Washington DC, Mission Work, day 2

This morning our Washington DC mission team went to two different locations for mission work. One group headed to A Wider Circle, where the other team worked on Monday. While there, members of the group helped to load furniture and home supplies into trucks, cleaned toys and sorted and folded sheets and other linens. Some of the kids enjoyed spending time helping the guests while they were looking for things to furnish their home. A couple of the girls were asked by a guest to pick out children's books for her young daughter and they really felt good about helping in a way that was right in their age level.

The other team went to Capital Area Food Bank which supplies over 23 million pounds of fresh and nonperishable foods to more than 383,000 people a year. The food bank is located in a huge warehouse where food is taken on donation, sorted by type and boxed for distribution to various shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries around the metro DC area. A non profit organization can buy cartons of food from the bank for $.12/pound. Our work today consisted of sorting and boxing lots of food that had been donated so far this week. It takes a large number of volunteers to make the food bank run.

After a couple hours of down time this afternoon, we headed back to the YSOP headquarters to prepare, serve and eat a community meal. There were similarities to the community meal experience many of us are familiar with from our church, but some distinct differences as well. After preparing most of the meal we greeted guests at the door with introductions and name tags. We were encouraged to sit at the tables with them and play board and card games with a light snack as the dinner was finished up by the YSOP staff in the kitchen. Before dinner, we made a big circle around the room and told them a little about where we were from and our trip. We then took orders from the guests and served them, restaurant style, before joining them at the table. After the guests left and we cleaned up we had a time of reflection with the staff of YSOP. I think everyone found meaning in our dinner experience. The kids made friends, heard stories, played games, listened to songs being sang and whistled and even had an amazing portrait drawn. The adults found many common interests with the guests, learned some important sites we should visit while in DC, told stories about what life is like in northern Michigan and heard stories about what life is like for some of the guests. It was a very humbling experience. We left with full hearts for a successful meal and a genuinely fun evening. We learned that everyone has something to give and help to offer. Most importantly we left with a little better understanding and appreciation for the fact that we are all just people who deserve compassion, respect and dignity, no matter our life situation.

Somehow the pictures ended up in opposite order tonight, but you'll get the idea after reading the blog. We have another full day planned tomorrow, check back!