Philadelphia - Day 4

Our trip is half over! And to be honest, it shoes, we have done a lot of work, so much that many of us have been reassigned to new projects for today. Thank you again for all your prayers and support, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see all sorts of fun pictures and quick little stories throughout the day. But for now, here are three stories from our students serving here in Philly.

Hey. We made it to Philly. Yay. The first 2 days we worked in a garden. I didn’t pace myself well the first day so I felt like throwing up but hey, pain is gain. Today we worked with children. Our job was to tutor the children because they are way behind in school. Oh Boy I had to work with the kindergarteners. WE had to help them count and write letters. I thought it would be fairly easy. NO I was very wrong! One girl started to count 1..2..3..7..20..100. It was very frustrating. When I tried to help them they said they could do it all by themselves and then started to count wrong again. I had to crack the whip on some of the children a couple of times. We tutored them for 3 hours and then it was song and reading time. I passed out on the chair while Mattheus read a very boring book about gorillas. You should have seen me. I had my mouth wide open. Then it was play time. I tried to Double Dutch which didn’t turn out to be amazing. One little girl asked me if I was African which was a first.  When we were done working for the day we went to see the Liberty Bell and The Independent Hall.  I also got a Philly Cheesesteak. I ended up giving half of my Philly Cheesesteak to a Hobo because I knew I couldn’t eat it all.  In return he taught me how to correctly hitch-hike. 

We had a very interesting dinner. We had to sit in assigned seats. I ended up sitting with Lauren, Isaac, Evan, Brady, and Troy. I ended up asking lots of questions about God , Jesus and His angels which led around to the book series The Immortal Instruments which is all about Angels and their children. I’m sorry if anything is spelled wrong or the grammar is wrong. Its almost 11 at night and I’m really tired. –Emily

So far all I have really done is kill plants. Severe weeding day one and day two and on day three we cleaned out plants that were too far into season to be beneficial. I wish I could do a little more work in the actual community but honestly the gardening has been very relaxing, minus the heat. Tonight we went to probably the most amazing church service I’ve ever been to! The passion and the energy the people had was amazing to see. I don’t think I could ever forget that if I even tried. The feeling of God all around us was almost surreal. The pastor had such a good message! The time scramble is pretty tight and lights out is in exactly 5 mins. Philly is great city and I’ve had such a great time!

See y’all. –Adam

Today I handled 10,000 pounds of food! WOW! Divided it was about 7,100 pounds of donated foods, 1,600 pounds of moldy grapes, which we composted, and the rest was cabbage. When handling the various donated foods we were checking expiration dates, that was kind of hard being that they were so tiny. The grapes had to be dumped out of their packing and then dumped into the smelly compost pile, it was very ripe. I had to shovel one load into the compost pile, and it was very scary… Especially since I almost fell into the pile, one of my feet slipped and it was very scary… the cabbage had to be peeled in the forty degree freezer… I was thankful that I brought pants and a sweatshirt. One of the best parts of my day was showering, I kind of smelled like cabbage and moldy grapes. We ended the day with a church service at the nearby Baptist church. They did things very different than us there; they were very vocal throughout the service. It was nice to see a different type of service than our own. It is late, goodnight! See you all Saturday! -Rachel

Philadelphia - Day 3

It's hard to believe our time of serving in Philly is half done! Thank you all for your prayers and support, here are three more stories from some of our students today. And if you would like to see pictures or other little snippets follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I'm assuming that you all have seen the movie Rocky, I am also assuming you’re familiar with the famous steps. Well today we all got to go visit and run up those very same steps (and take some pretty awesome pictures with the Rocky statue). There were races and lots and lots of sweat as we conquered the steps and it was pretty exciting being able to experience the same ones. However, the steps weren’t the only thing I participated in today. On this very hot day in Philadelphia, I worked at Germantown Garden, a small garden run by a very kind woman named Amanda. She not only handed her fruits and vegetables out to neighbors, family friends, and local organizations, but she ran a small produce stand at least twice a week to make some extra money. Unfortunately, the loved garden and vegetable stand were not able to support Amanda as needed, so it was necessary that she get a full time job, resulting in a substantial amount of work NOT getting done in her prized garden. We were privileged to be able to help her with the immense task of tackling the jungle of weeds. It was truly amazing getting to see the fruit of our labor as the garden finally started to look like a clean, fruitful piece of land. Although the heat never stopped and the exhaustion set in, feeling God work through us on this day was truly an amazing feeling that I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to do. -Lauren

