Week 6: Holy Redeemer- Thursday

Today we woke up at 7;15. After that, we ate breakfast and all met up in morning circle. Then we prayed the divine mercy chaplet. This was followed by a short film which was about four different migrant workers growing up from middle school to highschool. Next we met up in small groups and discussed things we could change about the situation. We then went to mass at assumption church and ate lunch. Finally we went to the lake and went swimming. We also Showered!!! Yay! But then we got dirty again at the migrant camp having fun with the kids. Finally we came back for a ice cream partayyyy!

Thank you for a wonderful summer! This is our last Thursday blog post! Check back in 2019. We couldn't run this program without the prayers and support of our communities!

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Wednesday

Today was a busy, tiring but incredibly fulfilling day. We got to see all of the weeks' hard work pay off with our food bank. Everyone served with a smile and it was such a wonderful experience. Seeing the gratitude in the faces of the farm workers made all the hard work seem even more worth it. Getting to have this experience was incredibly eye-opening and life changing for sure. Sad to see it slowly reaching its end. - Jordan 

today we went to the Bellingham food bank and then we got more food. then we went to the field at some church and unloaded all the stuff and there were already people waiting for us and then we set up tables and then we scooped up rice and flour and maseca. then we ate our lunch and the bread was very very soggy because we needed lots and lots of mayonnaise to keep the flavor tasteful. then we took a nice restful break to re junvininate our brains while everybody else set up the food bank. the food bank was really cool and there was a lot of people but we took a lot of breaks because it was reaslly hot. then we ate snacks and it was good. after the food bank we came back to the church and had a yummy taco bar! 

sincerly, michael and justin

Today we served 126 families at our 7th and final food bank! Thank you for all your support and donations. It was an incredible summer filled with service, joy, and gratitude.

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Tuesday

Hi Friends!

Today at Agape it was migrant immersion day! We started the day off this morning at 5am and headed out to work at the farms at around 6:30am. We were picking weeds and working on the farms for about 3 hours. It was an eye opening experience, realizing how hard this migrant workers work in order to keep the crops growing. We only worked for 3 hours and we were all exhausted and tired by the end, crazy to think people are doing this everyday for hours and hours. After farm work we did a dinner activity where we were put into "families" and received wages that we would get if we were actually migrant workers and then had to go to the grocery store and buy food to feed our family for the rest of the day. The fact migrant workers have to live off these wages are unbelievable and it really made me realize how I take for granted the fact I have 3 meals everyday and a roof over my head. To end the day we went to Sunrise Camp and played with all the kids which was very enjoyable. We did water games today and all the kids had a lot of fun. Today was a very
busy and long day and I'm ready for some sleep and am super excited for the food bank tomorrow!

Goodnight Friends!
- Ella Levy



08/07/2018

Today was the first morning of my 2018 summer where I had to wake up before the sun had fully risen. This was absolutely well worth it, as we were up early to head to Growing Veterans, which is a local farm located right outside of Lynden, Washington. We arrived at 7am exactly, and even though we were all dragging just a little, I could tell everyone was excited for our work shift today. Majority of our morning was spent pulling weeds in the pumpkin patch and cleaning up around the greenhouse. I personally, continued to get to know my fellow missionaries while working, and I definitely got to learn more about those who are on the Agape Service trip with me.
After eating lunch, we headed straight to the YMCA for our first shower of the trip. Not being able to shower for a few days has really made me appreciate the shower that I have at home.  The first activity we had after showering, was shopping for tonight's dinner. The activity, in short, was that we were assigned a "family" and we were given money to go purchase food in Grocery Outlet. My group was given 5 dollars exactly, to buy enough food to last us for the rest of the day... it was noon.
We purchased white rice, a can of corn, pork beans, and a box of granola bars. This shopping experience was extremely eye opening and humbling, as this is what migrant workers may experience every single day. As I write this, it is 9pm and the last time I have had anything to eat was at 2pm. Today has really given me an opportunity to step into a migrant workers shoes, and experience some of the daily struggles that they go through. I have really realized the things I may take for granted, like 3 home cooked meals a day and the ability to shower every day. We ended the evening playing with the young kids at one of the local migrant farms. Tomorrow we are putting on our food bank and I am beyond excited to see all the families we can greatly impact with the donations.


