We LOVED our experience here!
One of my favorite parts of the year is hosting mission teams.
Every summer, and many other time throughout the year, teams come to Denver to serve alongside us. They help make breakfast at day labor, grill burgers on Colfax, spend time in the Family Room, and learn why we do ministry the way we do.
I love that they get to serve, but what I really love is that they get to understand more about root causes of poverty and meet someone who starts to change their perspective.
We want people to see that lasting change doesn't happen because of one meal or one volunteer day. It happens through showing up consistently, building relationships, and creating opportunities for people to move toward stability and well-being.
That's why our weeks are spent learning AND serving. We spend time talking about the realities of homelessness, addiction, trauma, and poverty. We explain why we know people's names. Why we eat with our neighbors instead of simply serving them. Why we've spent ten years investing in one neighborhood instead of trying to do a little bit everywhere.
One of my favorite moments each week is watching things start to click. A conversation over dinner. Someone realizing that the person they're talking with isn't very different from them. A volunteer beginning to understand that hope grows through relationship, not transactions.
At the end of the week, we ask teams for feedback. Here are a few things they shared:
"Thank you, this was a wonderful trip full of new insights and perspectives."
"Trainings and serve opportunities were great! Not too overwhelming but just enough to balance getting hands-on work with visually learning the strategy. Super grateful for the leadership of JOC! Kayla and Becca are incredible leaders that are compassionate for their community—believers and nonbelievers."
"We LOVED our experience here! I felt like the staff was very present, informative, and welcoming. Great people to work alongside and learn from!"
These weeks are encouraging because they remind me that our mission is bigger than East Colfax. Every team that comes here returns home with a different perspective on ministry, on poverty, and on what it means to love their own neighbors well. If that changes the way one church serves its community, the impact extends far beyond Denver.
If you've ever thought about bringing a group to serve with us, we'd love to host you. We still have a few opportunities this fall, and we're already scheduling teams for next spring and summer. Whether you're a youth group, college ministry, or adult team, we'd love to help your church experience what God is doing on Colfax while learning practical ways to love your own community well.
Send Relief is a huge help in organizing our mission trips. Click on the link below to learn more or reserve a week. We'd love to serve alongside you.
Thank you to every team that has spent part of your summer with us. Thank you for asking hard questions, working hard, and being willing to learn. We hope you leave with more than memories. We hope you leave with a vision for what it looks like to faithfully show up where God has placed you.
Kayla Horne
Executive Director