SMT Central – Update #3

After our return from The Bahamas, Central team headed to Missouri to join the youth of The Salvation Army in this year’s national Jamboree. During the week our team stayed in tents and helped lead activities such as archery, canoeing, and crafts. The team was able to meet teens from many different backgrounds and places, and teach them new and different talents. Situations that could have been seen as setbacks, such as a huge storm and major power outage, God used to his advantage. Two meetings were held in a pavilion without a stage or sound system. The musicians and speakers stood on the tables and shouted Gods word to those present. This taught our team about flexibility and showed us how with God, anything is possible. The THQ staff that worked hard to plan for the week made the jamboree a huge success and the Central team enjoyed seeing God work through all that happened.

After Jamboree Central team headed to the Harbor Light in Detroit, MI. The Harbor Light is a Salvation Army program  where people struggling from addictions can come to not only work through the addiction, but also learn about God. Everyone we met during the week had  an amazing testimony and an  impact on the team. On Monday and Friday we went out on the bed and bread trucks, serving over 2,000 meals to the people of Detroit.  In the mornings we would work in the kitchen where food is prepared 365 days a year to feed, not only the men and women residents of Harbor Light, but also the thousands of people that the bed and bread trucks serve. On Wednesday we went to another Harbor Light in Monroe, MI and had a cookout with all the clients staying there. The team also got to enjoy spending time with the clients of the Detroit Harbor Light through a hike and a women’s ministries chocolate party! Every experience we had at the Harbor Light, was such a blessing and a joy to the central team. Not only was the ministry an amazing experience, but the hospitality and faith shown through Captains Jamie and Deb Winkler, who are the officers stationed at the Harbor Light, was truly remarkable to experience. They opened our eyes to the diversity and beauty that Detroit has to offer.

This summer has been full of fellowship, ministry, and God’s grace. Everyone on the central team has learned so much about the world and God’s work in it. As God continues to move through the places we visited, we pray that the people we’ve encountered continue to grow in faith and learn to follow God’s will.