The Baltimore 2010 Team made it back safely to Acworth last night and enjoyed a good night’s sleep in our own beds. It was strange to get up this morning and get in my car after so many days of riding city buses and walking to our different locations. I really have missed our team so far today! We had an incredible group of students and adults that worked together to reach Baltimore for Christ.
We had a great day yesterday on our last day in Baltimore. The Starbucks crew went for our morning walk to the mall at 7am and said goodbye to the Starbucks workers we enjoyed getting to know each morning this week. When we arrived back at the hotel the rest of the team was coming downstairs with their luggage to grab breakfast. We heard that the NYC team was at the Today Show yesterday morning, so we quickly tuned in. We saw Sarah and Amain on TV. It was cool to see how excited our team was to see their classmates!
We left the hotel with all of our luggage and headed for the Charm City Circulator to ride over to The Gallery Church office. I know we were quite the spectacle with all of our luggage and matching Gallery Church shirts. We were pleased to find that Evonne was our driver again. She was such a blessing this week and we really enjoyed getting to know her and getting to thank her for being so nice to her. We rode the bus a few stops and then hopped off for our short walk to The Gallery Church offices.
We all left our luggage and other gear at the office and began our mile walk to Patterson Park for our project of the day. Our goal was to pick up trash in the park and pass out information about The Gallery Church and their Easter services. We split up into our walking around groups (5 students and 1 adult) and got right to work. It was a beautiful day and there were tons of people out in the park.
All of the groups met up at our meeting place at 11am with stories of different conversations they had with people in the park. My group walked over to a convenience store and had a chance to talk to the ladies in there as well as a man putting some air in his bike tires. One of the other groups talked to a couple that were feeding ducks at the lake. We have learned a lot this week about starting conversations with people so that we have an opportunity to share Christ with them. You should be so proud of your kids for going outside their comfort zones!
After we left the park, we walked back to the office to eat lunch and have our final team devotion. Kelsey led the last devotion and did a great job challenging us to remember the things God did in our hearts over the course of the mission trip and take those things home and apply them to our individual situations. I really enjoyed all five devotions this week prepared by our students and leaders. Each one shared something that was right on with what God had in store for us that day.
We said goodbye to our friends from The Gallery Church and started the walk back down the street with our luggage. We broke into two groups and rode the Charm City Circulator over to the Light Rail and began the trip down to the airport. At the airport, check in was smooth and everyone grabbed a snack before we boarded a very full flight.
We enjoyed some more fellowship on the plane and then arrived in Atlanta about ten minutes early. It was so great to see many of our Baltimore 2010 team’s parents when we came up the escalators. Home sweet home!
Please continue to pray for the people of Baltimore and for The Gallery Church as they try to reach those people for the glory of God. Pray especially for The Gallery Church as they launch a second location on Easter Sunday as the Friendship Academy of Science and Technology. We had the privilege of doing several projects to help them prepare for this launch and we believe God is going to honor the preparations!
Thank you again for praying for us, encouraging us, and being such a great support team for us during the week. It is incredible to see what God can do when we work…TOGETHER…Cultivating Hearts. Challenging Minds. Impacting Culture.
Megan Strange