Grace Lieb, Missionary

Dear Saints John & Paul,
 
My name is Grace Lieb and I would like to tell you about this amazing experience I had last week. Going on mission trips in the past, you never think that you could be changed or witness God in a way like that before... once again I was proved wrong. The people we met, the inspiration that was shown, and the witness to the faith that was seen this week was tremendous.

When most people think of the homeless, they think of people on the streets who screwed up their life and many of us with out knowing pass them by all the time. The people that we met this week showed us that yes, they have gone through a rough part of their life but not all of them are there because of that. Madison had her life together she did things the right way and all of a sudden one thing happened and she found herself in a camp. Brian, probably the funniest person I have ever met. He laughed at everything! He could make helping clean the piles and piles of trash out of theses camps seem not that bad. Yes Brian struggled with an alcohol problem but he was a joy filled person none the less. These homeless people showed us that that’s all they are us just people trying to live there life. We don’t realize it but many of these people are living right under our noses and we lose the chance to meet them and share our lives with them so often.

Additionally, the inspiration shown this week throughout from both the light of life leaders and the people right here on our team. We got to hear the testimonies of a few of the light of life workers who had gone through their program and how a few months ago they were in jail or od on heroine or had an alcohol addiction. Now a few months later these guys were clean, devoted their lives to not only serving light of life but ultimately God. These guys were able to say they had hit their lows and God brought them out of it. It was such an amazing blessing to get to serve beside these inspirational guys. Many people on our team also showed inspiration by their example of service. When we cleaned out the camps there were people who would step up and really get into the gross smelling trash and clear it all out. Another time someone with a boot in our group proceeded to do the most work out of anyone saying “just because I am in a boot doesn’t mean I can’t work just as hard”. Another person spent the entire women and child’s picnic holding and living on a kiddo so the mom could get a break. These and many others were so inspirational in how they wanted to serve and would do it in any way possible and found a true joy in serving others. It was such a blessing to get to work with these people and I just want them to know...I love you all.

Last, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to the Light of Life staff who were so welcoming and showed us that the face of God is right in front of us in the people around us. Thank you Saints John & Paul, thank you for the support and prayers u shared with each and everyone of us on the trip. Thank you to the chaperones, who did such an amazing job of leading is through the week. Thank you to my team of people I worked beside everyday for the last week I’m so grateful for getting to share this amazing experience with you. Thank you all for allowing this trip to happen. It has been truly amazing and I am so blessed to say I was a part of it.

Thanks, God Bless,
—Grace Lieb, Missionary