This past week I got the opportunity to go with a group of college students on a service trip to Waco, Texas. And while I have been on many missions trips, I have never been exposed to what I saw and encountered this past week to the extent that I did. Let’s just say there is a lot more there than just the beautiful Magnolia silos.

So here are some things that I’ve learned from a week in Waco.

1. You have to meet people where they are.

On our very first day, we arrived at the Magnolia silos where something called “Church Under the Bridge” was happening. It’s basically a church that formed when someone started putting on services for homeless people underneath one of the bridges in Waco. But since that bridge is under construction, they hosted the service at the silos.

The first thing we were told to do is go off and just meet people - just go up to them and get to know them. This was a little uncomfortable though… knowing that these people were in a totally different place. Some just got out of prison. Some had been homeless for years. Others had addictions. But yet they were asking us to meet those people where they were at.

And it was beautiful.

It wasn’t comfortable, but it was beautiful. And meeting people where they’re at is exactly what Jesus did and exactly what He wants us to do too.

2. You can do much with little.

Although some of these people had tough stories that had caused them much pain, a lot of them chose joy through it.

I met a man named Gregory who suffered from a stroke 10 years ago. He had to lift his right hand with his left hand just to shake mine when we met. He was on his own. He didn’t have a home.

But he had faith. And he felt blessed.

We were also able to run something called Street Camp during our time in Waco where we went door to door and knocked on these apartments, asking for young kids between the ages of 5 to 11. We’d bring the kids to a central area and just play with them, maybe sing some songs, teach a lesson, and really just make them feel loved.

There was a little boy by the name of Jeremiah at Street Camp who was struggling with his temper and frustration with other kids. But he sat in my lap as people from our group explained the Easter story. He started asking me questions.

“But where does God live?”

I pointed to his heart. “He lives in here. And all around you. And He’s telling you that He loves you and that He’s so proud of you.”

“So… He’s got a house… in my heart?!” he asked. 

I laughed and told him yes. He began answering some of the questions, and his temper and frustration went away. Then he stopped.

“Wait, I think I hear Him telling me something,” he said with his hand over his heart.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“He’s telling me ‘Good job,’” he said innocently.

Jeremiah now has that seed of hope. And faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. I pray that He and all those kids remember that the little they have can go far.

3. Everyone brings something to the table.

So often in corporate America, we see people constantly looking for the best of the best. We see people chasing after crazy success, lots of money, and their name on a billboard sign. The best are selected, and the rest feel neglected. What we forget to realize is how important it is to bring out the gifts in others… because everyone has a gift.

I was able to meet a little 8-year-old girl named Ta’riyah while I was there. She challenged me to race her on our very first day, and little Ta’riyah smoked me. In fact, she smoked everyone she tried to race - both girls and boys.

So I told her that she had a gift. I told her that I was going to see her run in the Olympics one day. Every single day, she wanted to race, and every single day, I told her how talented she was.

On our last day together, Ta’riyah was eating a hot dog with chili cheese on it and looked at me with panic.“I can’t eat this!” she exclaimed. 

I asked her why not.

“If I’m gonna start training, I got to eat healthy!! I need a salad!”

It melted my heart to know that I had brought a gift to light for her and that she was ready to start training because of how I built her up. Everyone brings something to the table.

What’s really powerful is when you bring those things to light.

4. We are called to look up.

Sometimes God puts things on our hearts, but we are the ones who have to choose to listen. 

During Street Camp, we passed by an apartment where we heard a kid screaming. I knocked on the door, which even from outside reeked of drugs. Nobody answered. We walked by again, and I felt God pressing to go knock on that door again. A disoriented man with glazed-over eyes answered. Two small children peaked up at me with big brown eyes. He said they were too young for the camp.

Heart-broken for those babies, I continued knocking on doors, but could not shake the thought of seeing those two kids in that environment.

I decided to knock again. And this time, I told him I didn’t care that they were too young - I wanted them to come with us. 

They clung to us and screamed when we were back at their apartment door, having to drop them off by the day’s end. My heart broke more.

We are called to look up. I pray that the love we gave those two kids sticks with them for a long time, but that never would have happened if I hadn’t looked up. There are people in your community and maybe even in your backyard that struggle with these same kinds of things.

Look up.

5. We are called to love.

Loving others is a message God has been trying to pound into my heart and mind. I can get so stuck on me that I forget the greatest commandment of all: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This isn’t so easy to do. Not when you’re dealing with homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes, or criminals. But Jesus met those people where they were, took what little they had and blessed it, made a place for all, and loved the heck out of them.

So as I come home I am inspired to do just that. There are people in your state, in your community, heck, even in your backyard that need you. That need you to meet them where they’re at. That need you to accept what they have to give. That need you to show them what they have to offer the world. That need your love. 

Now the question is - what are you going to do about it?