Wednesday, July 2, 2014

High School Mission Trip 2014 - Journal


Sunday, June 22
“On Sunday, we woke up and went to church at Ridglea Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) which was the church that we were staying at. Then we went to the stockyards and walked around, ate some BBQ for lunch, and went to a Wild West show. After the show, we went back to the church and ate a small dinner and participated in "praying in color," that the Associate Minister and our helpers had for us to do. It was a part of our worship and education that we did some of the nights. Then we went to sleep.” – Megan Carter

Monday, June 23
“Last Monday we are worked at the Tarrant Area Food Bank and we are worked really hard. (The TAFB is a 69,000sqft central clearinghouse for distributing donated food and groceries to 300 partner agencies.) We worked so many hours but, we are glad and happy that we helped. I am also glad to be with mission trip this year. Thank you.” – Hai Soe

Tuesday, June 24
“On Tuesday, we woke up early and went to the Presbyterian Night Shelter. (PNS is the largest provider of homeless services in the Fort Worth area, it is the only area emergency shelter without length-of-stay restrictions and it provides food, shelter and clothing, counseling and resources for obtaining proper identification, permanent housing, employment, financial assistance and more.) We worked there in the kitchen until 11:45 and then we went to the Fort Worth Water Gardens to eat lunch. After lunch, we went to NICA and sorted and organized different things for them. (NICA is an agency that provides food, clothing, and self-help programs to families on the Northside of Fort Worth.) When we were about to leave, we noticed it was raining and a worker told us someone windows were down. The woman said her windows didn't roll up so we offered to cover the window with a trash bag to keep her car from getting wet. After we left we went back to the church for dinner and a time of worship before bed.” Meaghan Glenn

Wednesday, June 25
“On Wednesday we went to the Presbyterian night shelter and we were in the mother and children part for the first time. I don't think any of us knew what we were going to be doing and it was slow at first, but as the day went on we played with the children and cleaned a little and it was really fun. After that we went downtown and ate lunch at a nice pizza place and walked around until it rained. Later that night, we went to a different church (Riverside Christian Church, where Jeff Bruce formerly served) and helped with their vacation bible school and ate dinner. After that we went to the showers and ended our night like normal with our prayer partners and other fun activities.” – Allison Carter

Thursday, June 26
“On Thursday morning we all woke up at around 7 o'clock and got ready to go to the Presbyterian night shelter. When we arrived there our group separated. One went to the men's shelter and helped organize a pantry and the other went to the women’s and children building and played with the delightful children. After both groups were done we all went back to the church and ate our lunch. Soon after we were done we went to the church's jubilee garden and picked potatoes and green beans. When we were done we went and painted wood finisher on the fence around the learning garden. When we were finished we went inside and ate dinner with members of the church and when we were finished we got to hear from our wonderful guest speaker, Lou. (Lou was a former guest at Room in the Inn. Room in the Inn is a ministry that provides shelter to persons who are homeless during the coldest and the hottest months of the year. Ridglea Christian provides a meal, fellowship, and overnight accommodations to 10 men experiencing homelessness on Friday nights.) We finished off Thursday by going to a honky-tonk at Billy Bobs and got to line dance and see the hand prints of famous singers like Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert, and many other amazing singers and entertainers. I really enjoyed Thursday and the whole mission trip.” – Jessica Shelton

Friday, June 27
“We woke up and got everything together to go home. We went to the night shelter for the last day and cleaned out the pantry and played with the kids. Then we drove to Allen to stay with Bekah's mom. We swam and showered and then we ate Thai food for dinner and went to a shopping center and had ice cream.” – Riley Glenn

Saturday, June 28
“On Saturday we were woke up early in the morning at 5:00 A.M at Bekah’s parent’s house near Dallas and we left to go home. We drove back to Owensboro, KY, it took over twelve hours. On the trip we took a rest at the gas station, and we ate lunch at Papa's restaurant, we were at home by 7:40 PM.” – Hser Wah