Today I worked at a garden called Blessed Roots where we spent the day pulling roots out of plant beds then planting some new plants. When we first got there we couldn’t see the plant beds at all and assumed that the plants were planted in the ground. By the end of the day every root was gone. The garden had been completely cleared and ready for new plants. It was amazing to see how much we could get accomplished in just a short amount of time. The best part was that we were still able to enjoy ourselves by doing things like singing and taking occasional breaks to play with the cute little snakes. Despite the fact that we were doing exhausting work in the sun everyone still had a positive attitude without complaining, making the day much more enjoyable and allowing us to get more done. -Katie

Over the past two days I have been able to learn so much about why agriculture is so important and beneficial to the people in Philadelphia. I have enjoyed getting to see the gardens and weeding them, knowing that my little action of pulling out a few weeds will have an impact on the community, and help the farmers and groups ahead of us to be ready to plant more. Today I worked at a garden, where my job was weeding small flower plants. At first I was very confused why they had flowers if they were planning on growing food, but then I learned all the flowers grown there were sent out to various farms around the city. The flowers were then used at the farms to attract certain insects that would get rid of the pests that would keep the food from growing. Getting to eat all locally grown or organic food has been a very different experience but I have enjoyed it a lot so far. Its been fun to try food that I would normally eat at home like pizza, sandwiches, and waffles, but it’s a whole new taste that I have found to be really good so far. The trip has only been two days but it’s been a lot of fun and a whole new experience that I’m extremely thankful I’ve gotten to be a part of. -Kaili

Philadelphia - Day 2

Today was our first real day of a mission trip. We worked hard, interacted with others, spent time with Jesus and finally got to take showers (yay). But as always, I will let the students tell the story. Again, thank you for your prayers and support, it's crazy to think that 1/4 of our time serving here is already done!

It’s sad for me to say that this is my last mission trip with the church as I am soon to go onto college, but I think that this bittersweet time will produce the best change for me and the others here with me. I can’t think of a place better than one of the most important cities in American history to have my final High School trip than Philadelphia. There are so many opportunities here to better myself and to try to leave an image of Christ to the people here that shows who He truly is.

The issue of how people keep themselves fed has been a theme throughout our short time here so far, and will be for the rest of the week. In a place with such a loss for hope there are people here in this community that truly want to help make this a better place and transcend their differences from their neighbors. Today, the entirety of the students on this trip from the several different churches worked to clear a community garden. While we were pulling weeds, a man on a motorcycle pulled up next to the fence and wanted to know what we were doing. After it was explained to him that we were working as volunteers, he said that he wanted to help to make his community better.

There is certainly an immense amount of work that must be done before this city with such an amazing past can become great again, but I know that if more people can get the attitude of charity like our biker friend, then this city of brotherly love can hope to live up to the promises of its name. -Mattheus

Hey!

