Greetings on our last full day in New York. I have MUCH to say! These past two days have been so full that I have simply collapsed at the end of the day. (Sometimes the end of one day is actually wee hours of the next day!)
So... let me share some for amazing stories from the past two days.
First, I have to say that each and every day the students show me - and all of the adult leaders on the trip - just how amazing they are. Their unique personalities shine through their acts of service. I am very proud of each one of them! They are exhausted - but continue to have joy and compassion as they serve! (check out the picture of Jake sound asleep on the subway!)
Wednesday found our students traveling to two work sites. One group (Allison M., Tara, Trevor, Kelsey, Allison, Kalley, Jake, Josh, Amy, Tamara, Bart and Ray) went to Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. I shared their web site in the previous post. Be sure to check it out! I've included a picture of Holy Apostles sanctuary so that you can see what it looks like when the congregation is worshipping on the weekends. During the week, however, this site is completly transformed to serve over 1100 people each day a hot meal. Additionally, the congregation provides referrals for medical care, housing, and other basic needs. Question: How is God calling us to use our space in St Cloud to meet the needs of our neighbors? Things that make you go ... ummmmm`
The others in our group (Mackenzie, Allison, Trevor, Kalley, Sarah, Rachel, Jace, Austin, Jay and yours truely) traveled to Trinity Lower East Side, an ELCA church that also has a soup kitchen and food pantry on their site. http://trinitylowereastside.org/
As you can see from the pictures the room was quite modest in size. I am guessing (by countint ceiling tiles) that the room is 28X34. When we arrived we immediatly began preparing food for the following days meal. Cutting vegetables, hot dogs, and trimming veal kept us busy for 2 hours. Then we served 300 people in that small space in 1 hour. It was quite a production! Immediatly following lunch we cleared all signs of the meal service and transformed the space into a food pantry. 25 families came through the doors in an hour and shopped for their needs.
Today two groups will be serving at St John's Bread and Life Soup Kitchen (from Monday night's blog post) and deliving meals to people's homes via "Meals on Heels".
Following the groups service times on Wednesday, we all split up. Amy and a bunch of the girls went to 5th avenue to shop. The rest of the group (including all of the guys... go figure) went to Central Park. We walked through an area called the North Woods - a little ironic for a group of Minnesotans, but it truely looked and felt like a hike in one of our state parks. Amazing. Check out the picture of the group by the little water fall.
We had diner at a Pastrami Queen, a kosher deli with some of the best deli meats any of us have experienced. Matt and Max split a giant pastrami sandwich and said it was delicious, but the best part was chatting with the guy behind the counter. It's all about relationships!
At our team meeting debrief and devotion time on Wednesday night, we continued to hear from the students what they find they take for granted as a result of this trip. Their responses varied from "having food in the refridgerator whenever I wanted" to not having to worry about where I will sleep.
Rachel wrote this reflection from Wednesay:
"While working at Trinity Lutheran Church, Kalley, MacKenzie and I met a lady from Haiti. She told us about her experience of how she ended up in the U.S. Her house was knocked down by a natural disaster. Out of her 12 family members, she was the only one who survived. She's been walking without a home for 25 years. Currently she is very sick. She said she was very greatful for the things Trinity does for her. We thought we should share this story because it shows how people end up needing the extra help. Everyone has their own story behind why they come to Trinity and other places for help.
Well said girls! Have I mentioned how proud I am of all of these students? Their heart and compassion oozes out of them with every interaction. They will truly be leaders at BLC in the area of alleviating hunger in St Cloud!
This brings us to yesterday - our free day. We made full use of the time - cruising the harbor and seeing Manhatten and Hoboken from a whole new perspective. Check out the pictures below!
For our Broadway experiene we divided by gender - all of the girls chose to go to Wicked with me. Bart, Ray, Amy. Many of them have seen it before and, for some of them, their choirs sang some of the music at school last year. Needless to say there was some singing involved on the ride home! (FYI... did anyone know that Allison S has a secret desire to be a singer? Ask her about singing on Broadway - with one of our servers at dinner!)
So much to say - and so many experiences to share. Let's just say that God's fingerprints are everywhere on this trip! My prayer is that we all, students - and adult leaders, will grow in our ability to see!
