Day ONE: CityGate

Today we had an awesome day!! We got the opportunity to work at one of the MANY projects in the SE DC area with a group called CityGate. 

CityGate was founded by a baptist preacher not too many years ago as a way to break the poverty cycle. Basically the group pulls teenagers from the local project and pays them to run a 'day camp' for 2-13 year olds. The teenagers are helped with budgeting skills, college applications, job applications, etc and the children are shown that there IS another life besides the one they are raised in.

The culture in the projects is SO different from ours! The kids are very trusting and loving; they each chose a youth and latched onto them for the ENTIRE day (to the point of taking naps in their laps). However, they would make a sailor blush from their language and are VERY physical with one another. While we were there we split the campers up into groups by ages: 2-6, 7-13. We ran rotations for them. One rotation was making play-dough from flour and the other was games, jump rope, football, etc.

A few highlights from CityGate today:
-Travis got told by his new friend that he was his 'new daddy'
- Sarah got cussed out
- We had a water balloon fight
- We saw two little boys have an all out brawl
- We got to play guitars and teach the kids some new camp songs
- We got to talk to the kids about Jesus
- We showed them UNCONDITIONAL love...that some never get to experience in their 
   everyday lives. 


After 'work' we came home, relaxed, ate supper, showered, and had a SUPER moving chapel. Oh yeah, AND our boys played a game of basketball with the local neighborhood boys and WONNNNN!!!! :) We think they should get a ring for that feat in itself! ;)

We just found out that tomorrow we get to deliver 70 lunches in 5 different parks to the homeless. The group is STOKED that they get to do a similar ministry to the one in Atlanta last year!


Now that it's 11:30 and we have to be at breakfast by 7:45, I say it's time to wrap this up!

Prayer:
- TEAMeffort
- The kids at CityGate
- Our group
- The homeless we will come in contact with tomorrow
- The local neighborhoods 
- The other groups that are here with us this week.

-GUMY

We're hereeeeeee!!!!

We started this morning out at 7:30 at the church. After cramming everything into the bus and van we were off- all 21 of us! On the way we began to worry about the storm damage. We knew DC was considered a state of emergency but had no clue if we'd have power, gas, bathrooms, cell signal, etc. We were super excited to hear from camp informing us that we WOULD have power!! As we do on every trip we stopped about 10:30 for church. We were in Roanoke. Not thinking about storm damage there we chose a church online and plugged it into our gps. As we got closer we saw more and more limbs down. Anyways- we arrived at South Roanoke UMC to discover they had NO power and subsequently, no AC either! They were extremely welcoming and we had an awesome, yet HOT, service!! After church we ate lunch (provided by our awesome UMW) on the lawn and then headed on to DC. When we got to DC we missed our turn and took the scenic route through the ghetto l, literally, to find The Urban Outreach Center, where we're staying. We lucked out this year and have awesome facilities. All but two of us have BEDS!!! The center is located in a semi-rough neighborhood with awesome ministry opportunities around us!! All we've done tonight is get settled in, meet our staff, and have a phenomenal worship aervice. Our theme this week is baggage...we are excited to hear the theme evolve throughout the week. We found it awesome that our apartment'mates' for the week are from First Sevierville UMC- ours conference sisters!! So far all is well and most are asleep! You'll have to forgive the typos in this post- an iPhone screen isn't the best utility to blog on!! Tomorrow we have a full day at an awesome Ministry, called CityGate. Check back tomorrow for update on our experience there. Continue to pray for: - our youth as they prepare to fulfill God's call - our chaperones a they help the youth fulfill their call - people without power along the east coast - the people we'll be ministering to - the TEAMeffort staff as they lead us this week -GUMY Check

And we're ALMOST off...

We are extremely excited to venture off on our Senior High Mission Trip on Sunday. For those of you just tuning in with us, we are headed to Washington D.C. on Sunday and will return the following Saturday. 


Our Schedule looks like this (at the moment):
Sunday- Head to DC and get checked in with TEAMeffort & Worship
Monday- Work all day, shower, EAT, & Worship
Tuesday- Work all day, shower, EAT, & Worship
Wednesday- Stay at The Mall all day enjoying the celebration of our Nation in the 
  Capital!!!
Thursday- Work all day, shower, EAT, & Worship
Friday- Work HALF of the day, visit the National Zoo, shower, EAT, & Worship
Saturday- Make the journey back to Galax


The youth and the chaperones couldn't be more excited to work once more with the homeless population of our country! As of now, we are THINKING that we will get to work with local youth and children, in homeless shelters, in soup kitchens, and on the streets. We can't wait to watch our youth grow spiritually on this journey.


Make sure to check back here each and every night to stay up to date with what is going on. As of now, the plan is to add videos and commentary from the youth of their experiences. We love that we are able to utilize the internet to stay in contact with our ever faithful prayer warriors!


As Sunday nears, we ask that everyone be praying for:
- Strength for all attending the trip.
- The lives that we will soon encounter.
- The TEAMeffort staff as they prepare this incredible journey for us.
- Our youth's parents as they prepare their hearts for the 'scariness' and unknown we may
  encounter.
- Rest & spiritual nourishment for all who are attending so that we may be useful and
  equipped servants to God.


Last but certainly NOT least- we ask for any and all to join us on Sunday morning in the church parking lot @ 8 to pray before we depart!

Have you ever seen a flock of Mongoose flying wingman for a Falcon?

Decorating the Hospice Tree in Memory of Jimmy