We’ve had two teams come and go, and saying good-bye has been difficult both times. Thinking about all of the different people we’ve met so far (not even half way through, mind you) astounds me. I think about “Mike the Pilot” from Texas, and his good-natured approach to life; I think about Cheryl from Nebraska, who is ever the optimist and a hard worker, who asked for nothing and gave everything she had. I think I’ve probably met some of the funniest people in the United States as they’ve come in through the Experience Mission trips. It makes me sad to think that I probably won’t see them again, but I’m joyful that they got to do so much for the Portland community while they were here.

This last week, the Nebraska/New Jersey group (lovingly dubbed ‘Nebrersey’) got to work with the Wayside Soup Kitchen, a brand new connection we made the week before. They learned the “ways of the warehouse” from Matt (a great guy who’s expecting a baby soon… baby names anyone?) and we helped grow food to be used in Wayside’s kitchen, a new venture being pioneered by Jake, a volunteer coordinator at the soup kitchen. Betty, the sweetest elderly lady you’ll ever meet, donated the garden where the food is being grown and she was extremely thankful for the teams to come in and give a boost to the project. She said “thank you” by giving us lemonade and muffins! We spent the morning on Monday building trellises and planting beans, hopefully growing a crop to feed lots of hungry patrons at the soup kitchen.

We continued our work with the Portland Housing Authority, trying to make the low-income housing a better place to live. We also returned to Preble Street’s food kitchen and made breakfast with Sean, who is working in the area as a Jesuit Volunteer. The kids missed the group from Texas a lot, especially Rondo, but they quickly grew to love the Nebrersey team. I don’t know if the teams can really realize it, but the relationships they’ve built with the kids here have really made a difference. Lives have been changed for the better, and they continue to be changed by lasting impressions made during the one-week tenures of the groups.

This week has been the EM Team’s week off! We needed it, and we’ve been utilizing it by seeing the sights, being lazy, and getting a -little- bit of work done on the side! We went to Portland Headlight, Peak’s Island, and a ton of other amazing places. We’re praying to be refreshed for the next four weeks of teams, and that we won’t become weary (of each other!) before our time is done here. Thank God for all the things he has done thus far, and thank God for all of the things he will do for Portland, Maine.

by: Chuck Zimmerman

July 2010

For more information about Experience Mission visit us on our website at www.ExperienceMission.org

You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LiveYourMission or become our fan on Facebook.

Kids paying attention

It’s crazy to think we’ve only been in Portland for eight days.  We spent the first week doing a crazy amount of preparation for our first team, who came from San Antonio, TX.  They’re a great group of people, eager to jump in and help as much as possible.  Mary, one of the team leaders, loves dancing and singing with the kids, teaching them new songs, and getting the ‘tough guys’ to join in as well.  Callen, one of the guys, comes up with hilarious songs each day to teach the kids Bible verses.  Everyone is offering a little piece of something bigger and greater than themselves, giving the kids here a memorable experience.  As summer staff, Christine, Michelle, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group, and I have no problem telling them that to their faces.  On Monday, we went to the homeless ministry on Preble Street and we volunteered our time to cook breakfast for hundreds of homeless patrons.  We made great friends, initiated relationships, and made a stinkin’ good breakfast, if I do say so myself.  The work projects we’ve started this week include:  General maintenance in the Root Cellar (the non-profit we are working with), working with the Portland Housing Authority (painting low-income housing for the poor as a beautification project), and eventually we’ll be working with the elderly, helping them around their homes when they can no longer help themselves.

The staff at the Root Cellar has been great; the amount of food they’ve been trying to force-feed us has left us feeling extremely blessed.  We were shown around the kitchen by Peggy, assisted in work project planning by Becky, and told the best ways to work with the kids by Clark.  Cori Lyons, a former EM Staff Member, came to help us prep last week, and her experience was invaluable.  Without all of these people around us, well… let’s just say we’re glad we’ve had them along for this crazy ride so far.

Looking forward the rest of the week and the crazy songs that Callen, Oscar, Jeff, and I can come up with, we pray that God lets us be as effective as we can be.

