Shelter the Homeless

Thursday's CWOM was to Shelter the Homeless. We reflected on how this means not just physically providing a home for a person who does not have one, but also housing people in God's home by sharing his Agape love with them.

With this in mind, we started out the day by passing out flyers to local neighborhoods to warn them that the next group will be coming by to collect food next week for the food bank. Afterwards, we went out to the migrant camp for a barbecue and to play games with the families there. We were told we had to find one "little buddy" at the migrant camp and learn three things about them before we were allowed to eat. I was worried about finding a kid who was willing to talk to me long enough to give me three facts about themselves, but it turned out to be incredibly easy. Most of the kids are so open, energetic, and excited for new people to play with.
 At one point, Rachael and I went into one of the houses to drop off some leftover food for one of the families. The second we walked in the door, the grandmother was offering us food and treats to take. Even though we were there to serve them and they clearly have so little, they were willing to immediately give us what they could offer.  This was especially impactful since we had just done our shopping activity at the Grocery Outlet a couple days before and I felt the stress of having such a small amount of money to feed a family. They don't have an abundance of food or belongings, but they welcomed us into their home warmly.

Moving forward in the "real world" outside of Agape, I am trying to focus on continuing to shelter the homeless by seeing the face of Jesus in every person I encounter. As we discussed in morning reflection on Thursday, we would be treating each other ALOT differently if we could recognize Jesus in everybody and love each other as Jesus did.

As much as I hate to see this week end, I feel like I have grown and learned so much. All of my prejudices against the migrant workers were debunked, I was encouraged to come out of my comfort zone to invite other people to serve, and I got a little taste of what a day in the life of a migrant worker is like. I have a newfound respect for all migrant workers and the sacrifices they make in order to provide a better life for their family. I will continue to keep all the families in my thoughts and prayers as I go about life through this summer and continue to work on sheltering every person I meet with the love of God.

In the words of Blessed Mother Teresa, "A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love"!

-Sarah Anderson