Mission Dispatch 1

July 13, 2009 Staten Island, NY

Jeff: (6:00 am) All is well for the POP mission team. We have settled into the Faith Methodist Church social hall and adjoining rooms. The ride down was smooth, found the grocery store, ate very good pizza, prayed about our goals, and sang praises to the Lord. We look forward to serving our neighbor today. So far we haven't found out how to access the wireless so we will post on the blog when we can. Now it's time for some coffee.

Katie: As we were getting ready to leave the shower area at 745am, an older woman approached us with her grandson (who looked to be about 4 or so). She handed us two children's books, one of which was titled “My Grandma has AIDS Annisha's Story”, the other one was “Cooper's tale” about a mouse who becomes homeless. She shared that the one about the grandmother with AIDS made her cry. I wondered if it might be her story, too. Well, we're about ready to start our first day, more stories to share later.

Jeff: (2:30 pm) Worked at the food pantry getting ready for food distribution tomorrow. Lots of fun working with the folks there. I heard a story of recovery and changed life as God's grace, working through caring people claimed one who was lost.

Danika: (2:40 pm) Today Darian, Georgie, Katie, Chrisanne and I went to the Family Center and pulled TONS of weeds on the street and parking lot. Our hands are callused and raw. It was a very different experience pulling weeds for people in need rather than for our mothers and fathers... my father especially! They were very gracious and giving; it was a neat experience. Gardening gloves would have been nice though! But the plastic gloves rocked! Oh and the juice they gave us was super awesome!

Meghan and Amanda: (2:44 pm) Today Amanda, Ashley, Kayla, Pastor Jeff, and I went to the Food Pantry on Bay St. and met Tony who helped us find our way around. We started off packing pasta and that lasted until lunchtime where we were graciously served “fillet mignon” and a macaroni salad. Afterwards we carried bread and joked around with the workers because we finished our work so efficiently. Apparently they use the broken pieces of pasta for the midgets and the flip tops of soda cans for soup. Afterwards the paper towel holder fell on my head! Tony wasn't too happy, but then we fixed it. :) They donated some food to us so that actually tastes good. Thank you!

Liana and Courtney: (2:58pm) Today we worked at the Drop-In, which is a place to go for people that are dealing with addictions, with John and Heather. We made sandwiches and packed lunches, then distributed them to the people staying there. It was really hot in the kitchen and Liana started to feel sick for a while. But the macaroni salad was really good. The people were really comical and we enjoyed serving them and watching them come back for more helpings.