What I am doing...

I realized that most of my posts do not accurately describe what I do each day, so I will tell you!
Sunday and Monday- Off
Tuesday and Wednesday- Bible teaching time in the until lunch downtown. Hang out with street kids downtown until 5. Hanging out involves talking and providing anything that our friends need- basically being a good friend.
Thursday- Set up places for Elevations to kids to sleep (youth group kids who have been on the mountain). Serve lunch to the Elevations kids. Take Elevations kids on a turf tour (show them the street kids homes). Go bowling with the street kids. Serve dinner to the street kids.
Friday- Serve breakfast to Elevations kids. Take Elevations kids downtown for Urban Plunge (kind of like a small homeless simulation). Downtown outreach. Picnic in the park with street kids. Clean a lot of stuff.
Saturday- Serve breakfast to Elevations kids. OJ saves (give food to older homeless and have meaningful conversation). Picnic with street kids. Take street kids to a movie. Hang out with street kids. Have last big meal with Elevations kids at Denver Diner.

Recently the interns did Urban Plunge with one of our friends who we wil call Tammy, a street kid. We had to accomplish certain tasks with very limited resources. We had to check our email, very hard to do because you have to have an ID to get online at the library and we had none. If you want to get and ID, you have to have a birth certificate. If you want to get a birth certificate, you have to have ID. Getting ID is not easy. We had to find a place for all of us to stay, very hard because most places have age limits and are gender specific. It is also very hard to get into a shelter because so many people who want in. We had to find free food for each day of the week. We had to find day labor, very hard because the day labor place closed due to the economy. The simple stuff was very complicated and there was so much walking. Tammy was very patient with us and our sheltered suburban questions about homelessness. After a long day, we sat in a park and she let us ask her any question we wanted. She told us her story- very sad and powerful. She has gone through so much terrible terrible stuff; I would say she has been through hell on earth. After her story, I asked her what her biggest accomplishment was (because she has changed so much since the time of living on the streets). In my materialistic mind, I expected her to say that her biggest accomplishment was getting an apartment and getting off the streets or being clean. I was wrong. She looked at me and said, "Nothing. I have not accomplished anything. I have not done anything good, God has done everything good." She went on talking about how she is nothing without God. Her humility was beautiful. The way that Tammy depends on God is incredible. Her story is obvious proof that God is in control.