PALM BEACH COUNTY – With a desire to help the ones in need, a Heart to Serve gave back to those who needed our help the most.
This R.E.A.C.H. Week trip focused on the idea of how it is our responsibility to help the ones who do not have the privilege to eat and worship Jesus every day. As Mrs. Rye says, “Every 10 seconds a child dies of hunger.” Using the resources we have, our group visited a field, picking tomatoes that will go to families who are in poverty and are unable to get access to food.
Throughout the week, we then went to Urban Youth Impact, where we did manual labor, including mulching, cleaning cars, playing with the kids, and more. Urban Youth Impact is a school and church that specializes in programs which help kids who are struggling in school and otherwise would not have the opportunity to go to college.
On Wednesday, we then went to an assisted living facility where we got to socialize and talk with the elderly who shared their stories and experiences living there. These people do not get many visitors and were very happy to see that people still care about them and that they have not been left at the home because no one wanted them. I personally got to meet an older woman who was fascinated by my story of how I came from Poland to America.
With the week coming to a close, on Thursday we stayed at the school and packed boxes that introduced God’s love to many kids around the world. And on the final day of our R.E.A.C.H. Week, our group went to Shark Wake Park where we got a day to have fun and wake board as a team building activity to close out the week.
Reflecting on the experience, Ryan Lutz said, “Doing community service for even just an hour helps more than you think.” If these experiences taught me one thing, it is that even if sometimes I ignore the needy, I can never deny God’s word and how He tells me to seek out the poor and underprivileged that do not have the opportunities to find Him.
