Summer, BayUP '09

BayUP '09

This summer, Erin and I led a team of 9 students on a five week mission project to Oakland. We served at Harbor House, which is a non-profit ministry in East Oakland. We lived in intentional community with each other trying to simulate what it would be like to live in poverty. This means that we lived with 12 people with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, each person got $15 a week for food, we shared everything, and lived simply (no computers, TV’s, cell phones, etc.)

This is what some of the students had to say....
Sarah - "Bayup was challenging and a place where my faith was able to deepen and grow. I was able to learn about living in community and living simply. I learned how God's justice is connected with living simply."

James - "Often we Christians think that justice is an added on bonus but I learned that justice is at the center of God's heart and is mandated for all Christians."


Some highlights from the trip....
- Eating oatmeal everyday for breakfast (Top Ramen on special days).
- Leading 100+ kids each day at Harbor House.
- I was able to do a training on the world's water crisis.
- We saved over $100 in extra food money and gave it away to help provide access to clean drinking water. (charitywater.org)

Story from the trip...
When I did this trip in 2005 I worked with a 5th grader named Jerome (pictured to the left). He was by far the worst behaved kid (I secretly referred to him as "my nemesis"). Needless to say, he was more than a handful. When I returned this summer, I came back to a 9th grade Jerome. I was blessed to see how much he had grown up. His behavior was much better, he is becoming a role model for the elementary kids, and he is planning on being a high school intern next summer.
Seeing Jerome, and others like him, grow up over the last four years gave me a lot of joy and it gave evidence to the fact that God is at work in these kids, in Harbor House, in Oakland and the world.