Day 2 of Service

Note: This is a legacy blog post; photos are not available

Today the team woke up to another amazing breakfast that was set out by Becky. The teams split up and went to their respective places to work for the day after breakfast and devotion together. The accounts of today's work is documented below. Team A's experience was written by Sarah Stef and Em Frank wrote about Team 1's work today. After work today we came back and Matt challenged us by giving each of us a dollar and told us to try and get dinner on the street. We broke into three groups and we were out for about two hours getting dinner. The experience was very eye opening as we struggled to find enough food of substance for the night. After we got back, we got to play basketball with some of the neighborhood kids and then we discussed the meal challenge and what we learned about life on the street. God has blessed us very richly and we are thankful for all that we have including the prayers. Please pray tonight/tomorrow for Matt and his family as they fly to New Orleans tomorrow. Enjoy the photos and stories below!!Team A: Today we went to a place called My Friend's Place, which fills needs and provides services for homeless kids anywhere between 12 and 25. My Friend's Place serves over a hundred kids every day, feeding them, letting them shower, giving them clothes, and even giving classes in resume writing. It was also exciting to learn that My Friend's Place works with Cirque De Sole in teaching the kids tightrope walking and other acrobatics. Our team was assigned to sort a very large donation of clothing that had recently come in from a large clothing store. We went through a lot of hangers and had a hard time finding room for everything, but the people who worked there were very pleased with the amount of work that we accomplished in just a couple of hours. After cleaning up, the team walked down Hollywood Blvd., where we split into pairs and searched for homeless people with whom we could share our lunch (each of us had packed an extra). After a lot of walking, we were able to overcome our intimidation of those on the side of the street and most of us gave our extra lunches away to various homeless people. I think the most important thing we learned was how ordinary and non-threatening most homeless people really are.Team 1: Today our team was blessed with the opportunity to work with the L.A. Foodbank (www.lafoodbank.org). In 2009, the foodbank provided food to over one million people!! What an awesome ministry! We began our service by helping with their backpack program that provides food to local school children. We filled 825 backpacks with common food staples such as apple juice, cereal, and peanut butter. After finishing this project, we assisted the food bank employees by sorting donated goods by their expiration date. It was a great opportunity to get to know fellow volunteers, employees, and even fellow Axiom members! This trip has consistently reminded us that there are multiple ways to serve God in urban missions. This can include relational ministry with individuals who are living in poverty or more direct labor, like sorting food or clothing for a shelter.