A weekend I will never forget!
A couple weekends ago, I traveled to San Francisco for a mission trip with the Love Thy Neighbor Leadership Team at my church. We are the leaders of a youth-led program called Love Thy Neighbor, and once a month during the school year we host an event for those who find themselves homeless and marginally housed in downtown Winston-Salem. We invite our neighbors to join us for a hot lunch, BINGO, and fellowship. We offer monthly hospitality gifts, as well as a free medical clinic and pharmacy to provide our neighbors access to medicine and vaccinations. Most importantly, we see that our neighbors long to be seen, heard, known, and loved. Our hope is that they find Christ-like hospitality, love, and grace at Love Thy Neighbor and a welcoming community where they feel they can belong.
I have been a part of this ministry since I was in 6th grade, and I truly believe that it has changed me. I have gotten to know the neighbors and realize we are not that different. Loving and serving them brings me so much joy. I’ve seen how great God’s love is with my own eyes and it’s overwhelming. Being a part of this team means the world to me and it will be something I carry with me for the rest of my life.
So… the trip! It all goes back to the girls that began Love Thy Neighbor in 2006. They went on a mission trip to San Francisco and worked at two non-profits serving neighbors meals, and fell in love with them. They realized that Winston Salem has the same issue with homeless and marginally housed neighbors, so they decided to create their own version, known as Love Thy Neighbor. Every 4 years the Love Thy Neighbor Leadership Team goes back to San Francisco to see where the idea of Love Thy Neighbor originated, and to remember why we do what we do each month.
The trip was full of laughs, love, service, and some unexpected changes to our itinerary almost every day, but that didn’t slow us down. We began the trip with delayed flights and closed rental car services, followed by restaurants that don’t seat parties of 16, parking tickets, a closed church, and pouring rain, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I would go back and do it all over again if I could!
The people I serve with on the Love Thy Neighbor Leadership Team love the ministry just as much as I do, and it brings us together in a way that I can’t even explain. We would do anything to help our homeless neighbors in Winston Salem and our neighbors across the country. Throughout the trip, we all had moments where we truly could see and feel God’s presence. We took that presence and shared it through our service all day, every day.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was our nightly devotions in the lobby of our hotel. We were all cozy in our pajamas and spent quality time reflecting on our days. The stories and realizations we shared showed how much this trip impacted us and that we were all going to take it back with us to North Carolina.
Like I said, I would redo this whole trip in a heartbeat. It was an overwhelming and hard experience, but that’s the reality of the world and we have to learn to make the best of it. There is so much more I want to share with you all, but I’m not even sure how to put it into words. I hope all of y’all will get to experience something like this in your life. It’s truly incredible, God’s truly incredible.
xoxo, Joanna
Love you, JoJo! It was the most amazing trip…filled with the unconditional love of Jesus.