Rachel and Madi's Mission Trip to Nashville

Rachel and Madi went on a Mission Trip last week to Nashville with their youth group. They experienced a ton of new things as they helped those much less fortunate than themselves. They helped in a HIV clinic, worked in a soup kitchen, helped a man with AIDS clean his overgrown yard (which left Madison with a severe case of poison oak...she is now on some serious steroids!), walked the streets handing out granola bars and water bottles to the homeless, assisted in a store organizing shelves and so many other eye-opening things. One day their assignment was to find a homeless person and buy them breakfast. They found a man and asked him to come into McDonalds and they would buy him breakfast. The manager at McDonalds wouldn't let him in because they said he was a beggar! This was shocking to everyone. They were able to meet several homeless people and hear their stories which really touched the girls. They were amazed at how appreciative and loving these people were. Here are a few pics of the trip...

Telling the girls "bye"...always a production in our home!

Rachel and Madi's identical twin buddies Mallory and Cassandra. Mallory used to babysit the girls and now she is like a "big sister" (although she is shorter!) The whole reason Rachel and Madi decided to go on this trip is because of Mallory.

Getting ready to go!

The girls also experienced lots of different types of food. They had Thai food, Turkish food, Indian food and Soul food. :) My girls, thank God, are not picky eaters and love trying new things so they really enjoyed this part of the trip.

They did a lot of work at FAM (Family Affair Ministries) where they took care of children ages 6 months to 12 years. This was their favorite part of the trip. They developed some close bonds with the children and definitely came home with some favorites! They said when they left the last day they couldn't turn around because they were crying.

This is Jordan, the girls' favorite little boy!

All in all this trip was a huge success on so many levels. The girls were able to see people that were much less fortunate than themselves and they started to develop a heart that loves to serve. They didn't want to leave! Rachel kept a journal for the week and asked me to read it when she got home. On the very last page she said "I really missed my mom this week. I realized how much I love and need her. I love you mom!" SUCCESS!

PS I also wanted to thank my in-laws and my husband for taking such good care of me when I was sick in bed with the flu for 3 days! They had a mission trip right at home! :)