DC - Day Three

We are officially at hump day here in DC, and things are moving along well. I wouldn't say everything was perfect, but that hasn't really affected our group's motivation and willingness to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this city.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hanging out with Team Arlington, headed up by Barry, Kim and Lisa as SIMYs, and Team Captains Corey and Rachel. I got to their morning site pretty close to the time they were planning on wrapping up. They went to Community Christian Homes and were expecting to hang out with senior citizens. Instead, they did yardwork. This group provides home cleaning and yardwork for seniors who want to continue to live in their homes, so our crew got to go clean the yard of one such house. They did fantastic work! Let's just say Cody was a beast, breaking a set of limb cutters with his sheer strength, and no blade of grass was without fear with him around, including the ones on the hillside. And who knew that Riley had the guns she has, going after every possible limb that needed cutting. The group made the yard look great! And Kim used her meal money to buy flowers for the lady's planter in front. It is a privilege to hang out with such cool kids and adults!

In the afternoon, we went to ROJA. After a long drive and getting turned around several times, we finally arrived. We were split up into two groups as they had two locations. This organization provides after-school tutoring and homework help for the kids who live in their particular apartment complex. Our crew helped tutor the kids in spelling and math, among other things. Then, it was play time! We went outside and played dodgeball, kickball, freeze tag, frisbee, badminton, and anything else they wanted. Unfortunately, our youth really don't like to play that much (sarcasm alert!). We all had a blast! Before leaving, the director of the organization sat our youth down and asked them their input about getting kids to read. It was neat to be able to see someone value our kids opinion so much as to ask them for input. And they had good things to say.

After all that, we went to dinner at the Old City Cafe for falafel. We had our choice of chicken, beef, or plain filafel. The chicken was delicious! Then from there, it was on to the Basilica for our debriefing. CSM is doing a great job of allowing us to see the city without making it feel like we are here just to be tourists. The next two nights we are tentatively scheduled to debrief at the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, but some of the Team Captains want to debrief at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse, a ministry of the National Community Church which gives all of its proceeds to missions. You can read their story here. What once was a crack house that the church leaders prayed for years for is now being used for God's glory.

Team Watergate experienced some difficulties yesterday. They showed up at their afternoon site and were told that they were going to clean the houses of three senior citizens. They were excited and fired up to serve and split up into three teams. However, when two of the groups showed up at their location, the people weren't home. They were disappointed and came back to our housing site. Rather than doing nothing, they used their time to clean bathrooms and other areas of the church we are staying at. And Cory and Riley have cleaned the common area each of the last two nights before bed just because. Just before I went to bed last night, one of the CSM hosts approached me and asked, "Fitz, can we keep your kids here the entire summer? They are great! I don't want them to leave." That's the caliber of kids we have. They are a joy to work with!

Now I am off to work with Team Pentagon at A Wider Circle, a warehouse of some sort. More updates tomorrow...

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photo updates today. They wouldn't upload, for some reason. I will try and work it out tomorrow, but I may not be able to upload photos until we return. We'll see...

And now, for your listening enjoyment: