Witnessing in Washington DC!!!

Day 39: Friday, November 28th-

This day was CRAZY!!!! And I loved it! The entire orientation group headed up in tour buses on a mission to explore DC, meet some people from the country where we will serve, pray, and spread love. When we first arrived my group for the day decided to take part with some other groups in going to a large catholic church there. We went and walked around in the church and it was a gorgeous church with ornate architecture and detailed murals and mosaics throughout. But it almost gave me a sick feeling at my stomach because there were people praying to saints and there were mostly statues of Mary and praise to here rather than to God and to Christ. While there we sat and began to pray for the people who were part of this idle/saint worship and also the misinterpretation of Mary within the catholic church. Amy and I meet some nuns, and were able to talk to them about what we believe as Christians, then we realized everyone was waiting for us to go and eat some lunch.

After we left the church we journeyed across town to go to a Peruvian restaurant called "El Pollo Rico" or "The Rich Chicken". We had a delicious meal of chicken and steak fries! I had expected it to be a sit-down type restaurant but it was more like a fast-food place with a really small menu, but it was very tasty so we all enjoyed ourselves. I love the drink Inca because it reminds me of Fanta. I can't wait to drink it everyday when I am in Peru. Then Ellen, Misty, Amy and I decided to branch off from the South American group and start seeing the sights. It was fun trying to figure out the subways and get around but we made it to the Washington memorial. But before we got there I said, "man this day is about sharing with people when is that going to happen?" No one really responded.

Then we started to run up this little hill and I saw that it would be a great place for a group picture, so I turned to these 4 guys standing there and asked them to take a picture of us. They did and it was a great picture! :) Then we noticed that these guys had a french accents, and we asked them where they were from. They said they were from Quebec, and I started to say everything I knew in French, and then Misty said the phrase from Moulin Rouge, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir", and I said Misty don't say that, that means will you sleep with me in French. By this point Amy had already started talking to one of the guys about Jesus and said that we were Christians. As soon as we meet them my heart started to beat really fast and I knew that this is why we were in DC, and so I said a really quite prayer to God for him to give us the words to say. I also God to give us an opportunity to share with them. And so it was Misty, Ellen and I talking to these three other guys. They said well are you all virgins because you are Christians. Then I don't know why I said this but responded right away with yes, and then so did Ellen. Misty then said you know I am not a virgin but I used to be into drugs, alcohol, and sex but realized that those were things that can't bring joy and love to life, and that ONLY Jesus Christ can. Then we learned after great conversation with these guys that Alex was atheist, and the other two guys were catholic. They asked us about what we believed and it was just a powerful time that the Holy Spirit worked through us and gave us the words to say to these guys. I asked Alex what he believed and shared that life was just something we must live to the fullest and then I asked him well what happens after you die, and he said nothing its just over. Then we were sharing some more and talking some more and then Alex looked back at me like he was a little confused, and said, "You know I am afraid to die because I don't know where I am going to go, and it's cool that you know where you are going to go". Then we shared with him that it is only through Jesus we know where we are going to go after we die. Then we talked alittle bit with the two Catholic guys about how we don't have to go through the priest or Mary to talk to God but we can talk to Him directly. So it was really cool to share and plant some seeds with these guys. So please be praying for these three guys we shared with as well as the guy Amy shared with. Then after talking with them a really long time we went and saw the Lincoln Memorial, and then rushed back to the Union Station so we wouldn't miss the 5pm departure time.