Spring Break Trips [Recap]
Our Boston friends enjoying the nice Potomac River with some kayaks and friends is always nice on a warm day!
Spring breaks at Gracepoint Boston are synonymous with taking trips — it’s an opportune time for students who are still in town to get out of their dorms and enjoy nature or sightsee, and oftentimes both! So during our recent Boston spring breaks, we took two groups to Maryland and D.C during their respective spring breaks where we played sports in the rejuvenating sunshine, sang songs next to the cozy campfire and explored the national monuments throughout D.C.!
Potomac House
Our church has a beautiful property located right on the Potomac River with breathtaking views of the water and surrounding nature. On the first day, most of our time was spent at the property: from kayaking to fishing, to intense sports like arrow tag and soccer. Nice weather and a ball can undoubtedly bring the competitive spirit out of us, which we saw in an intense soccer match between the Church Plant Interns and everyone else. Unfortunately, it ended in a tie, but I’m sure that if there were penalty kicks, CPIs would have won (no bias or anything here).
Arrow tag is just one of the many fun (and safe) activities at Potomac house!
An intercollegiate team of Boston students going toe to toe with their mentors in an intense game of soccer.
D.C. Museums
The Tufts/MIT group started the morning with a nice homemade breakfast in the dining room with a window facing the Potomac River. We drove down to D.C. to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum went over the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the domestic slave trade in the U.S., the civil rights movement, and African American culture today. One thing that made the museum powerful was the narratives of African Americans who experienced slavery, violence, and racism. I read one story of a mother who had her child ripped out of her hand during an auction selling enslaved people — stories like these were not uncommon. We also heard how both enslaved and free people turned to churches not only as a safe space, but also as a place where they would meet, spiritually encourage one another, and even help promote others in the African American community for decades to come. It was encouraging to see how the body of Christ, amidst one of the most horrifying experiences in U.S. history, could use the gospel message to encourage and love one another.
The tour group photo outside The Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.
The week prior, the BU, BC, and Gordon College group went to the Bible Museum. The museum has different levels with many exhibits such as the history of the Bible, an immersive walkthrough experience of the Old Testament, and displays showing the continuing efforts to translate the Bible to multiple languages. The museum is well-worth the stop if you’re ever in the area during spring break or summer! My favorite part of the exhibit was the Old Testament walkthrough: starting with the Creation account in Genesis and going all the way through 2 Samuel, it recounts God’s history and relationship with His people through a compelling narrative experience.
Monumenting
An in-house tour by one of our very own MIT mentors Colby. Who is very knowledgable on American history. A perk of going on a D.C tour with your college church!
Most of us had never been to D.C…. but lucky for us many people within our church are history buffs and have a well of knowledge they can pull from (did you know during the construction of the Washington Monument it was halted because the Washington Monument Society ran out of money? That’s why its stones are two different colors). We did our tour of the monuments, visiting all the classics: the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and so much more. Our mentors, Colby from MIT and Josh from Tufts led the D.C tour.
Seeing the Church family
MIT and Tufts university mentors and students taking photo in front of Potomac House!
You can’t enjoy spring break without spending time with family, especially the church family! On the last day of our trip, our MIT/Tufts group got the chance to meet the members and students from our Chicago and Philadelphia churches. We met at the Chicago church in the morning, and after sharing a large breakfast, we got to hear stories of how the mentors from both Chicago and MIT/Tufts knew each other in college. It felt like a reunion as our mentors got to see their college friends again. The MIT/Tufts group took a lunch break in Philadelphia on the drive back to Boston. Our mentors from our Philadelphia church ate lunch at Reading Terminal, one of the oldest and largest farmer markets with locally grown food and diverse cuisines.
Mentors from Boston University (BU) visiting University of Maryland (UMD)
The other group wen to the DMV area and had an amazing opportunity to visit our sister church at the University of Maryland. We visited them to join in on their Sunday Worship Service. It was a special experience for college students from Boston and the DMV areas to meet each other. The time was also a reunion for CPIs Arthur and Hannah to revisit their alma mater. At UMD, Arthur and Hannah got to see their college friends who currently serve at the UMD church and the students they ministered to as upperclassmen. One realization from that experience is that the church can create connections and relationships that span even across the country.
What better way to spend spring break than to learn about history, outdoor play, sightseeing and connecting with the larger body of Christ.
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