Spring Break

I can't believe that spring term is here already! I only have two more months of school left which is crazy! Spring break was last week, and while it was not very restful, it was super fun. I helped lead a group of 12 college students to Seattle to do a week of service in the city. A friend and I, the blurry one pictured above spent the last several months planning the trip, finding places for us to volunteer. We were gone from March 21-28 and accomplished so much in that week. We spent one morning walking around downtown handing out sack lunches and fresh socks to homeless people, worked with the Salvation Army and their after school tutoring program (so fun!), worked at two different food banks breaking bulk and packaging food, and did several different things with a great organization called the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

Just a few highlights....one afternoon a group of 6 of us packed over 12,000 pounds of pears in just 3 hours; another morning, we scoured the downtown area of Renton, the suburb we stayed in, offering "random acts of kindness" to area businesses. We washed windows, cleaned bathrooms, swept sidewalks, and tried to spread cheer; we ate dinner at several different ethnic restaurants over the week including Indian food, Vietnamese Pho, Ethiaopian, and Greek food. Yummy!

I think my favorite part of the trip was working with Lifelong AIDS Alliance. They are not a Christian organization, but that was part of why it was my favorite. This group of people work so hard to make sure AIDS patients, especially homebound ones, recieve nutritious meals every day along with groceries and counciling support. They have a large food warehouse, along with a kitchen that makes AMAZING food, and a thrift store to help financially support their work. The people there were so awesome, really committed to what they do. The awesome thing was they said churches don't often volunteer with them, and they were really suprised with our willingness to do whatever they asked of us, including packaging condoms to hand out at high schools, and how hardworking we were. Hopefully God used us in some small way to open doors in these people's hearts, and maybe help to start repairing the giant rift between the church and the gay community.

I also really enjoyed the people on the trip. There were 12 of us, and we got along really well and just had fun together. I love how trips like that can form great friendships really quickly since you are together so much, and working alongside these people. What a great group! All in all, it was a great spring break, even if it wasn't very relaxing. I still feel re-energized for this new term of school and ready to get back into the routine of life.