Let's Get to Work!

On Sunday night, I learned which students would be in my work crew for the week along and which work sites we would get to visit. 

My work crew was assigned to work the same two places every day.

(Each group was named after BBQ restaurants. We didn't go to Rosedale BBQ, but I bet it is yummy!)

Morning Worksite: The Upper Room

What Is It?: The Upper Room is an organization that provides out-of-school education programs to low income families in urban Kansas City. In the summer, reading programs are offered all over the city. Less than half of the students in Kansas City graduation from high school. This free program helps students catch up and become ready for their next year in school. Many of our work groups visited an Upper Room location this week. 
What Did You Do?: We assisted the teachers by listening to students read, helping them complete worksheets, and playing with them/talking to them during the break time. 
Reflection: Based on my experiences, this sort of volunteering always has a slow start. On the first day, my work group tried to figure out what there role was depending on the classroom they were in. We all had rough moments at the site in terms of feeling needed and understanding our role, but by the end the Upper Room kids loved our group and relationships were forming! Our group was exposed to life very different from our own. And they realized that they were making a difference in the lives of these young readers. Our students were excited to share when a reader they worked with did well on their comprehension tests. Seeing their pride warmed my heart. What great work these high schoolers achieved! 

I guess I've taking the ability to read and learning to read for granted my whole life. I always remember having books in my room and my parents reading to me before bed. (Thanks mom and dad!) I never struggled with it in school and my siblings are great readers too. I hope that our time at the Upper Room helped the youth start to gain confidence in reading. I hope they improve their reading ability this summer. I hope they go on to graduate high school and follow their dreams.

Afternoon Worksite: Della Lamb

What Is It?: Della Lamb is an organization and Charter School that provides services to the Kansas City immigrant population. (I can't even describe all they do here. Check out their website. Seriously.)
What Did You Do?: 
       Monday: Worked in the school building moving things - they are in the midst of a renovation 
       Tuesday and Wednesday: Worked with kids at the day care and prepped/painted three apartments for immigrant families moving in on Friday

Painting break!

       Thursday: Sorted donations and organized the donation room

Moving Boxes

Sorting!

My work crew! Yay Rosedale!

Finished product! (FYI There was no space to walk in before!)

Reflection: Most of the work we did at Della Lamb was behind the scenes, but we all learned so much about Della Lamb (named after the women that started it) and their services. I did not expect to serve the immigrant/refugee population of Kansas City mostly because I didn't know they had much of a immigrant/refugee population. 

Since I returned from the trip, I've been thinking what it would be like to be a refugee in the U.S. I wouldn't understand the language. Or know how to get a job or sign my child up for school or what foods were at the grocery store. I wouldn't have a social security number or know how to drive a car. 

Learning about this vulnerable population last week has sparked my interest about it in my community. Once I catch up on sleep, I plan on doing some serious research!


I want to hear from you! What sort of nonprofits have you served on mission trips? What has been your favorite? Has your service ever inspired you to serve at home? I seem to learn more about where I served a bit after the trip is over. Has the same happened to you? 

Fun in KCMO!

Our trip was not only work! Each evening, YouthWorks staff plan a fun activity. Here is what we enjoyed while in KC!

Monday: Trip to a Local Swimming Pool

Tuesday: Scandinavian Dancing
This was probably my favorite evening activity and the one that I felt the most skeptical about prior to. (I was not excited about convincing the students to try it.) The YouthWorks staff promised this would be a favorite for youth as well as adult leaders and they were right! The dancing lesson was led by a group of church members that uses church space to practice all year long. We learned all sorts of fun moves that we continued to preform the rest of the week!

Wednesday: Trip to the Plaza (and Youth Enterprise T-Shirt Fashion Show!) (and Thank You Circle)
YouthWorks staff prepared a scavenger hunt for our Families to try while at the Plaza. My group went a bit non-conventional and Andy made up random activities for the girls to try. I think we had the most fun, but we were obviously not really in it to win it. The girls threw down a beat with a street rapper, pretended to be store mannequins, and sang "When the Saints Go Marching In" with a trumpet player. It was fun night!

The fun didn't stop there though! Club began with an Adult Leader Fashion Show to show off the shirts made by Youth Enterprise that would be on sale the next day. (Last year, I worked in the YE warehouse one day and I wrote about that here.) Post-Club we had our traditional Thank You Circle. The Thank You Circle is a time for anyone to give a public Thank You shout-out to someone in the group. 

Thursday: Community Cook-Out (and Hug Circle and Foot Washing)
Thursday means Community Cook-Out for dinner at all YouthWorks sites. Participants are encouraged to invite people they've worked with during the week and church members are also invited. We had only a few community members at the cook-out, but it was a great meal!

After Club, we had foot washing and another tradition, the hug circle. During foot washing, each adult leader had their feet washed and were then prayed for by a YouthWorks staff member. They then wash the feet and pray for a group of youth from their church (in our case they were the kids in our family). Later we held our traditional Hug Circle. It is pretty self-explanatory, but you move in a circle and eventually hug everyone in the group. 

I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another's feet. I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.  - John 13:14-15

I want to hear from you! I mentioned a few of our Mission Trip traditions in this post (Thank You Circle, Foot Washing, and the Hug Circle). Are you a veteran Mission Tripper? Do you have some traditions for each Mission Trip you participate in?