It was an awesome experience! We had 15 youth come out, knowing they'd have to go 30 hours with only juice and water and that they'd be sleeping in cardboard boxes overnight. We started off serving dinner with a local ministry to the homeless called Loaves & Fishes.
We did activities that World Vision provides as a means of educating the youth about poverty worldwide and its effects. The youth also found time to entertain themselves like this:
And like this:We set up a cardboard box camp in the shape of a W, and they had a blast hanging out before they went to sleep. I had the 12-4 "responsible adult" shift, staying up to keep an eye on things. Around 2:30, I started to hit the wall. Hit's too soft a word. Body-slam the wall is more like it. My head was pounding, I felt like I was going to throw up, I was freezing cold, and I could hardly keep my eyes open. And, I have a confession to make, I snuck a snack. There, I said it. I think my morning run that day about did me in, and my body was like "This isn't working for me." So, I made it through til 4, when I woke the other leader with a "You're up," and made a beeline for my cardboard box.
At 7:35 a.m., the rain we'd be fearing came, but it served as a perfect alarm clock for everyone. We got packed up and headed to a church in Fontana, for a morning of...
Yard Work Cleaning
And we spent the afternoon holding a banner and posters beside the street asking for donations. It was really incredible to watch the youth step up, with very little complaints, and work so hard serving others. They also raised a lot of money for World Vision, which is even better. And it looks like I'll be dyeing my hair, so don't be alarmed if you run into me looking like this:
