I think the word that best describes my feelings about this year’s Summer of Service in DC is longing._ We were a small group of kids; roughly thirty-five to forty BCs and others from the Christian Love Baptist Church. I have to admit, I had a preconceived notion about SFP this year. I had heard from many people that it was going to be a far smaller group than the previous two years, and that bothered me. How could we do as much or achieve as great a result as the past two years if we had such a small group? I determined that I would go however, and I have to tell you, it was worth it._ Many thanks to Norbert Szolnoky, the Berndt family, David and Kendra Stein, all the team captains, Rev. Brown, and everyone else who did the home stays for out-of-town kids. I stayed at the Bowie youth center, and the Berndts and the Steins couldn’t have been more accommodating. Kendra and the others can cook, I have to tell ya. _ The first day of SFP this year was a sort of icebreaker for everyone. We stayed at the church and played games, did activities, and painted one of the walls in the church with an SFP logo. That day was important, because it opened everyone up to each other. _ Over the course of the week, we went to an aquatic park and dug through foliage and gardens, went to a political rally, cleaned out an inner-city school (and salvaged many musical instruments), and then on the last two days, we went to a farm out in Maryland called Garden Harvest. The man who owned the farm, only known to us as "Mr. Jim," had us erect a fence across one of his fields for his horses, and then we spent the night on his farm. That was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had. We all sat around a freshly dug fire pit, and the thirty of us sang songs, offered spontaneous performances (highlights of the night were Jin Schrattenecker and Emerson Lykes, Kyla Quinn singing "Sweet Child O’ Mine," and Theresa Moffitt singing this awesome song from Sister Act 2. Some of the shyer kids opened up that night and offered testimonies or songs, and we all went to sleep that night in our tents feeling elated and refreshed.

The next morning was damp and cold, but we were all ready for the day. We ate toasted bagels over a fire that Danny Wetzstein made, and after breakfast Norbs took us all over to Mr. Jim’s other farm. Once there, he showed us a thicket of trees that he needed cut down. David Moffitt started hacking down the trees with an ax, and the rest of us went to it with hacksaws. We cleared away about twenty five trees, and hauled them to a nearby pile. _ After that was done, Norbert drove us to a lake that we could swim in. Nobody really felt like it, though; we mostly just used the showers. Plus, five or six of us (myself included) were a bit sick, so chilling out under the shade and playing guitar seemed like a better use of time. _ The bus driver was patient; he had to deal with thirty smelly, tired, loud kids for an hour and a half long drive on the way back to the church. But it was extremely fun._ This year was such a good experience. We all became like brothers and sisters, and their were more than a few sad faces when we all had to leave. I feel like Bowie, MD is my second home, and even though I live so far away, I need to go back there soon or I’ll go crazy._ Because the youth center still has my stuff. ;)_

Tymon

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