Last week we had our Twin Cities Outreach week. This was our week to put into use all that we have learned over the year about ministry and leadership. Kairos students were the ones who planned this, proposed our ministry ideas, contacted ministries and led our group. Our staff were just there as back ups in case of emergencies and also for driving us around. It was a fantastic week and we praise God for keeping us safe and out of any disasters. The worst of the week was on Monday and we almost couldn't find our ministry location. Kairos has seen worse in the past. I'm thankful that ours ran smoothly.
So here is a recap of our week, and unfortunately, there aren't that many pictures to show for our week. We realized this blunder and corrected it on Friday. I made sure to grab my camera that day and snag some photos.
MONDAY:
Monday morning we began our week by meeting at a park and going on a prayer walk and time of worship. It was a great way to begin our week of ministry. Plus, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Nothing beats singing praise songs to our God, surrounded by His creation.
That afternoon we drove out to the home of Meredith and Keith. This amazing couple host up to 4 women at once. These women come mostly from broken homes and are in difficult circumstances where they may be pushed into the decision of aborting their babies. These women all came to a pregnancy center, looking at their options and were given the opportunity to come to this home to live while they were pregnant. These women were brave and chose life for their child. We came alongside Meredith and Keith and helped them with a list of odd jobs around the house. This was a huge blessing for them, as Keith had just recently had surgery on his arm. We very much enjoyed spending time with them and getting to know them and their story as we cleaned. They are a wonderful Christian couple. Please be praying for them and their ministry to these women.
TUESDAY:
In the morning we went to Source in Minneapolis. They do urban outreach and opportunities/anti trafficking since 1987. We went to their Fallout Urban Arts Center and two other locations and helped with different odd jobs. Mostly cleaning the three locations. Some of us painted as well.
That afternoon, for a couple hours we visited Mt.Olivet senior care housing. I was a little wary of this. I haven't spent much time in nursing homes during my life. I think I can count on one hand how often I have gone to one. But it was definitely one of the highlights of my week. Some Kairos took seniors on walks to walgreens. Five of us went up to the memory care floor. We each partnered up with a senior and took them on a walk around the block. It was a beautiful day, for which I am grateful. It has been too long since these people have gone outside. Which, breaks my heart. My partner was Lois. She is such a sweet old lady. She kept "claiming" me and said how I was her partner. She wouldn't share me. We met Paul, Donna, Dorothy, Lois, and a few others. This was such a fun group! We were all a little confused when staff kept disappearing on us, leaving us alone with our seniors. We just stood around a lot and talked. And shared in a lot of laughter. Paul and Donna are the hilarious trouble makers. Donna always teasing. Paul was in his own world and Dorothy, well she didn't get Donna's teasing. I think we loved being there even more than they loved having us. I definitely want to go back someday, if not there, then another place. That two hour visit really opened my eyes to the need right here in our own city. We can't forget about our seniors. They deserve more. I wish we could have stayed longer than two hours.
WEDNESDAY:
For a few hours in the morning we went back to Source and continued doing odd jobs. We helped stuff nearly a thousand envelopes for their support letters. And I got to do a little bit of data entry, typing up email addresses into their database. It was fun!
We spent the rest of the day as usual at our internships. It was a pretty chill day at internships. We made dinner for the high school, breakfast for dinner. Other than that, there were no jobs for us to do. I ended up cross stitching a lot and went out to coffee with a couple other Kairos students. Then we served dinner and had small group time. I always love being in the junior girl small group. I believe next week is my last Wednesday with those girls.
Instead of a sermon, the youth pastor had an open mic time for students to come up and say whatever they wanted (things they were thankful for, best moments of the year). The junior girls all went up and one, Devon, she is a junior. I also join in as she co-leads the 7th grade girls small group. I have loved getting to know Devon. But anyway, on Wednesday night she went up and said how thankful she was that I have been here and that she has loved getting to know me. It was so encouraging and its because of this, will make leaving in August that much harder.
THURSDAY:
We visited Matter More back in January and came again Thursday afternoon. It was cool to see some of the work we started in Jan. finished now. This time though, we worked in their medical supplies sorting room. They get so much medical supplies donated to them and the volunteers that come sort it. Kate, who was in charge of us, suspected we could probably get through 3 pallets worth of boxes (There were a lot of boxes...so many). We spent three hours there sorting and sorting. And learning a lot about medical supplies and uses for things...We got a lot done thanks to one of the Kairos students. Ashleigh went through a semester or so of nursing school before she felt God calling her out and here. We were so thankful for her nursing expertise as she played a huge factor in our sorting skills. We bombarded her with question after question and she handled it all with grace and patience. With her help, we sorted not just three pallets but 6!
Matter More was very thankful. We loved helping. It was a lot of fun.
We started our day later so that we could serve at a community meal with Loaves and Fishes. They cooked the meal at a local church and we served it. It was a lot of fun serving and meeting new people. There were two babies there that had the best smiles. Warmed my heart to play with them throughout the night.
FRIDAY:
The morning started out a little hectic but ended great. We walked several miles down a road and picked up trash as we went.
Then after lunch we went to Feed My Starving Children, we visited them once already this year. It was great to return!
We ended our week with worship and a time of debriefing.
Friday
went so much better than I expected. I led my team from Fish Stake
Narrows all the way down to Nina Moos lake, around 12 miles! We
started at 7 am and got there by 3pm. It was a long day but so worth
it because it let us have a much shorter day on Saturday which was
our day to leave. The pic to the side is where I led my team on Friday. 
