Paper Planes

Raw emotion and passion. Charlotte, NC equated to both of these ideals. This service immersion trip, for the brothers that participated, has affected our lives immensely.

It was a perfect sunny morning for service. We first helped out a transitional house for families that are trying to get back on their feet. Stacy, the house mom, shared her passion for service and explained why she does what she does—it was her calling. She worked in retail for a big part of her life, but knew she had a better purpose. This purpose is what brought her to Charlotte. The brothers had a great time raking up leaves in the backyard of the house and we knocked this out fairly quickly. All of us were excited for what the rest of the day would bring us.

We were next at Harvest Church, whom help out with serving hot meals, provide day shelter services, and have community outreach projects. There we learned the story of Pastor Barbara Brewton-Cameron, who had passed away 7 years ago, and how determined she was to “take back the city.” The program offers several opportunities for the community to come together and unite. Our duties included organizing the backstage area, mopping the walking track, and helping out with throwing out some excess trash they had. What really stuck with me was the fact that one woman was able to do all of this for her community.

As being servant leaders for our campus and community, we all have the power to do something special like Pastor Barbara Brewton-Cameron. I can only imagine if she were still here the stories she would share with us. Its people like her that keep me motivated to serve. Her story left a huge impact on us.The next trip was to the Salvation Army.

Here we met one of the most enthusiastic woman in the world, Juanita. She was one of the head kitchen volunteers at this Salvation Army and was extremely ecstatic when she saw all of us show up and ready to help out. You could tell she was humble and appreciative of each and every one use. The moment we showed up to the kitchen, she had us working immediately. We were grabbing all the donated sandwiches, salads, chips, etc. We lined them up in the kitchen and half of us got split to serve the food and half of us of helped families take food to their tables. The interactions we had were truly genuine.

I met a three year old who seemed really bored and I decided to make him a paper airplane. He had the most curious expression on his face; it was priceless. After I made the airplane and flew it over to him, his face lit up. It’s funny how we forget sometimes the innocence children have and how simple things can make someone’s day. I must have flown the airplane back and forth with him over 40 times and every time he caught it, it was the same excited and happy emotion he had when he first caught it.

I’ve never left a service project feeling happy, satisfied, yet frustrated. On one end I was happy that I could spend that little amount of time with that child and made his day. However, the frustrating part is not knowing what the future holds for him or any of the other children there. You hope their parents will find a better job in order for them to prosper. You hope they’ll find a permanent home for themselves to live out their lives. You hope they will somehow make a better life for themselves.

Our last service event was service the homeless of Charlotte in the streets. Emotionally, this impacted me the most. We started at 6 a.m. and the line was endless; we worked with a church group called Church on the Street. We served all types of breakfast foods to them. This type of experience really shows how privileged we all are. We have nothing to complain about. We have a shelter over our heads. We have food, we have money, and we have parents and family that will help us if we need anything—they don’t have any of that. This opportunity to help serve the homeless in the Charlotte community was eye opening and another humbling experience.

We all noticed a pattern throughout our service this weekend. The conditions these families lived became worse and worse as we progressed through the weekend. It was a raw experience.

Being in APO for three years has really taught me how necessary service is, but I didn’t truly understand it until this trip. There are people like us out in the real world that help these people on a daily basis—this is their livelihood and we appreciated all of their efforts.

To all the brothers and future brothers, I highly recommend for you to participate in these service immersion trips. We really were truly immersed in the service and have come closer together and have formed such strong relationships. We laughed together and we cried together.

During reflection, personal stories were shared and we were all there to comfort each other. I’ve never been a part of something so organic, real and lasting. Being a brother in APO is being a vessel of service—to serve your community and beyond. I’m truly proud to be a brother and I will hold these experiences with me for the rest of my life.

Edited by: Megan Burpo