It wasn't exactly like being at a dig in Israel ...

"...faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
ROMANS 10:17

Today I did something I have always wanted to do ... no, I did not get to go to Israel and participate in a "dig" (but should the Lord allow it in my future, I will). Instead, I had the opportunity to be part of a highway clean-up to raise money for the Street Ministry at Kuyper College. I have often seen people (probably prisoners or other folk doing community service of some sort) wearing bright orange vests, carrying trash bags and picking up junk along the highway. I HATE trash and litter along the highway, and so I have always had the inclination to go and pick it up when I see it. Today, I not only picked up trash along the highway, but I personally raised $20 towards the purchase of 40 New Testaments (50 cents each) that are given away on the streets of downtown Grand Rapids each Saturday night by the team of young people from Kuyper College. I received an e-mail about this endeavor a few weeks ago and decided I was "in", and then asked Mr. Jones if he wanted to participate as well -- and he did!

At noon today, Mr. Jones and I arrived at Kuyper. Dylan was there waiting for us, along with seven other people who had signed up for the job, and another guy (Pete) met us at the site, so there were eleven of us altogether. We got in two vehicles and drove up the E. Beltline and then were dropped off in two's along I-96 between E. Beltline and Cascade Road. This was our assigned area to clean, both sides of the highway. We each had two large official M-DOT garbage bags in hand, and away we went!

Mr. Jones and I worked well together. One would hold the bag open while the other dropped all manner of items into it. Starbuck's was well-represented along the highway, as well as various fast-food containers, straws, items of clothing, gum wrappers and packages, cigarette butts (thousands -- but we didn't pick those up) and cigarette packages, plastic Meijer bags, blown out semi-truck tires, road-kill (we didn't pick those up either!), plastic oil bottles, car parts, highway signage and parts, various and sundry cardboard boxes, styrofoam, etc.)
Here is Mr. Jones, who handily brought a small Meijer bag along JUST IN CASE there were any returnables found along the road (and I think we found eight)! So we gave those to the fellow in charge so that he could return them and put 80 more cents towards the purchase of New Testaments!
It looks like I'm holding a REALLY BIG trick-or-treat bag, but this is the official M-DOT Adopt-A-Highway bag to use when doing the clean-up. Each team of two filled four bags. One team actually filled six (they had a particularly dirty off-ramp to clean). I didn't realize how steep the side of the highway is and how terribly deep the grass is along side it -- it made for some difficult walking at times.
Two Kuyper students on the opposite side of I-96 busy cleaning ... I cannot remember their names. I do remember Brad (a close friend of Dylans), Camren (the one in charge), Pete, Rachel, possibly a Shelley (?), and no other names come to mind!
Look how HUGE these signs are! I've driven by them a million times and didn't realize they were this big. While I was walking along the highway with trucks and cars zooming on by, tripping in ruts and sinking in mud along the road, it felt pretty adventuresome! I guess you could say it was kind of like archeology -- we had a wide stretch of highway to cover, we definitely had to go looking for items (trash though they be) that were a representation of our culture and history, etc. I liked the experience very much. More than that, though, the two hours we worked raised $220 to purchase 440 New Testaments! Isn't that awesome? This is what the LORD says:

"As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater,

SO IS MY WORD that goes forth from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for
which I sent it."
ISAIAH 55:10-11