Belmont University

Belmont University's team arrived safely in Washington DC today. The PPM team and Hughes United Methodist Church are excited to partner with them to serve the local community this week. Please pray for the team to be a light to others and show the love of Jesus to each other and all those we encounter throughout the week. We appreciate all of you back home supporting us.

We are blessed to join Hughes United Methodist Church for its service this morning. We are excited to join their congregation in a bilingual service and worship God together. 

After the morning service, Hughes hosted us and the church for lunch. They made delicious pasta and meatballs and we got to have friendly conversations with many of their members. It was a blessing to talk with their diverse community and see how God is working in their lives. After lunch, we had the opportunity to drive to downtown DC and spend time together visiting monuments. The day provided many experiences to help us grow closer as a team and see God at work. God provided us with an amazing parking spot. We then saw the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, and the White House. It was amazing to see the rich history of our country and honor all those who fought for our freedom. After visiting the monuments we grabbed ice cream and then dinner at food trucks. We ate together and enjoyed the sunset and the beauty of God's creation. After eating we visited David's Tent and were able to worship, pray, and talk with those running the ministry. It was amazing to see their heart for providing night-and-day worship and being a light to others and sharing the love of Christ and the gospel. After visiting David's Tent we returned back to the church, and are now ready to work on the projects they have for us in the upcoming days. 

Today we were able to clean out several rooms in Hughes' attic. There was a lot of doubt that our team could finish the cleaning today, but God provided us with the strength and teamwork to finish all of the work before dinner. It was as if God told those who doubted, "O ye of little faith."

Today we saw Jesus at work as we worked with Hughes' food distribution they do every Tuesday. It was a blessing to give and receive love as we gave food to many people in need. This is a picture of the girls packing up vegetables in the preparation for the distribution.

Today we were able to volunteer to help Martha's Table, and partner with them in helping hundreds of families in Washington DC get the food they need. 

The team bags up two truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables that will go to be delivered to schools for their families. 

Pastoa has been a wonderful encouragement and a great person to partner with this week. We can not give her enough thanks for all that she did for our team.

When in Washington DC going to museums is your bread and butter. Today we all started at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Seeing God's creation such as mammals, bugs, rocks, and butterflies brought joy to the group. Justin was especially joyous to see the butterflies. Seeing him in the butterfly room was one of the highlights of the trip. 

We finished our last night together with a meal at Nando's, a shopping trip at Giant, showers at LA Fitness, and a team meeting. It was great to fellowship and bond with one another as we gathered around the table for dinner one last time. The whole chicken was conquered too. 

On our final morning, we enjoyed breakfast together, packed up, and said our goodbyes.

Belmont University's 2023 group was the first group I led. You always remember your first, and this was my first trip as an Assistant Trip Leader. God surely blessed me with the most amazing group of people during this week. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart Bella, Celia, Isabella, Justin, Lydia, Madeleine, and Malikai. I will never forget all of you and if you need a friend, someone to talk to, or any help in the future do not hesitate to reach out. The truth is the hardest thing to say is goodbye. Here are some lyrics from Nobody Knows by The Lumineers that fit our parting.

"Nobody knows how to say goodbye

It seems so easy 'til you try

Then the moments passed you by

Nobody knows how to say goodbye"

I am praying for each and every one of you as we go our separate ways. I hope God will pour out His blessings upon your life. Seek first the kingdom of God, draw nigh unto Him, and love God with all that you are. If you can do this everything else will fall into place in your life.