Day 7 - The Final Stretch!

Am I the only one who is reeling from the fact that the DC trip is over? It's insane how these trips fly by. But what a journey it's been! I've seen kids walk ten miles in one day and still up making their lunch at 6:45 the following morning. The joy of the Lord has certainly been a force behind our students--his strength

never fails to sustain us.

As expected, Friday brought us some great stories. The first of these is more of a lesson, brought to us by Jenna Bartley. Early in the week, she had been sitting next to a woman on the metro who looked like she'd been having a rough day. It quickly became clear that God was telling Jenna to say something to this young woman. Fear of being judged or rejected was a real issue, but obedience won and Jenna ended up having a conversation with the woman. Who, come to find out, was having a rough day and was encouraged by Jenna wanting to talk to her. Then, because God isn't crazy enough, Jenna later saw the woman on our campus. Though the opportunity to talk again never presented itself, it is still apparent that the Lord speaks to us individually and he delivers on his word.The McSims family group got to do the finishing touches on a house the K-Rod group and Blankowski team worked on this week. The house belongs to an 84 year old man--Mr. Skinner--with bone cancer and really needed a lot of work. His home got totally cleaned on the inside and out by these three family groups and really made a significant difference. Nicole Bartley, one of my fellow interns, said that Mackenzie Becker and Claire Gaither scrubbed a dirty bathroom until it shone and Mitchell Apple was the leader of the charge. Everyone wished they could've seen Mr. Skinner return from the hospital to see his renovated house! Half of the family group was at a park known for having drug deals.  They were planting flowers and encountered a man who led a small church. He led the group in singing "Amazing Grace" and got several of the people in the park to come by and listen. The preacher encouraged our students to "stay the course", which was an encouraging charge!

Lastly, Los Niños Locos (or Sims/Corley) and Gosser/Walker (Wosser) family groups encountered a woman today on the streets of DC named Tuson who was visiting her aunt and knew virtually no English. Marin Hulme of the Wosser group befriended her and learned that Tuson was out sightseeing but was completely lost. They figured out that she needed to get to a metro station, which was exactly where the two groups were headed. Tuson had no idea how to work the metro station, so the groups figured out where she needed to go and mapped out step-by-step on how to get to her destination, even exchanging phone numbers in the event of an emergency! Jason Walker and Marin wanted to find someone going on the same train as Tuson to help her find her stop. And because God is good, the first person they spoke to was getting off at the exact same stop as Tuson needed to. God takes care of his children.This trip has been unreal. Physically, mentally, and emotionally draining, but by the strength of our loving God, we made it. 86:12 left a wake of the Holy Spirit and I know that despite everything that was changed around and every unexpected turn, the Lord had his hand in everything. We came to DC for a reason. Of that much I am sure. We stood on the ground God had laid out for us. Taken our shoes off on holy land. But the theme of this trip hasn't stopped at reveling in God's power, but knowing when to put our walking shoes back on in the name of Jesus Christ. There's still work to be done.

Note from Photographer - This group you see is the Walker/Perdue group, and they worked in the D.C. Kitchen, and passed out fliers for free home repairs to single parent homes.

Taken by Joe Han

Taken by Joe Han

Taken by Joe Han

Taken by Joe Han

Taken by Joe Han

Day 6 - A Little Gift of Sunshine

It blows my mind a little bit that tomorrow is Friday and our week is coming to a close. It's been an awesome ride and Christ has been evident in our mission work every step of the way!! He is so good to us!

The Perdue/Walker group (we haven't found a solid combo name for their group yet!) went to a church called the North End Village and got back to basics with some good ole manual labor. The yard of the church needed a face lift and got just that. Thankfully, we had cloud coverage all day and so our kids didn't get too hot while they were weeding and mulching! Margaret Walker told me that the amount of work they got done made huge progress on the overall upkeep of the church, which will only improve it's impact on the community around it!

At another site, the McSims crew prepped Central Union Missions for their huge, moving-out garage sale! While they didn't get to work the actual sale, they did get to hear the hearts behind the mission group and see how sold out for the Gospel their staff is. Central Union would have had a much harder time trying to relocate without the help of our 86:12ers. Stepping back a day, Whitney Bras recounted a story where she and Anderson Resler were at Wider Circle--the furniture warehouse. She said that they had a conversation about the Gospel with a Jewish girl. The Lord moves in cool ways and encourages boldness when fear tries to set in.

I've discovered that God has a funny sense of humor. Today, as everyone was heading to the World War II Memorial for our final DC concert, it starts raining on us and was expected to continue until the wee hours of the morning. Yet at 5:30, when we started our concert, the clouds had broken and I traded my rain jacket for my sunglasses. Either weather in this city is weird or God was sending a message. Or both. We also got a visit from our congressman, Kenny Marchant! We had a lot of students asking him questions and it was pretty awesome that he came out to support us! The concert was great and we took some sweet group pictures.

Back to our campus later that night, the meeting was starting later than we anticipated, so everyone was just hanging out in front of the cafeteria. One of our seniors, Joe Han, grabbed a guitar and led an impromptu 30 minute worship session. I'm continually blown away by these students and their hearts for the Lord!!! At the meeting, we played a few rounds of "never have I ever..." of which Nicholas Boyd won both rounds. You've just gotta love those 6th grade boys. Rich and John gave us a quick word of encouragement for the night and everyone headed back to the dorms.

It's bittersweet to know that tomorrow is our last day of mission work. It's been an unreal week of seeing why we came to DC in the first place and how God has moved in our students' hearts and through their hands and feet! Continued prayer to finish tomorrow strong and know the higher purpose behind our actions!