Those who know me well know that I am not shy at all. But this day, I went in a little shell and didn't come back out for a while. I was so nervous and scared. I knew that we were leaving at like 4 in the morning and I was already tired, so I tried to go to bed pretty early, but of course that didn't really work. So I slept for a little while on the bus on the way there, but also tried to talk to some people and learn more about them so that the week would be great and people wouldn't think I was TOTALLY weird.
So we get down there and do our registration and get things ready and mark what thing we wanted to do. The options were social (nursing homes and things like that), drama or something like it, games and recreation, children's ministry, pcy (yard work, construction, and painting - I think). Naturally, I put games and rec as number one, children's as number 2 and I think social as number 3. I really wanted to be put in games and rec, but ended up being put into childrens.
At first I was super bummed, but when I got to meet our group leader and the other people in my group I was really excited. We were going to be working at this place called Light of the Village. I have worked with inner-city kids before, so you know that I was super pumped. We got there the first day and I automatically fell in love. The kids were super rough, but it was amazing to see that they actually came and were learning about Jesus, and how to stay off the streets. Another amazing thing was that 2 guys from an organization called Homeboy Industries were there. They would talk to the kids about what it was like to be in a gang and how Christ transformed their lives and they are now living for him and helping other people that are on the streets turn their life around. The kids really loved these guys because they could relate to them. I played a lot of basketball with the kids, and made crafts, and helped the super little kids with their Bible story of the day. I met some really awesome kids and I pray that they stay off the streets and really cling to the Word of God. I hope that I can go back there some day and minister to those kids some more.
My roommate was Greg's wife, Michelle. I had just met her the day before we left for the trip, and she was super sweet. I was excited about rooming with her, and it was definitely a blast. We totally got in trouble by some of the other church groups for being too loud. Oooopsieee! We also had a lot of great talks and she was really there for me when I was struggling. Sometimes it hard to be in a leadership position, and be expected to be perfect all the time. I have faults too, and she definitely helped me get over that and realize that I am just a girl and I will make mistakes, but its what I make of those mistakes that determines who I really am.
One really bad thing about M-Fuge was the food. It was absolutely disgusting. That may also be because I am one of the pickiest eaters in the whole world. We ordered pizza's a couple of nights because a lot of us girls were super hungry. I got some of the food down, but it was definitely a struggle. They had the best pie though! I survived on that!
The morning Bible studies that we had were pretty good. It was really really early, so it was hard to focus sometimes, but I liked that there were only about 15 of us and we were all in college. I like small groups a whole lot better than humongous groups. It wasn't the deepest Bible study I have ever been in, but it sufficed.
The morning show was ridiculous of course. I'm never a big fan of those, but this one was alright. I tried to get in to it as much as possible, and it was funny. I enjoyed the time in the morning to grow closer to my team and enjoyed seeing all the campers go wild.
The evening worship was up and down for me. I didn't really enjoy the band that much. Some of the songs were great, but they did a lot of songs that no one had ever heard of, and a lot of them I felt weren't completely Biblical, so it would make me a little agitated, but was overall pretty good. The speaker was pretty good. The only thing that I would get aggravated about with him was his time. You can only usually keep teenagers for about 15 minutes, and he would speak for about 45 to an hour. I could concentrate the whole time, but most of the teenagers would be nodding off or get ADD so it was hard to try to keep everyone focused.
The church group time was good. We usually just talked about what we had done that day and something awesome that God did, or showed us. I was mostly quiet because I wanted to give the kids the time to talk. One night, Greg asked me if I would take the girls by myself with no other adults and just have some time with them. It was my favorite night, of course, but I really got to see them open up and see their hearts. I think that was the night I gained the most trust from the ladies. It's hard to open up to a group when they don't know you, or you don't know them, but I was really glad that they did.
Overall, M-fuge was a lot of fun. I definitely made some awesome new friends, and lots of new experiences. I've definitely opened up a lot more than I normally have to people that I normally wouldn't. I'm so glad I got the privilege to go, and it has only led to me spending more time with those students, which I have absolutely loved. I hope that I can continue to minister to students in some of capacity for the rest of my life. My heart really does have a passion for youth, and this trip helped me realize that even further.
I'm not sure what my next blog will be about, but it will be soon! Promise!
>K
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