{"id":788,"date":"2014-01-20T18:13:58","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=788"},"modified":"2014-01-20T18:13:59","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T00:13:59","slug":"mission-day-6-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/20\/mission-day-6-houston\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission, Day 6 – Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is our last day of mission opportunities. \u00a0We again have breakfast and devotions before we leave. \u00a0Today we will be heading to the Beacon Day Center. \u00a0The center provides\u00a0hot meals, private showers and lavatory facilities, laundry services and case management to Houston\u2019s underserved and homeless population. Upon our arrival, Andy and I are assigned to Taurus, to work the front doors. Currently we are letting in those that have ticket numbers up to 50. \u00a0There are upwards over 300 that are waiting for entry to the building. \u00a0The trick is, we can allow some to enter for the bathroom, but we need to prevent them from standing in line to get checked in until their number is called. Most people are pretty cooperative about waiting their turn. \u00a0We keep having to stop those that went to the restroom from getting in the line. A few get a little upset when they believe that someone may have cut in line. \u00a0We are able to calm everyone down and move on to the next block of numbers and so on. \u00a0Taurus is off spreading the gospel to those that are in the building. While this is going on, we have some of our students doing the check in, via computers, others serving food and yet others doing laundry. \u00a0We all have our places to serve and time is flying by.<\/p>\n

I am told by one of the homeless persons trying to enter, to take care of this guy, as he points to someone, saying that he is new and scared. I speak to the young man. \u00a0He does in fact seem very frightened and a little confused. \u00a0This is his first time coming to the Beacon and does not know what to do. \u00a0I instruct him to have a seat and he would be called next to be registered. \u00a0I start a conversation with him and he says that he was released from prison on Monday with only the clothes on his back. \u00a0When he went back to Arkansas, which is where he is from, he is sent back to Texas because of his parole. \u00a0We continue the conversation until he is registered. \u00a0Although he is nervous, he is also very understanding of the process and thanks me for helping him.<\/p>\n

Time has really flown by and now it is 11:30 and time for us to head out for some lunch at Helen’s park, near \u00a0Sheltering Arms, which is our next stop. \u00a0The lunch stop is very nice, with some water flowing through the park, some nice grass to sit upon and a warm sun shining down upon us. \"2014-01-17<\/a><\/p>\n

We are told when we enter Sheltering Arms, that many of the adults that we will encounter, have a variety of cognitive issues. \u00a0The idea for us is to be with people, interact with them in conversation, games or whatever is needed. \u00a0As we enter the main room, we each spread out, looking for someone to sit by and converse with.<\/p>\n

I notice a group of men playing dominos, so I ask if I can sit down and watch. \u00a0As I watch, I have conversation with each and they teach me how to play. \u00a0This group of guys really are having fun poking and prodding at each other, while keeping track of the scores and what is going on around the room. \u00a0We all notice that the other students now are partaking in a fashion show. \u00a0The guys all say that all that activity is too much, and they prefer the conversation and quiet of dominos.<\/p>\n

One by one each of the players are picked up and the game has begun to break up. \u00a0Upon the last player leaving, I move on to speak with a woman who is partaking in Bingo. \u00a0She and I share conversation and laughs over a variety of subjects. \u00a0As our day comes to an end, we all say our goodbyes and head out for our final dinner at a good ole` BBQ, Texas style.<\/p>\n

Dinner, debrief and wrap-up, \u00a0finalizes our day, and our week of mission in Houston. \u00a0So many things to reflect upon and so much to process over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Please talk to each of us about our experiences and look for an announcement of when we will do a presentation of our time in Houston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is our last day of mission opportunities. \u00a0We again have breakfast and devotions before we leave. \u00a0Today we will be heading to the Beacon Day Center. \u00a0The center provides\u00a0hot meals, private showers and lavatory facilities, laundry services and case management to Houston\u2019s underserved and homeless population. Upon our arrival, Andy and I are assigned … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48,34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-788","6":"format-standard","7":"category-campus-ministry","8":"category-mission"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-cI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1954,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2017\/12\/07\/encountering-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":788,"position":0},"title":"Encountering Jesus","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"December 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday, November 12, 2017 | After Pentecost Proper 27 Year A Matthew 25:1-13 There is no video or audio for this sermon. \u00a0 The foolish were short sighted. 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