Ehko NEO Trip 2010

"'Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.'"
~1 Samuel 12:24

"Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, "Here it is" or "There it is" because the kingdom of God is within you.'"
~Luke 17:20-21

Those are just a few of the verses that meant a lot to me on my missions trip (actually, the second is our theme verse). Our team had a blast serving God locally, and it was incredible to see all the people who work to serve the homeless. I can't take away the stories from the rest of the team, so see here for more about the trip. I'm just going to post some of what was in my trip journal :).

Sunday:
We loaded up into vans at The Chapel based on groups and VBS locations. *My group went to Urban Vision (the place we stayed at nights) throughout the week.* First, we drove to the church at Miller Avenue and set up for the VBS soon to be held there. We ate dinner at an inner-city park, and the incredible amount of trash and dog poop really surprised me. Afterward, we went to South Street Ministries and heard about ministering to a neighborhood simply by being a good neighbor. Really - almost everyone on South Street and in the surrounding areas knows about the programs they have. What a great way to be a light!
A major touching experience that night was when we walked through an abandoned house. Children's Services had actually kicked the family out, and we were allowed to tour it. It was disgusting. There were piles of dust and junk everywhere, the couch had springs popping out of it, it smelled awful, there were fleas crawling on the walls, and wall plaster was falling off. It really hurt to see how some people live. (Thank heaven for CS!)

Monday:
We ate breakfast at UV, took showers at The Chapel, and split up into various groups. I got to work with and 'lead' some Karen kids I'd seen before, which was really exciting :). Also, after the Bible story time, I saw a little boy accept Jesus!!!! We ate lunch, and team UV split further to do various jobs around Urban Vision. I helped with recycling - we had a huge pile of cardboard and paper (up to my chest, 12 ft. wide, appx.) and helped the poor recycle man load his truck. Some of us also sorted plastic, glass, and cans and took them to a recycling plant. I really never expected to be doing that kind of stuff on a ministry trip, but you could actually see the floor of the office as a result!!
   After dinner, we went to Word For The Street. They meet at the YMCA in Akron, have a worship service/devo time, and serve dinner. I got to share my testimony in a small group that evening - it was really cool to hear everyone else's, as well :). During the evening, the Chapel teams and the Karen volunteers all played a game of tag in Urban Vision in the dark. It helped me learn my way around better, and we all had a crazy good time.

Tuesday:
Pretty much same schedule - one of the Karen girls in 2nd grade (the age group I helped with) gave me a Karen name: Nay Eh Naw Doe Doe. It means something along the lines of "People love you". I thought it was really sweet and put that name on my name tags the rest of the week. In the afternoon, we went back to South Street. I helped pick up trash in the neighborhoods (including a lady's yard - we were blessed when one lady saw us and gave us latex gloves. <3) and stain a deck. That night for dinner, we split up and went to different ethnic restaurants. I went to Souel's Garden (Korean) - it was SUPER yummy!
   In the evening, we went to the Haven of Rest Harvest Home - an apartment for ladies and their kids. I helped with a devo time for the kids and then chatted with some of the moms. They were very outgoing and lots of fun :).

Wednesday:
VBS went well again, and at lunch, I sat with the Karen girls. We really clicked, and they teased me a bit. One girl, Ma Rian, tried to convince me she was half Chinese, and that's why she wouldn't help me with Karen translation. Someone who knew her better cleared up the fact that she wasn't. :). Then one girl, April Paw, asked me, "Michelle, what does 'favorite' mean?" I gave them a definition (It's like Taboo - describe favorite without saying favorite). She nodded, and asked, "So what does it mean when a boy says to a girl that she's his favorite?" I answered (comically, not really trying to answer in the most mature way), "That probably means he's flirting with you and you need to whack him in the face and tell him to stop!" They laughed SO hard. I love those girls , amidst their boy-and-appearance obsessions :).
     Wednesday was supposed to be fun day, but for most of the afternoon, I was outside in the hot sun, weeding and picking up trash. I got really irritable inside myself, and wondered why the heck we had to do such ... hard? ... work. Of course, that evening, we went to Fun 'n' Stuff, and the Karen volunteers got to come along. They were scared of the gocarts at first, but the one girl trusted me with her life the first time around. (It was my first time, too!) They all ended up loving gocarts :).

Thursday:
VBS in the morning - the same Karen girl who picked my name was happily choosing names for the other helpers. She named one of our team's leaders Ba Na Na, saying his hair looked like a banana, but ended up changing it to the Karen for 'orange' (the fruit).
  In the afternoon, we went to a GORGEOUS juvenile delinquent center called True North. My first duty was to play with the donkeys they keep there (rough, eh?) and then I got to weed. It was fun, though, because I got to look at the beautiful grounds while I did. We ate dinner with 2 juvies, and I'll confess, I judged them at first. But they ended up being tons of fun to chat with, and one of them actually made some people coffee. It's clear the staff there love the juvies and really want to give them a loving environment.
  After we were done, we went to Handel's. The only reason I say that is because I got a lesson on the under-explanation of "love" in the Bible (3 levels - friendship, commitment, and intimate) and Latin from the team nurse. Semper ubi sub ubi, folks! (Always wear underpants!!) :)

Friday:
The hardest part about Friday was realizing that it was the last day! I gave dozens of piggyback rides during gym time at the VBS - literally, I would take one kid for a ride, and as soon as I put her down, another would go, "Michelle, can I git on yer back?" :) One little Karen boy jumped on me (very much like Han Solo jumping in the Millennium Falcon) and said "Go, go go!" I followed and found another little boy on one of my teammates' backs. They started pulling at each other's shirts and punching each other. I asked my teammate (Luc) "Why on earth are they doing that?" He said, "Because they're boys!" There's a good reason I'm not a boy.
  That night, we switched ethnic restaurant locations, and my group went for Thai. I got garlic eggplant, and we passed our plates around the table. I tried a red hot pepper!! And liked it!! Then we went to Rita's and I got a mango gelati - and choked on it. The girl I was sitting next to got a bit worried, and the other people on my team kinda stood up and gathered around me, but the leaders didn't flip out and later told me that because I could make noise, they knew it would go away soon. Really, I'm the only person I know who can choke on Italian Ice.

Saturday:
Saddest day EVER - team UV served with Urban Vision's usual Saturday morning event (I SO want to go back) and then we all met at Miller St. for a cookout. Complete stranger kids came and said goodbye to me, and my heart just about broke, and then we left and headed back to the Chapel!

I really want to go back on the trip - I'm still telling people stories and loving it. It was so humbling yet incredible to be used by God to serve at the different ministries. Now I'm praying about our schedule for fall, as I really REALLY want to go back and serve at Urban Vision. And for my future, because instead of simply wanting to teach dance and be a physical therapy assistant, I want to live in inner-city Akron and be a light in a dark neighborhood (near UV, hopefully) and go on short-term trips to Karen refugee camps. 


If you made it reading this far, you deserve a hug! :) Have a great week! :)