“SSP! Everybody’s gone serving, serving in SD... San Diego!”

This was the theme song of the week, sung in the tune of the Beach Boys. It really sums up our week’s adventure because not only did we serve as a church, The Fountains UMC, but every other group there served their little hearts out.

We were split into work teams that were sent out into various areas of the city to perform different tasks ranging from painting houses to building an awning to doing environmental work in the canyons of San Diego.

However, we didn’t only serve the community, we also served each other.

Each person who went on this trip had an amazing story to tell, and it was a blessing to be able to sit down with them and just have a conversation.

It was like being a little kid and being allowed to open up the treasure box to pick a prize, only in this case the person was the box and their story the prize.

And over the span of the week you went from feeling like a fish out of water to being on a family vacation with extended family. We took trips to places like Tijuana, Mexico, where we listened to the heart-wrenching stories of deportees or stood in united silence at Sunset Bluff during our Spirit Walk.

The week was dedicated to rejuvenating the soul and just getting away from the chaos of today’s society.

In total confidence between us, it was the best trip The Fountains UMC has taken thus far!

Besides me, others who went were Bruce Ferguson, Nat Felten, Marissa Diamond, Connor Wodynski, Jordan Wodynski, Tiger Elwood, Lucas Elwood, Everett Pall and Kinley Ragan. Adults who went were David Felten, Dave Ragan and Denise Regeski.