Stories From Rome

I got home from the mission trip to Rome at midnight on Sat. night (or Sun. Morn) and I had an amazing time. As far as missions go the trip was great, no major problems and we found many, many refugees to feed and get to know. My guess is that over our entire trip we probably came in contact with and were able to give at least one meal to about 130-150 different men (and 2 wemon). Many of these may have been one-timers but probably 80-90 of them we saw more than once.

It's so easy to have an "us and them" mentality when we are preparing for the trip. But once we get there I cannot help but be moved by thier stories and the fact that they are human beings, not too much unlike me and my friends. They have pride in their homeland and they miss thier families. They have inncredibly hard lives, but they have hope that there is something better. They are real people who have needs and wants, likes and dislikes.

The first night we took hot soup to the train station we found a few guys who went to get some of thier friends. All of the sudden about 20 guys come running around the corner. At first i think many of us were a little alarmed. The tensions between the people groups combined with the frantic nature of life on the streets could cause riots which would be very dangerous. So the guys running around the corner scared me a little bit. But then they stoped and began laughing as one made a sort of "yes" and "I win" gesture with his hands. After a couple of slaps on the back we realized they had been racing.

How often have I seen guys on campus racing to something just for fun, or have Les and I both took off running to "race" somewhere for really no reason. These guys have really difficult lives but they are still humans being just like me. I can't help but want to help them just because I would hope someone would do the same for me. It's amazing how going half way around the world opens my eyes to people in my normal circles who also deserve the same compasion and grace from me that I want to offer to the men in Rome.

Karen