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National Homeless Youth Outreach
January 2- 11, 2009
Homeless
Youth Articles
click here to see pictures and read
journals about the 2005 & 2006 Rainbow Trips!
Team meeting: (everyone coming must attend)
Saturday, December 6th at 1pm.
If interested in
attending info meetings contact us ASAP sourcemn@juno.com
(612) 462-3873
If you can't come for the trip but want to help bring some
socks that we will give away at the gathering.
In January
2009, we will return to the woods of Ocala Florida for a National
Homeless Youth Outreach trip. We will camp in the woods for
a week and join others in hosting a kitchen as well as a prayer
tent. To learn more of the history and vision behind Rainbow
gatherings go here.
Every year during the winter homeless youth gather
at a regional Rainbow Gathering (Gathering of nomads, travelers,
and homeless that includes the presence of drugs, humanism,
and "Hippie" lifestyle and values). Many of the homeless youth
we will come in contact with will travel throughout the country
including Minneapolis in the next year.
Each time we go to gatherings to serve it is a
powerful time. Our team will be entering into a sub-culture
that is extremely skeptical of the Christian faith and anything
that looks main-stream or religious. When you spend a week living
with people in the woods you are able to make contact and gain
trust in a short amount of time. Our past teams have gotten
to know individuals very well and this has resulted in seeing
the reality of young people coming out of tragic backgrounds.
It will be a time of praying, training, serving and outreach:
Hosting a kitchen, serving 100's of meals, worship around the
camp fire, drum jams, painting, spiritually significant conversations,
and prayer will all be part of this outreach.
The Rainbow Gathering:
Several times a year, thousands of hippies, homeless
youth, and other people from fringe subcultures gather in national
forests to form community. Many of these young people are lost,
angry, or alienated from the church, and have little to no interest
in Christianity or organized religion. Many are dependent on
drugs or bad relationships, many are homeless and travel from
Gathering to Gathering year round, and their lives lack structure,
support, and stability. Our goal is to be a light in darkness,
serving the needs of these wounded people through the empowering
love of Jesus. To learn more about Rainbow Gatherings and the
people behind it go here.
TRAINING
You'll have the opportunity to receive training from Source
staff and other experienced ministry staff about alternative
subcultures, hear stories about their experiences, and prepare
for our ministry time at the Gathering. We will also spend time
together worshipping and praying for one another.
What to bring: We will be Camping:
Come prepared to be backwoods camping - outside in tents for
the full time we will be in Florida (including the prep day
and wrap-day in Tampa area). Bring small 2-4 person tent (OK
if don't have one), sleeping bag & air mattresses (may be
as cold as 40 degrees at night), drinking bottle, bliss-ware
(plate/bowl, mug, silverware), personal hygiene, hiking boats,
prayer journal, Bible, instruments, art supplies, and great
attitude.
Cost
$150, plus Travel to Tampa, FL, and food money for 3-4 meals.
The $150 will not cover travel to Tampa, FL. It will go for
the food, equipment, transportation in Tampa and from Tampa
to Ocala.
itinerary:
January 2-11, 2009.
(tentative schedule)
Arrive in Tampa Friday, January 2
Prep days/training : January 2-4
Head into woods : January 5-10
Head home Sunday, January 11
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