Final Day!

Hey all!

Sorry for the lack of blog updates the last couple days, I have been sick and haven’t had the energy at the end of long days to figure out posting and such. We are currently halfway done with our journey home and looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tonight! Thankfully last night my brother was able to have us over at his house for a good home cooked meal, so everyone seems pretty relaxed and ready to roll out early this morning!

Thursday we did food distribution for the second time this week and then got back to our jobs cleaning and helping to maintain the church so that all we had to do on Friday was finish up a few big jobs and then head to the beach! Johnny, the guy who coordinated us being there and set up all the jobs, mentioned that we had gotten through all that he had prepared for us faster than he thought so we were even able to do some extra beyond what they had hoped! The funny part of the half day at the beach is that it was the only time all week that it was cloudy in the afternoon, so it wasn’t the hottest day but still completely different than the Oregon coast!

Friday finished up with bread-breaking, probably one of my favorite times of the week as we build community, share some memories from the week, and encourage others. It’s the time for me, as a leader, that I get to ask the students what they learned about Jesus through the week and what impacted them the most. I have been sick most of the week and so I haven’t been able to really work a ton with them beyond the first day, so it was awesome to be able to meet with a lot of them 1v1 to process and discuss the chaos of the week.

Thanks again for your prayers and we would ask you to continue to pray for us today as we finish the journey! A lot of us are drained and exhausted, so also pray that we show love to each other despite tiredness. We look forward to seeing you all at home tonight!

-Brian

Day 5

Hi, it’s Bri and Frances! For the past two days we have worked very hard, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally.  Seeing these individuals, families and people our own age puts us into a broad perspective of the life around our own.  Behind the number of people in the world who are suffering are individuals just like you or me. The difference between us is that they think about the basic necessities and we don’t.  We have had the chance to give food and meals out to many people this week.  Seeing their smiles makes it all worth it. We are very grateful to be on this mission trip! Thank you all for your love and support.

HI there! This is Stacey! I am a friend of Brynna’s (if you know who she is J) who lives in California and met up with the group on Sunday night in Santa Clarita. Today was a super good day! We did a TON of work today all day long and it was grrrrreat! I have so very much that I would like to share with you. My favorite part of the day was when I was talking with Johnny the pastor of the church we are serving at. He was telling me about the church’s multi-congregation model. Different congregations meet all at the same time throughout the campus. He told me that once every three months all the congregations with their different languages meet for the same church service and sing in each other’s language and listen to a pastor speak the word of God in his heart language to a sister congregation who speaks a different language. I was imagining that and thinking that’s what Heaven must be like. Every one praising and worshiping God in their heart language with brothers and sisters in Christ. And I was so excited for heaven. I am so excited to be serving with your kids and this church and look forward to the rest of the week. Now I am going to finish because Brian is sick and tired and whining about me taking too long because he wants to go to bed. 

Day 4

My first day at this mission trip was great.  I had a fun and felt like I was helping people.  It made me feel good and I got to do some tasks that I had never done before.  I helped clean out the boardroom.  There were two fruit snacks stuck to the wall that we had to use a small hammer to get them off.  They left a large mark were they were.  I also got to smash a chair by throwing it off a balcony, and kicking the legs off. I also tightened a railing where people were sanding the stairwell.

-       Vince

            Today was the first official day that we did hard work on the mission trip. It was different to see so many different homeless people and to get to talk to them. Our three main activities for serving people was cleaning, food distribution, and the salvation army dinner. The cleaning of the church was interesting and gross. The church is 94 years old, and is in great shape for its conditions of not having much maintenance. I helped sand down the wooden stairs and clean out the music room which had mouse droppings on the ground. It was not a pretty sight to see.
The food distribution was completely different with the fact that we were looking at the people while we were serving them. Each person that walked by was greeted with a smile and a generous amount of food. Some of the people that walked by looked as if they did not need help. The stereotypical homeless person does not exist because each person looked different, and for some of them you could not tell if they were homeless or not because they looked "normal."
After the food distribution we made our way to downtown San Diego. From there we went to the salvation army to give out dinners. There was a very sweet old woman that was helping whose name was Brenda. Brenda looked like a doll with her lipstick, bonnet, fake eyelashes, and skirt with her pantaloons. She was very kind and I had learned that she had brain tumors multiple times but "the lord heals me so I can serve him" is what she told me. The dinner serving went well and I was pouring punch for everyone and as I would go around for refills, people would drink up their untouched drink for more. 
Each person knew their manners better than I had expected which helped me to treat them as equals, and to realize that homeless people also have feelings. 
          -Carolyn



One of the most refreshing elements of going on a mission trip is the disconnectedness from our daily lives. It's so easy to get so enthralled with the day to day happenings and worries of home life. Being away helps us retreat, refocus and get back in touch with what is important. 

