Today’s post was written by students on the Pittsburgh Missions Trip

Wake up! Wake up! It’s 4:30 a.m.! “It’s a happy day”, but really we were all struggling to get out of bed without biting each others heads off. We were on a mission to watch the sunrise and pray over the city of Pittsburgh at the highest hill looking over the city. On our way up the incline riding the trolley, waking up a little bit more, the beautiful scenery took our breath away. We spent time alone with Jesus as the sun rose to pray for Pittsburgh and our last day of ministry. After a moving time in prayer and a breakfast of cold Pop-tarts we took a sleepy drive back to home base to take some naps.

Good morning, finally being able to communicate with one another, Dave challenged us to devote at least half an hour of our unusually abundant free time to God. It was a time to reflect over this week and realize how God used us all to change the lives of complete strangers. Now we know we can take back this spiritual realization to our own city.

Big internal changes lead to big appetites, especially in a group of sleep-deprived teenagers. We drove to Primanti Brothers to eat sandwiches that were bigger than our faces. They come with coleslaw, tomatoes, and French fries in the actual sandwich.

We went into our last leg of ministry to pick up garbage on the north side of town and pray over Light of Life, a homeless ministry in the area. We walked around a couple blocks picking up some trash. The goal was to spread the love that we have for this city. After a hot afternoon, we got treated to some old-fashioned snow cones. We just sat in the shade enjoying our snow cones and the strong fellowship that we all share.

After returning home and cleaning out the entire church, not just the areas we stayed in, we went into our final team meeting. We shared the highlights of the day and of the week, and then we did something different. We went around in a circle sharing our love for each other, making our relationships even stronger than they already were. Our love for God and the people around us has grown an outstanding amount, and we hope to continue this mission into our lives every day. We’re excited to come home to our families, but we are sad to leave the city that has taught us to love.

In other news, hi mom, my finger isn’t dead, but it is a considerable shade of purple. –kenzie

Exhausted from my three mile run today with the family, can’t wait to share my experience with you guys! –Kathia