Month 8 was not easy. I had a lot going on personally and a lot going on in the team. At the same time I really enjoyed the ministries we got to partner with this month. Our hosts didnt have a lot of ministry opportunities set up so we got to choose what we were doing that day. I learned a lot about what ministry looks like day to day when were not on the race. Which is why my word is:
Knowledge
When we were in Minnesota we stayed with World Race Gap year coaches. Since they new more about how things work on the mission field they set up a pretty lax ministry schedule which allowed us to set up our own ministry schedule, knowing that things can change so quickly on the race. Our first day there they showed us around Minneapolis. We went to the mall of America, the state capital, explored secret tunnels underneath the city as well as many more cool sites. The most memorable part of that day was when we went to the George Floyd memorial. I wrote a whole blog on my experience there but I did gain a lot of knowledge from going there. I realized how hurt the community is. How there torn apart by the color of their skin. At the same time I also saw so many people uniting together to fight against racism. My most memorable day in Minnesota was the day we did a unity march from a k-mart memorial all the way to the George Floyd memorial. For more of my experience at the George Floyd memorial go and read my lake street blog.
The rest of the days that week we had scheduled ministry. We worked for an organization called feed my starving children. The volunteers that come in make food bags that they send to partners over sees that gets them out to the children. I have volunteered multiple times at the location in Arizona and was so excited when I heard we’d be working with them. Our host had only signed us up for one shift but she said the following week was an open schedule so we could sign up for more shifts if we wanted to. We ended up signing up for 3 more shifts because of how much we enjoyed it.
The week after that we came up with different ministry ideas. Yes we had our upcoming shifts at feed my starving children but we also went and did homeless outreach in several different parks in the area. I really enjoyed when we would have a team meeting to come up with ministry ideas because it helped give me ideas for when I come off of the race. I have worked at feed my starving children at least 5 times but have never considered it ministry until now.
When we were in Wisconsin we also had a pretty open schedule. The only ministry we were scheduled for was working at a food bank for 2 days a week. Our second day there we sat down with our host and he told us about different ministries we could do. The main one he encouraged us to do was to have a grill out for the residents in the residential hall we were staying in. We weren’t sure how many days we’d be able to do it due to our money budget but God provided for us in so many ways. The food bank provided us with a lot of the meat, an alumni in the area also provided some food, Morgans parents who were in town for the weekend also provided food, and our host gave us some money to buy food. We never had to pull money out of our own pockets to give back to the community we were living in. I will never doubt Gods abilities again.
While this month was difficult and ultimately I decided during this month that it was time I left the team I did enjoy where we stayed and what we did. I made a couple of friends in Minnesota that I plan to stay in touch with. God showed me a lot this month. While I didnt always like what I saw I needed to see it
