Philadelphia - Day 1

Well, we're here! It was a long trip (about 12.5 hours total) so many of us are glad to be out of the vehicles and into our new home. Most of our time here has been eating and learning a little about the community and what we will be doing over the next four days. But as always, I'll let the students tell you how their day has been. Thanks for your prayers and support!

The second song that we as a group today was, Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord. The premise of this song was all about God being able to basically become a part of you and help you to do his will here on Earth. This was particularly impactful to me because as this is my first mission trip, I hadn’t really “served” outside of my little Fishers bubble. Being able to hear a song on our first night here which all but summed up my goals and aspirations for me on this mission and it was really impactful being able to see Christ at Work in me and around me. –Zane

 

Today when we drove into Philadelphia the first thing I thought was, wow this city is really beautiful. And never would I have thought that over 400,000 people are food insecure. Out of those people the majority of them are children. When we got to the church that is housing us this week the first thing I did was try to make some friends from the other churches. For dinner I tried my hardest not to be with just Fishers kids. I tried to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people from the other churches. I was very successful. I have already made 3-4 new friends. They haven’t ever been on a mission trip so this week I want to help them throughout this amazing experience. –Braedy

 

Knowing that I had a twelve hour car ride ahead of me today, I found it extremely hard to remain positive by spending it a tightly packed van/bus.  Even worse, the bus had an AC that was providing little relief to the sun blazing all day long overhead.  But then I remembered that this trip wasn’t about being comfortable.  The trip is about growing closer to both Jesus, the community of Philadelphia, and Fishers UMC.  It’s hard to talk about how much Fishers UMC has impacted my life to this date in just one blog post, but I know for certain that it’s hard to stay sad and miserable with these amazing people surrounding me.  Between playing card games and singing every Taylor Swift song ever in the bus, I realized that Christ has put me in a home where I feel comfortable and safe with the other members on the Fire and Water student ministries.  With this in mind, I hope to remember Jesus’ goal to make everyone stay happy and safe, not only in Fishers UMC, but also in Philly this week. –Evan H.