Most of us didn't know exactly what to expect with this being our first real workday. Once we arrived at the church many of us cleaned, organized and helped perform maintenance. The real fun started when it came time to set up for the food distribution. It was hot in the courtyard of the church and we packed up hundreds of apples and plums in bags for people to claim just hours later. Others of us set up tables and organized food. Once the distribution started the time went by quickly. We saw people that ranged from teenagers to the elderly. Some people appeared to look clean while others looked as if they hadn't showered in weeks. It was a humbling experience to say the least. It goes to show that you NEVER KNOW what people are going through. Just because they look OK doesn't mean that they are.
The second touch of reality for the day came once we went to the Salvation Army for the dinner distribution. Half of us were helping in the dining hall serving meals while the other half of us grabbed pre-made sandwiches and water bottles to give to the homeless on the streets. While we were out we met many different types of people. Some people took the sandwiches without making eye contact and others struck up conversations with our group. There were many people who had an incredible amount of faith and joy. There was one woman in particular that was so excited to talk about Jesus and the work that the Holy Spirit was doing. It was an odd situation though because to most people she had "nothing". She was homeless and I am sure had all sorts of reasons to be bitter at life but instead she felt incredibly joyful and blessed. It really makes my worries and doubts seem so minuet.
In summary, it feels good to have a fresh perspective on life and faith by getting in touch with the people who Jesus had a big heart for. I am looking forward to the rest of our time on the trip.

-DJ (The Focuser)

Day 3

We spent most of yesterday in Disneyland! We had a great time bonding more as a team and enjoying the happiest place on earth, and also the place on earth with the most strollers per square foot...After Disneyland we finished our journey to Point Loma where we are sleeping for the rest of the week. We got in pretty late and we have our longest day of work today, but we are excited to start doing what we came here for!
A few prayer requests for the day today:

• Pray for the leaders, especially the drivers. It is a long trip down here and after sleeping on floors the first couple nights we are all pretty exhausted. Pray that we would have patience with the students and that we would joyfully accomplish all that God has for us on this trip.
• Pray for the students as they set foot into a completely new experience. Pray that they would learn to see God in a new way and be willing to be stretched a molded by their experiences. Pray that they would be Jesus to the people we serve.
• Pray for the people of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene as we seek to serve them and help them on their mission here in San Diego. Pray that they would be blessed and encouraged by our help and be able to further their ministries this week and in the future.
• Pray for the people we will feed and give clothes to today and over the next few days. Pray that they would see Jesus in all of us.

Thank you all again for your support in prayers and donations! I will work on finding some others to share about their experiences tonight when we have a bit more time.

-Brian

Day 2

Day two. Mission? Get to Santa Clara! Though our backs were a little creaky after
sleeping on the floor of a giant permanent tent, we were very thankful that Christ
Community Church opened up their “home” for us in Carmichael, California. To start
our day, we joined their congregation for an enthusiastic service, with a sermon
from David Timms, professor of biblical theology at William Jessup University.
After debriefing the sermon with students and leaders, we could all agree that his
sermon was thoughtful, engaging, deep, and left us contemplating our hearts’ intent
in our relationships with God as we stepped out the church doors. Focusing on
Mother Theresa’s personal relationship with God, Timms revealed her certainty of
two things: the certainty of her calling and the certainty of Jesus. Though she dealt
with doubt and lack of clarity amidst her life, she relied on God - not to provide her
with clarity, bur rather she trusted God with the certainty of her calling which He
provided. It’s too easy to just want answers, to want to know exactly what is ahead,
but if we were given that “gift” there would be no room for trust.
After an inspirational sermon, we hopped in our vans to hit the road. After gas,
and Starbucks (necessary!!), we began our six-hour jaunt down “THE” Five as Josh
clarified via walky-talky more than once J. During our trip, I have to say, the most
memorable moment – other than the USA almost beating Portugal (sigh) – was
hearing Trent confess after eating a burger for the second time in his life that it was
delicious!! We never thought this day would come. Tears came to my eyes while
others throughout the group did a happy dance, chest bumps, fist pounds, and the
like. That may be slightly exaggerated but for those of you that don’t know, Trent
has a somewhat limited list of preferred foods – which I’m sure you gathered after
reading that this was only the second burger he’s ever eaten. Apparently miracles do
happen.
We finally arrived at Josh’s old stomping grounds in Santa Clara, unloaded our vans
and immediately began throwing footballs, kicking soccer balls, finally moving
our limbs from the extensive car ride down. Soaking up the sun, hanging with our
friends and anticipating our opportunity to serve has gotten our trip off to a great
start and we are excitedly awaiting what’s ahead.

Blessings,
Jennica

Today we drove. I ate cheeseburger. We got in and out. We got to gym. We played soccer. Fun day.

-Trent Cowden

I slept in the car. Had a big American burger.

            Arseniy Kondratyuk

Good First Day!

We made it to Sacramento from LO! Smooth day of travel and were actually early! Thank you all for you prayers! We are staying at Christ Community Church in the Sacramento area and then will continue on our way after attending church tomorrow morning. Our mission is to reach Newhall Nazarene tomorrow after the required stop at In-N-Out! We will continue to update and are excited to continue working our way to San Diego! Here is a picture of our initial group:

Josh Bell's Pun-of-the-Day "This will be an in(tents)." (we are staying in a tent tonight)

Welcome!

This will be your place to get updates on the progress and happenings of MPC Youth's DIEGO 2014 missions trip! We will work to get you daily updates from leaders and students as we make our way south and serve the people of Mid-City Church of the Nazerene in San Diego. Please pray for us as we travel and also as we seek to bless the people we serve. Thank you for your support!