Well as I write this we have less than 24 hours before we leave for our trip to Chicago, to work with CSM. This is not my first and I hope it won't be my last missions trip. I am excited and nervous at the same time, but I know and believe that God is with us on this trip. Not sure who all reads this but if you are reading this be praying for the team that is going, 24 students and adults leaving Augusta to head to Chicago for this week ling mission trip. We will be working everyday in two schools helping students with tutoring and whatever else may need done, we will get to eat lunch with these same students and spend the entire week serving them. In the afternoons/evenings we will be working with two local shelters to help prepare and serve meals to the homeless and then one night we will be working in a food bank to help organize, sort and give out food to those in need.
I am so amazed at how God works sometimes. When we think we have nothing God shows us we have all we need, and more. As we prepare for this trip I have so many memories of two previous trips I took with the youth at Stonebridge, of course Atlanta which changed my life... I will never look at a pair of socks with out thinking about the men and women we interacted with there, but my hear always thinks of Chuck. He was living on the streets of Atlanta and had been for several years, originally from Alabama, his smile, his eyes will be in thoughts forever. You see we did these mission walks where we filled backpacks with needed items: socks, T-shirts, toiletries etc... and then walked the streets of Atlanta. On my first and only mission walk in Atlanta we met many, but Chuck is the one who touched my heart. When we first met him he was very quiet and wouldn't look at us directly. We had been surrounded by men who need items and they knew what we had. So as we were talking with these men and passing out supplies I looked at Chuck and asked what he needed and he said if we had some socks to spare he would take them. I found him a few pair of socks and a t-shirt and some toiletries, as he was fumbling to get these items in his backpack I offered to help and he refused and quickly walked away. I thought that was the last I would see of him but God had other plans. We gave out what we had then continued on down the street we were on, and stopped a few more times, about a half a mile from where we first me him Chuck, he was sitting on the side of the road putting on a pair of the socks we had given him, our students called out hello to him by name and that's when I saw he had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I asked if I- could sit with him for a minute and he said yes. So I did. We sat there and I asked if he needed anything else and he said no he had everything he needed. (and we think if we dont have the latest and greatest of everything we are missing out!) So as we talked I learned a little about his family and that he had been in Atlanta about 2 years and he had children in Alabama, that he missed. He also said he hadn't had new socks since around Christmas. We were there in July. I asked him if there was one thing I could pray about for him and he said yes that he would get a job so that he could see his family again. As we stood up the team came around us and we prayed for him, I looked up as we were praying and he had tears gushing out. He couldn't believe that we would take the time to talk with him, to share what we had with him and to call him by name. And that made me cry. We all want to belong, to be wanted to be loved! I know I do. I went to Atalanta thinking I was gonna change someones life and I did, MINE! God can work in us in ways we don't even know. I truly believe that I will see Chuck again someday, not because of anything I did but Because of God's Love in me. And as we prepare to leave for Chicago, my prayer is that God will use me. That I will see others with his eyes, and I will Love them as He does! My Prayer for you out there in cyber land that you will begin to see people with God's eyes that you will see past what's outside but that you will see their hearts. Have a Beautiful Week, and I look forward to posting on the Amazing things God does in Chicago!
Know you are Thought of, Loved & Prayed for!
Love Ya
Christina
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