Student Mission: Lewiston Maine - Julianna's View

Such a variety of numerous and unique people reside in Lewiston, Maine!

As we are about halfway through this trip, we have already experienced so much. Monday night we had the opportunity to be part of World Relief Day 2018 Celebration Jen the park of downtown Lewiston. This celebration consisted of music, dancing, food tastings, and multiple booths set up with refugee support resources, and lots and lots of soccer! Wednesday night we were served goat and camel meat which was a first for most of us!

Aside from those things, let me tell you about what is truly important - how the Lord is working. Our team is residing in a community full of refugees. This means people with different backgrounds, languages, skin color, apparel, etc. It’s a little bit of a culture shock. Many people here do not look and sound like us and devastatingly, do not believe in the one true God we serve. For me personally, I realized that subconsciously there has always been something holding me back from interacting with Muslim specifically. Well, can you guess who we are most closely interacting with? Muslims! And I’m so grateful, because I have discovered that they are humans just like you and me. They love to have fun, converse with others, sing, laugh, dance, etc. The biggest thing that the Lord has revealed and taught me this week so far is not to be so quick to judge. Just because someone does not look, act, or believe the same as I do, does not mean they are unapproachable or any less of a person. The same God who created me, created them in his image as well. And let me tell you, these people are so fearfully and wonderfully made! I am so blessed to be part of the summer youth internship. Seeing each and every one of the students step out of their comfort zone, open up, and Having a willingness to serve in any and every situation has been one of the highlights of this trip. The Lord is vividly working through each one of the students this week. As we spend a lot of our time leading a summer program for the kids in the community, the love being poured out from both our team and the kids here is beautiful. The Holy Spirit is at work and the impact that is being made is so evident. We came through the Experience Mission program and are partnering with a local organization called The Root Cellar. Please pray for seeds to continue to be planted and watered throughout the remainder of the week as we close out. May we be a vessel for His glory always.