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| P.C. Elaina Kimpel |
Elaina loved surveying even though it was cold on certain days in the city. She loved getting to hear everyone's thoughts about the questions we asked, and loved meeting new people and hearing their stories. One answer that she particularly loved was when people said they were thankful that they had woken up that morning. She really resonated with that because it's something she thinks about a lot - how God has chosen to give her another day to live and make people laugh. She really loved homeless ministry, but was disappointed that she wasn't able to go more into depth about Christ and the foundation of our faith. She loved the team dynamic and getting to know everyone on the team throughout the trip.
Kira also really loved surveying, especially with children. She loves hearing their impressions of life in that stage where they are not yet disillusioned with the world. She wishes that we could somehow hold onto that love of life and openness of thought as we get older, but it seems impossible, so she likes being reminded of it through interacting with kids during the survey. She loved the team dynamic this year and was really encouraged and impressed by everyone's maturity and enthusiasm for the trip. She was also very encouraged by Richelle's update from CYT that some of the businesses we reached out to have already followed up with donations, which was a huge answer to prayer to see our efforts pan out to make a real difference.
Arthur was really happy with the diversity of personalities on this year's team and observing the way that people's strengths and weaknesses worked with one another. He loved surveying and engaging strangers in the city. He was really happy with how smoothly everything went during the trip after all of the work that he, James, and Kira did during the semester. He's very thankful for the team generally and for the other two leaders and the work that we all did to make the trip the best it could be.
James' high was seeing God's grace play out throughout the trip. The terrorist threat on the city a few days before we left put us all on high alert, but the Lord watched over us and protected the city. Julie's injury to her foot was nothing too bad, and Rachael getting locked out of the subway happened at the best time it could have happened. He enjoyed meeting and interacting with Dave, the reporter that they encountered during homeless ministry.
Daniel really enjoyed the homeless ministry that we did, especially talking to Raphael and experiencing the joy of talking to him. He wishes that we would have had time to do more homeless ministry during the trip, because that was definitely a highlight for him.
Kaitlin had a hard time branching off of the survey questions, and wishes that she had been able to have deeper conversations with people without it feeling awkward and forced. She really enjoyed talking to Charlie at the Rescue Mission and hearing his testimony and the joy of Christ that he had. She enjoyed doing homeless ministry with Tim and Adrienne and watching Tim's ability to talk with Matthew and really break down the walls of people's shells to have real conversations with them. She really enjoyed working with Operation Christmas Child and seeing boxes pile up as we did the work.
Hunter's high was working at the Operation Christmas Child Drop Off center, because it was a good balance of being able to goof of and bond as a team but also do tangible work with the team. He was a little disappointed that we didn't have more days like Monday to be able to really do service all day. Everyone's highs from the trip have been things related to service, and he wishes that we had more time to do those sorts of things while we were in the city.
Jackson really enjoyed doing homeless ministry and interacting with homeless people in New York and realizing a level of despair that he hadn't seen before in people, but simultaneously a level of gratitude that we would take the time to sit and talk with them. He thought the experience of all of that was very impactful and felt that he learned a lot.
Julie really loved doing homeless ministry and observing how grateful the people that we interacted with were. Even though some people weren't interested in talking to us, the people that did want to engage were really thankful. Seeing the impact of something that we were doing right there in front of us was really cool. She loved Operation Christmas Child, and like Hunter was disappointed that the trip was so short - she felt like as soon as she got the hang of things we had to leave.
Rachael loved surveying, and felt very blessed that God alleviated the fear she was feeling about surveying in advance and feel really fulfilled through those efforts. She was really struck by doing missions in a city that is so close to home and is still a part of our American culture. It was a good reminder that we can do missions anywhere and everywhere, even in our hometowns and country. She was really encouraged by the eventual outcome of homeless ministry, despite a rocky start.
Katie's only low from the trip was that she saw so many great opportunities that she could be serving, but wished that there was more she could have done. She loved the service that we were able to do in the city, but wished at the end that she could stay and do more. She loved growing together as a team and being able to serve alongside of every other person on the team as we opened up and got to know each other better. She learned a lot from serving alongside of the team and from all of the conversations she had around the city. She especially loved seeing the gospel as a priority in everyone's lives and lifestyles through the trip.