I have to say that it has only been a little over 24 hours since we arrived, and I believe this is my favorite mission trip yet! It is a unique site, in that most of the food we eat is homegrown and what isn’t homegrown is organic. We also get to work at the sites that the food comes from! Seeing the people in charge of the sites having such immense passion for horticulture and the benefits it has on society is amazing to me. Today we got to go on a tour of something called a green roof! This was really cool. Green roofs are basically mats of plants on the roofs of buildings. This is said to prolong the life-span of the roof by 25 years! The roots from the plants take in 100,000 gallons of water when it storms which reduces flooding of the sewage systems. I love that something that seems so simple can solve so many problems! (thanks God)

One thing that has amazed me is how the 3 churches here have gelled and became friends so quickly. Even the Youthworks staff have interacted so much, and it feels like we have been together for an entire week already! I believe God had a plan when our plans to go to Atlanta fell through, and I’m so glad he had these wonderful people here waiting for us. I am so excited to see what else God has in store for me and the rest of the group! -Grace

So far this has been a very good mission trip I think. It was a long bus ride, but we made the best of it by distracting ourselves with card games. Today started out with a prayer walk along a river and a tour of PECO, the Pennsylvania Electric Company, that focused on its green roof. The roof helps reduce storm water damage and can reduce costs too. Then after lunch we went to an urban garden and pulled weeds. It was really hot and sunny outside and we were fighting with 4 foot tall weeds, but it was amazing what we accomplished because we all worked together. We got a lot more done since all of the crews were together today. We also got to meet and bond with a lot of people from the other churches, which helped make it a good day. My crew got to know kids from Maryland in the van today, and playing cards after we got back. I saw Jesus in how we all worked so willingly together today, and when a man drove up and asked how he could volunteer when he saw us working in the garden. We all got a lot of scrapes from the weeds, but it was a very good day and the work was very satisfying since we could really see all that we had done. -Megan

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.

Stop Focusing On Yourself

The best way to stop being self-centered... serve.

I know that sounds mean to say, but our culture has gradually shifted toward making people self-centered. It's a great marketing strategy that has been around for decades but the newer generations have been told it their whole lives. Apple knew what they were doing when they had all their products start with "i", ad companies focus so much on what "you deserve", customer service is all based on making you happy.

Eventually it takes a toll. If you are told to focus on yourself long enough, you do it. Do you think it's a coincidence that at the moment our country is in huge debates over what "my rights" and "my freedoms" are, not what's best for everyone or even listening to differing opinions? We are raising people to focus on themselves.

And this is why I love mission trips. For a week students have to focus on others, serve others, put others first and in turn put themselves and their wants and desires aside. And the revelations that come out of that are amazing.

Next week we will be serving in Philadelphia. Each night three students (and adults) will be sharing stories right here about what they experienced that day. Please come back and read them, you may be shocked with what they discover. You can also see pictures and quick updates on our Facebook and Twitter pages (just search Fire & Water Student Ministries).

Pray for us as we serve others and break down some walls focused on ourselves!

T

After Being Forced...

Last week the Richards family took a little vacation. It was nice to get away.

We went to Holiday World with a toddler. There is not a heck of a lot rides she can ride, and when you add in the night of no sleep we had a little one who was a little cranky. In the morning all she wanted to do was walk up and down an inclined wood ramp. Yay.

After her nap we decided to take her swimming. She had been to a small splash park in the morning and hated it. At the wave pool, she would barely enter and kept trying to "save us" (pulling us out by our finger). She never went above her knees. Then we took her to the smaller pool with the small water slides. And still nothing. Splash park a bust, pool a bust, nothing was working.

Until my wife told me to force her down a slide and take her with me.

It was a battle. There was kicking and screaming. She likes to plank and go limp. She cried at the top of the slide. I put her in my lap and down we went.

And everything changed.

For the next two and a half hours we went down the slides. She would pull me to them and ask to go. she screamed and giggled and clapped every time. She walked in the deep water to pull me faster to the slide. She went to the splash park. She played in the wave pool. She did everything she wouldn't do before.

All because she was forced.

How many times do you think God has something amazing for us but we won't do it, and we are pulled kicking and screaming and still we can't take the amazing thing He has for us because it's new or we're scared or it's not what we think we want. Maybe we should let Him do it. Maybe it will be the next best thing we've ever experienced and want more...

