Baltimore Mission Camp
Our church does lots of mission trips, but a couple years ago started a new thing that’s kind of like a mission trip without the trip part. We spend a week working in Baltimore and sleeping in our own beds. This year, Molly was finally old enough to do it (must be entering 7th grade), so she and I signed up.
We had about 50 people split into 5 crews. Our crew consisted of 3 adults and 6 middle schoolers. Each day we’d spend the morning in one place, then the afternoon in another. Most of the time, we were volunteering with organizations throughout Baltimore.
Our crew’s first activity actually wasn’t even in Baltimore. Through the week, we come across lots of needy people throughout Baltimore. So, our first task was to buy some supplies and make 40 bag lunches. Each crew would take a couple lunches every day to hand out to those in need.
Monday afternoon was spent familiarizing ourselves with the city of Baltimore. Our crew did a prayer walk through Hampden, performed random acts of kindness, and we may have gotten some ice cream as well.
Molly learned what a Hon was too.
A couple of days, we worked at Paul’s Place, which helps with feeding, clothing, caring for, and training the needy in Baltimore. Our first time there, we organized a couple of their storage units.
On our other visit, we served hot lunch to hundreds of needy people. These kids are ready for the doors to open.
We spent several days helping out at Little Flowers, a charity day care.
We changed things up Thursday afternoon and worked at Art with a Heart. They help the city through art projects. These pop art squares are put on trash cans to beautify the city.
We also spent an afternoon making things for Operation Christmas Child, but I failed to take a picture of that.
We took one afternoon off for some duckpin bowling fun. Very few of the kids had ever been duckpin bowling (it was Molly’s first time), so it was both a Baltimore experience and a chance for some fun.
When we had an hour to kill, we toured Lovely Lane United Methodist Church, the "Mother Church of American Methodism." This congregation held the 1784 “Christmas Conference", at which the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States was founded and Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were ordained as its first bishops.
The ceiling in Lovely Lane United Methodist Church was created by a professor of astronomy at Johns Hopkins University.
It was a fantastic week, and we definitely plan to do it again next year. It was awesome to be able to do this with Molly, and also great to be able to serve the city so near to us. Many of the places we went were very close to my office, and I have a whole new appreciation for the area I commute to a couple days a week.
Molly and Leah HAVE actually been duck pin bowing before! Me and Scott brought them years ago in White Oak, Silver Spring! She was a pro even then!
Chad and Molly, this was a wonderful, inspiring week for you, and I am sure you both have a new perspective of the needy people there. It was interesting to see the “founding place of Methodism!”
Love You, Grammy