. We were packing bags with prepared meals to meet the specifications of individuals in the program. Majority of these people are not just sick, but dying of diseases like HIV/AIDS. It felt like every bag we packed represented the life of one of these dying people.
The second group went to Asbury UMC, functioning as an assisted living home for the elderly. Getting a rough and quiet start with the residents, things slowly picked up leading into the morning exercises and into game time. One of the exercises was to ask a woman “What time is it?” She responded routinely, “Time to get your roll on!!” and all the residents started to do an old school disco arm roll. When the game came along, many people went from giving blank stares to being aggressive competitors. The excitement in the room was overwhelming. As the game went on, the people got more intent and focused, as well as comfortable around our CSM students. But, sadly when the residents’ lunch time came, the students left the church and said goodbye to the residents.
At VBS today, we received a slightly smaller crowd, but the connections between the students and the children remained the same. We sang songs, played with some beach balls, and learned about sharing in our message. Some girls even got braids in their hair from the kids. Wrapping up the day with a craft and a nutritious and delicious snack, we left the kids for another night.
God Bless,Bradley Mason, Will Morgan-Palmer and Kevin Cronin
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
CSM D.C.: Day Two
Today while the first group was awakened at 5 AM we were blessed with sleeping in until 8:30. Group one was sent to S.O.M.E. (so others may eat.) Group two was sent to “Joe’s House” where we were faced with the challenge from moving him from one apartment to another. Although we did not get the entire job done, we did accomplish moving the largest couch any of us have ever seen; finding two dead mice without screaming; and doing more cleaning than any of our parents could have ever imagined.
The group that went to S.O.M.E. got to cook, serve, and clean-up breakfast to the homeless and needy. They were blessed with smiling faces and even in some cases serenading. During the afternoon everyone, once again, traveled to the VBS location. Although this VBS was more chaotic than any of us could have planned, we can all agree that the smiling faces of the children, the jumping onto our backs and even the screaming was one of the best parts of our day.
For dinner we were expecting a sit down restaurant like any other evening, but both groups were challenged with a “plunge”. Group one had a buffet of Vietnamese foods. This was they’re cultural plunge. Group two was faced with a totally different challenge. They were given two dollars a person to feed the entire group and one other in need. They were encouraged to walk around D.C. to local restaurants asking for food and donations for the homeless. At the end of our experience, we were able to spend our leftover money to buy McDonald’s meals for everyone, including our new friend Robert. We were able to leave him with leftover chips and salsa, a loaf of bread, and at least 10 scones. He was very grateful and interesting to talk with. He has left a mark on all of us.
We ended our day at the Lincoln memorial with debriefing. We thank our parents for letting us come on this trip.
Love,
Marie Meador and Hannah Berlin
The group that went to S.O.M.E. got to cook, serve, and clean-up breakfast to the homeless and needy. They were blessed with smiling faces and even in some cases serenading. During the afternoon everyone, once again, traveled to the VBS location. Although this VBS was more chaotic than any of us could have planned, we can all agree that the smiling faces of the children, the jumping onto our backs and even the screaming was one of the best parts of our day.
For dinner we were expecting a sit down restaurant like any other evening, but both groups were challenged with a “plunge”. Group one had a buffet of Vietnamese foods. This was they’re cultural plunge. Group two was faced with a totally different challenge. They were given two dollars a person to feed the entire group and one other in need. They were encouraged to walk around D.C. to local restaurants asking for food and donations for the homeless. At the end of our experience, we were able to spend our leftover money to buy McDonald’s meals for everyone, including our new friend Robert. We were able to leave him with leftover chips and salsa, a loaf of bread, and at least 10 scones. He was very grateful and interesting to talk with. He has left a mark on all of us.
We ended our day at the Lincoln memorial with debriefing. We thank our parents for letting us come on this trip.
Love,
Marie Meador and Hannah Berlin
Monday, July 20, 2009
CSM D.C.: Day One
Hey Everyone!
Today was a busy day with little time to spare. We started off early, one group, the Floris Bus kids leaving at 7:30am to head to Charlie's. They worked hard unloading food and cleaning up the shelter for food distribution. Their leader of the shelter, Larry, appeared to be an odd ball, but after the students warmed up to him, they found he was charming and funny. The second group, in the vans, went to Ms. Holly's to work on odd jobs around the house; including, cleaning the kitchen, washing the back porch, and painting the railings. Ms. Holly was very appreciative and even gave treated us to delicious fruit punch.
