NYC Mission Trip: Day 3, 03/14/2011

Sometimes the best way to serve in the mission field is to serve those who are serving. I got a healthy dose of that today. Today was our first official day of work this week. Our schedule for the day included working at NYSUM and going to Cerebral Palsy Center. I had no idea that the day would turn out the way it did.

I started the morning off working in the kitchen and proceeded to work in the dishwashing room from 6am-2pm. I love washing dishes, I don’t know why. I guess it is because it is work that allows you to see what you have done very quickly and I realize that not many people like to do the work so it takes away a job that is more of a burden to others. At first, we just did the morning breakfast dishes as they came in. Once breakfast was over we cleaned every dish in the kitchen that wasn’t nailed down. The rest of the team gave the kitchen a complete cleaning makeover. The freezer got emptied out and reorganized, the ovens got a good cleaning and the floor was spotless. The two guys who were on staff were so thankful because if we had not been there the work would have not gotten completed and they would have had to stay late. The rest of the group did work in the building with the maintenance department and the house keeping department. Although I don’t know everything that they did, I am sure that they worked hard and really helped out the staff. One of the coolest parts of washing dishes didn’t even come until the evening. After we ate supper we saw that the bins that held the dirty dishes were getting full because no one was back in the dish room. Chap took one look at me and we both had the same idea. I went back into the kitchen to start working and Chap found 3 other guys to come help me. But, before the guys got there, one of the kitchen staff members came back to talk to me. He said that he really appreciated what we were doing but also, how we were doing it. Our work was not done half way; it was done over the top. He asked me why I wanted to do dishes so much and I told him that because we were washing dishes, others could serve for God. In turn, by us serving others, we were really serving God. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit for the deeds done because in the end, all of the glory goes to God.

After dinner, our group got the chance to go to a Cerebral Palsy center. We got the chance to meet 10-12 patients and got to entertain them and the staff that takes care of them. We sang every kids song that we could remember (Jesus loves me, Father Abraham, Hokey Pokey, Head shoulders knees and toes, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ole Macdonald, Twinkle Twinkle little star, the wheels on the bus etc…) and we acted out the story of David and Goliath. We had the chance to then see a few of the patients that were in their rooms but could not come out. It was then that I got a little bit emotional. I met a girl named Nicole. Everyone walked up to her bed but then kind of left. Most of us did not know what to do. So, I leaned down and held her hand and sang the one lullaby that I know. I must have sung that song 50 times in a row before we had to leave. I could almost see in her face a little bit of peace come over her while I was singing. I thought about the fact that she was someone’s daughter and that one day, not long ago, my mother might have sung a similar song to me. I started to wonder what this girl’s parents must have had to go through when their child was diagnosed with this condition. It really put the whole day into perspective.