Carrall Gospel Reflection

At church, in addition to my participation in the worship services, I volunteered at our church’s soup kitchen, medical camps and elementary school for underprivileged children. These experiences opened my eyes to the deprivation of love and care in the world and a dire need of God’s grace for people at large so they could receive forgiveness, healing and restoration in their lives.

Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.

From shoveling driveways or helping rake lawns for the senior citizens in my neighborhood I’m always there to lend a helping hand. However, some actions I take in my community are not done for other families but for my own. The responsibilities I have overtaken through the years in my household have definitely helped improve my maturity, and my character. I do these actions not to gain recognition, but instead to service my community and to aid those in need. Each day I aim to improve myself and to improve the community around me. Through doing that I exemplify these ideals, and will teach others of doing the same to keep our community

I don’t know if I would have ever decided to volunteer at a shelter in St Paul if it wasn’t for this assignment; I am very thankful for this

Throughout my high school years, I have been apart of the Interact Club run by Rotary International. Several volunteer opportunities transpired from this experience, but I discovered a newfound interest in one of the encounters. Volunteering at the local Richmond Bethel Church for the organization Food4life, I was ecstatic once I began serving food, not only were there many familiar faces that came weekly, but there were much more that were in need of these charitable acts than I had anticipated. Having lived in Richmond my whole life, I was truly oblivious to the reality of poverty within it. Joining Interact Club was truly both uplifting and humbling and was a stark reminder of how vulnerable we all are to circumstances that can affect our

During this semester's service learning project, I chose to serve at a community organization called Church On Wheels, Breaking Bread Soup Kitchen. Every night Monday through Friday Breaking Bread opens its doors to the community and provides a meal at no cost. Their mission statement is simple: To carry the gospel of the Lord through feeding the hungry and helping those in need. With this Christ-like love to His people, every night employees and volunteers come together to provide a meal that does not only feed them physically but nourishes the soul of everyone that enters the doors. Within the city of Midland, Texas you will find a diverse culture and community. Due to the recent oil boom, many families found themselves struggling to put a meal on the table. Breaking Bread saw the need in the community to open the doors every night to see that no one would go hungry in our town. With a commitment to see that the poor and needy are served with the love of Christ. On any given night you can expect to find

It was the summer of 2010 and I was attending an inner city missions trip in Peoria, IL. Each morning we served in an urban neighborhood volunteering at a local school or government housing. At the school, we found chipped and faded paint, walls yellowed from old age, water stains on the ceilings and walls, and lockers that were filled with graffiti. The government subsidized housing was in a horrid state of disrepair. Bullet holes riddled the doors and brick facade on the buildings. The windows and doors did not provide the safety the residents needed: ripped screens, broken glass panes and broken door locks prevailed throughout the units. The neighborhood community center had barred windows, broken concrete walks, and trash on the property. I was overwhelmed with the deterioration of the school and the neighborhood around me. I decided that summer, I would do what the neighborhood people could not do for themselves, be an active part of revitalizing broken communities through the

“Restoring At-Risk Communities,” written by John M. Perkins is a collaborative work of urban professionals in ministry, providing a blueprint for working in urban communities. It provides the personal expertise of so many to help fellow missionaries and those in ministry to develop a Christian community. In today’s culture, many of our cities are falling apart due to poverty, lack of education, lack of religion, and large amounts of people leaving for the suburbs. People who are being called to minister in the downtowns, or those who are already suffering in the trenches are struggling with how to reach the community for Christ. Perkins shares his personal experience of being on the frontlines of ministry, and the appropriate strategy to reaching those communities. He writes, “The desperate problems in America’s inner cities will not be resolved without strong commitment and risky action on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith” (Perkins, 1995).

When I first arrived to this homeless mission, there were probably around two-dozen homeless men, women, and children sitting down eating breakfast. I never imagined that young children and infants were a victim to this type of lifestyle. These children knew nothing other than what they had be brought up on. This was their lifestyle and it was heartbreaking to see so innocent children being put in this situation by no fault of their own. As I continued to help out, I talked

Every year at my church, a group of parish members prepare a night for the homeless to spend the night in the church. I believed this was a perfect way to get involved in my community; therefore, I decided to find a way I could help. I brought a meat and cheese tray and interacted with the children that night. One child in particular seemed to like me. The first thing I noticed about her was her innocent brown eyes and subtle smile. I sat with her all night and quietly listened to her while we colored. My new little friend, Jamila, had a story to share with me that I found to be breathtaking.

It gave me the chance to vanquish my fears while also realizing that it is God’s plan for me to help out my community. However, I am not surprised that there are still unanswered questions in my head such as: Why is there such a big hunger problem? Why is this problem not spoken about more often? Is there any other way I can help stop this problem? This service has made me more knowledgeable and aware of my community. In addition, this service project has made me take matters into my own hands. Currently, every time my family goes grocery shopping I make sure they get at least five canned goods for donating. As more of my friends volunteer and more donations come in I think we can end this fight for hunger in southern Louisiana. In addition, I believe that we should all take a step back and be thankful for all that we have because some people don’t have such luxuries. God is omnipresent, He would not want to see His children starving. Finally, I see it as a mission that we volunteers get more people involved to volunteer for the greater

The Anchor United Methodist Church has engaged the homeless and displaced in downtown Wilmington, much of this we are accomplishing this through the Hope Center. We offer lockers, Wi-Fi, couches, meals and coffee. In addition, the center offers healthcare access through regular visits from a doctor who can provide basic health screenings; transportation through access to Dusty Casteen, from Switching Gears, who’s ministry supplies individuals with bicycles. And more recently we have engaged a lady who volunteers to give haircuts at no cost. But most of all we offer a place to find community and feel loved. However; one of our roadblocks has come in the form of individuals not being able to obtain work. This past July, we met a gentlemen by

I was 10 years old when I began going to a homeless ministry named Solomon’s Porch and I hated it with every inch of my being. Every Saturday morning my father would wake me up at 7am to take me to downtown Dallas, and I would nag my heart out- begging him to let me stay home to watch Saturday morning cartoons. But he would not relent. Solomon’s porch would take place in the worst part of Dallas, a place where graffiti, trash, and homeless people were everywhere. But in the mist of all the rundown buildings there was a little church that let the ministry come and fed the homeless breakfast and lunch. After going for than a year my dad started forced me out of the church, where I would watch Disney movies to actually helping in the breakfast

To begin with, it is important to start with the fact that more than half a million people in the United States are homeless and forced to live on the streets and either sleep in an unsheltered location, or at a housing project (emergency shelters, short-term transitional housing, or safe havens). Moreover, according to a Social Solutions’ article (2016), 15% of the homeless population are individuals who have experienced homelessness for a period longer than a year (chronic homelessness). It is because of those facts about homelessness that I had decided to volunteer at a faith-based temporary overnight shelter and subsequently record my experiences and what I observed during my visit.

Upon arrival, our first activity was to work in the trailer park. While these people were not homeless, they were in quite severe poverty. However, they were nothing like one may expect. One was a very friendly older woman who had worked and gone to college in her younger days but she had been abducted and hurt severely in her twenties. Even though that happen, she was cheerful and had poetic talents. Another was a family whose screen door we replaced because they could not afford a new one. The father was hard working and was made sure all of his children had an education and a roof over their head while the mother cooked and cleaned. Each was doing their part to make the best of their lives. The last was a middle aged couple who needed their trailer badly cleaned. They not only were thankful but they prayed over our group before we left. We a blessing to each of their lives but, they were to ours as