It's a thrill to be packed away in a little car and sent out three hours from home, while others I know are valiantly conquering overseas work; the mere use of the phrase "overseas work" is in itself enough to give it its credibility. It really doesn't matter where you actually go, there are those everywhere who need friendship and I'm willing to bet that they're all around us, even back home. I thought this trip would be quite a stretch from my usual spring break trips in the past such as Paris and the Rocky Mountains. I guess, I needed all that experience--treating myself to the niceties of vacation travel--before I could really have considered myself prepared and equipped to take on actual mission work. Enough said, I considered this a legitimate opportunity to serve and grow in my relationship with God. I've been finding it has also been an absolute privilege too.
We started Monday morning and arrived in KC at the market and middle eastern cuisine with a bunch of people which Adam Stoddard, our pastoral person, personally knew through their active involvement in church planting. We learned about the different challenging aspects of church planting in the inner city and it's diverse culture and common post-church mindset.
We spent time after that with a gentleman who began a ministry in a neighborhood with a prominent homeless population and we had the opportunity to take a brisk walk down to a homeless camp. A bon fire blazed and many stood around stacked mattresses that had just been dropped off. It was then that I got a chance to meet Joe, an out-of-work gentleman who candidly expressed his dreams at getting back on the road aboard his 18-Wheeler.
Here is a video I put together which expresses all of our thoughts on the trip, our new friends the Bieber Twins, and the bonds of friendship which were formed.
