Our first week in Seattle was an incredible mix of working behind the scenes and being up front and personal in ministry.  We had a fun, exciting group of 25 senior high students from both Idaho and Minnesota who helped us love on the community.

We began each day by  going to the Northwest Harvest Food Warehouse to help package chocolate for them for a few hours. This warehouse distributes food to over 300 different food programs across the entire state of Washington, with 50 percent of their food going to children and elderly. It was a great opportunity to understand how important it is to lend a hand at a local organization that is making a difference and relying immensely on volunteer help.

After the warehouse we split up between the men’s and women’s shelters run by Union Gospel Mission downtown Seattle. These faith-centered shelters provide food, housing, and recovery classes for homeless and/or people in need.  Many come from either physically or emotionally abusive backgrounds, jail, or the streets.  It was an eye-opening experience to know that these people are just like us but with different situations.  We were able to help with serving meals, doing housekeeping, and listening to the stories of those who lived there.

Finally, in the afternoons we hit the streets! This was an awesome experience to put ourselves in intentional situations to meet the physical, social, and (prayerfully) spiritual needs of those we saw living on the streets of downtown Seattle.  We packed lunches and handed them out to those we saw, striking up conversation and getting to know who these people are and where they have come from.  Many conversations included casual or deep discussions, laughs, prayer, and a realization of how badly we usually stereotype someone living on the streets. God provided many opportunities for us to see that we are no “better” than they are and for us to demonstrate Christ’s love through attention and food.