Cleveland Mission Trip: Day 4

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

All of us went to the Laura’s Home for the entire day.  We began by getting ready for a big cook out and a fair for the kids.  I took on the task of grilling hot dogs and hamburgers with the hopes that I would be inside and out from the heat.  But unfortunately they took me and my guys right through the kitchen, out the back door, and into the blazing sun were there were two grills.  So we fired them up and got the burgers going.  Some of the other teens were busy filling up water balloons, setting up play stations, a face painting station, and preparing other food.  Once all the food was cooked, we all lined up for our lunch and went out to the pavilion and ate lunch together.  Lisa and Deb did an amazing job in connecting with many of the moms who were staying in Laura’s Home.  They got to hear some pretty intense stories that were difficult and heart-breaking at times.  Our teenagers played for a long time with many of the kids.   They had all kinds of fun things set up for the kids to do. There were also a lot of prizes for the kids and they all had a lot of fun throughout the entire day.   This gave many of the moms an opportunity to have a break from the constant presence of their kids and just talk with some adults.  Of course since there was water, eventually most of the teens and kids ended up wet.  A sneak attack came towards me and I tried to react quickly, but not quick enough.  I got soaked.  We all enjoyed the relational opportunity to minister to women and children who were going through rough times in their lives. 

After we were done with our time with the kids and moms at Laura’s Home we headed back to the Nehemiah Mission to get ready for an evening activity.  We headed out to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!  This was a great night!  There are 7 floors at the Rock Hall so we started at the top and worked our way down.  On the top two floors there was a large exhibition dedicated to Bruce Springsteen.  It was very cool.  Of course I almost blew a gasket when one of the teens started to get bored and asked me, “Who is Bruce Springsteen anyhow?”  I started to have my doubts wondering if the teens would have liked going to the Lady Gaga concert in town instead of being at the Rock Hall!  But in reality, we all had a good time even if rock music was not your preferred style of music.  I was personally surprised by how small Springsteen’s jacket was that was on display.  He is a small guy. 

            After checking out all things Springsteen we went to see the U23D movie that was being featured at the Rock Hall.  It was truly an amazing experience on many levels.  First of all, the 3D quality was amazing.  It felt like you could reach out and touch Bono, or that you were actually floating right above Larry Mullins banging away on the drums, or that you were right in the audience with the rest of the crowd cheering on the band.  The spiritual aspect of the concert was deeply moving too.  They performed many of their songs that had strong spiritual themes.  Bono preached for justice and love and tolerance.  In many ways it was the most emotionally moving concert film I have ever seen.  This is of course coming from someone who has grown up with U2 and has loved their music.  Some of our teens were lulled to sleep by the melodious sounds of Bono and Co.  But the way I see it, at least they got it on a subconscious level. 

            Once the movie was over we check out the rest of the museum.  We saw the displays from “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” Tour; large displays on Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, The Who, and many, many others.  There were a bunch of interactive displays to discover the influences of certain bands, to hear the best rock albums of all time, to see clips from those who have been inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, and many others.  It was such a cool experience.  We also took a group photo of us superimposed on the cover of Rolling Stone.  It is very cool!

            As we left the Rock Hall we went to go see the sun set off of Lake Erie.  It was a gorgeous sight.  To see the reflection of the sun off of the water with all the colors is just a breathtaking experience.  And then when you turn around you can see an amazing view of the Cleveland skyline. After just chilling out enjoying the sights for a while we then got hungry and wanted some dinner.  We headed down to a nice area in Lakewood that had a bunch of restaurants.  We tried to get into a local place call “Melts” but they were too crowded so we walked down the street and found a Chipotle and Five Guys.  So the team split up between those two restaurants.  I went to Five Guys.  We goofed around and had a lot of fun that night.  It was an enjoyable night as a youth group.