San Diego Team - May 31-June 8, 2019
Our team will be partnering with New Vision Church in San Diego, as we serve through their Urban Missions program. We will spend our time serving alongside of New Vision as they engage with the high number of homeless men and women in the San Diego area. Our partnership will include serving meals and providing basic services to the homeless. We will also spend some time serving a charter school in the area that is underfunded, and in need of some TLC. Our project with this school will include some basic beautification of their campus. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we serve in this community.
Friday, May 31 (Day 1)
Hello Tucson! The high school mission team arrived safely at New Vision church in San Diego yesterday. The drive went smoothly, with only some minor traffic. Upon arrival, we were given a tour by Mike Haskins, who is the director of Urban Missions. After some fun get-to-know-you exercises, we settled into our living space and spent our first night at the church. We’re looking forward to the week ahead of us, please pray for team strength, unity, and that we may do God’s work in the hearts of the people who need Him. - DJ (team member)
Saturday, June 1st (Day 2)
Hello Tucson! The high school mission team is having an amazing time in San Diego working with New Vision Church. We spent Saturday helping set up their San Diego Community Fest, their annual festival in which they host hundreds of families, providing them with free clothing, haircuts, food, entertainment, games, and raffles in the park across from their church. Our team spent about 5 hours doing various things such as face painting, hosting carnival games, and watching over bounce-houses. After the festival finished, we had a quick Costco snack bar dinner, and then team time, which is our daily way of recapping the highs and lows of our day. It was a very fun and exhausting day! We can’t wait to be able to continue to help out wherever God leads us! Please pray that our team will have good unity and a positive attitude going into the unknowns of this next week. -DJ (Team member)
Sunday, June 2nd (Day 3)
Hello Tucson! The high school mission team had another amazing day in San Diego! We started with worship at New Vision Church, and afterwards were able to take showers for the first time since we arrived! Meanwhile, we have been on the grind serving the Haskins with cleaning and organizing their household, which is a blessing towards this wonderful family. We have had the pleasure of creating a “family” surrounding the sweetest kid named Josiah. We would greatly appreciate your prayer towards safety and strength throughout the week. - Olivia (team member)
Monday June 3 (Day Four)
Hello Tucson! Today we had the amazing opportunity to work and bless the Haskins’ house. Mike is the director of Urban Missions and has a lovely wife named Aimee and a son named Josiah. Their dedication to work with love and service has been very inspirational and we have been beyond excited to help them move in and transition into a new home for them. Our main focus for today has been cleaning the exterior of the Haskins house, such as pulling weeds in the front/back yard and organizing. Our team has been working very hard to finish and it is amazing to see how much we have progressed! We would love prayer for endurance and safety while we keep up the hard work this week. Blessings, Olivia (Team Member)
Tuesday, June 4 (Day 5)
Hello Tucson! Our morning was spent again working at the Haskins’ house, as we continue to help them transition into their new place. Our afternoon was spent doing a “windshield scavenger hunt”, learning about the diversity of the City Heights neighborhood where we are staying and working. It’s incredible to see the diversity of cultures and worldviews. During our morning devotional time, we could hear the prayer chanting of hundreds of Muslims at a neighborhood park, as they celebrated Ramadan. Yet God is in the middle of it all. Our team is happy and healthy, and being challenged in some powerful ways. Thanks for praying for us! - Rob
Wednesday, June 5 (Day 6)
Hello Tucson! Today was an absolutely incredible day, unlike any we have had while on this trip. It started out normally, with devotionals and breakfast, but soon we headed to a local park, where we learned that we would break into teams, spending 3 hours in a “Homeless Simulation”. This meant that we would go around town for 3 hours on foot, doing things like a homeless individual might be faced with (ask for money, ask for free food, etc), as wellas learning about the extra hurdles involved with life on the streets, like how to get a job application without having an address to work with. After that, we were given the opportunity to go into downtown and serve packages of food and clothing to homeless men and women. It was an enlightening and very challenging day for all of us, and we feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to learn more about this community.Please pray for our team as we finish up our week! - DJ (Team member)
Thursday, June 6 (Day 7)
Hello Tucson! Thank you for your continued prayers, our trip is going very well! Our morning was spent continuing to serve the Haskins family, and help them through a huge season of transition. The more we can do for them, the quicker they can return to full time ministry, serving the Urban community of San Diego. The afternoon was again spent doing street ministry with the homeless community in downtown. We got a few pictures, but we wanted to be careful not to glamorize it, so there are not many. I am so incredibly proud of our students. They are doing an amazing job, and regularly stepping outside their comfort zone. Please continue to pray for us as we wrap up the trip this weekend and head home! -Rob
