This is the real Aidan Williams this time, I swear I’m not making 300 posts.
Last year I was a participant on the Dallas trip and we served with Wesley-Rankin Community Center as well as Jonathan’s Place which provided housing and services to children in the Foster care system. This year I am one of the co-trip leaders and we are serving at Wesley-Rankin with our Monday at Vogel Alcove which provides educational services to children whose families are facing homelessness. Even though there’s a lot of similarities in the trip there’s a lot of differences too, both obvious and not so obvious.
We have new participants, new advisors (they’re the most bomb advisors ever, ask the Colorado trip), new housing, new and evolved social issues. So far, my biggest takeaway has been that community is important. Community is the guiding factor that binds us in all situations. This may be community through language, education, location, religion or any other sort of guiding factors. But through it all, community is what allows us to stand together against hard conditions and situations. There is a lot going on in Dallas in the areas and social issues we are serving and no explanation would be most appropriate or most accurate. The one thing to keep in mind in the end is that we must encourage, empower, and equip communities in everything that they do.
Outside of our social issue and community partners, the group dynamic is far different being a leader instead of a participant. My first concern is what others are getting out of it. It’s not about me, it’s about them through all we do. Our service, education, and plan of action in regards to our social issue here and back home is my first concern with the participants. The most rewarding part of the trip has been seeing how the participants have soared in these areas. After an orientation meeting at Wesley-Rankin on Monday, the participants reorganized and implemented an EduCamp based on identity, reading, and other games and activities. Sarah and I approached it with a hands-off attitude, letting our participants take charge in leading and managing the camp. Seeing them actively use skills and knowledge in this community sets them up to make an impact back in Springfield. They skipped from Step Two to Step Six on our goals for the trip. And this is Tuesday! I am crazy excited to see how the rest of the trip will pan out and how we are able to serve within the Dallas area.