ChristYouth

After a long drive, we are all settled in at First Baptist Church of Waldorf. We are playing a few rounds of apples to apples tonight before we get ready for service and exploring DC tomorrow. 

We joined in with the youth this morning and had great conversations. Afterwards we were all encouraged by Pastor Randy’s sermon on radical love. 

After lunch, we headed to the National Mall. Our first stop, David’s Tent, is a 24/7-365 worship tent! We joined in on the worship for a little while, and now we are on to some museums.

This morning we served at Martha’s Table in their joyful bagging ministry. Instead of people coming into the building to pick up food, since Covid, they have prepared bags of food. Each bag has pasta, potatoes, onions, and fruit. We assembly-line packaged hundreds of food bags to be handed out later. 

Many of us stretched ourselves this afternoon, initiating conversations with strangers and praying over them. While nervous at first, we realized we had more in common than we originally thought. These new friends were an amazing blessing to our day and week so far. 

The other half of our group went to So Others May Eat (SOME). We helped make sandwiches, pack food bags, and prayed over the people that would be receiving the food.

This morning we helped organize toys, props, baby clothes, and some school supplies at Kid's Konnection. It was such a blessing to Sherrita, to step in and organize her ministry items- something that would’ve taken a while to get through herself. 

This afternoon a group of us did homeless ministry and prayer walking. It was a great experience to understand that even in the nation’s capital so many people are struggling. We notified how many of them just wanted someone to listen. They, like us, are full of stories. 

The other half of our group went to SOME where we helped organize their food pantry. We organized cans by the expiration and sorted through donations. 

This morning we worked with Age in Place to assist seniors in their homes. Today, this included yard work. We weeded away and got rid of the dead to make way for new growth. Just like this week, we put aside our opinions, didn’t make excuses, and got uncomfortable for Jesus. 

This afternoon we saw how Martha’s Table serves the community. We can’t wait for people to come to us (at their building), instead, we have to go out into the community (setting up markets in food deserts) to be the hands and feet of Christ. 

In the evening, we got to join the church’s youth group! We played crab soccer, Brad led us in worship, and we shared testimonies from the week so far. We had a really fun time getting to know the other youth a little and making new friends!

Despite it being hot and many animals hid in the shade/indoors we had a great time visiting the zoo!