St John's Day 2

Well. Today was…Quite the interesting day. It was filled with some ups, and some downs. Overall though, people were changed for the better. One of the activities we had done, was the Agape staff gave certain people bracelets. We had no idea what this meant at the time. We had a nice variety of breakfast, with oatmeal, cereal, bagels, and that wonderful thing we call fruit. After that we were driven to separate neighborhoods and we walked around door-to-door, asking if there were any toys, non-perishable food items, or clothing. Once we were done with that, we went back to the church for a lunch of sandwiches. In the opinion of many of the Agape pupils, it was in fact the best sandwich they had ever had the pleasure to put upon their taste buds. Once we were finished with our magnificent lunch, we drove to different grocery stores, and collected certain items of food for a food drive.

This was quite the interesting experience. There were people who could not give a rat’s furry behind about giving food, and helping others. On the flipside, there were certain individuals who could not be more excited about going in the store, to get food for those in need. We had a case, where a lady came out of the store, saw what we were doing, and immediately went back inside to get items of food on the list. This is the compassion and love that we all wish could show in everybody, not just a selected group of people.

Once we had finished with collecting all the food and thanking the generous flock of people, we moseyed on back to the church, to unload and then begin dinner. We had finished unloading, and were expecting for our meals to be prepared for us as usual. However, when we got to the doors leading to the eating area, we were escorted to a nearby field, where we were divided into families. Certain families had three people, and others had around 5-6. There was a family of 3 and a family of 4 that were lead into the kitchen. The glows on their faces when the saw the spaghetti and salad fixings sitting on the counter, were indescribable. After small meals throughout the day, they were excited about being fed a large meal fit for kings. After working for nearly an hour, they had finally finished preparing the food for everyone. Once they had finished putting everything out onto the table, they were asked to gather into the kitchen for a quick prayer.

 After the prayer, they began to wonder back out to the dining hall to begin the feast! However, the Agape Leaders called them back in, and gave them the devastating news, that the group that had worked over the food would be given a meal of a tortilla, a scoop of black beans, and a scoop of rice with some salsa. Along with water. Once again, their faces were indescribable. But not in the same way as before. They had all finished eating their meager meal, when they thought that their workload was done for the day. But no. Once they tried to leave they were given dishes to wash. They were confused until they realized that the group that had not been with them in the kitchen had eaten the meal they had prepared! So they grudgingly began to clean the dishes of the lucky. It was especially hard when they saw all of the food that was still perfectly good to eat, being thrown away in front of their faces after having such a small portioned meal. After all of the chores were done, they trounced back out to the field. Much to their dismay, they discovered that the two larger family groups had not only eaten the food that the smaller groups had prepared; they had played games, and gotten to do activities instead of working. The two smaller groups were crushed after hearing this.

After that we went into the hall to reflect on the day, and there were many feelings felt at the same time. There were kids who were unaware that they were eating a meal prepared by the others, when they got so little. The entire small group didn’t know that the larger group would be slacking off and enjoying their hard work. In the end, this brought us to the knowledge that events like this happen on a regular and daily basis. It’s sad to think that there are migrant farm workers, who work in a field all day, with fresh produce, then walk into a grocery store and can only afford canned beans, or fruit.  Not the stuff that they pick every day, just for other people’s convenience. A word that can describe the feelings of the group as a whole that evening would be humble. It would be safe to say that everyone can appreciate the value of something as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So…Then we closed with prayer, and now we’re sleeping. So…Goodnight Internet! I’ll see you in the future!
Thanks for reading,
Sincerely,
R-L