"Hands on, deeply immersed, and fully committed to the problem at hand". This statement rings true an experience in my life. Back in August of 2002, I had the opportunity to chaperon a Mission trip to Toronto, Canada. My oldest daughter Kylie, who I had been having teenage problems with, was also going with. Twenty four other teenagers and six adults would accompany us. Being a mother of two teenagers, I had some second thoughts about making this decision. I never imagined how much impact this trip would have on my own personal life and the lives of so many others.
We took off from Galesville, Wisconsin, on a Saturday evening, all loaded up on a motor coach bus, for our thirteen hour drive. There was a lot of mixed emotions leaving, from having to say good-bye to parents or that special someone, to nervousness about what we would be encountering on our adventure ahead. Of course there were the cell phones, ipods, dvd players, and any other " comfort items" from home. I don't think any of us were thinking of how useless these items would be to us in the upcoming week.
Initially upon driving into the city that next morning, it was hard for us to see beyond the beauty of Lake Ontario and all the other sights of a huge city. Looking back now it's hard to see that beauty.
Our first real taste of homeless life came the following day. The kids had spent hours the previous night preparing sandwiches and getting all the goodies ready for the people we would encounter. We loaded our bags full of sandwiches, fruit and water bottles and set out on our way. It was awesome to see how the kids interacted with the people living on the streets. My own daughter shared a prayer with a man who lived on a cardboard box. The kids weren't holding back at all. Some of the people we offered the food and water to were afraid to take it, they just don't trust anyone. Our first day was an eye opener for not anly the kids, but us as adults to see how the kids opened up themselves to these people.
We visited a place they call "tent city'. This is just an old city parking lot that has been turned into a village of homeless people that live in make shift tents. The day we spent there we concentrated on the young kids. Our mission kids had so much fun just being kids. Playing games they hadn't played in years, at least not since the internet came about. I think these momories will stick with those kids forever.
During our stay we had the chance to volunteer at a soup kitchen as well. Many of the kids who had never worked in a kitchen, dug right in. Whether it was making the soup, setting tables or washing dishes, they did it all. The looks on the people we were serving was priceless. Looks of sadness and fear turnedd into smiles and joy.
I would say my favorite place to help was at the inner city daycare facility. It was so much fun to play with the young children and to observe the mission students being kids again. There were children of all ages, but the young ones sure pulled at our heart strings.
All of us started out on this trip not knowing what to expect. Only a week had passed and just watching the students in action and on the way home, I knew it had made a difference in their lives as well as my own. We had been committed to our problem and had great hands on experience.