Thursday Night...

In no particular order, here are each of the Harvest team's biggest takeaway as reported in our last debriefing session of the trip.  Obviously, much more was said, but I am doing my best to summarize it succinctly here!

McKenna reflected on passing out meals to the homeless, and thought that it was a very doable kind of ministry that could be continued in college with other Christians on campus.

For Norman, the prayer walk impacted him the most.  He enjoyed praying for different things and people as he walked, and especially liked praying with people and listening to their stories.

Tim said that he learned a lot in our daily training sessions, and never considered how we need to know the culture of others in order to be most effective in our evangelizing.  He also was surprised at how people are willing to talk if we will listen.

Alec was impressed with how willing Hamtramck kids listen, open up, and share.

Abbey and Mollie were amazed to find out that Muslim women are not as shy and reserved as they seem at first.  They discovered that they can be loud, fun, willing to talk, and are a blast to spend time with.  Mollie mentioned that it was surprising to see them being energetic and competitive and acting like little kids again.  She said that it was easy to forget that we are all the same that way.

Matthew's eyes were opened to how the International Hope Center runs things, and the positive responses they get.  This makes him want to possibly do missions work in the summer someday.

As Katie watched our leader and her ministry in Hamtramck, she discovered just how great of a long-term impact one person can have on a city if they stick with it for the long haul.

Brett was encouraged to see so many young believers who are either interns or paid staff follow God's call into missions in a difficult mission field.  It once again showed just how powerful God is working in different places.

Carson enjoyed being exposed to different cultures for one of the first times on a mission trip.  He also was challenged to see people on the streets as people who have a story and who are very willing to tell their stories.  

Jean reflected on how we were forced to step out of our comfort zones, and be faced with many different experiences.  She added that we fear what we don’t know, and that going through such  experiences (such as prayer walks, teaching ESL, and having conversations with different people) helps to take away some of those fears.

Norm said that this trip got him over the typical Muslim stereotype.  He discovered that a small minority are radical extremists and his fear and suspicion of them was challenged.

Unfortunately, Charlotte had to leave early before sharing what God taught her with the rest of the group.

Even thought there are a thousand more stories and lessons learned, thank you for helping make these possible through your giving and your prayers!