I had a feeling this week was going to be a more difficult one, especially since my group from the week before had done so phenomenally, but I knew that I needed to go into the week as if it were my first week, like I had had no groups before this one. They arrived and they were such a young group. It was mostly junior high boys with one elementary aged boy, a male leader and two female leaders. I am able to bond a lot easier with females so I was nervous at first. It turns out that these guys had A LOT of strength in them. Each of the boys in the group surprised me at different points throughout the week with how hard they were working and how motivated they were. The youngest boy, who was 11, was always the first to volunteer and at one of the ministry sites, we had to coax him to leave because he didn't want to stop working. They did some unbelievable work during a week that was unbelievably hot. This group worked in the heat and didn't complain (we kept them well hydrated and had them take breaks so we weren't abusing them haha!). One of the ministry sites we worked at this week was Ray of Hope. Ray of Hope is a street cleanup program in a city that has litter lining every single street, sidewalk, park, parking lots, you name it! We worked on a block underneath a bridge in a more rundown part of town. The street underneath the bridge was absolutely disgusting. It was one that you could tell people would go and do drugs, deal drugs, drive to and throw their trash bags underneath, it was awful. We went in with a few other volunteers and we cleared the street up, whacked the weeds, and mowed the grass lining the street. It took about 15-20 large garbage bags to hold all of the trash from the street. It was incredible to see these guys do that all.
This week really taught me that it doesn't matter how big or how small, how young or old, how short or tall you are, you CAN do great things. God doesn't care what our outsides look like, He's focused on what our insides are like. He wants our hearts to break for what breaks His, He wants us to love Him with everything we have, and He wants us to serve the people in this world just as Jesus served us. He was so clearly working in and through every single person in my group this week.
***side note: our anchor site was the Fellowship House in Camden which let me tell you, is seriously one of the most amazing places I have been. The amount of love and joy that the staff there pours into each and every kid is incredible. The very first day we went there, it immediately felt like home, I felt so accepted so I can't even imagine how the kids felt. Lisa and Kevin are doing amazing things there with the staff they're leading. Also, Lisa's from Ireland and has a pretty amazing accent so there's that too. :)***
This week really taught me that it doesn't matter how big or how small, how young or old, how short or tall you are, you CAN do great things. God doesn't care what our outsides look like, He's focused on what our insides are like. He wants our hearts to break for what breaks His, He wants us to love Him with everything we have, and He wants us to serve the people in this world just as Jesus served us. He was so clearly working in and through every single person in my group this week.
***side note: our anchor site was the Fellowship House in Camden which let me tell you, is seriously one of the most amazing places I have been. The amount of love and joy that the staff there pours into each and every kid is incredible. The very first day we went there, it immediately felt like home, I felt so accepted so I can't even imagine how the kids felt. Lisa and Kevin are doing amazing things there with the staff they're leading. Also, Lisa's from Ireland and has a pretty amazing accent so there's that too. :)***