In the beginning... there was one man. And nine women!
Our crew left River Falls, WI, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 6:00 AM this morning. We were all incredibly excited to get started on our journey to Kansas City, MO! The majority of the trip was spent napping in our cozy vans, belting out High School Musical tunes, and discussing deep topics (such as sweaty feet). The Destination Kansas City group arrived safe and sound at True Light Church of the Nazarene around 3:00 PM.
We were welcomed by the Pastor and given a helpful tour of the areas we will be staying in throughout the week. Then our group split in half and some of us went shopping for food for our meals this week. This was really our first time experiencing the poverty in the area. Shopping was eye opening. Though the store was small and didn’t have as many options as those we are used too, they were relatively well priced. The security there was also quite tight and we were surprised to have to deposit a quarter to use a shopping cart that was chained to the rack. Though we recognized that this was something meant to save customers money, it was still something that struck us as being out of our norm.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, those who stayed behind played a rousing card game of Egyptian War, slapping more of each other’s hands than the table or cards. The resulting giggle-fest led to a lot of bonding already starting within the group.
Once all back at the church, our Sunday night dinner group set to work, prepping a delicious feast for our exhausted group. After clean-up, we circled round for our first group reflection. We reflected about what surprised us about our new surroundings. Most group members said they were shocked at the differences in the neighborhood from house to house or building to building. In Kansas City, you can see one house boarded up and not kept up well and then a beautiful nice apartment building -- right next to each other. The ranges of the area are something most of us are not accustomed to. We also talked about how more comfortable most of us feel here then we thought we would originally. Thanks to the such helpful people, nice place to stay and yummy food, our first day was very good. :)
Sounds like you are taking a lot in at your site. Cultural differences such as the shopping cart, the differences in the neighborhood buildings, etc. all seem to be making an impact on your experience. I am sure that you have a lot of questions/thoughts/emotions that are surfacing. I hope that you are learning a lot from the people you meet at Inner City Youth. Happy serving and learning! Thanks for the blog post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting about your progress! I am excited to read more about your experiences throughout the week!
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