Wow, what a week it has been! It feels like a month, solely as a result of the incredible amount this week has held.
I spent this week participating in the college age Urban Intensive hosted by Center for Student Missions (CSM), which is an incredible organization by the way. I had actually been really debating about whether I should do this program, as I had originally signed up for Denver but it was cancelled due to lack of people. Then one night, God took me for a drive (i.e. I got the intense feeling that I should turn left instead of right, and God showed me all the wonders of downtown Port Huron until I decided I was passionate about urban environments. Definitely felt God's presence big time!) Then I got home and discovered a bunch of paychecks I had forgotten to cash, so it was paid for. Thanks, God!
We stayed in the basement of a church, showers complete with a "sound portal" to the street so all the bustle could be heard. (I don't know if you've ever listened to the conversations of strange drunk men while you were showering, but it is an interesting experience indeed! Hahah.)
Here's a brief overview of each day! I have far too many stories to fit here, but I'd love to share the excess ones personally if you're ever interested!
SUNDAY 1/3
- up at 4am to catch my flight
- lotion set off the airport security alarms, so I had to go through a whole long process involving full luggage searches and a pat down (another adventure in living, I suppose!)
- arrived in D.C. and promptly took the wrong suitcase off the round.. I felt like Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother as I meekly put it back
- went adventuring through the city for 5 hours! (I probably should have brushed up on my knowledge of D.C. before going, as I immediately sent my dad a photo of the national library asking if it was the White House...) P.S. The Washington Monument is super huge in real life, so although it appears to be only a couple blocks from the Capitol Building, it is in fact a mile away and one should not attempt to walk there and back in 20 minutes...
-CSM introductions and dinner at yummy Thai restaurant
MONDAY 1/4
- presentations and articles about poverty and the corruption present in the main D.C. homeless shelter
- prayer tour of the city
- kicked out of the car on a random street corner with nothing more than $2 each for dinner and a key to the church. Facing a far more mild form of the poverty others face daily, we were surprised to discover how difficult it was to find a restroom that could be used without making a purchase, and the lack of food variety available for less than $12 total for the meal (for 6 people).
- walked past a man in the park.. He was completely surrounded with bags and covered in blankets, sitting upright, shivering uncontrollably.
TUESDAY 1/5
- another informative presentation about child poverty nationwide
- community food giveaway at Children of Mine - awesome to talk to all the friendly people as we gave them food
- returned to Children of Mine to be a part of the after school program. Homework, reading, dinner, and a place to safely hang out. The love poured out on the children there is indescribable!
- dinner at Vietnamese restaurant with the best jack berry smoothies in the universe. Also learned how to say "thank you" in Vietnamese!
WEDNESDAY 1/6
- meeting at Bread for the World (an amazing organization fighting both domestic and international hunger by targeting the root causes of it) to learn about our congressional meetings Friday
- visit to Orr Elementary where I was spent time with a 2nd grade class. The kids were SO outgoing and friendly! I unintentionally created chaos as all the kids were fighting to sit next to me (and I did nothing to make them like me, they were just that welcoming!) At one point, I had 6 girls petting my head obsessing over the softness of my hair hahah (that area of town is rather segregated, so they don't encounter many people with hair that's not black)
- one girl in that class particularly struck my heart. She was extremely behind in math and had no interest in doing it, but she was incredibly intelligent! I asked her if she gets help with her homework, and she told me that she has 9 siblings and only sees her dad on Wednesdays, so she has to spend all her time at home helping her mom with her younger siblings. The only time she can do homework is in the car on the way to school, but she can't even focus because her siblings are screaming. This is a child who is so incredibly smart, but she is getting left behind due to her family life, which is totally out of her control. This makes me sad.
THURSDAY 1/7
- heard from the people who started a super diverse community church in the area. They offered great insight into urban ministry
- headed to Anacostia, one of the more dangerous regions of D.C. Even the grocery store had several security guards at the door
- headed to Brighter Day Ministries in Anacostia and helped with the after school program. The kids were SO CUTE and I had fun break dancing with some of the little ones. I think I spent the majority of the afternoon as a tiger.
- as I was pretending to be a horse, the kids who were trying to ride said horse suddenly froze, staring at my head. Then one murmured, "You have gum in your hair." So that was an adventure.
FRIDAY 1/8
- Bread for the World for further instruction on our congressional meetings
- we were set loose in D.C. to go to our appointments with staff of our representative and senators! I met with people from Candice Miller's office, and stopped by my senators' offices in attempt to get meetings. We were discussing some specific terms we wanted in an upcoming bill relating to American child hunger. (I'm not going to go into anymore detail about these meetings, but they were SUPER COOL and I would be totally thrilled to tell you all about them sometime!)
-aimlessly wandered through the Senate buildings, then went to the Capitol and Botanical Garden with one of the girls in my group, running through each as they were closing
- debrief at Bread for the World
- dinner at Busboys & Poets, complete with the penguin joke :D
- touristy night... White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial... and gelato!
SATURDAY 1/9
- breakfast, devotions together, and prayer over each other
- goodbyes. It was SO SAD to leave, because all of us grew so close over the week! There were 4 of us participating, plus 2 leaders...and each and every one of them is an absolutely incredible, fun, godly, inspiring woman!
- to the train! And that was a whole new adventure in itself..
For some reason, it wouldn't let me post photos from my tablet, so here is a link to a photo album that corresponds with this post. https://goo.gl/photos/Hj7k12DEurUGL81A8
