All over... or is it?

Wow! I can't believe my 10 days in DC are over. I am kinda glad, cause I really miss all my friends at home. This trip has been very interesting and eye opening for me. A lot of topics were addressed that I didn't even think were topics needing to be addressed. We started off the week unable to agree on anything, debating over everything. The need to always be right was always present. As the week went on, it lessened and was definitely more bearable.
Going to all of the different ministry sites was very intriguing and finding out what they do and why they do it. We went to:

• N Street Village - for women only
• Community of Hope - mainly families
• Arlington Nazarene - partnered with others
• Gospel Rescue Mission - mostly men with a few women

We saw the liberal side where they focused on the physical side and not on the spiritual aspect and moved toward the conservative side where they were really focused on the spiritual side but still met the physical needs.
So now my goal is to figure out what the balance is. How do we not separate them and address them together. As we have been going through the week, a reoccurring question has been what is the gospel? Well, the gospel is good news. And good news to a homeless person is shelter. So how can we show/tell the good news to people.
Also what is the definition of church? Did we have church this week? We had food together, shared together, learned together, met together...
The homeless simulation was very interesting as well. I learned many stereo types that I have put on people. The church doesn't always give their best to the people in need. Why aren't we? Homeless also have other needs that we are not providing for. However, because we are not homeless, we think that we have all the answers for them... but we don't! We need to be in communication with them and in cooperation with other churches to figure out how we can really help.
So as I leave this trip, its not about what I thought for the moment, its how I apply it to my life and not forget it. So as I leave, I am thinking of these questions...
What is our specific call from God?
How do we show his love effectively?
Are our thoughts pre-conditioned by the way we were raised or by society? Are they necessarily right? Can we afford or even need to change them?