Today was the last day of serving in the community and going door to door. The girls woke up and walked out the door to see the guys in aprons and towels on their arm to welcome us to breakfast. They treated us like princesses and woke up extra early to make sure that none of the girls came down before it was ready. We were also serenaded with lovely guitar music from Ethan. To finish the projects one group went back to Ms. Linda’s house to apply another layer of paint to her front and back porch. Another group went back to the apartment complex to finish the last two apartments for inspection. Finally Abigail, Ayantu and Nhung went shopping for the block party and get extra food just in case. After we finished the projects we came back to the house to have lunch together before getting ready to pack everything for the block party. We headed to William’s park to start our door to door surveys that went very successfully. After door to doors we went back to the park to set up for the block party. There was volleyball, face painting, baseball, corn hole, chalk and lots of yummy food. The block party was very successful and lots of people came and got to meet Micah to talk about Unity church. At the very end we prayed for Unity church and said goodbye to all the friends we made. We came home and had family devos in where Eva talked about unity and how it is really important to have. Ethan, Simon and Tyler led us in a time of worship and then we cried together as we said goodbye to the seniors. We then surprised the boys with Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Mike and Ikes, cheeseballs and fruit snacks to say thank you for being such great guys. We played lots of games and are very slap happy right now but hopefully we will go to bed soon, maybe.
I am so honored to have been part of this group and to experience the community at Calvary church. I have loved watching some of these people for years and love to see the growth that they have had. Going to Detroit was a fantastic time and I really got to grow in humility, serving others, and in my faith. The group that I got to do this was very special since it is my last thing with HSM and I have grown a lot closer to the people and got to know them better. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me but I will miss all the friends that I have made on this trip and will remember the trip.
Abigail Samra signing out
What a week it has been. After coming home from SpringHill Camps in Indiana on Friday into a very quick turnaround on Saturday, I dove right into my first-ever missions trip just six days ago. Between long faith conversations during neighborhood surveys and capturing all the best service project moments in photograph, I know that I’m exactly where God has wanted me this past week. As we leave tomorrow and return to normal life, I will take with me lessons of humility and gratitude that the kind, caring people of Virginia Park have taught me. My encouragement to the Detroit team and their families is to desperately seek God’s presence and plans as we walk in our faith journey with Him.
In Christ,
Simon Zwart
