Camden Day 2

It has been an intense couple of days... filled with hard work, a lot of laughter, and some powerful experiences of service. This morning we woke up to a beautiful snowfall. A few of us braved the snow to go for an early jog around Rutgers Campus. After breakfast, we walked to the Cathedral in Camden, and met a group from Salesianum High School, a Catholic boys school in Wilmington, DE. Our students and teachers spent the morning ministering to the homeless. Half of our group worked in the sandwich ministry at the Cathedral, cooking and distributing food to the homeless. The other half visited New Visions, a day shelter, and spent time talking to the men and women who were gathered there. It is a safe and warm place where they can rest, wash up, and get a hot meal. We then traveled back to our home in North Camden, and spent some time with the students at Holy Name, enjoying their lunch and recess period with them. Back at our house, we had lunch and listened to a talk by Kenny, a man who works for DeSales Service Works, and was homeless for most of his adult life. He is our shepherd in the community, always walking with us and keeping an eye on us. He told us his story, and we were deeply touched by his honesty and humility. After lunch, we went out to shop for dinner. Dinner today is called the "Bodega Meal". The bodega is the term for the small corner stores that are the main source of food for most people in Camden. We divide our group into "families", and each family receives $2 per person, which is about what families in Camden have to spend per meal. We had to shop for dinner as a family, and you could not spend more than your two dollars per person, and you could only eat what you could find in the shop. It is an eye-opening experience. After shopping, we went back to the school to help with the after school program. It was a beautiful sight - our students running and laughing and playing with dozens of little kids from Camden. The room was filled with laughter, and the little ones certainly wore out the teenagers! This evening we spent about 90 minutes talking about the day. The kids had really good questions, and I was so proud of how deeply they are feeling and thinking about their time here. It is a challenging thing to experience a community that suffers such poverty. Our kids are making the most of their time here. Tomorrow morning we get ready for some manual labor! We will be working to repair the alleyway behind our house, and cleaning up North Gate Park. You are all in our prayers! Thank you for keeping us your prayers.