Day 2 – For and With

We brought our crew to Grace Lutheran Church this morning. It was not too far from the camp that serves as our home-base this week. And first of all, what amazing youth are on this trip. If you’re a parent reading the blog, smile. They were awesome. We had comments of amazement and nods of appreciation for these youth. They were kind and conscientious of the space and people. They mingled during fellowship time and spoke to strangers. They danced as the modern worship team played. It was apparently Caribbean-music Sunday. The worship team all had tropical/floral shirts on (Charles would have fit right in). The most catchy new tune was filled with bongos, maracas, and syncopation that had our kids jamming smiling and moving. The song was about shutting the door on the devil. While that sounds a bit dark, the music was fun and had us laughing and repeating the two lines we could remember.

The kids noted differences and similarities with these siblings in Christ on the other side of the nation. There was one difference that most impacted me. As a smaller congregation, communal prayers were given the space to be from the congregation. The first two petitions were offered by someone sitting from the pews. Later, when the liturgist began to list the names of individuals in need of healing, the congregation would repeat each name aloud. It took us a couple of repetitions to understand the pattern and tradition. But soon after the liturgist spoke the full name of someone, we joined the congregation by speaking aloud the names of strangers in need of healing.

In some ways, that embodies what we are doing over the coming days. We don’t know the full stories behind the names and people. We are learning stories and listening. And we are doing a small part to join the work, love, prayers and service already happening here.

That theme continued this afternoon as we did an “Amazing Race” / Scavenger Hunt to get to know the community we are serving. I think most profound for most was finding the high water line in Chimney Rock’s downtown area. The line was well over six feet high on the side of the road uphill from the river. The ice cream shop we got treats at was completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene, but has since been rebuilt.

Below you’ll see the crew as we listened, played, and began to immerse ourselves in the community here. We will barely get to know the stories and it may take us a bit to get in sync with the patterns already in place. But our voices and hands will join the community here as we work for and with the community in North Carolina.

-Pr. Taran

If you’d like to check out the Trip Journal that our Praying Pelican Mission Trip Leader is writing, here is the link to subscribe: https://www.ppm.org/mission-trip-journals/21037