This post is from Cheryl Dobrowski as she shares from her heart and experience with our youth team as they served in the Tenderloin during Spring Break. This Sunday the team will take over a portion of the morning and share about all that God did in them that week. Enjoy!
My heart is so full as I return from One Life's Spring mission trip to SF. The week prior to Easter, our spring break, we took seventeen people, mostly our Jr. and High School youth group to City Crossroads Church located in SF on Mission St., near the Tenderloin, where myself and our youth group taught Vacation Bible Study to inner city kids (ages 5-12) of all cultures for three hours per day, and served food, prayer, and supplies to the homeless who where literally camped and living outside the doors of the church! We slept in the church basement, hearing the sounds of sirens, and people walking and talking at all hours through the night and early morning, truly it is the "City that never sleeps." Amazing times of walking by faith with God, individual growth, play and bonding with each other and with those God brought us into contact with. Our hearts and faith expanded as we were sent out treading on new, and unfamiliar territory for some, including myself as I left all my materials and scripts for teaching and setting up visuals at home, having to rely on God to lead and give me daily creativity to create an interactive bible study each day! Once past the sudden attack of fear and my frantic attempts to retrieve my lost info, I settled into a peaceful reliance that deepened my trust with our gracious, loving Father who IS and has an endless supply of all we need to meet the need. After all it is His Trip! In the midst of what most people would consider, dangerous, dirty, hopeless, hardened, drug and alcohol infested streets, we experienced the love and power of our living God as did those who live daily in these conditions. The darkened streets of the inner city were transformed as God's lights went out and prayerfully walked, prayed, and gave hope. Suddenly, with each step, the ground under our feet became God's loving dwelling place. The names and faces of the homeless and the 26-36 children that came each day were etched in our hearts as precious flowers blooming in the garden of our Lord., I know we all yearn to return soon and reconnect and embrace those He touched and many more. The names and faces of Kyle, Evan, Nave, Alex, Josh, Jake (Terri), Jeremy, Levi, Taylor, Lydia, Sarah, Amanda, Kelsey,and Ellie,were a daily God sighting and source of joy for their fearless, fun, fantastic youth leader Ned Schaut, and we brave, young at heart co laborers Marcia and Cheryl honored to serve alongside this devoted, loving, focused, talented and hard-working sincere team of young Leaders. Praise to God who has caused us to Overcome fear and death, to lose our lives that we may gain it and give it away! We'll Never Be the Same, "You Can Trust Him." (One of our daily worship songs with the kids) -- Cheryl
Posts
