Patterson shared his stories and pictures from the trip with the office staff. He began with sharing a video from the classroom with the student leaders in colorful dress singing and dancing. Although the staff could not understand what they were saying, it was very clear that they were giving praise to our Lord and Savior. He shared stories from his encounter with many students as he encouraged and taught them. “They showed very little emotion, but I knew they were engaging in the conversation and sensed the moving of the Holy Spirit in our sessions.” There were pictures of beautiful landscapes, mountain ranges, lakes and grass fields. We saw photos of animals native to Africa, giraffes, elephants, zebras, and birds of all kind. It was a time of celebration as Pastor Tim delighted in sharing his adventure.

“All is good. My hotel has mosquito netting. I will sleep well tonight!” he had posted while on the trip. When asked what the meals were like, Pastor Tim showed a photo of 5 bowls on an overturned crate and responded, “This was an excellent meal, this was the good food.” The beans and rice were recognizable to all. As he continued to click through the pictures, his smile soon disappeared, he began to shake his head and spoke softly. The images were of the heavily populated area of the city, poverty, poor housing, dilapidated and dirty areas. These were the slums where filth and sewage ran between the houses in open trenches. Hoses that carried the household drinking water lay caked in sludge. Silence had fallen across the room because there were no words for this. The group longed to go back to the beautiful pictures and pretend the latter didn’t exist, but they do exist - in Africa, North America and even in Michigan. The slums and hopelessness are on God’s heart, so they should be a part of Michigan's plans too!