A Story from a member of our team:
"On Monday we made our way to the Union Rescue Mission building for the first time. I have to admit I was a bit worried about what I would see. Our team separated into groups, and I went and talked with a woman. When we walked in to talk with them they were just starting their Church service. I got more out of that service I think than any other service. The Pastor put a whole new twist on the saying "walk by faith not by sight," with two stories: Job and the story of Peter walking on water. He taught me that God can take everything away and give it back, and that if you take your eyes off Him you will sink. Later on, me and another girl went and talked with a lady named Shannon. She goes to the URM for lunch but lives at a different shelter. When I inquired about how long she had lived there, she couldn't put a number of years on it. My heart went out to her when she practically relived her old life through words in front of me. She moved into what she thought was a good apartment. A short time after she moved in she noticed that kids were breaking in while she was teaching. they ruined her carpets, at least 20 different pairs of shoes, tore her clothes and stuck heroin needles in the floor so that she wouldn't see them but would step on them. The whole time she explained this she laughed. She was so passionate when she explained why. She said that these kids came from parents or broken homes who didn't care about them, didn't rein them in and let them do what they wanted. Further more she knew they were still children of God and she loved them. the one thing that she said that made me want to live my life differently was that the only way to conquer hate was with love. I was so amazed that through all the grief and pain these kids had caused her, causing her to move out of her home and to the streets, she still loved them! It made me stop and do a major look over of my life and I realized that I needed to make that my motto. I need to love the people I hate the most. To look beyond our differences and the pain they have caused me and love them because they are children of God no matter what. A verse came to mind after this, one about turning the other cheek and another about doing unto others as you would do unto me (God). This trip has changed my life. People say that a lot, but it's true. Many other experiences have happened that theres not room to talk about, but regardless of who it involved, pastors, the kids, even watching from a distance, they have all opened my heart and eyes and made me want to create a better life and to look and definitely think about things differently. From now on I'm going to try and remind myself that the only way to conquer hate is with love and walk by faith not by sight."
Megan Valstar
