Hello internet! It’s Eric here with another blog post. Today was a long day. Let me give you a quick breakdown of what happened today.
7:30am Wake up!!!
8:00am Breakfast
8:30am Hit the road
9:00am We spent our whole morning serving at World Vision, an organization that aims to show the love of Christ all around the world. We spent our morning packing shoes that will go places around the world, where people may not have shoes. It really hit us that something so simple that we take for granted, like having shoes, is not something that everyone has. We boxed up a lot of shoes!
12:00pm We hit the road back to the hotel.
12:30pm Lunch and Session 2 of Missions Training. Today, Jon shared with us the amazing love of Christ. He shared about the leper in Matthew 8. Everyone else shunned this man, but Jesus first touched him, then He healed him. No one else would have even gotten near this man, yet Jesus loved him and showed it in a powerful way. Jon also shared about the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. What an example of the love of God. Jon wanted us to see that Jesus’ worldview was not to put himself on a pedestal and look down on others. Instead, he treated people with dignity, served people and loved the unlovable. When we realize that spiritually, we are the ones who are sick and we see Jesus’ love for us, we can have this worldview. We can see others as our equals and treat them with dignity and serve them. Because of Jesus’ love for us, we can reflect that love to the world.
3:30pm POOL TIME We had a blast swimming.
5:15pm Hit the road for the city
5:30pm Primanti Brothers. A Pittsburgh staple. We filled ourselves full of sandwiches upon which they put cole slaw and french fries. Now that’s what I call a sandwich!
6:45pm Duquesne Incline. We took the Duquesne Incline up the side of Mt. Washington. From up there you can see the whole city, the bridges, the rivers and the beautiful skyline. It was a little scary for those like me who are afraid of heights, but a great experience for all!
7:45 We took a walk to Station Square for some more sight seeing.
8:45 Back to the vans to hit the road for the hotel.
9:15 We have a brief team meeting to reflect on a great day and all that God is showing us. Thanks for praying for our day. Please pray that tomorrow will be as impacting and memorable as today!
And now, some thoughts from students.
“Today, I feel like God taught me that you can do a lot of things to help people. We boxed up 1,275 pairs of shoes. That’s a lot! I’m so happy I got to go on this missions trip. We also got to go out to eat! It was yummy. Eric also showed us around the city. It was a fun little walk. Throughout the day, I was so happy with myself for boxing up some shoes and giving kids a pair. I want to do more because it makes me feel happy and I know that I can make a difference.”
-Elisa Leonard
“Today, we served at WorldVision. We packed up Air Force 1 Nike shoes for 3 hours. After that we went back to the hotel and ate lunch. The we had our second session. the we went swimming. Next, we ate dinner. We went on the Duquesne Incline. Lastly, we went for a walk. I feel like I am experiencing the world from a different point of view. I think serving is really fun.”
-Jaden Nguyen
“I feel like God is teaching me to look at the world and not just 1 part! Also, he has showed me how to serve in many ways and to start with packing shoes. I feel like I know more about how much God loves everyone and we should put on those glasses that help us to see that everyone is equal and not treat others with disrespect!
Highlights of the day.
- Listening to Jon speak and teach!
- Seeing the city from the top!
- Packing shoes!”
-Jenna Lehoty
“Today we went to World Vision to help people in need. We unpacked pairs of shoes from boxes and then packed them into bigger boxes. In the larger boxes, we could pack 16-20 pairs of shoes. What I noticed as I switched from table to table is that each table had a slightly different system. I enjoyed that because it was not the same thing again and again. When we were finished packing shoes into the boxes, we ended up with about 1,275 pairs of shoes. It felt so good, worshipping God, and knowing that all these people will have a new pair of shoes to put on their feet.
We came in and had a lunch of tacos, chips and drinks. Ice cream was served after that. As soon as we came in from the game we had played outside, we started another session. We discussed needs and wants. We also talk about leprosy and stories where Jesus came and healed the so-called ‘unclean people.’
After that we went swimming. We relaxed in the hot tub and enjoyed the cool water of the pool.
We then went and had dinner at Primanti Brothers for some dense sandwiches. it was unhealthy food, but it was definitely worth it.
We rode of Mount Washington in a trolley. You could see the city in such detail. You could see huge bridges, the football stadium, the scenery, skyscrapers and more. When we got to the top, we went on the observation deck where you could get a whole view of the beautiful city. We rode down and walked to Station Square where there were dozens of people. We kept watching the water fountain as the water flew in all different directions and patterns. Then came group photo time where we took about 2 or 3 photos. After that we got to gawk at more of the city as we walked to our vans.
When we got to our hotel, we sat in a circle where we discussed our day.
I feel that this day was wonderful because we got to sight see, swim, eat some really greasy food, and most importantly, worship and serve God.”
-Micah Post
And now, for some pictures!
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