What a day! After a good night sleep, the kids headed to the Rock for breakfast and to get their introduction to a little history of Mission Waco. The founder's son spoke to us, giving us a unique perspective to growing up the community and how it has changed, not only in terms of housing and people, but how God has used the ministry to change the world. After that we received our morning instructions for our service projects. Our kids got split up by gender. The boys headed to a local clothing center run by Mission Waco where donated clothes are resold to the public. There, they went through bins, tubs and bags of donated clothing to pull out the undesirables and hang and sort the clothes to be sold. They folded and hung clothes like seasoned professionals. The girls headed to a local nursing home where they visited with the residents, playing Bingo and listening to stories. Make sure you ask them about Miss Kitty and her desire to make it to Church Under the Bridge to find hubby number 7!
Other groups spread out doing clearing lots, mowing, doing maintenance work around the Rock (including painting and cleaning) and passing out fliers throughout the neighborhood. One group helped with lunch and did some shopping for the afternoon snacks and then spent their afternoon service time serving the rest of their peers. Very little grumbling and a whole lot of encouraging words were common throughout the entire day.
From there we headed back to the Rock for some yummy burgers and a little down time. After lunch and our break, everyone was ready to hit the afternoon service projects hard. The girls headed to the Mission Waco training center where they cleaned the kitchen like professionals. They also put together some crafts and did some other little jobs around setting up for future groups. They also did some yard work and outdoor cleaning around the training center. The guys went to the Jubilee Theater to fold some stage curtains, wipe down seats, swept and mop floors and clean bathrooms. Yes, bathrooms. And after becoming experts there, they moved over to the Mission Waco Youth Center to clean more bathrooms and knock out some more general cleaning.
From there we all gathered back at My Brother's Keeper for an explanation to how the shelter works and some history behind it. Dinner followed with a massive pick up game of girls versus boys on the basketball court. And, for the record, they held their own with the boys and tied them 5 to 5. From there were split again as the boys headed to the hotel to unwind and swim a bit while the girls headed to the shelter for the evening devotion with the people staying there. Unlike the experience the boys had last night, the girls had a larger crowd and even had someone there leading worship. The girls totally engaged with the homeless people and joined them in worshipping the same God. This summary won't do it justice. It will truly be something they will have to share with you personally. After that, they headed back to work off the last of their energy and dig into a little ice cream.
We worked hard and are very tired. The energy and excitement from last night has been replaced with content, worn out bodies from a day of being servants to people that can't pay us back. Here are some of the highlights from our day, but certainly only a small portion of the experience:
Breakfast line to start the day.
Folding, sorting and hanging clothes to be resold to help Mission Waco addiction recovery programs.
Taking a break to pose on the Clothesline.
Cleaning the Jubilee Theater. It's not snowing, it's just crazy dusty.
Prepping some St. Patrick's Day crafts for the nursing home.
Maddi!
More craft prep.
My Brother's Keeper Homeless Shelter.
Cathy with Mission Waco giving us some background information and success stories of how My Brother's Keeper works.
Taking a break to smile for their mommies.
Devotional at My Brother's Keeper with the girls.
A super cool surprise. Impromptu worship with musician, Dylan.
Listening to Dylan sing.
Group picture with the people staying at My Brother's Keeper.
Proof that we are feeding them and they are eating.
Business and pleasure makes for a great trip and bonding experiences.
Photo op number 7,295
The exterior of the Rock, where we stage most of our work and eat most of our meals.
Like father, like son...
Many, many more pictures but not enough time. We will be making CDs of pictures of the entire trip once we get home. We're winding down and getting ready to sleep hard. Tomorrow is going to be long and hard but we're all going to bed knowing that we've not only helped to change a community, but ourselves as well. Sleep well knowing that these kids showed God's love today. Check back tomorrow for more pics and stories about what we're doing down here in Waco!
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