Team Portland

June 2010

For more information about Experience Mission visit us on our website at www.ExperienceMission.org

You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LiveYourMission or become our fan on Facebook.

Beautiful Sunset

We’re here in Portland, Maine for our second day of preparation… and we’re already beat.  We were given the grand tour of the Root Cellar, a great non-profit organization that emphasizes community development in a Christ-centered way.  We’ve also been ‘hoofing’ it around the streets of Portland, getting familiar with our missions field.  A couple of things we’ve learned:  Brick sidewalks are sweet, seafood gets steadily more awesome the closer you are to the ocean, it can actually hail in sixty five degree weather, and this community is a thriving and changing place.  We’re excited to be working with the different populations in the area, ranging from Iraqis to Sudanese to Rwandan immigrants, all of them very unique, bringing something versatile and endearing to the community.

The shops in the area reflect the true ‘melting pot’ culture, and walking the streets is always a joy.  We’re also working with a church in the area;  it’s smack dab in the middle of all the shops and busyness, and it’s a quaint nod to churches of Portland antiquity while still remaining purposeful and relevant to the surrounding area.  It’s been great listening to Stuart and Keith, the caretakers of the church, tell us about how people in the community have provided things for the church as they’ve needed them, and how appreciative and amazed they are at how God provides.  It’s always fantastic seeing real, genuine Christians striving to make a difference in their given communities, and it gives me hope that we can really mesh and involve ourselves deeply to perpetuate lasting change while we’re here.

My prayer for the teams this summer is that, while they are part of just a week long short-term missions trip, they could really show this community a little piece of the kingdom of heaven.  I pray that as individuals, we will do good deeds selflessly, pointing in the direction of Christ as our inspiration for our actions.  Every relationship we build, no matter how short-lived, will have a lasting change if we build them in the mindset of one who follows Christ.

Our team (Michelle, Christine, and I) is very excited to be the conduit for a glorious exchange of love and energy in this community, and we anxiously await the arrival of our first team.  All of this to say… Hello, Portland.  Get ready.

By Chuck

June 2010

Experience Mission is offering Summer 2011 mission trips to Portland and other locations in the U.S. and abroad. Visit www.experiencemission.org or call  360-732-0986  for more information.

Urban Mission Trip: This is week 3, but we do not have any mission trip teams this time around, so the three of us Experience Mission summer staffers have become relaxers/interns at the Root Cellar, probably more in that order than the other way around. One of the staff members of the Root Cellar has opened her house up to us and we have stayed with them this week. It has been very refreshing.

The weather is still very poor here. It is frustrating considering this is now July! God is good though, and I have faith that it will be great weather next week for the next team.

Some bad news, on Tuesday night Cori and Laurie went out on the town while Jeff selfishly watched a baseball game at the house. While they were out Cori’s purse/handbag was stolen from her hands. A guy just ran up and took it. The bag had Cori’s phones and the EM money we had for this week. It was very unfortunate. Multiple people reminded us that it was stuff and not people being hurt, so everything would be ok. We owe a lot to the great people God has put in our lives here in Portland.

Today, we received a phone call, and Cori’s personal phone was found at a restaurant. We went and got it. I don’t know if God has more stuff for us to find, but that was a good boost for the team.

Thank God for relaxing time, thank you everyone for your prayers and we hope we can count on them in the future.

For more information about Experience Mission visit us on our website at www.ExperienceMission.org 

You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LiveYourMission or become our fan on Facebook.

Short term Mission Trips:

Mid week fix for everyone.

The first mission trip team arrived Monday, we have done so many crazy and God-filled things it has been amazing. We have been helping out with kids at the Root Cellar, painting decks for the people that are living in public housing, and volunteering at Preble Street, where we have helped serve the homeless breakfast. 

The current youth mission trip team is made up of only 13 people, the Maker’s dozen, and we have stretched them really thin. We have had very little downtime for them to recover, so please pray for strength for them as well as Cori, Laurie, and I.

Laurie has been under the weather so we need her to get better soon.

