Today we had what felt like an early morning and trekked over to GLIDE to pack and prepare meals for the homeless served by GLIDE, including a lot of LGBTQ homeless folks. We didn't get the chance to interact with people very much, but that will come tomorrow morning when we'll be serving breakfast to people who really need it. After GLIDE, we scarfed down lunch at the hostel and then got an opportunity to map our own adventures  all around San Francisco.

We all started out in the Haight-Ashbury district, which had lots of shopping, but we all made it either o the Golden Gate Bridge or to the beach to enjoy the Pacific Ocean. I have really appreciated that while this trip has had little sight-seeing and most of our sight-seeing has accompanied service, we've gotten a chance to see and walk through quiet neighborhoods as well as local hubs, not the usually touristy junk that often accompanies a vacation. The ocean was beautiful and incredible to experience, especially for those of us less traveled or who had never been to the west coast.

After taco dinner at the hostel cooked by a (by now) well-oiled machine, we went to the Night Ministry and had a wonderful conversation with Lyle, an openly gay Lutheran pastor who is a Night Minister in San Francisco. I know many of us really appreciated his hopeful message and his clarity in a world that is so often dividing people of faith and queer people. I'm sure those of us who claim both identities could see him as a testament to the power of an intersecting identity at work. The Night Ministry provides services by walking the streets of several neighborhoods between 10pm and 4am, chatting with people who are interested, talking to anyone about faith, life, addiction, sexual orientation, or really anything that they need. They can also refer people to other resources and have outdoor worship services twice a week.

After our talk with Lyle, we returned to the hostel for reflection. We had a really good conversation about how we've been feeling so far and our thoughts about several issues surrounded being young people involved in this movement, and what that means for us. I personally felt challenged and inspired by many of the things brought up in my mind over this reflection and others as we're delving deeper into this work.

-Christina Daily