All Saints’ Youth
HAPPY 4TH OF
JULY!!!
Another
day on the mission site – Community Center for Non-Violence. And what a
day we had! It began long before we got
to the center. Walking over we saw so
many people bedded down, some right outside the hotels, some over heating
grates, some under trees. Some folks had beds with mattresses and
blankets. Others simply crashed using
their backpacks for a pillow. It seems
there truly is still “No more room at the inn.”
Tomorrow we plan on walking carrying some of the blankets that we
brought along to distribute. We passed
many people on our walk over this morning and the first people to wish us a
Happy 4th of July were those who were living on the streets! Hmmmmmm……
Once we arrived at the
center we got our marching instructions for the day. Today we worked to empty two rooms to prepare
to make shelves. Making work lines we
made light work of what could have taken a good long time to accomplish. Then it was on to the loading dock – or in
our case, the unloading dock – where we moved 2X8’s and sheets of plywood. After gathering our tools and moving all that
lumber up to the third floor we were ready to get started.
Everyone worked as a team
and we all learned some important carpentry lessons. Everyone had a chance to cut the 2X8’s with a
hand saw and once you began you were not allowed to
quit. For some of us the cutting took a
little longer but every one of us finished what we began! No quitters in our group!!! It wasn’t allowed by our work mentor,
Kevin. Kevin was a wonderful mentor for
us. Patiently
explaining the best way to make the cut, to measure, to work together. Always encouraging the best
out of us.
Once all of those boards
were cut it was on to the sheets of plywood.
Measure twice, cut once. It was
the catch phrase of the day. Now the
shelves as well as the legs stand waiting for us to continue in the morning.
As we walked home we talked
about what the day had felt like. What
was it like to learn like that – to be mentored in this way? And how did we feel about ourselves at the
end of the day? More
knowledgeable. Sore. A sense of accomplishment. Tired. We all felt pretty good about the ministry we
had shared in today. Not just because of
how these shelves will be used to store equipment and pantry stuffs to make
inventorying much easier. Oh no. It was so much more than that.
You see, we weren’t treated
any differently than anyone else in that building. The staff actively searches out the gifts in
those with whom they work and they encourage, teach, mentor, walk along beside
their neighbors as they discover new gifts and abilities and hone their skills. The staff of the center care so much for the
people they serve that they simply won’t accept second-rate. They see the beauty of the person God created
and they help those folks discover that person for themselves.
We arrived with a pretty
healthy sense of self-esteem. For
someone who has been beat down by circumstances, ignored by a society that
paints them as invisible or worse, such mentoring makes an incredible
difference.
As we continue to discern
just how to minister to the homeless in our own backyards and as we work with
our neighbors, these are all lessons that we will be able to use. We must be able to see in our neighbor the
child God created, to look for the God-given gifts and skills in each person,
to encourage each person to see those gifts and to develop and use them.
Important life lessons all!
After a very quiet afternoon
hanging out at our home-away-from-home and waiting for the storms to disperse
it was time to walk down to the Capitol building and enjoy the fireworks over
the
Now it is time to turn in
and get some rest. That lumber is
waiting for us to arrive in the morning and begin making shelves.
Love and God’s Blessings,
All Saints 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007