Week 4: St. Gabriel, St. Anthony, St. Rose - Wednesday

Agape: Day 4

Today we started out the day with Adoration and Mass. We had the option to go to Confession, which was a way to get us prepared for the day by putting Christ in the forefront of our minds. During Mass, Fr. Francesco had a homily about how each of us had our own "burning bush" that was sent by God to call us here.
Afterward, we split up into groups to either load the truck with donations for the food bank, or to pick up more items for the food bank. We then made our way to the food bank site where we set up for the food bank. While there, we served 86 families. Throughout the day, we each had our encounters with Christ, both among the migrant families and among each other. As a result, we were able to bond more as a team and as friends.
We had delicious tacos for dinner, which were eaten in good company ending our day on an even higher note!

-Bianca S., Kaitlyn W., Jessa D. :)

Week 4: St. Gabriel, St. Anthony, St. Rose - Tuesday

      Today we were in solidarity with the migrant workers. They let us sleep in till 5:00 AM!!! We then proceeded to go work on the farms. We worked on farms and weeded, picked fruit, and assisted the farmers for about 3-4 hours. We left the farm and took a nice 10 minute shower. For our dinners we were separated into families and received money for our work in the fields, each person made a whole $1.25 to support dinner.  Afterwords we left to the migrant camps and spent time with the children. The end.

Week 4: St. Gabriel, St. Anthony, St. Rose - Monday

We started off the day, by playing a couple of name games, as well as some leadership activities. Then for lunch, we were divided into three different groups. Each group represented a different social class: migrant workers, middle class, and the upper class. Each group had a different meal, from beans and rice, to sandwiches, and lastly a three course meal! This activity was a representation of the two social justice teachings we focused on today, which were options for the poor and vulnerable, and solidarity with the poor. After lunch we went down to the Sunrise camp, and played with the migrant worker's kids. Then we went tabling at multiple stores to collect donations for the food bank we are going to be hosting on Wednesday. To end the day, we ate solidarity soup and had quiet reflection. :)

PS: Thank you for all those who donated at grocery stores today. Check back on Wednesday to see how many families we served at our food bank!  

Week 4: St. Gabriel, St. Anthony, St. Rose - Sunday

Today at Agape we got to know each other, discussed the meaning of love or "Agape", and had a powerful prayer experience. We reflected over my favorite bible passage in which Jesus calms the storm. -Josie (St. Mary's Church)
Agape is a place with NO PEER PRESSURE, so I chose to write on my own free will. For those who have been to Agape before, today was filled with laughs and excitement as people recalled jokes and experiences from the past. And for those who have not been to Agape, hopefully they feel the hype and excitement for the days to come during this next week. Okay, peace out. -Josh (St. Anthony)
I came here today and it was the perfect intro to a week of service. We met with friends and made jokes, but we also had conversations about the meaning talking about how we take every action with love in mind. Today was the "Play ball" to a great game. -Michael St. Gabriel.

Week 3:Sacred Heart Bellingham - Thursday

Adria: All though I could only attend three days of agape I enjoyed the experience very much. The children and teens at Sun Rise even though they had hardly any materialistic things to claim they were so welcoming to me today since it was my first day meeting them. It was sad having to say goodbye to the children after playing dodge ball with them and pushing them on the swings but the sadness started to fade away slowly as we had a giant ice cream/dance party.

Manny: I had a great time at camp today.I have learned to appreciate the migrant families and kid of our community a lot more an all the work they do in agriculture that provides fresh produce for our families.

Nathan: i had a great day  today and enjoyed all of it. i had an espescially great time playing with a boy i met and i was very sad because when i told him that i had to go he cried. i also learned how hard it is for migrants.

Makena:     Today was very impactful for me at the migrant camp. I will never forget the experience i had playing with the kids. The two little girls i played with were sisters and they showed me through their actions that you dont need anything to be happy. they had so little materialistically but they were happy no matter what. You dont need nice clothes or the latest game to be happy, its all about your attitude. I am so thankful for those girls.

Abby: today we went swimming and went to church


Marie: I will never forget the friends I made at the migrant camp.  It was fun to give them piggy back rides and most of all I'm glad they got to be kids again for that short amount of time.  It was an experience that I will always carry with me for the rest of my life.

Alec: Today we celebrated for the service we did and had a chance to connect with the migrant children. Agape was an amazing, insightful experience that I will always hold dear to my heart.

Emeleah: Today was the best we went to the pool and had a great splash and we went to sunrise camp which was the best part I made things for two kids and gave one of them piggy back rides and we ate food together and she made me things to. I believe this was my favorite thing in the whole week and I will remember this forever.

Week 3: Sacred Heart Bellingham - Wednesday

Today we woke  up at 7:15 to go and eat breakfast that the boys prepared. After breakfast we sat at the big group to plan our day and pray. At 8:30 a.m. we went to adoration for twenty minutes calming down and preparing for the day in the presence of the lord. We loaded the donations into the packing truck while another group got more food at Cash And Carry grocery store. We got into our separate car groups and then headed out. We arrived at the Third Christian Reform church and saw the vacant field behind the church we were going to host our food bank in. What was an empty field transformed into a very welcoming food bank with sorted food on tables, Agape servings, and even pieces of masking tape that told the Agape staff and children how to say each food and the correct portion in Spanish. Next, once every person finished adding their piece of the puzzle to make the food bank functioning we ate lunch and enjoyed it very much while we played a few games. At around 2:00 p.m. right when we finished lunch people started coming and we started helping them get the food their family needed. We continued on with that system with on and off trickles of people until 5:30. We cleaned up the field and said goodbye to the food bank for this week so we could go back to sacred heart to eat delicious tacos. After dinner we all did the usual chores that alternated from boys to girls doing each of the different chores. Finally we circled up into the big group to discuss the highlights of our productive day and learned what are questions were to respond to. We finished the responses and explained them to the group which lead to free time and blogging where this was written. We also served 85 families today! Overall everyone today had a phenomenal experience watching peoples faces light up when they saw the food they were receiving. Most important of all though Jesus showed through all of us today and we respected the rights of all the migrant workers. 

Week 3: Sacred Heart Bellingham - Tuesday

Today was an early morning.  We had to wake up at 5:15! We went down to Farmer Sam's garden and weeded and collected some verde largo for the migrant workers at the food bank. We got paid $1.25 for 4 hours of work. Then we went to the YMCA and got a nice shower. We went to BGO and bought our dinner in family  groups. Then we made dinner and ate it around 3:30. We went back to the migrant camp, handing out fliers for the food bank and playing with the kids.  Then we came back to Sacred Heart and had a discussion and made lunch for tomorrow.   

Week 3: Sacred Heart Bellingham - Monday

Monday, June 10

Today started out at the sacred heart parish hall playing various team building games. For lunch we did an activity called the hunger banquet where we were separated into three groups lower class middle class and upper class. Then we went to Sunrise migrant camp to play and interact with the children. After that we each were assigned groups to table grocery stores for a food bank we are putting on Wednesday for the migrant families. In one group a homeless man named Walter gave us his pocket full of change for the food bank, please keep him in your prayers. And Today we were keeping the Catholic Social Teachings, Option for the Poor and Vulnerable and Solidarity for the Poor in our minds as we accomplished our service activities.Today was very eye opening for us as we saw how much we take for granted that a lot of people don't have the privilege of having.