Newport Day 2

So today we got to actually start working at our different worksites. But I'm not going to tell the stories, here are a few from our students. Enjoy! (and my apologies, cell service and wifi are not our friends out here so I won't be putting pictures on the blog, feel free to browse a few at the Fire & Water Facebook page and Instagram account).

On the first day, I immediately noticed that many of these kids had come from rough families and, like many people, were “broken”.   However, the kids seemed to be very comfortable with the youth workers.  We all got to connect with them and allow them to have a good time at the kid’s club.  There were still some difficulties because it was tough; many of them were very shy and timid, but they eventually opened up towards a few and created friendships.  Tonight, we learned that all of us are “broken” from sin and have sometimes not done what God wants us to do.  I realized that we are not that different from these kids who come from a very different background.  We all have that trait that we were “broken” but still loved and desired by God who looks at the bigger picture.  Even though we may all be “broken” God still desires to have a relationship with us and have a connection with us because we are all his children. -Evan Hodes

I was also at the kid’s club the first day. There was about an 8 to 30 ratio of kids to youth workers. Although it was kind of a slow day for some of us, it was really nice to watch these kids open up to us in just 6 hours. Some just came right up and hugged us, and some required a couple of hours to engender affection. During the first day, through the kids, we were able to glimpse a bit about Newport. Our crew drivers went and picked up a few kids from their houses, which they sometimes would share with other families, and dropped them off at the end of the day. Although really nothing spectacular happened today, it was a really good learning day for the most of us. -Kate Wade

Hello errybody! Tis Alec here. I was working at a sort of thrift shop called God’s Storeroom today. And while there was a lot of work to be done here, the work itself seemed sort of… insignificant. We spent a while sorting through all sorts of things that needed to end up on shelves, however these shelves were already full. I felt that as we were adding to the shelves, we were only making them messier. However our church discussion afterwards helped me realize that I have to continue to look at the work that I’ve done and realize that I might not be able to see the impact I’m having, but it’s still there. I’m hoping that as this mission trip progresses, I can begin to look more beyond myself, and see how the impact that we are having is affecting the whole community. This trip isn’t for me, it’s for the community of Newport. -Alec Balasko