Bethany

Day 2  – Chi Alpha Rescued Tour 2010

So today was the first day that we all went to our mission sites. I spent the morning working in the Loaves and Fishes thrift store, and I have to say, at first it didn’t seem like our little group was really needed. We were assigned some odd jobs that mostly involved organizing shelves and folding sheets! But soon I began to talk to a woman, Sheena, who just started working there today! It was interesting just to be able to talk and find out about her! I felt really awkward at first because I am not the best at striking up conversations with random people! Actually, she talked to me first! As we got to talking she mentioned a church she sometimes attends, but mostly she talked about her three children all under 6 years old, and she’s 22! I will be able to see her every day this week when I’m there, and I am praying that God will be working on her heart and my conversational skills! In the middle of the day we got an awesome lunch from the hotel! I’m just going to go ahead now and gush about the wonderful service we are receiving from our hosts! They have gone a hundred miles out of their way just to do nice things for us! Not only did they bring our dinner to us at our concert site tonight, when we returned to the hotel they had fresh baked cookies waiting for us!!! I feel so blessed to be here. I just hope that we all show respect and gratitude for all that they are doing. Anyway, I have to say my favorite part of today was the concert at the Salvation Army tonight. When we got there the room was small, we had to cut things from the program, and even only allow the first three rows to do choreography! But, Scott encouraged us to be flexible and keep in mind our purpose for being there. When we got into the chapel to start the program, the audience was barely there! But they proved to be an interactive and responsive group. It always encourages me to be able to see on other people’s faces that our message is making an impact, and I could barely hold it together tonight as I and everyone around me just worshipped! It was quite moving, and I even had the opportunity to speak with some ladies before we started about the area and things that have been going on around Pensacola. Afterwards, we all loaded the buses once again and headed to the beach! Tonight was the night of the Chi Alpha choir tradition. We gathered around and sang hymns, read scripture, and prayed together. It was beautiful! After all of the wonderful things that have happened today, I feel like I should at least mention the fact that we were just down the beach from the President Obama’s hotel! This of course pales in comparison with everything else, but it had to be recorded!

And now it is time for lights out…goodnight!

Bethany