Why DC?
Last week on the blog we were challenged to think about the answer to the question why. Why do we need Jesus, Why do we need the church, and Why do we need Wright’s Chapel. This weekend we are taking 30 youth and adults to DC to work with Teens Opposing Poverty as they minister to those experiencing homelessness. Last week’s blog got me to thinking about why do we do this. Why do we ask youth and adults to spend 24 hours of their weekend in DC handing out food and socks to people on the street? Before I answer why I think it’s important to let me describe what we actually do during those 24 hours.
We will meet at the church on Friday after school and travel to DC where we will stay at a United Methodist Church. We will have dinner together, pack bags with socks, water, and snacks, and write encouraging notes to put in the bags. Later in the evening we will gather together and read scripture and discuss why God calls us to reach out to others. What does it look like to love our neighbors as ourselves? Sometime Friday evening we will go to sleep. Saturday morning we will have breakfast together and go over exactly what we will do when we get to the parks. We will then drive to one of the parks in the city and meet with William, a formerly homeless man who now works for Teens Opposing Poverty. William will lead us handing out the items we have to those experiencing homelessness in the parks. William will also encourage us to talk to the people we meet, ask them their name, and listen to their stories. We will then eat lunch together and travel home.
There are many reasons why I take youth and adults on this mission trip. But the main reasons are Christian community and living out our faith by loving others. It is important for our youth and adults to experience Christian community. We eat together, worship together, discuss together, serve together, and play together. God created us to be in community and when we are together loving and serving God it changes lives. It is also important for our youth and adults to not just talk about our faith but to be given opportunities to live out that faith together. During our time together we will talk about how it’s great that we get to meet people in the park and see them as created in God’s image just as we are and not to judge how they ended up where they are. But we will remind everyone that God calls us to love in this way all the time. Not just once or twice a year when we are on church mission trips but that we are to treat everyone as God’s creation all the time.
Pray for us this weekend as we seek to follow God’s will on our lives and take some time to consider how you can reach out to others in our community. Maybe even invite them to come to church with you to experience Christian community and faith in action!
