homeLESS

The last two days of Summer Project have been a bit challenging for the group. Since we are going to be ministering and helping the homeless and impoverished community, part of this Project is dedicated to showing us Crusaders what it feels like to be in their positions for a day and a half.

The lovely staff here surprised us one afternoon with very loud whistles and told us that we were being "evicted" from the dorm. We could only bring 3 personal items, such as a toothbrush or pillow, and the clothes we put on our bodies. We then slept in a parking garage and were "harassed" by the police- who were really some student staff who would play loud music in the night and take some people from our group away. A lot of the Crusaders here got only 3 hours of sleep.

The next morning we got breakfast in the dining commons (as usual) but we were given a series of tasks to complete in the afternoon. The staff drove us in the bus (we have two buses for transportation) to downtown Seattle and basically waved good-bye. One of the tasks we had to complete was to find a free meal, which would be our only lunch. It actually was EASY to do! Which is probably not actually realistic. We also had to try and collect 100 cans and find the value for all of them. Our group only collected 40 after searching for three hours, but we estimated that 100 cans would only give you $1.50 or so. That's a LOT of hours for just a little money.

Many other events like these occurred that really pushed us to our limits as we tried to sleep that night. Then, at the end, the staff reminded of this Bible verse:

"Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

And it just put it all in perspective again. We are here in Seattle because we want to love on the groups who are the most needy. And, to do that, we have to "wash their feet" and serve them -not by being high and mighty above them in any way. While the homeless experience wasn't exactly like a five star hotel experience, it was a five star maturing experience for me and a lot of the Crusaders. It really strengthened our faith and our bonds with one another. Pretty cool :)