Wonder Voyage 2010 Summer Blog

As West End Collegiate Church arrived in Memphis Wonder Voyage secured both our first church from Manhattan (this was only by a few hours as our second church from Manhattan arrived in NOLA that same day) and the oldest church we have ever hosted. West End Collegiate started in New Amsterdam (before it was called New York) in 1628! How do you host a church that is 382 years old? The same as any other church: present them with opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ, give them an insiders taste of the local culture and create encounters that allow God to transform hearts.

West End came full of zeal and passion. The last two summers they traveled to NOLA spending most of their time gutting homes for families allowing them to restart their lives post Katrina. As one of their leaders said, “We did one task for five days.” This year West End decided to turn their trips upside down.  It was time to do 5 things in 1 day.  I have to say, I did not know if they could pull it off. Boy was I wrong.

Day one:  (1) the team started early at St Mary’s Catholic Church where they learned the turmoil filled history of Memphis and the heroes that have appeared all through the history of this river town. They then served breakfast to the homeless.  (2) From there, the group went to two different housing projects to spend an hour in the heat passing out flyers announcing a clothes give-away later in the week.  (3) They then jetted over to Union Gospel Mission where they served a couple of hundred homeless with a delicious pizza lunch.  (4) After lunch they came to Martyr’s Park to hear the tale of the brave men and woman that lost their lives coming into Memphis when it was over taken with yellow Fever in 1879.  80% of the population had the disease. Mike, our voyage director, posed the question: why does God seem to lead his people into the plagues of society such as poverty, hunger, disease, etc… (5) the team ended the day hosting a fantastic dinner program for victims of the HIV virus called Food for Life. A Mexican feast was on the menu.

What  a day. 5 in 1 and they were still full of joy at bedtime. West Collegiate, I think this is going to be an incredible week for you.

I have a dream, send me. Our voyage with Epiphany Episcopal of Dallas began with a unique spin; instead of diving right into service the team elected to wade into a cultural context first. The National Civil Rights Museum is usualy reserved for a free time activity but this time we used is to speak of Memphis culture.  Our pilgrimage continued as we learned about, justice, mercy, slavery and freedom. Our travels lead us beyond the NCRM to many partners and projects including bibles for China, Shine in the Dark Foundation and a house that was a stop on the underground railroad.

MLK had a dream, many others that have followed too. Just like our theme this week we can say, “Here am I. Send me. “

The Lord sent Irving Bible on a mission. He sent us to be used as a light to show his love to our brothers and sisters in Memphis Tennessee. While watching and working with the fellow participants(who i now call my family)the Lord showed me many wonderful moments.  One of my dearest friends came to know Christ about a year ago on another mission trip to Memphis with Wonder Voyage; through our relationships with our Heavenly Father we have become incredibly close. I’ve loved being able to sit back and watch his faith and love grow so amazingly over the time he has been a Christ follower.

A few days ago we were at a thrift store volunteering to bag clothing for the needy. Watching him at the thrift store working made my heart sing to watch him fill to the brim with the Holy Spirit. He was completely determined on serving his brothers and sisters while at the same time, serving the Lord. He was radiating love. He was literally shining. Afterwards when we had finished with all the clothes my friend led our group in prayer. As I watched him pray I was overwhelmed with happiness and thanks to God  for how much my friend has grown in Christ. I felt so blessed to be able to watch him as he blossoms into the follower and into the man God has intended him to be. God is so present and alive in his life and that it overflows from him and shows in his eyes. Words can not even express how thankful I am for my friends strong faith.

There are so many other stories of what God did these past couple of days, but i thought I’d just mention one that hit close to home.  i’m looking for many more moments of wonder.

Often time groups go on pilgrimage and expect to do a tremendous amount of work. The youth on this trip felt just the same-they wanted to sweat, break down walls, and be worn out by the end of the day. We wanted to see the results of our work and I suppose thought that if we weren’t doing a lot of manual labor that we weren’t doing something good for the Lord. But oh how wrong we were.

God taught all of through the week that often times its just showing up that matters. Its the random acts of kindness that change hearts. The Lord taught us all that our job is to love Him and therefor love our neighbor…and sometimes that’s enough. It was acts of kindness of blowing bubbles, playing basketball, talking to the homeless, handing out devotions…little things that can change the world.

We began our day today on the riverside journalling and listening to Jay’s story. Jay has given his life to serve the downtrodden of Memphis. It was refreshing to sit and listen to the river and think about God’s will for us. After that we went to the Skinner Center and ate lunch with the kids there. Everyone was filled with so much joy! When that was over we went to “the projects” to prepare for a clothing giveaway we will be helping with tomorrow. Ending with serving a homeless  shelter a dinner of chicken and rice, we all shared our experiences from the day. All in all, today was a wonderful day full of growth and love and anticipation for tomorrow’s activities.