There are many things that you can do over your spring break while in college.  Some of them involve serving yourself, some involve serving others.  As a part of Campus Crusade for Christ, I travelled down to Denver, Co, to do some time serving the poor and homeless populations.

There were a lot of activites to be done at Urban Immersion Denver '99.
From leading worship services at homeless shelters and youth homes to running a S.A.Y. Yes center.
We even had the opportunity to pair with another group and do outreaches at two high schools in Denver, East and Immanuel.

UNFORTUNATELY, I forgot my camera.  (BIG BUMMER!)  All of the pictures on this page were taken by my LOVELY roommate, Kirby.  Thanks to her for the pics.  Now lemme give you a snapshot of our short term trip to Denver.

The Team
There were two groups of people involved in Urban Immersion, centered out of two churches.  Our team consisted of students from University Nebraska-Kearney, University of New Mexico, and of course...UNC!  GO BEARS!

A few of us chillin' in the prayer room.  From L-R: Top:Aaron, Joe; Middle: Tina, Rebecca, Jodi, Kili, Kari, Kirby; Bottom: me, Buddhi, Kate

Welcome to Church in the City!

Located RIGHT downtown on Colfax and Josephine, Church in the City was our main base for our stay in Denver.  We stayed in Sunday School rooms upstairs, worshipped there on Sunday, and were involved in their S.A.Y. Yes center, and ran Jr High Youth Group and Wednesday Night Worship.

S.A.Y. YES!  On Monday we worked at the S.A.Y. Yes center located at Church in the City.  Standing for Save America's Youth, S.A.Y. Yes focuses not only on scholastic tutoring, but also features a short Bible time, and family time, which centers around talking to the kids and being their friends

This is Ed from Nebraska and Jodi from UNC.  We used puppets to teach during S.A.Y. Yes.
The kids really enjoyed them.

What Kids Are Going Through
In the cities, many kids have to deal with things that I have never had to go through in my life.  Many become surrogate moms to their brothers and sisters before the age of 10.  Daily they struggle with drugs, fights, knives, gangs, and other things that children should never have to go through.  While I was at S.A.Y. Yes, one such girl was brought in because her mother had just been sent to jail for the third time.  She hadn't had anything to eat, so we fed her, and I had the opportunity to hang out with her.  She was 11 years old, and read like a 5 year-old.  It is for children like her and others that S.A.Y. Yes exists...so that the children of America can remain children, if only for 8 hours a week.

Barry and I planning worship for Jr High Youth Group

Wednesday.  After getting up early for Bus Stop ministry on Tuesday, we SLEPT in Wednesday and began planning for the evening.  Our responsibilities were running the Wednesday Night Worship Service, and Jr High Youth Group.
Since I've had experience with, and LOVE Jr High Kids, I picked Jr High Group.
We planned for worship, a game, and a short lesson about the Good Samaritan.
The kids had never worshipped before, but LOVED it.
I was worried about Sunday School answers when we went through the lesson...oh boy did we NOT get them!
The kids are very honest.  Very brutally honest when it comes to answering questions about God.

Shannon and Kari serving lunch

Our last day was spent in outreach at two high schools in Denver: East and Immanuel.
A group from Iowa with Fellowship of Christian Atheletes served with us.

Impact----Working with Homeless Shelters
I had the opportunity to serve at two Denver Homeless Shelters.  Both of them served homeless men.  The first was Denver Rescue Mission, the second was Salvation Army Men's Shelter.
The Salvation Army Men's Shelter really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I take for granted.  The first room we walked into was the bedroom.  Basically it consisted of this room about the size of two basketball courts filled with crummy beds and lockers.  There was no privacy, the floors were cement, and this room's purpose was that of a bedroom.
Being homeless means giving up a lot of rights, including the right to privacy.  Men dressed, slept, and ate together there at the shelter.  One does not have a private phone line; in fact, the shelter doesn't allow personal phone calls.
This serves as a very sad trap for homeless people.  In order to get a job, even temp agencies require that you have a permanent address and phone number.  The Salvation Army's Shelter provides neither of these.
Homeless people end up trapped in a system where in order to get a job, they must have a permanent address,
in order to get a permanent address, they must have a job.
I take a lot of things for granted.  I COMPLAIN if my dishwasher doesn't work right.  These are all blessings that have been given to us by the One from whom every good and perfect gift comes from.
As you go through the rest of your day, my prayer is that you will recognize the blessings that you have:
You do not have to worry where your next meal comes from, one of your biggest inconveniences was maybe finding a computer to view this at.  You don't have to worry if the person sitting next to you in class is packing heat, nor do you have to worry when you fill out a job application whether or not you will be able to work there.
God has blessed us, and in turn, we must bless others.
Ask Him where you should serve.  Is it here in the US?  At school?  In the world?
We are all called to make disciples and to serve "the least of these."  Who are they?  Look around, you'll find them.