Peace and joy!
Pastor Janine
So... let me share some for amazing stories from the past two days.
First, I have to say that each and every day the students show me - and all of the adult leaders on the trip - just how amazing they are. Their unique personalities shine through their acts of service. I am very proud of each one of them! They are exhausted - but continue to have joy and compassion as they serve! (check out the picture of Jake sound asleep on the subway!)
Wednesday found our students traveling to two work sites. One group (Allison M., Tara, Trevor, Kelsey, Allison, Kalley, Jake, Josh, Amy, Tamara, Bart and Ray) went to Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. I shared their web site in the previous post. Be sure to check it out! I've included a picture of Holy Apostles sanctuary so that you can see what it looks like when the congregation is worshipping on the weekends. During the week, however, this site is completly transformed to serve over 1100 people each day a hot meal. Additionally, the congregation provides referrals for medical care, housing, and other basic needs. Question: How is God calling us to use our space in St Cloud to meet the needs of our neighbors? Things that make you go ... ummmmm`
The others in our group (Mackenzie, Allison, Trevor, Kalley, Sarah, Rachel, Jace, Austin, Jay and yours truely) traveled to Trinity Lower East Side, an ELCA church that also has a soup kitchen and food pantry on their site. http://trinitylowereastside.org/
As you can see from the pictures the room was quite modest in size. I am guessing (by countint ceiling tiles) that the room is 28X34. When we arrived we immediatly began preparing food for the following days meal. Cutting vegetables, hot dogs, and trimming veal kept us busy for 2 hours. Then we served 300 people in that small space in 1 hour. It was quite a production! Immediatly following lunch we cleared all signs of the meal service and transformed the space into a food pantry. 25 families came through the doors in an hour and shopped for their needs.
Today two groups will be serving at St John's Bread and Life Soup Kitchen (from Monday night's blog post) and deliving meals to people's homes via "Meals on Heels".
Following the groups service times on Wednesday, we all split up. Amy and a bunch of the girls went to 5th avenue to shop. The rest of the group (including all of the guys... go figure) went to Central Park. We walked through an area called the North Woods - a little ironic for a group of Minnesotans, but it truely looked and felt like a hike in one of our state parks. Amazing. Check out the picture of the group by the little water fall.
We had diner at a Pastrami Queen, a kosher deli with some of the best deli meats any of us have experienced. Matt and Max split a giant pastrami sandwich and said it was delicious, but the best part was chatting with the guy behind the counter. It's all about relationships!
At our team meeting debrief and devotion time on Wednesday night, we continued to hear from the students what they find they take for granted as a result of this trip. Their responses varied from "having food in the refridgerator whenever I wanted" to not having to worry about where I will sleep.
Rachel wrote this reflection from Wednesay:
"While working at Trinity Lutheran Church, Kalley, MacKenzie and I met a lady from Haiti. She told us about her experience of how she ended up in the U.S. Her house was knocked down by a natural disaster. Out of her 12 family members, she was the only one who survived. She's been walking without a home for 25 years. Currently she is very sick. She said she was very greatful for the things Trinity does for her. We thought we should share this story because it shows how people end up needing the extra help. Everyone has their own story behind why they come to Trinity and other places for help.
Well said girls! Have I mentioned how proud I am of all of these students? Their heart and compassion oozes out of them with every interaction. They will truly be leaders at BLC in the area of alleviating hunger in St Cloud!
This brings us to yesterday - our free day. We made full use of the time - cruising the harbor and seeing Manhatten and Hoboken from a whole new perspective. Check out the pictures below!
For our Broadway experiene we divided by gender - all of the girls chose to go to Wicked with me. Bart, Ray, Amy. Many of them have seen it before and, for some of them, their choirs sang some of the music at school last year. Needless to say there was some singing involved on the ride home! (FYI... did anyone know that Allison S has a secret desire to be a singer? Ask her about singing on Broadway - with one of our servers at dinner!)
So much to say - and so many experiences to share. Let's just say that God's fingerprints are everywhere on this trip! My prayer is that we all, students - and adult leaders, will grow in our ability to see!
Peace and joy!
Pastor Janine