God Sightings: My Mission Trip to San Diego 2014
by: Hannah Ford
God sightings, they told us to find God sightings. I went to San Diego with our church and some kids from Hope Lutheran. The motto was to be “All in,” because we would get more out of it. Our Youth group was divided and put with people from different churches. My group was all girls, but each night we got together with our own church for nightly devotions. During the devotions we talked about our God sightings and what happened each day. The showers at the place were tents with hoses attached. Our sleeping quarters were the isles of a theater. One night we were in charge of making/serving dinner and cleaning the floors, showers and bathrooms. In our spare time at night a lot of people would play soccer, volleyball, or play cards/games. In the mornings and nights we sang songs and talked about what our lesson of the day was. Then we met with our crews.
For the first two days we helped out at a church kids camp. The camp was for low income families, and kids ages 5-11. There were also a couple kids speaking different languages. We got to play with the kids, we took them to the park, taught them games and played some of their games. Before eating lunch they went inside and sang a bunch of church songs. Each day there was a new lesson. The first day they passed a beach ball around and read what the first thing they saw was. The thing written on the ball said how much God loves you. The next day’s lesson was about sand. The lady in charge talked about how God loved you more than the amount of sand grains there were in the world.
The last two days we helped at a place called Birthline. It was a non-profit place for homeless pregnant women. At Birthline, these women received counseling, services, and supplies, like clothing, toys, car seats, and diapers. The place usually had about 20 people throughout the day. The first day we were there 25 people were waiting before the place opened. A couple of the people spoke Spanish only. The lady that translated was not there. Luckily, my mom knew Spanish and could translate. My friend, Rachel, and I were sorting clothes and making outfits. Birthline had clothes up to youth size ten. They didn't accept donations of clothes higher than size ten because there wasn't enough room. The room with the clothes to be sorted was piled high with donated clothing . A mother walked in with her daughter who was 12 years old. Her daughter only had the clothes on her back. We knew that there most likely wouldn't be any clothes for her, because she was a size 14. We looked through a lot of the bins, and found a couple of shirts and pants that were size 14. Our group felt God's love and help, because he definitely made an impact on our lives.
I had many God sightings during my mission trip to San Diego. My most memorable God sightings were at Birthline. Some might call it a coincidence that we came to help on the one day that the staff was overwhelmed by homeless women seeking help. I believe God intended for us to be there that day to lend a hand. Others might call it good luck that we found clothing to fit the 12 year old homeless girl. I believe that God helped us sort through the giant stack of clothes and find clothing in her size, that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Coincidence, good luck or a God sighting?