Thanks for listening,
Caden Wengler

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Monday

Happy Monday!

Today was our first full day and it was an exciting and busy day! After breakfast and a group activity, we went to Mass at Sacred Heart Parish. We then returned to the parish center for a team building activity and an eye-opening puzzle game that demonstrated social injustices within our world and community. Next, we ate lunch, then headed out to Service at Sunrise to play with the kids and experience their lifestyles. We ended the day tabling and received generous donations for our food drive we will be putting on Wednesday. Finally, we returned to the parish center for a solidarity soup dinner and evening reflection. We're heading off now to pack our shower bags for our service immersion day tomorrow.

- Matteo & Sara

Thank you for your donations today! Check back here to see how many families we were able to serve with your help!

Week 6: Holy Redeemer - Sunday

August 5, 2018

Hello, today was our first day at Agape! mission. We started the day by all of us meeting together at mass this morning at our home parish, Holy Redeemer. We then hopped in the cars and got on the road. After stopping along the way for lunch, dinner, and bathroom stops, we arrived at Sacred Heart parish in Bellingham. We unloaded the donations we received from our families in our parish, and then took the rest of our gear to the sleeping quarters. We then got together to get to know each other and spent some time in prayer. One of our prayer experience was an Ignation prayer/meditation that was very powerful. We are looking forward to growing together as a community and working with children. Thank you for reading our blog, and we encourage you to check in every day for more updates on our mission! Remember to live Agape!

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Thursday

Today was an amazing day. We really just celebrated all the accomplishments we have all done this week for all the migrant families. We went to mass in the morning to start off our day so God and Jesus could give us all the strength we needed that day. We then went to the pool to just have fun and spend quality time with each other. After that we went to the migrant camps to go play with all the children's and have a really nice barbecue. Seeing all the smiling faces of the kids is an image i will never forget because even though they don't have the best life they still try to be happy. Overall today was a good day and we learned a lot this week that we will never forget.
Hi my name is Maili and today was a fun celebration day! When we first woke up, the parents/drivers and the Agape staff surprised us with a delicious breakfast. It was good. After that we went to mass at the other Catholic church in Bellingham. It kept us all awake because it was only 30 minutes!! Then we went to the community pool and swam for about 2 hours. We returned to the church and ate lunch then went to the sunrise and had a barbecue with our friends there. In the end, it was hard saying bye to our friends there because we've already spent so much time with them and grew a lot of amazing friendships. This week was something I would never forget because I met so many people and it was really fun bonding with them.

Week 5: St. Anthony's and St. Theresa's - Wednesday

today was a wonderful day lots of fun. waking up at 7:15 isn't so bad when working hard to make people happy is the reason. today we had our food drive and i was working on the toys and it broke my heart when i had to say no to the kids when they asked if they could have more then 1 toy but we wanted the kids to all get at least one so seeing there smiles and appreciating that they at least had one made me really happy to see there smiles. seeing the families smile to and seeing that they have a chance to feed there families made me really happy. seeing all those families  made me really happy. Am enjoying camp agape really much im learning and discovering new things and its amazing. una buen dia :) - sandy   

Today we worked at the Food Bank.  It was one of my favorite days!  I handed out lots of things and it made me so happy to see the joy on the peoples faces.  I felt so joyful because Foa (an adult leader from St. Teresa) kept me laughing the entire time.  It was one of the most memorable experiances I have had this year!  -Elaine 

Today we served 158 families, a record for the past few summers! Thank you all for your support and donations. We could not have done this without you! - Agape Staff