Mission Arlington - the post with all the details

We went on our very first week long family mission trip to Mission Arlington!!!

It was a lot of fun, but I must say, it was a lot harder (and hotter) than I expected, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat :)

We went with a bunch of youth, adults, and one other family. 

We arrived on Saturday and the first thing on our list was to find a place to stay. Mission Arlington assigns you a place based mainly on your group size. Places to stay range from empty buildings, apartments, church gyms, houses...pretty much whatever they can find.

We were first assigned  to stay in two 3-bedroom apartments, but after arriving there, we realized another group was already staying there. So, we were assigned to a small house which doubled as a youth group building on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Because we shared this house with a church group, we had to totally put up and take down everything a total of 3 times throughout the week so they could use the rooms!!!

Right across the street was a Kroger store (this will come into play later on).

Guys Room

Girls Room

This house had 2 bedroom areas, a small living room, a game room (with a pool table and fooseball table), a tiny kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. Did you catch that?!? 2 bathrooms for over 30 people!!! The boys bathroom was in the center of the house. It had 2 entries, one from the girls bedroom and the other from the game room. Well, there were girls beds lined all up against the other bathroom door, so none of the guys wanted to do their "business" so close to where the girls were staying. About half way through the week, I started noticing the guys were making an awful lot of "Kroger runs". lol! I told you it would come into play later ;)

The poor air conditioning in the house just could not keep up with the heat outside nor all the body heat inside. It never stopped running!!! The thermostat never really dropped below 82 degrees, but after being out in 110 degree heat day after day...82 degrees felt pretty good!

It was HOT!!!

Starting Sunday and running through Wednesday, we went door to door passing out free stuff...from Rainbow Express flyers (their version of VBS) and toys...to food and furniture. It was so awesome seeing God work and meeting people's needs on the spot :)

one of the MANY water breaks

LOTS of knocking on doors

On Tuesday evening, we helped host a free Area Wide Kids Camp.

On Thursday, we hosted a FREE garage sale and food giveaway.

The highlight of the week was the Rainbow express our groups put on each day from Monday through Thursday. We had Bible stories, songs, Bible verses, games, snacks, and even puppet shows.

By Friday, we were worn out! But, we had a great time meeting the needs of others (both physical and spiritual), sharing and showing God's love to others, and 'bringing church to the people'. :)