Thank you for your prayers. Pray that we lean not on our own understanding, but on our Heavenly Father’s.

Portland team

PS. The reason this is so short is because my computer was locked in an office during the time I had planned to write this. Another great example of God forcing us to change plans for some other good!

Find an urban mission trip in Portland or another city in the US: www.ExperienceMission.org Summer 2010 trips posted soon!

By Mo Scarpelli

Marsa fell in love when she was fifteen years old.

“He had no goats,” she says. That means the man she loved couldn’t afford to offer her parents a dowry.

So Marsa’s family found her an older man from a different tribe in the Sudan, a man that didn’t speak her language or know her at all prior to their wedding.

“His brothers knew my language and translated,” she said.

Marsa, her new husband, and her brothers came to America in 2000. Pregnant, she soon found out she had syphallis and needed to take a series of shots so that her baby would live.
“If I had not had the shots,” she said, “then my baby would have died.”

But Leno, now 7 years old, survived, and Marsa is thankful for that.

“At first, I get here and I cried every day,” she said. “But I was happy after I had children.”

Marsa has four children, actually. The banging screen door is an indicator of their presence as Marsa explains her story with six-month-old Apik in her lap. Abuk, 5, helps herself to a hotdog for lunch and Nyakajn, 2, lingers around the couch area where her mother sits.

Marsa’s family is one of hundreds living in the Kennedy Park city housing in Portland, Maine. Most of those within blocks of her apartment are Sudanese and Somali refugees, brought into the United States through Catholic Charity sponsorship.

The city has the largest Sudanese immigrant population in the country. Even on rainy days, the neighborhood courses with some of the darkest-skinned people in America.

“But there are many others – over 42 nationalities are represented just in this community,” said Peggy Hinman, volunteer ministry coordinator of the Root Cellar, a community center that aids refugees and immigrants in their transition to American life.

In a brand new world, among new languages and social norms, many immigrants like Marsa crave stability and direction. The Root Cellar tries to provide that in the form of food and clothing donation, education, free dental and medical care and relational ministry.

“We have refugees come straight from the plane to the Root Cellar to get clothing,” said Hinman. “They know us so well. Many refugees went through hard times coming here and they just want to be in a community with peace.”

Experience Mission started working with the Root Cellar just this summer. Interns Noah Nells, Heidi Clum and Cori Lyons are the first to manage EM teams in Portland, where they see building relationships as the most important service for people adjusting to a new culture.

“These kids need people that are genuine to love them,” said 22-year-old volunteer Leah Sherck from Greenville Church of the Bretheren in Greenville, Ohio. “From talking with the kids, you see they’re so distrustful, they’re really looking for someone they can trust. I haven’t been here even a week and I already see a difference with some just from talking to them and remembering their names.”

Marsa’s children, along with more fifty more from the neighborhood, come to the Root Cellar every weekday for Kids Club with Experience Mission. The volunteers’ time with them for several hours a day in a safe place gives them stability, confidence and a chance to relate to others.

“It seems really odd because it’s Maine, it seems to be the middle of nowhere,” said Sherck. “When I think of serving refugees in America, I always think of L.A. or New York City, but there are so many immigrants here. It’s a very unique situation.”

Portland was named a refugee city in the country by Catholic Charities. Through the Charities alone, more than 5,000 people from more than two dozen countries arrive in the area as refugees from foreign countries.

Portland has the most Sudanese immigrant population in the United States.

Just by walking through the neighborhood, says Hinman, you feel like the United Nations is right in your backyard. The vast diversity, many languages and continuing cultures don’t hinder the Root Cellar and EM’s message of Christian faith through service, however.

“I say we believe in God,” Hinman said of the volunteers. “And I don’t apologize for that one bit. We can do all sorts of projects, but it’s really the faith that does it. God just does things – it’s so awesome, I can’t stand it.”

Experience Mission will serve the Portland, Maine area until July 18, and hopes to return to the area again every summer for years to come.

Experience Mission is offering Summer 2009 mission trips to Portland and other locations in the U.S. and abroad. Visit www.experiencemission.org or call  360-732-0986  to learn more.