By: Grant Hawkins
In the beginning of June this year our church took us on a Mission Trip in Toledo, OH working for Catholic Heart Work Camp (CHWC). I worked at a place called The Mareda Center and during the school they helped underprivileged kids receive an education. But in the summer it was like a summer camp three days a week. The kids played games as we mainly did yard work and painting and such.
I hung out with the kids as much as I could and when I was working they were eager to work to and wanted to help alongside me. So for the final two days we were there I didn’t go anywhere without a little kid who called me his “fake brother” by my side.
But, unlike the previous year, I didn’t see or hear God at my worksite. I heard and saw him in two of the most unlikely places.
The first time I heard him was outside a movie theater near Cedar Point. At the end of the Work Camp we had a free day so our youth group took us to Cedar Point. And when the rain begun to downpour on us we realized it was time to leave. So we went to a theater where a ticket cost $5.79. After the movie all 30-40 of us stood outside and obnoxiously blocked the doorway to the theater and discussed our movie.
During all this ruckus and kind lady asked us about the emblem on the back of our group shirts we were wearing (see top of page). I paused for a second and looked around for people she might be talking to. But I was suddenly alone. I blankly looked at her then responded softly saying, “Uh, its like-it means were like the uh-the hands and feet of Christ in our service.” She then asked what we are doing. And so I told her about the Mission Trip and what we were doing in Toledo. She begun to reminisce about her Mission Trip days and told me a couple stories of her own.
I wondered why she asked me I kept telling myself I was in the right place, at the right time. But that didn’t seem correct.
The second time I encountered God through others was at gas stop on the way back home from Toledo. We were at a Speedway and I was paying for my items which consisted of two 32 ounce PowerAde’s, a Twix bar, and a pack of pretzels. This time our group, now packed into a Speedway, were all wearing white CHWC shirts. As I was reaching for cash to pay, the clerk had asked me if I had a ‘Speedy Rewards’ card and before I could answer she asked me another question. “So uh what’s up with the shirts?” I responded with the same answer I gave the ‘movie-theater-goer’. As that ended she responded “So about that ‘Speedy Rewards’ card…”
And as I walked out of that Speedway in who-knows-where Ohio I questioned myself again. Wondering what it was I felt and why she asked me and not anyone else. To this day I think of that moment and believe God was working through me to reach out and engage with these people.
I now know that God can and will speak to you whenever he wants even if you don’t expect or realize it.
In the beginning of June this year our church took us on a Mission Trip in Toledo, OH working for Catholic Heart Work Camp (CHWC). I worked at a place called The Mareda Center and during the school they helped underprivileged kids receive an education. But in the summer it was like a summer camp three days a week. The kids played games as we mainly did yard work and painting and such.
I hung out with the kids as much as I could and when I was working they were eager to work to and wanted to help alongside me. So for the final two days we were there I didn’t go anywhere without a little kid who called me his “fake brother” by my side.
But, unlike the previous year, I didn’t see or hear God at my worksite. I heard and saw him in two of the most unlikely places.
The first time I heard him was outside a movie theater near Cedar Point. At the end of the Work Camp we had a free day so our youth group took us to Cedar Point. And when the rain begun to downpour on us we realized it was time to leave. So we went to a theater where a ticket cost $5.79. After the movie all 30-40 of us stood outside and obnoxiously blocked the doorway to the theater and discussed our movie.
During all this ruckus and kind lady asked us about the emblem on the back of our group shirts we were wearing (see top of page). I paused for a second and looked around for people she might be talking to. But I was suddenly alone. I blankly looked at her then responded softly saying, “Uh, its like-it means were like the uh-the hands and feet of Christ in our service.” She then asked what we are doing. And so I told her about the Mission Trip and what we were doing in Toledo. She begun to reminisce about her Mission Trip days and told me a couple stories of her own.
I wondered why she asked me I kept telling myself I was in the right place, at the right time. But that didn’t seem correct.
The second time I encountered God through others was at gas stop on the way back home from Toledo. We were at a Speedway and I was paying for my items which consisted of two 32 ounce PowerAde’s, a Twix bar, and a pack of pretzels. This time our group, now packed into a Speedway, were all wearing white CHWC shirts. As I was reaching for cash to pay, the clerk had asked me if I had a ‘Speedy Rewards’ card and before I could answer she asked me another question. “So uh what’s up with the shirts?” I responded with the same answer I gave the ‘movie-theater-goer’. As that ended she responded “So about that ‘Speedy Rewards’ card…”
And as I walked out of that Speedway in who-knows-where Ohio I questioned myself again. Wondering what it was I felt and why she asked me and not anyone else. To this day I think of that moment and believe God was working through me to reach out and engage with these people.
I now know that God can and will speak to you whenever he wants even if you don’t expect or realize it.