A Life of Service

Today was sadly our last day of service here in Seattle. We began the day with unloading a shipment of donated food at YWCA Angeline's House. We worked with Jason, the head chef, who the whole team admired and respected for his honesty and humbleness. After unloading the van of food, the team quickly dispersed to perform various duties around the kitchen. The team worked great with each other and the other helpers in the kitchen. We cooked an amazing fried catfish meal for the ladies and they loved it. Sadly it was our last day at the Angeline House and Jason thanked all of us for all of our work. It surprised all of us to hear that he would of had to cook that entire meal for over 90 women by himself. The team really enjoyed working at Angeline's House throughout the week. The work was vigorous but I heard no complaints from the team. They worked amazingly together, naturally, with little to no supervision.

Team Selfie on the Ferry

After Angeline's House, we took the Bainbridge Ferry to Bainbridge Island where the team got a chance to do a little shopping, but mainly enjoy the beautiful downtown Seattle skyline. After seeing the sights, we enjoyed dinner at Buca di Beppo. We ended the day talking about how we want to continue doing service in our communities and throughout our lives.

-Tim, Student Leader 

Revolution of the Heart

The greatest and most impactful revolution is the revolution of the heart. The changing of attitudes and the ending of misconceptions can be extremely powerful.

We often have misconceptions about homeless people and those in need. These negative attitudes can impact how we serve and what our overall mindset about service and those in need is.

Today we had the opportunity to go to Angelina's House and serve meals to homeless and displaced women. This was the second time we have gotten to serve there and it was even more impactful the second time. Going into it this service opportunity, we all tried to be very aware of misconceptions we might have about those in need and tried to overcome them.

After we served at Angelina's House, we drove around Seattle and eventually made our way over to a park. We walked around, took time to bond as a team and we visited the grave of Bruce Lee.

Seattle Skyline at Volunteer Park

After we went to the park, we got to go over to Neighborhood House for the final time during our trip. The students were showcasing their projects that we have helping them with over the past few days. It was really cool to see the older and younger students in the same room and interacting with one another. After all the students arrived, we got the chance to serve food to them and their families. It was really impactful getting the chance to serve the community.

On the car ride home, we talked about the negative attitudes and misconceptions we have had before. We talked about how our view of those in need has been changed and challenged by this service trip.

It is sad that out service trip starting to come to a close but we will continue to serve and be impacted by it long after it is over.

-Matt & Scott

Blossoming in Service

Today we went to Urban Rest Stop and we revisited the Neighborhood House. We got the behind the scenes on all the services provided by the Urban Rest Stop. We assisted the employees with a full clean up of the facility, which included cleaning restrooms, showers, the general useage area.

Urban Rest Stop

We helped the kids at the Neighborhood House finish their science projects and set up for tomorrow's "Why Water is Important" showcase.

We also got to visit the University of Washington. We walked around campus and stopped to get some bubble tea. For dinner we jammed out to 80s while eating burgers and fries at Zippys.

Cherry Blossoms 

"Love is not patronizing and charity isn't about pity, it is about love, Charity and love are the same-- with Charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead"
-Mother Teresa

-Ryan & Amada 

City Sights and People

Today, we started the day with a fun ice breaker and a reflection on the power of empathy. We wanted to be intentional throughout the day about what empathy is and how we can best express it to the people we serve.

Since we had a free morning, we did a lot of sightseeing! First, we went to the Columbia Center. From the 70th floor, we had a great view of the city!! We also went to the Seattle Public library.
Pikes Place Market was super fun as well. We shopped and ate lots of good food!

After the morning, we headed over to Seattle Night Watch. Some of us made PB&J's and others sorted various toiletries. We then had the opportunity to cook a spaghetti dinner for low income senior citizens. Our whole team used our individual skills and passions to make the dinner possible.

A great part of this experience, was getting to know the supervisor who runs the senior center. She was full of wisdom and great stories. Serving here was a great illustration of community
After day two of service, we are all building upon our "whys" and learning more about what it means to truly serve others.

-Jasmine & Kylie 

the view from the 70th floor 

Columbia Center Group Picture 

Gum Wall & Search for Crepes!!

Seattle Night Watch

Making PB&Js

Day 2: First day of service!

This morning we started off our day with thinking/ reflecting on our whys like;

Why do I serve?, Why am I here? and Why is serving with "Eyes wide open" important?

We also reflected on the quote below as we entered into our first day of service. 

Today we went to YWCA (young women's christian association) Angeline's house & Neighborhood house. 

At Angeline's house we prepared lunch for 100 women, and at Neighborhood house we helped

kids from K-5th grade and middle school to high school with their spring showcase projects focusing on water. 

We also had the opportunity to to stop at a pretty spot right off of Alki beach to take pictures and enjoy the view during our lunch, and then after we finished our evening service at Neighborhood house we went out to dinner at the El Salvadorean Bakery which came highly recommended by the coordinator at Neighborhood House! So GOOD! 

We're back at home with full bellies, full hearts, and ready to explore Seattle in the morning ! 

-Emily & McKenna 

Just 5 Days to Go!

Our amazing Seattle Team is anxiously anticipating their departure!  They will be heading out on Sunday morning for the not so long driver to our neighboring city of Seattle where they will be serving alongside some amazing community partners (YWCA Angeline's House, Urban Rest Stop, Seattle Night Watch, and Neighborhood House) all week long.  Please be keeping these amazing students and staff in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare and all week long... plus... stop back by the blog, our CU Service Leadership facebook page, and the CUPDXOSL instagram all week long for updates!

Beyond the Borders

This morning, our team, a little tired, met for an early morning breakfast filled with smiles and laughter. After, we packed the van and were on our way to Seattle. We were all ready to go beyond the borders of Concordia and sing "Hello Seattle." During the van ride, some of us took a short nap, read, or did some cross word puzzles, but mostly, we all jammed to our #CUPDXSEA playlist.

The last half hour of our road trip, we were able to see downtown Seattle on our way to Pikes Place Market for lunch. From there, we headed to DubSea Coffee to meet with Owen Sallee from Seattle Pacific University.

Meeting with Owen, we talked about the eight components of Christian Community Development. We had a great conversation about what all eight meant, where we may have seen one of these eight components in our lives, and also talked about who we are and we want out of this experience. We also were able to learn more about the organizations we will be working with this week.

On our way back, Dylan saw a woman who was walking her pig, on a leash down the road. None of us were able to see her and Dylan refused to turn around just for us to see the pig.  Next, we drove towards Sammamish and the house we will call home for this week.  After unloading our bags and claiming rooms, we did a family trip to the store for groceries for meals this week.  As a team, we cooked and ate spaghetti for dinner. 

During our reflection tonight, we discussed our first surprising thoughts about Seattle. People expressed beings surprised by how industrial the city was and the difference between downtown Seattle and King County.  We were all surprised by the change of scenery during our drive, and also by the number of '12' flags we saw.  Today was an adventurous day full of dancing, singing, laughter, and sharing. I can't wait to see what this week has in store for us.