Calvary Worship Center

We started off our first day by worshiping with the congregation of Westside Church of God! Pastor Sean was very excited to have us there with his church! After service, we visited San Xavier Mission and got to learn about what the Tucson culture believes when it comes to religion. We ended the night with a delicious home cooked meal of stewed chicken and rice. The meal was cooked by Pastor Sean himself!

We started off this Monday morning with a wild adventure. When the address for the first drop of was entered into the GPS, a digit was left off. It is amazing how much of a difference one number can make! The Pelican staff were grateful that they had a picture of the bus. Food Bank Written by Cordell Today I experienced the real works of God the Father. Just the fact that I was able to talk and share, then also pray with those who have nothing, the fact that God was in my heart throughout today and throughout my life. God is amazing and just having the opportunity to talk and share about the gospel is amazingly awesome!

Written by Morgan My experience this morning was amazing. I went to a shelter that houses women until they can get back onto their feet. The ladies were amazing and they were so sweet. We worked outside, swept the courtyard, and had a lot of fun. We also got to each lunch with the ladies; they were amazed that we came all the way from Colorado and they were blessed that were were there to do some work. I am happy to be here and I am just feeling good helping the people.

Written by Mathias Today I had the honor of helping Gap Ministries prepare for orphans. I and three other peoples' job was to help build a set of portable closets.The first two closets were built easily and quickly, but the last one was problematic. The pieces that held the closet together constantly fell apart. So, as typical males would, we tried to use brute force to solve our problems. Unfortunately, we bent the front pieces at the tip. We looked to try and find what was wrong and after a short time we found that two parts were mixed up. So after a switch around, the closet was sort of fixed. This was one job out of many, including working in the kitchen, sorting boxes of various things and testing electronics. The most interesting job was most likely serving in the kitchen. The main cook was a kinda sweet woman who was cooking for around 700 people. One of our group had the honors of doing dishes for almost 7 hours. I can hardly bare 30 minutes! Over all it was a blessing to serve at Gap Ministries.

Written by Josh As the clock neared 4:00 in the afternoon, the Calvary Worship Center church missions trip van pulled up to a small house on the side of the road in Tucson, AZ. I stepped out of the van into the sweltering heat and grabbed a guitar from the trunk. As I walked around the side of the house, I looked into the backyard to find many chairs, diner booths, and tables scattered throughout the yard. In many of those chairs and diner booths sat homeless men and women. This was the church on the street ministry and I was about to lead them in a time of worship. I plugged the guitar into an amp that had been set out and stepped up to the provided microphone. In all honesty I was unexcited about how the songs I was preparing to play would go. Here I was about to sing somewhat popular Christian worship songs to a group of people who I didn’t even know whether or not they knew the songs, much less, the words by memory! Despite my doubt and uncertainty, God used that time of worship to soften the hearts of the people there. As I played the guitar softly, students from Calvary Worship Center came up to give testimonies, pastors spoke, and multiple people sang along to the worship songs they knew. Finally one pastor gave an altar call as the song “Break Every Chain” was played quietly in the background. Within the next few minutes, several of the homeless people raised their hands, eager to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. I looked around the backyard of this small house to see many of the students and leaders praying for these homeless people; not only that, everyone was laughing and smiling as they conversed. As we drove away from that small house on the side of the road, there was no doubt in my mind that God had moved in the hearts of many people that day.

Written by D'Angelo Today we went to the Food Bank for the second day in a row. We separated cans between bad/old and good. We ended up going through approximately 8000 cans. Today was so much fun and the volunteer coordinator, Jerry, appreciated us so much. The funniest thing that happened today is when Jesse, our PPM staff member, got some tomato juice all over his face. What I learned today was brothers in Christ are brothers for life.

Written by Chelsea As I experience this mission trip, I am continually amazed by how much is asked of these kids. Lifting countless crates of cabbage, melons, and avocados is no small feat, especially in the scorching heat. As a leader i suppose i should have been barely breaking a sweat, but I was panting alongside all the girls today. But, as I look back on the day, I cannot help but remember the verse "To whom much has been given, much is expected." The kids on this trip, although from incredibly diverse backgrounds, have all been given so much, and with this blessing comes a hefty responsibility. However, after seeing those kids work so hard today. I have no doubt that they can and will achieve all that has been expected of them and more.

Written by Rachael Today at Gospel Rescue all of us really helped out around the place. We got split into two groups, one went to clean inside and the other cleaned inside. The ones outside, raked up garbage and palm tree leaves. The ones inside, deep cleaned everything like cleaning the bathroom, scrubbing the floors, washing the walls, and cleaning the water fountain. As we were cleaning, all the women who walked by thanked us and were really grateful to have people doing things for them. It was really touching to see these people who don't have very much and still have so much joy and a nice place to stay. The Gospel Rescue is a great place to visit and help out at.

Written by Hannah Going to Church On The Street was an amazing experience. I met this amazing lady named Natasha and she changed my life. She had lost her kids on drugs after being 1.5 years sober. Her boyfriend is now in prison for drug use and was always hanging out with the wrong crowd. Long story short, she ended up at church on the street and we started talking. Listening to her story and one of our leaders testimonies really opened my eyes to the truth. I didnt know what to beleve with the media and everything telling me one thing and the church telling me another. But listening to everyone's stpry made me realize that I want to know God and be his PRINCESS. They both touched my life and made me realize that the truth is God, and when God wants you on his team, you will be on his team. I will never forget this experience.

Wednesday was a day to relax and have fun. We started off by going to Gates Pass to do some hiking and rock climbing. After that, we went over to Breakers water park to cool off in the wave pool and on the water slides. It was a day of laughing, swimming, climbing and sun burns. When we finished at the water park, we went back to the church for Wednesday night service. A few of us felt called to stand up in front of the church and share their testimonies. They spoke of their struggles and their miracles and they shared how this trip has changed their life for good. There was not a dry eye in the house. Thank you to everyone who made this trip a possibility!