Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Amazing gRace Day 3
What an amazing day we all had today. This morning each team was given $100 and a wish list of items for Youthcare an organization that is addressing youth homelessness in Seattle. The youth had a great time shopping and picking out items that they knew the homeless youth would need. One group even pooled some extra money together and ended up with an extra $100 to spend.
Here is a picture of the bags full of items the youth purchased
Once all the shopping was done the youth picked up their detour challenge which took them to the Freemont Troll where they were to take a silly picture
Team Genesis
Team Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys
Team Holy Crosses
Once the detour was completed they were off to the pit stop at the original Starbuck's in Pike Place Market. Team Holy Crosses came in first. Followed by team Genesis and Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys.
Everyone explored Pike Place for a couple hours before we went to Youthcare to drop off the items that had been purchased earlier in the day. Youthcare was not expecting us and were so happily surprised by our arrival. All these people kept coming out from the back looking at the items we were bringing and questioning why we had decided to donate the items. It was really cool. They just seemed so shocked by our donation. Eventually Debra an employee of Youthcare came out and did an impromptu presentation on what Youthcare does and who they serve.
Youthcare we found out was a large organization that has many different services for homeless teens and young adults. They run an adolescent shelter which is the only one in the area for youth under 18. They also run the Orion Center which offers three meals a day and helps out homeless youth through education and work training. They have programs to help youth get their GEDs and high school diplomas as well as apply for college. The work training programs range from barista training to actual internships with Habitat for Humanity to learn a construction trade. They run numerous shelters for young adults as well. Youthcare is a fantastic organization that is doing so much for homeless youth. Debra also told us that every night in Seattle it is estimated that 700-1000 youth are on the streets. This is a huge problem that is rarely even talked about and most people don't even know about. She also said the main factor in adult chronic homelessness is having been homeless as a youth. She said that 97% of youth who receive services the first time they become homeless they will not be homeless as an adult. We were all so shocked by this statistic and realized how much of an impact Youthcare is having on the problem of homelessness.
We spent the evening canoeing in Lake Washington. It was a great way to end the day. The weather was perfect and the lake was so calm and beautiful.
I think everyone would agree today was another day full of God's amazing grace.
Here is a picture of the bags full of items the youth purchased
Once all the shopping was done the youth picked up their detour challenge which took them to the Freemont Troll where they were to take a silly picture
Team Genesis
Team Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys
Team Holy Crosses
Once the detour was completed they were off to the pit stop at the original Starbuck's in Pike Place Market. Team Holy Crosses came in first. Followed by team Genesis and Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys.
Everyone explored Pike Place for a couple hours before we went to Youthcare to drop off the items that had been purchased earlier in the day. Youthcare was not expecting us and were so happily surprised by our arrival. All these people kept coming out from the back looking at the items we were bringing and questioning why we had decided to donate the items. It was really cool. They just seemed so shocked by our donation. Eventually Debra an employee of Youthcare came out and did an impromptu presentation on what Youthcare does and who they serve.
Youthcare we found out was a large organization that has many different services for homeless teens and young adults. They run an adolescent shelter which is the only one in the area for youth under 18. They also run the Orion Center which offers three meals a day and helps out homeless youth through education and work training. They have programs to help youth get their GEDs and high school diplomas as well as apply for college. The work training programs range from barista training to actual internships with Habitat for Humanity to learn a construction trade. They run numerous shelters for young adults as well. Youthcare is a fantastic organization that is doing so much for homeless youth. Debra also told us that every night in Seattle it is estimated that 700-1000 youth are on the streets. This is a huge problem that is rarely even talked about and most people don't even know about. She also said the main factor in adult chronic homelessness is having been homeless as a youth. She said that 97% of youth who receive services the first time they become homeless they will not be homeless as an adult. We were all so shocked by this statistic and realized how much of an impact Youthcare is having on the problem of homelessness.
We spent the evening canoeing in Lake Washington. It was a great way to end the day. The weather was perfect and the lake was so calm and beautiful.
I think everyone would agree today was another day full of God's amazing grace.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Amazing gRace Day 2
Today was another great day. We started the morning thinking that we were going to be doing a car wash to raise money for Heartprints Food Bank in Mount Vernon, WA. The weather was pretty cold though and when we showed up we were relieved to find out that we would be doing something different. The lady who runs the Food Bank is named Sue. Sue put the kids to work right away. Cleaning out Storage units and organizing donated items for a thrift store. The youth worked very hard and at lunch had some time to chat with Sue. They began to talk to her about the Food Bank and found out that many people come there throughout the week and each family receives about 45 lbs of food. The youth also found out that Sue does not get paid to run the food bank and instead volunteers all of her time to help. Right now Heartprints is just a food bank but Sue hopes to open up a Thrift store in the back that will help fund more food for the food bank.
Here are some pictures of the youth helping out
After serving at the food bank the youth headed out to the campus of Skagit Valley College where they were instructed to find somewhere on campus and take a silly picture. These pictures I will post later.
Once they completed the picture Challenge they headed to what they thought was the final checkpoint. Padilla Bay Shore Trail. The Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys came in first followed by the Holy Crosses and then Genesis. The Padilla Bay Shore Trail is a trail along the shoreline of the puget sound. Team Genesis saw a bald eagle and a bunch of the youth played in the mud since the tide was out. As we left around 4:00pm the tide was beginning to come in.
Here is a picture of them playing in the mud
The final pit stop was at a bowling alley in Lynnwood, WA. There they met up with Ken Arneson, aka Pastor Ken, and each team bowled a game. The team with the best average score received a time advantage of 2 minutes. Team Holy Crosses earned the special time advantage.
Here is a picture of all the adults. How often is it that the adults get to lay out in the sun and read a book on a youth trip. Well today we got to and it was truly incredible. The youth were getting dirty in the mud and we were relaxing
Today was another great day full of God's grace.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Amazing gRACE- Day 1
Today was the official start to The Amazing Grace. Eight youth and four adults headed out this morning not knowing where they would end up this evening. The started out from St. Mark's in Spokane. The first challenge was to head to Grand Coulee Dam and get a National Parks Passport Stamp on their clue card. From there the teams headed to Winthrop, WA where they took a picture in front of Three Fingered Jack. The oldest legal saloon in the state of Washington. They also took some silly pictures and headed back out going west. This time they stopped at North Cascades National Park and picked up another National Park Passport Stamp. The Pit Stop and end of the race today was Salem Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon, WA. Overall they were in the car more than six hours.
Here is an introduction to the teams
Neon Yellow Flying Monkeys
The team is made up of Katelynn, Jacob and Naomi. The are extremely awesome and ready to work hard.
Genesis
Genesis is made up of Spencer, Connor and Joey. They are outgoing, caring and up for any surprise.
The Holy Crosses
The Holy Crosses is made up of Alix and Madison. They are fun and outgoing but dorks at the same time.
Welcome!!
Welcome to the St. Mark's Youth Blog! The Junior High and High School youth grow in faith and have a lot of fun throughout the year. This blog is a way to share all of their adventures with you. We hope you enjoy.
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