My name is Scott Moreland

          and this is my story....

     
On July 29th, myself and six other high school students packed into a Bronco and a soccer mom van and began our journey to Chicago with Dan Knuff and Shannon Miller as our leaders. This trip was different from any other high school trip I had ever taken because it was a mission trip. It was more outwardly focused than anything I had ever done. Once we arrived, we were introduced to our accommodations. We stayed on the property of Chicago Student Missions, also known as CSM.  This organization assigned us our schedule for the week and guided us through the city.

We soon found out that from 8:30 until 2:00 we would be working with kids at a YMCA.  Since we had all just finished 3 weeks of KidsFest, we weren't exactly sure how much energy we would have left for even more kids, but the YMCA turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of the trip for our group.

     
My friend Chris and I were assigned to a classroom of 6 to 8 year old children. These kids were so different than most of the kids I had ever worked with. Their maturity level far surpassed their age. They were not looking for anyone to entertain them; they just wanted someone to talk to. On the last day our group served at the YMCA, Miguel, a little kid who I had gotten to know throughout the week, turned to me and asked "Is this your last day?", and I said reluctantly "yeah, bud, it is." His response surprised me, "Well, we better make it fun". I laughed and agreed. At the time, I didn't think much of the comment but soon realized that what he said so perfectly illustrated what I loved about those kids. They were used to people coming in and out of their lives but rather than being numb or cynical, they enjoyed every bit of time they could share with that person. By the end of the week I saw people in our group adopting that very same attitude.

     
My favorite part of the trip happened in an unexpected way when our CSM guide sent us out into the city with a little money to find homeless men and women, and meet their needs.  My partner and I accidentally got separated from the group when we met a man named Joe.  We went up to Joe and I said "Hi. We are Christians on a mission trip who are out trying to show God's love in a real way, is there anything you need?"  Joe looked at his pack and muttered off a list of what he had, and then looked back up at us and said, "Nope I've got about everything I need."  Well, I was a little shocked but we asked him if we could just talk to him and he motioned for us to sit. 

     
We sat down and talked for a long time. Joe had been on the streets for three years after divorcing his wife. He has kids who he said he keeps in touch with. We talked about a lot of different topics and he even let us read one of his poems. We read it and couldn't believe how gifted he was.  When we handed the poem back to him and expressed how much we liked it, I could see Joe's eyes start to well up with tears. I don't think people read his poems very often, because at that moment he was filled with so much joy. I knew that without spending a penny, we had just met Joe's need. 

     
I do not believe it was any accident that my partner and I came upon Joe that day. In his three years on the street, Joe had never before been approached by a mission's team. On that day, we were the second team to talk to him. Although on the outside this guy's life seemed to be in shambles, after talking to him, we saw that Joe had a great outlook on life.  He said his situation was "not the end of the world." What he owned was no longer the focus of his life. Joe made me want to become the Christian who drops everything he has and leans completely on God. After we prayed with him, we went our separate ways, but meeting Joe has made a permanent impact on my life.  I realized that it is not the material things in life that will bring me the most joy.

     
After this trip to Chicago I am compelled to find ways to serve our community, such as helping out with the Pittsburgh Project. I want to find ways to live beyond myself and serve others. Going on this trip, I expected to be doing all the giving, but I know that I received much more than I gave.