On Monday morning we split into two teams: the middle schoolers went to a cafe that serves free meals to the community and the high schoolers went to a crisis center.
At the cafe, the middle schoolers (and Olivia!) Served as the waitstaff, taking people’s orders and serving them. They were initially a little nervous, but they jumped in quickly, learning names, filling orders, and making sure each person got all that they needed. After serving, the staff encouraged us to join the tables and share a meal with the people they had served. The cafe generally serves 180-200 people, but we helped serve over 260 people.
The high schoolers went to a crisis center that has served the Asheville area at multiple locations for decades. providing clothing, food, and financial assistance. The team worked hard to sort through donations, and the staff said it caught them up on two weeks of work by their staff and volunteer team.
Today we went to a community center at a public housing complex. They have an incredible after-school math program for children who live in the community. The team cleaned, organized, bought supplies and made improvements to the space that the staff doesn’t have time to do on their own. It was humbling to be able to serve people who spend their lives serving their community. Hannah, our host and the leader of the math program, said the building looked the best it had in 10 years.
We asked a few students to share some highlights of their week below.
“Towards the end of our service project, some kids came to the community center. It was really awesome getting to see the joy and laughter they brought, and the kindness they showed to our mission group, even though we had never met before, and will probably never meet again.”
– Sam B
“Near the end of the service project a kid came over and was suspicious at first but then he started to warm up to us. He was wearing a large hoodie that I thought was supposed to be just a fashion thing. But then he took it off and when I realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt I realized that he probably could not afford a shirt that fit him. This really opened my eyes and changed my perspective.”
– Sam C
“Like some of the people who live in the area and it was really nice to see that God is having an impact on them and we were able to donate and give good stuff and help them out and just have a lot of fun. Miss you mom.”
– Ethan Harrison
“Our experience at the community center today was actually fantastic. We met a lot of new people. Hannah the leader at the math club was amazing and she deserves a medal for all she does. Magic erasers do so much more than I thought. I think so far the mission trip has been a total success and yeah, I love you guys my parents.”
Crosby B
“My experience at the community center was amazing. I got to help out clean up and have fellowship with my friends. Got to meet Hannah and her passion of helping kids with math inspired me in a way that haven’t been her passion is great and it affected all of us in the group.”
Ben B
“My experience at the community center was incredible. I got to meet Hannah, a woman who has a love for serving and math
Fellowship Student Missions 