T

Appreciation Is Free... With A Cost

Yesterday was Father's Day. Not really my most favorite day of the year simply because I don't like all the attention. I'm a dad, I don't do it for accolades. But I realize the reason behind the day is to show appreciation to all those who are dads in the lives of others.

I see the importance because this week I was able to see the two sides of appreciation. I saw people serving Jesus and the only way they were paid was in compliments and thanks. It made a huge difference to them and fired them up to serve more. I also saw people get overlooked, they had worked hard and they didn't even get a thank-you. They were invisible to those they were serving.

The cost of appreciation doesn't come in giving it. It is a free gift to give. The cost comes when you don't give it. You will pay the price.

Make sure those who you appreciate know it. I think too often people don't understand how praise works. If you can't see it and know it's there, it isn't praise. Thinking good thoughts isn't praise anymore than thinking someone is great makes them feel appreciated. Go out of your way and make sure they know.

It'll cost you if they don't know it...

T

It Takes Time

Three years ago my wife got a peony plant. It's very nice, we transplanted it on the side of the house with a couple of hostas. Pretty.

But the peony had a small problem. It didn't look like it would survive. I tried everything, I gave it extra water, plant food, and yet no matter what we got a tiny little stick out of the ground.

Until this year.

A few weeks ago our peony was huge, and flowering. It was funny to see Lorie realize we had this plant for years and she never knew what color the flowers were. So for the first time we were able to clip the flowers and put them in our house.

So many times we said "it's dead" or "let's give it one more year". Sometimes the only thing necessary for growth is time. Faithful watering and care may not seem to be producing any fruit, but it's in there, and could pop out at any time.

Keep being faithful for Christ.

T

Remember The Obvious

The other day I was getting groceries with the students for our food pantry (we call it "Supermarket Sweeps", who remembers that one?) and we saw a plane fly by with a banner behind it. Of course, everyone wanted to know what the banner said, but it was flying toward us, you couldn't see the sides of the banner. As the plane flew over students were making sure those on the other side of the bus saw it. Eventually the plane turned  and they were excited to read an ad for McDonald's drinks, all sizes $1.

One of the students finally piped up, "but they're always a dollar." Yep. McDonald's understands something we seem to forget in faith sometimes, we need to be reminded of the obvious. We take it for granted, don't think about it, and forget it.

I did a search in my Bible, I found over 4000 verses that have the word "remember" in it. One is a favorite of a friend of mine, he constantly uses it to prove this point. It's II Timothy 2:8, "Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead." (NLT). Why would a pastor need to be told that? Isn't that so blatantly obvious he would know it already? You would hope so...

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the obvious to keep us on the right path. Even last night, discussing better ways to know the Word of God and a student said, "this one's kind of obvious, but go to a Bible Study." He's right, it seems obvious, but how many times do we overlook it?

Keep the obvious in front of you. Remember, Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead.

T

Seeing New Things

Having an 18 month old daughter, there are certain movies that she loves. Tangled, Frozen, and the two newer Muppet movies. We have seen each of these so many times (I'm sure it's in the hundreds). I have heard "Let It Go" way too many times...

But what amazes me is even after seeing these movies so many times I still see something new. Even the other day, we were watching "Muppets Most Wanted" and a little something in the background, nothing major at all, made me laugh because I had missed it the first 263 times.

It reminded me of a story I heard of a professor teaching his class how to examine aquatic life. He gave them each a fish and told them to write down everything they could about the fish. They made a list and gave it to the professor. He took the list, and asked them to do it again, finding something different. So they did, and they found something different. They handed in the list, and he made them do it again. You get the picture. Too often we think we have seen it all but in reality, we haven't. It can take many viewings and we keep seeing new things.

For our prayer night, whenever we have a Scripture to read, this is why we have students do this experiment seven times. They read it once, write what they learn, then do it again and again. And each time, they see something new.

I hope we have the same attitude with Scripture. We may have read this section or heard this story before, but is there something we missed? What if we read it again, and again?

T