After, we went to the Anacostia Park for lunch and devotions. The park was a peaceful and relaxing place to talk to God. We then went to the orientation with Pastor Terry, leader of the Kids Konnection services. The Floris group went to Woodlands Park to play with the Vacation Bible School kids. The kids were so excited and happy to spend time with us. We all enjoyed singing music, playing a game, listening to a Bible story, and making a treasure box out of popsicle sticks. In between all of this we bonded with the kids by letting them braid our hair, climb on our shoulders, and give them piggy-back rides. We were so grateful to have spent the afternoon with such wonderful kids.
We then went to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner; chowing down on french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, and the world renowned half-smoke chili dogs. We were fortunate enough to hear the history of the restuarant and get a group picture. For our debriefing, we went to the Jefferson Memorial. We spent some time exploring and taking pictures of the beautiful monument and view of the city. After, we talked about our days, sharing stories of seeing God in each other and the people we served. Today was insightful in veiwing another side of our nation's Capitol. Today was busy, tiring, and fun. We love you and miss you! Thank you for putting us in your prayers. Good night! ttyl!
Love, Kate Almen and Jen Mathews
Today was a busy day with little time to spare. We started off early, one group, the Floris Bus kids leaving at 7:30am to head to Charlie's. They worked hard unloading food and cleaning up the shelter for food distribution. Their leader of the shelter, Larry, appeared to be an odd ball, but after the students warmed up to him, they found he was charming and funny. The second group, in the vans, went to Ms. Holly's to work on odd jobs around the house; including, cleaning the kitchen, washing the back porch, and painting the railings. Ms. Holly was very appreciative and even gave treated us to delicious fruit punch.
After, we went to the Anacostia Park for lunch and devotions. The park was a peaceful and relaxing place to talk to God. We then went to the orientation with Pastor Terry, leader of the Kids Konnection services. The Floris group went to Woodlands Park to play with the Vacation Bible School kids. The kids were so excited and happy to spend time with us. We all enjoyed singing music, playing a game, listening to a Bible story, and making a treasure box out of popsicle sticks. In between all of this we bonded with the kids by letting them braid our hair, climb on our shoulders, and give them piggy-back rides. We were so grateful to have spent the afternoon with such wonderful kids.
We then went to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner; chowing down on french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, and the world renowned half-smoke chili dogs. We were fortunate enough to hear the history of the restuarant and get a group picture. For our debriefing, we went to the Jefferson Memorial. We spent some time exploring and taking pictures of the beautiful monument and view of the city. After, we talked about our days, sharing stories of seeing God in each other and the people we served. Today was insightful in veiwing another side of our nation's Capitol. Today was busy, tiring, and fun. We love you and miss you! Thank you for putting us in your prayers. Good night! ttyl!
Love, Kate Almen and Jen Mathews
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
CSM Prep -
this is the first post for the CSM Trip to Washington D.C.
Members of the Trip:
Students:
Kate Almen
Katie Athearn
Anthony Barbee
Hannah Berlin
Sarah Burns
Brad Cohen
Kevin Cronin
Jeannie Evans
Taylor Grenn
Tommy Haynie
Rachel Hume
Kevin Hyer
Emilly Lopynski
Bradley Mason
Jennifer Mathews
MarieMeador
Wil Morgan-Palmer
Kaylee Mueller
Taylor Poe
Stephanie Poppe
Kelly Regan
Andrea Rossman
Samantha Small
Gabrielle Snedeker
Leaders:
Eric Rose (L)
Cynthia Lopynski (L)
Donita Dickerson (L)
Tom Berlin (L)
Patti Gavin (L)
Joe Apple (L)
Members of the Trip:
Students:
Kate Almen
Katie Athearn
Anthony Barbee
Hannah Berlin
Sarah Burns
Brad Cohen
Kevin Cronin
Jeannie Evans
Taylor Grenn
Tommy Haynie
Rachel Hume
Kevin Hyer
Emilly Lopynski
Bradley Mason
Jennifer Mathews
MarieMeador
Wil Morgan-Palmer
Kaylee Mueller
Taylor Poe
Stephanie Poppe
Kelly Regan
Andrea Rossman
Samantha Small
Gabrielle Snedeker
Leaders:
Eric Rose (L)
Cynthia Lopynski (L)
Donita Dickerson (L)
Tom Berlin (L)
Patti Gavin (L)
Joe Apple (L)
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