Monday, July 17, 2017

Monday, July 17, 2017

DC Mission Trip Day 2     

William Galloway

Day 2 on Capitol Hill was a fantastic day and kept us fully occupied from start to finish. We had a couple early birds wake up and run around the city through the streets and down to National Mall. Everyone was awake by about 9:00 and had breakfast. Once all were ready, we left for the Pentagon Memorial around 10:30 and were out for the day until 6:00 pm.

     At the Pentagon Memorial, we all spent time in prayer for our nation. The Bible calls us to be the hands and feet of the Lord, so we spent time praying that He would use us to help further His kingdom. We want to reach not only the children at "Kids Konnection" but also be reflections of Christ in everything we do, from walking down the streets of D.C. to our interactions with one another. We also spent time praying for the victims of the September 11th attacks and their families. It was great to break off individually and spend time with the Lord in prayer. Personally, when I prayed for active military, I couldn't help but lift up my friends Duncan Morris, Stav Pappas and Ryan Kirk. As you may know, these three guys just graduated MBHS with me and are attending the  U.S. Naval Academy, West Point and Air Force, respectively. Their courage and bravery to train to serve our country made me very thankful and appreciative of our nation's military. Lastly, we all prayed and thanked God for our freedom. Not only our freedom as a country, but the freedom we have in Christ through what he did on the cross.

     We departed the memorial around noon and walked across a parking lot to a mall and spread out for lunch. We spent about 2.5 hours refueling and checking out different stores. Guys bought a variety of hats, including anything from a Chicago Bulls "6x World Champions" to a camo "bucket cap." After our lunch excursion, we headed towards Anacostia for our "Kids Konnection" orientation. We were instructed on the best ways to interact with the kids and who will be there. Over the years, lots of relationships have been formed with different children and it was great to see familiar faces.

     The "Kids Konnection" camp ran from 4:00 until 5:30. In an action packed 90 minutes, we sang, danced, played games, listened to God's word, did a craft and had a snack. Monday's theme was God and who he is. Bill brought the message to the kids and used the book of Genesis to explain that God created us. In addition to Genesis, Bill used Colossians 1:15 as our theme verse for the day: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Before each child received a snack at the end, he/she was required to recite the verse. It was great to see these kids get fired up yelling the verse, although they were probably more excited for the goldfish and capri-sun.

     We came home and got ready for dinner, which was at "Pi Pizzeria." At a nice long sit down dinner, we were able to relax and take in highlights from the day. After dinner, Director of Navigation, Harrison Clark led us on a walk to the National Mall where we walked outside the white house and prayed for our country again. We then walked to the Washington Monument and past the Capitol Building on our way back to the house. All in all we got a nice 3-4 mile walk in, much to Billy G's dismay.

We finished the night with an exceptional team time with Will Kimberlin sharing his testimony followed by an affirmation circle, where we went around and each guy affirmed another.

We are excited for Tuesday and what it will bring. Be on the lookout for our next blog post.
Blessings
-William Galloway