Blown Away

We are still here everyone! The team is doing great. We had quite the time in Gettysburg working with the Wegas and the United States Christian Commission (USCC) and now working with the Martins in Plymouth. God has been pouring some great knowledge into us through these incredible people, and I am in awe of the things God is doing through people around our country. However, the more I talk to these people, the more I also feel that the American people are being blindfolded to our Christian heritage. For example, before this trip, I had no idea that the US Christian Commission even existed. Although I had never heard of them, they played a huge part in the Civil War. There were over 5,000 delagates (volunteers) who served during the Civil War. They were present on nearly every battlefield and in almost every hospital during that time period distributing blankets, Bibles, and bandages with the love of Jesus. They printed over 39 million tracks for the soldiers and 18 million Christian newspapers. The USCC also printed 1.46 million Gospels of John. In the donation aspect, they raised over 6 million dollars in goods and supplies which in today's economy would be around one billion dollars! Yet few people have heard of this group. Here in Plymouth, we took a tour of the Founding Father's Monument with Leo Martin. This is an amazing statue that was begun shortly after George Washington became president and wasn't finished until after the Civil War. This statue depicts Faith pointing her finger towards heaven. Her base are statues representing Law, Morality, Libertry, and Education-foundations apon which our country was built. This monument tells the entire reason America was founded, yet it too is little known. In fact, as Leo was telling us, many people often forget the purpose behind our country-everything the Pilgrims did here in Plymouth was based on their faith.
I am so grateful I have the chance to see history coming to life and to learn some of the stories behind the success of our nation. I am glad that I have been able to learn so much of the hidden side to our heritage, and hope that America will continuously be reminded through the tireless effort of the Wegas and the Martins that we were founded as Christian nation and that we will in turn teach future generations the stories of faith from America's cities.
-Jessica