Salem

Jessica
This week was different from any other week. I have met some incredible people who have basically nothing and still have amazing faith in God. I have realized that it is important to remember we are no better than people on the streets and we are expected to help those less fortunate. In just the two days we’ve been here I have been able to help people more than I have all summer. I think it’s really awesome how the 1304 community does this all the time; it’s so inspiring. There was one man on the bus that I didn’t get to meet, but I knew he was very drunk. It reminded me of someone I know who is close to me, and it made me realize that these homeless people had a different life before they got where they are now. They had loved ones and families, and then something just totally turned their lives around and they ended up on the streets and lost it all…

Brooke
I came on this trip thinking that it was going to be really hard and challenging to step out of my comfort zone and do things I was not use to doing. I can’t say that that didn’t happen, because I definitely felt a lot of that. But I asked God to help me with dealing with that and honestly he did. I went out yesterday to the off ramps and really enjoyed it without worrying at all. My group and I talked to 3 guys at the off ramps. They stood out the most to me because they were so thankful and open to talking to us.

I have realized that I really enjoyed working on fixing the Stone house and meeting the homeless at the off ramps. I think that the people we met were some of the most interesting people I have ever talked to. I really see myself continuing to work with people that are homeless even when we leave here. This has been an amazing two days and really changed the way I look at others and myself. I have realized that I really take advantage of what I have before I think about how little other people have.

I have felt like God really wants me to use what I have to help others. I don’t think that this trip was just a thing I was able to come on; I think that God wants this to be a wake up call for me to understand just how much I have and I need to learn to put others before myself. I struggle a lot with being selfish, and I honestly think that just meeting and seeing the people on the streets here will change that for me.

All of the people I have met were all so friendly and seem to be really excepting of all sorts of people. I would love to see something like the 1304 ministry happen in our church in Salem.