Philly through a trekker's eyes....Sarah

Thursday - Sarah's Story Today we dived into another day of service. However at our first mission site, we didn't have to be there til later so we got to spend the morning exploring Chinatown. The first site was St. John Hospice, which is actually a soup kitchen, not a Hospice; confusing I know. This was the first mission site we served at that was a Catholic program, so we got a little slice of home from it. We ate lunch with the men who volunteer and live there, and then we served roughly 300 men lunch who are homeless or just needing supplemental food in order to get by. After serving lunch, we took off for our last day at the daycare. We spent a few hours playing with the kids and said our goodbyes to our new friends. It was hard to leave the children who we had grown to love over the last few days, but we know that they are in good hands. I hope that we were able to touch their lives as much as they touched ours. One moment that especially touched me today was spending time with a little girl named Jordae. Over the course of the week we spent with them Jordae had had a lot of behavioral problems. She picked fights with the other kids over petty things, and often was reduced to tears multiple times a day out of anger and/or frustration. Today I was able to devote a substantial amount of time to her and giving her attention and i noticed a radical change in her behavior. She transformed from an aggressive bully to the kind, sweet little girl that she is. I realized that perhaps all of her outbursts had simply been a cry for a little attention and love, and when she was finally able to receive that, she flourished. Today, although we had to say goodbye, I was able to be proud of the fact that I had gotten to know a less aggressive side of this girl and really connect with many of the children. I will never forget these little blessings and I pray that they will grow up to be successful people who make a positive contribution to their community.