Arrival Time

Right now it looks like 10pm is our arrival time. It's 6 and we just stopped for dinner in Redding. See you soon!

On Our Way!

We have cleaned and packed up. We are hitting the road at 9am and should be home about 9pm. I'll keep you updated about our arrival on the blog as we get closer.

Homeless for a Day

Today we woke up at 8 and surprised the students by telling them they would be homeless today. Four students went with each leader. They had to carry their things and figure out food, how to get around and how to stay dry.

This was an eye opening experience for all of us. We learned that the homeless are ignored and passed by. Even when we wished people a happy Thanksgiving, they continued on without looking.

It was such a valuable experience for us. It is going to help us relate and understand the homeless. Many of us ate at the Gospel Rescue Mission, where several volunteers fed us Thanksgiving food. It stands as a contrast to the fact that we will be doing the same thing tonight under Burnside Bridge. Today I was humbled by being in such need and having to rely on someone else's kindness. Tonight, I get to offer that to someone else and I'm excited to let that person know that I care about them and that they matter.

Here is a picture of my crew trying to keep warm.

Brendan

Long Day

It has been a great day. Tonight we did walkabouts; we made sandwiches and coffee and carried socks and took them around downtown. We met lots of interesting people and definitely began some new relationships.

After that we did some work unloading food into a food bank. One of my favorite moments from this time was when we created an assembly line to pass the food and to keep ourselves occupied we sang Christmas carols.

Just hard to believe our week is already half over. We get to sleep in a little bit more than normal tomorrow morning.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Brendan

Did You Know That It Rains In Portland?

We have discovered that this is true. It was never heavy rain, but rather a constant watery presence. We spent most of our day outside. We went on prayer walks, which are essentially a guided tour of the city with instructions on how to pray at each place.

Then we went to an amazing exhibit designed to shed light on how many people live, primarily after natural disasters. The goal of this time was to increase our sensitivity to people's needs, a valuable lesson for the week.

Tonight we will be outside again. We are breaking into groups and walking around with hot chocolate; we are going to use it to make friends with local homeless and start conversation with them.

Hard to believe that our week is pretty much half over!

Please pray that we continue to have good spirits; wet weather can be discouraging. So far we've handled it well, and I hope that continues!

Settled In

We are all set in our home for the week. We spent a great evening praying and encouraging each other, and now we are heading for bed. It will be lots of early mornings and long days, so please pray for good rest!

Brendan

In Portland!

We have arrived! Portland is a beautiful city; we got a great view of the Willamette river that cuts through the center of the city. There are bridges everywhere and low hanging clouds wrapped around buildings.

We are going to be meeting our trip coordinator Ben in a little bit to walk through some orientation for our week. Thanks for checking in, and we will talk to you soon!

Brendan

Weather

So far the rain has held off while driving, and we are very thankful for it! Though we checked the report for Portland and it says 100% chance of rain. Hope everyone packed a jacket!

Hitting the Road

We had a quick and tasty breakfast before loading up the vehicles. Portland, here we come!

Medford!

We have arrived safe and sound at Table Rock Fellowship in Medford, Oregon. We settled into our rooms and sampled the cuisine at a local pizza joint, called Pizza Hut.

It was a long day of driving, but we made it through using Mad Libs, I Spy and 20 Questions. We are going to play some games tonight and try to catch some sleep. We have a short drive in front of us tomorrow...a speedy 5 hours.

So far, there's been plenty of rain and we are getting ready for more. I'll be updating again tomorrow, so make sure you check back soon!

Brendan

Feels good to be in California

So nice to be back where the signs are in English! I'm blogging from my phone so this one will be short. We are safe and sound in Orange County. We had a short wait at the border, maybe the shortest I've ever seen. After that it was dinner at In N Out and now we are at Richfield Community playing ping pong and foosball. Can't wait to see you all tomorrow evening! We should be at WCPC around 8pm.

--Brendan

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to everyone in the States! I hope you've all had good food and good football. We've had a great day! This morning, many of us woke up early for a boys versus girls game of volleyball, because we haven't had daylight to play yet! No better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than sports with good friends.

We got SO much done on the house today. We almost finished the roof (it would be completely done, but we ran out of shingles) and it is completely painted except for one overhang. We got a chance today to pray over pastor Garcia and his wife, who are the recipients of the house. It was amazing to hear today that they have been patiently waiting 3 YEARS for this house to be finished. I can't imagine have patience or faith like that. I know it was meaningful for them to see it so close to finished, and it was powerful for us to have a role in that.

This afternoon at VBS was bittersweet. It was by far the best day we've had with those kids, but so hard to say goodbye. As we drove off, many waved at the vans and asked to come home with us. Our craft this afternoon is by far my favorite; at the beginning of the afternoon, we take their picture and then print it on a portable photo printer. They make and decorate frames and we give them their picture. For some of them, it's the first picture they've ever had of themselves. When they get their photo, I can't think of a gift that would mean more to them than a picture. It's so hard to say goodbye to them and have to wait another year to come see how much they've grown.

We are about to have a real Thanksgiving dinner...the program director crossed the border and got turkey for us! I'm excited to surprise our students with that...they think we're having beans and tortillas. Which will probably also be served with the turkey...

Thank you so much for your prayer! We should be across the border around 5 pm tomorrow and arrive at Richfield Community Church around 7:30. I'll most likely be posting on the blog around 8 pm, a little later than usual. Hope all is well back home and that you're all sitting around, stuffed, contemplating another piece of pie. If anyone has an extra slice of pumpkin, eat it for me.

--Brendan