I just got back from an amazing week. My youth group went to help out with Project Awestruck, and it was the greatest experience. I wasn't sure about how it would go. I mean, sleeping on the floor in a gym at night, and spending all day doing work projects? I was hesitant. But once the week started, it was amazing!

The first work day, I was at a nursing home called the Waters of Seymour. We were suposed to socialize with the old people and help them play bingo in the afternoon. I was assigned to spend time with an old man named Ray. Ray was in a wheelchair and could not communicate much as all. He was trapped inside his body, even though mentally, he was still normal. I had no idea what to do. Ray didn't want to look at picture books or have me read to him. Blowing bubbles wasn't even interesting to him. So just messing around, I blew up a balloon and started tossing it around. Ray raised his arm and hit the balloon back to me! He wanted to play catch! We had so much fun playing with the balloon. A couple other old ladies wheeled up to us, and we all hit the balloon back and forth in a circle. It was a simple game, but it made their day. 

The next day, we were at a group home for teen girls called Youth Hope. A big group went outside, in the pouring rain, to blaze trails throughout their woods. I stayed inside with a few others and painted the basement, while talking with a few girls who lived there. It was fun, but I felt like I wasn't making much of an impact at all.

The next day, I was at a food pantry called The Anchor House. We helped them go through a bunch of stuff they had in the donation bay, and then we helped run the pantry while people came in to shop. It was set up like a small grocery store. Two families came in at a time, and they each get a cart, and start shopping. We saw many "customers" and got to talk with them while they "shopped". Later, a woman came in who looked like she was having trouble walking. I talked to her while she was shopping, and I found out she had just had a C-section 5 days ago. She got to the bread section and asked if we had more bread, because we only had two loaves sitting there. I told her she could take them because she needed them. After she left, I felt bad because I had given the last of the bread away, and the next person wouldn't have any bread. Right after that, a huge donation came in, including a bunch of bread. God had answered our needs. It was awesome.

Later that day, our whole group went out to dinner at Ryan's buffet. Our waitress was a really cool hyper lady who told us a bunch of jokes, and played the straw flute for us. There was an older lady in the resturant turning 95, and our waitress asked for us all to come and sing to her. We did, and everybody lined up to give her a hug. After that, we collected a large tip for our waitress and gave it to her. She told us that her husband had lost his job recently, and had appealed for unemployment, and just won. She said that we helped her out a lot by giving her that tip.

Altogether it was a great week. We helped people a lot, and it was a lot of fun. I hope to go back to Project Awestruck next year. To everyone I worked with, thanks. It was an amazing experience.

Amanda Stahl, Participant
Indianapolis, Indiana