God works in unusual ways! - Britney

               As the trip draws to a close, I can say that I have seen God working in some of the most unusual ways that I ever have on a mission trip.  Given that this is my fifth mission trip, I was not prepared for surprises but there were many, and I am thankful for all that I have learned and the new experiences I’ve gained from this trip.

               Our group spent the service week at the Boys and Girls Club in Saint Paul.  When I first received the news that this is where our group would be going, I was honestly pretty apprehensive.  I have never spent an entire week on the mission trip focusing on children and I was not sure what to expect.  While for a lot of people working with kids would be their favorite type of service, I cannot say the same.  This was pretty outside my comfort zone.  On the first day, when we were given an orientation about the site we would be going to, we were told that the kids that attend this Boys and Girls Club came from homes where they faced issues like addiction, poverty, hunger, gang involvement in the family, neglect, and others.  This made me especially nervous because, unlike the kids I have worked with in the past, these children struggled with their home lives to a much greater extent.

               The first day was rough.  As expected, many of the kids acted out and misbehaved, and I had a lot of trouble connecting with them.  It was clear that these kids craved attention, and some acted out in negative ways because they felt that negative attention was better than none at all.  The form of discipline at this Boys and Girls Club was that of yelling and there was very little positive reinforcement, which made me incredibly sad for these kids.

               Throughout the whole day and the rest of the week, I couldn’t help but ask myself, how can I possibly see God working in this Boys and Girls Club?  Mainly I asked this because, with kids more than any other area of service, it’s incredibly difficult to see the long-term effects of service in such a short period of time.  It seems as if you have such a little impact on these kids because you don’t have any time to fully get to know them, and once you do, the week is over.  I struggled with this a lot the whole week, and I asked God to give me just one sign that what I am doing is actually helping or making some kind of difference.

               This was not prevalent to me until the last day.  Throughout the week, I got to know many kids, but the only one that actually stuck by my side and talked with me every day was an eight year-old girl named Trinity.  Even with Trinity, I was unsure if I had any impact on her.  Thursday, I told her that it would be my last day, and she could not understand why I was leaving.  She begged me to stay there with her, and I told her I had to get back home to see all my family and friends and her response was “Okay, then I’m coming with you” and would not stop clinging on to me.  It took me a long time to stop saying goodbye to her.  They had given us photo ID’s for the Boys and Girls Club, and when she let go of me as I was saying goodbye, she asked if she could keep my ID so that she would never ever forget me.  It was very clear then that God had answered my prayers and I was able to see an impact on this Boys and Girls Club, in a place where I was not expecting to see that kind of impact.

               Usually on these trips, I have found that I can see God in the people we serve in hearing their stories and having the opportunity to serve them.  This trip, however, I saw God in this eight year-old girl, and I did not see her as someone I was serving, rather than just a kid that I was hanging out and having a good time with.  Also unexpectedly, I was able to see God in the people I served alongside with more than in past trips.  I also saw God in a lady named Ms. Roberta, who devotes all her time preparing breakfast and lunch for the kids at the Boys and Girls Club completely by herself for no other reason than she loves them so much and cares about them.  For too many of the kids there, the breakfast and lunch prepared by Ms. Roberta are the only meals they would get all day, and she wanted to make sure they got the best meals possible with the minimal resources she had.

               God truly has a way of working in unexpected ways, and that has never been more prevalent to me than on this trip.  Since this was my fifth mission trip, I really thought that I had everything figured out and nothing could surprise me, but I was wrong!  I am thankful for this amazing experience to grow closer to God and serve Him and His children in Saint Paul, and I ask that you pray for those we served, and that we may get home safely tomorrow.