I just finished a week of having 13 Georgetown students living in my house, participating in a week of service, prayer, and Bible study in the inner city of Washington.
For a quick run-down of the week, after a day spent on a scavenger hunt to discover inequalities in the city, we spent last Sunday attending my gospel Catholic church (met some of my neighbors--awesome!). During the week we served breakfast to the homeless, tutored GED students, spent the night at a women's shelter, volunteered at an after school program, ate lunch with homeless, and spent a full-day in a DC Public school (the one I've been doing breakfast with).
In the evenings we had several interesting discussions and activities, including 6 Bible studies from Luke, a teacher discussion panel, a race discussion and even a party with people working in justice-related careers!
I was thrilled to spend the week essentially at home, relieved from the stress of commuting. It was exciting to invite students into my daily life, my relationships in the neighborhood, the joys and struggles of being there. I made some connections at work and the elementary school that otherwise would've taken months to figure out!
Students mostly, in the time talking about what we'd all taken away from the trip, talked about wanting to become less self-centered in their approach to life, watching how they spend their time and money, and seeing increasingly God's heart for the poor and oppressed! Seeing the faith and determination of people who'd given their lives to serve those of Southeast DC inspired and challenged students to consider their own futures and formerly-cynical outlooks on direct service's impacts on communities in need.
Pray this week will open some student's willingness to come visit my area of town more often!
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