Wonder Voyage 2008 Summer Blog

What a movement of God! How rare and wonderful it is when God reaches down from Heaven above and touches you. The night we did the “pass the candle” ceremony God showed up and His presents saturated the room, creating an environment of safety and warmth where the hard shells of the Jr. and Sr. High hearts were melted away to reveal an openness and honesty comparable to nothing less than what can be considered to be the very institute of intimacy, family.  It was a night where the social status barriers, cultural barriers, age barriers, and maturity barriers all came down to expose what we had become, that being one group joined through long days of hard and hot service to the Lord, prayer, and the grace of God. Although there were two churches there we had become a family with a likeminded goal of loving and encouraging one another by stillness and storytelling. It was an epic night and one I will soon not forget.

James Dewitt is the youth minister of Church of the Apostles. The following entry was written after the members of our San Antonio team shared a meal with members of the homeless community in Milam Park.

It was incredible to see God move my students’ fears and reservations out of the way as they sat, shared a meal, and talked with individuals with whom they would never have had conversations with outside of this experience. Yesterday, some of us had attitudes that placed us above so many other people because of wealth, education, and social standing; but those attitudes got tossed out the window today as the students sat and listened to each captivating word of their new friends’ stories. Watching their postures, as they lowered themselves to sit on the ground, while their new friends sat on a bench, touched my heart, and also convicted me of indifference that I once held onto.

I was so thankful in our evening gathering as student after student shared their experiences and the lesson they learned. Yet, I was most thankful to see Kaitlyn who has been battling with the idea of what loving and praying for your enemy looks like. It was obvious that she got it as tears welled up in her eyes, and she boldly proclaimed, “After today, I know what I am going to do!”

Our San Antonio journey along the river continued on Monday with a journey to the south side of town and a play day at Mission Road Developmental Center.  This facility provides housing and services for children and adults with mental retardation.  Our team divided up into groups and each group participated in the activities of the summer recreation program.  Arts and crafts, swimming, Bible study, and life skills were just some of the things that the residents participate in each day.  Each student was able to bond with at least on child, and the smiles and laughter were overflowing. We marveled at how we were welcomed by the residents unconditionally, and we were challenged to live our own lives that way.
 
We stopped along the San Antonio River again to spend some time at the Espada Aqueduct.  The group was reminded that the river of life and love that God can fill us with still needs to be directed; just like the residents of the early missions used aqueducts to control the direction and flow of the river, God provides us with “human aqueducts” like mentors and pastors to help us flow in a life of faith.  Many of the students took the opportunity to speak about the ways in which they need guidance and wisdom as they move through this season in their lives. 
 
We are looking forward to the opportunities God will provide for us this week to not just take in living water, but also to overflow with it in ways that impact the lives of others.

Our team this week in San Antonio is from Church of the Apostles in Coppell, and St James Episcopal in Dallas.  We are focused on the water of life, and here in San Antonio our daily excursions always seem to include the San Antonio River…the very lifeblood of the city.
 
After we attended a Holy Eucharist service at St Luke’s Episcopal Church, we headed into the downtown area to serve the ministry of the St Vincent de Paul Society.  This organization serves the homeless, hungry and downtrodden at the SAMM emergency shelter.  Three times a day, 365 days a year, the Society serves nutritious meals to those who are less fortunate.  The students spent the entire afternoon preparing and serving meals as well as doing some pantry cleaning and reorganization.  Our entire goal today was to be a blessing, to “bring refreshment.”  The team was a blessing to the staff of St Vincent de Paul by taking care of some chores that had been on the back burner for a while. They brought refreshment to the clients of the shelter,  not just by bringing a hearty meal and a cold drink on a hot day, but they also blessed them just by listening and hearing their stories.
 
In the words of Alex, one of the students, “Personally, I liked it.  I talked to people, helped them with their trays, and helped clean.  It was really interesting hearing their stories.  They all have dignity, and they all shared how important it was to prevent addiction.”  It is our prayer that we will continue to bring refreshment wherever we go this week.

Saturday, our first day was very exciting.  At 6AM we met up with the other part of our team from St James in Dallas.  We drove toward San Antonio, and  eventually we met up with Molly & Ryan, our Wonder Voyage directors, at the Snake Farm. 

We went inside, and saw all of the snakes; I’m personally afraid of snakes, so when I got the opportunity to touch one, I was scared. 

After the Snake Farm, we drove the rest of the way into San Antonio, and settled in at the university where we are staying.  In the evening we went to the beginning point of the San Antonio River.  That was extremely cool.  I visualized back to the beginning of the city and just imagined a family that had just found the beginning of this river that would become the beginning of this city. 

I keep on using the word beginning because God created our world out of water.  God was hovering over the waters in the BEGINNING, and then He created our world.  So water is basically everything, and being at the beginnning of a city is an awesome feeling. 

Later on, having my feet washed, with this same water, by MY OWN youth pastor who I look to for anything…having him on his knees, washing my feet, was an amazing feeling.  Even better though…Saturday was just the beginning…