Denver Day 3

Hello all! Our team got up this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland with all the snow! But this did not deter us from serving again. We drove up towards Broomfield to another ministry called A Precious Child. This ministry takes donations and sorts through to create a shopping kind of experience for its customers. They retain the dignity of their customers by making it seem like any other clothing store, even though all items are free. Their mission is to see all children in Colorado adequately clothed and cared for. Everyone had a blast sorting through the clothes, finding their own favorite items (see photo!) and bonding some more as a team. Ian was proud that he gathered the heaviest bag weighing in at 51.5 pounds! The kids took what could have a mundane activity and made it fun for all as we hoped to benefit the ministry that is helping many families in Colorado.

 

We stopped for lunch and a devotional at Sloan’s lake and threw a few snowballs there too. After lunch we headed up to Five Points to learn more about the history of the neighborhood. Five Points has historically been home to many immigrants and African American people since there used to be strict laws about where they were able to rent or buy houses. Five Points was one of the few locations available to these people and eventually became a city within a city and a cultural hub for jazz. During our time there we learned how quickly the neighborhood is changing and about the significant increase in cost to live there. The group split in two and followed directions to see different historical landmarks in the neighborhood such as the fire department, library, the Agape Church, and the five point intersection for which the neighborhood is named. The teams’ eyes were opened to how different of a lifestyle people have there compared to where we are from.

 

After seeing Five Points we headed down to the Denver Rescue Mission to serve dinner there. We washed our hands, put on aprons, dressed our heads with hair nets and went to work. It was a very different experience to be the ones serving rather than being served, like at the soup kitchen at First Baptist Church. Many of the team members wished they could have had more time to get to know the people who came in for a meal. They were interested by how a physical boundary such as a counter, could create a divide between us and them. This time we were not questioned about why we were there, the roles were very distinct. But having been served the day before gave the team a different perspective on what it is like to be served.

 

After finishing up at DRM, we enjoyed delicious gyros (pronounced like “euro”) at Pete’s Greektown Cafe on Colfax. Matt and Ethan were going around trying to pronounce the word phonetically like gyro, which some of the students found amusing. We were pleasantly surprised when our waiter began to talk to us about his own faith journey and the importance of putting God first above all things. He was kind and friendly and the whole experience was delightful for us after a long day of serving.

 

We headed back to the church for debrief that night. After experiencing varied responses to our service that day, Jay spoke about different responses to grace. We can be grateful, not grateful, or entitled when someone extends grace to us and the two negative responses generally derive from a source of pride. The students talked about the different responses from the people we served, whether they were grateful, jaded, or indifferent and were challenged to recognize that even though we may be blessed with different opportunities than others, we truly are no different in the Lord’s eyes. Jesus has had compassion on all of us, we should be humbled by the gift of grace He extends to us each and every day. And rather than thinking we are different than these people we’ve met, we need to see them how God sees them and understand that we are not better than them. And sometimes in turn, even though we may be serving by giving of what we’ve been blessed with, we end up being blessed by them due to the relationships and interactions we’ve experienced together. All of us have stepped out of our comfort zones and places of indifference or pride to show the love of Christ with others this week. We are thankful for the opportunity to bless our own community and see lifestyles different from our own. Family and friends, please pray that we continue to see Christ in our interactions and that our hearts would be opened to what God has to show us tomorrow during our last full day in the city.