We were supposed to be in Hawaii. We bought our tickets in June, and with Covid greatly affecting the world, our airline tickets were miraculously cheap. I had high hopes that surely, by the end of October, things would open up and we would be able to go and minister for the 4 weeks that we had planned. That was Plan A, and when things continued to look grim, our hopes of Hawaii faded, my son asked me what we were going to do if we could not go to Hawaii.
“Sit at home and cry for a month.” was my initial, somewhat sarcastic response.
We didn’t really have a Plan B. But, through a series of events, a plan B developed. (We were able to get a full refund of our flight tickets and the deposit for the house we had reserved, that helped take the sting out of not going.) We had been watching the “Let Us Worship” Events on Social Media for months and we were inspired by the passionate worship and revival atmosphere that came through our phone’s screens. They were planning a huge event in D.C. on Oct. 25th, and we were going.
So, on Thursday, Oct. 22nd, when we were supposed to leave for Hawaii, we left for Washington D.C. instead. My sister and her family of six bought an RV and joined us for this adventure. What followed was an Epic weekend of worship and adventure that made us forget all about our trip to Hawaii.
What could be more fun than a last minute adventure to our Nation’s Capital? Taking your little sister and her family. My sister is larger than life, and life is never boring if she is around. Her husband is her perfect match, steady and mellow. I’m so glad they came with us, and of course, my kids were stoked to have their cousins along for the ride!
D.C. Day 1
On Saturday, we drove from our campsite into the city. Our first stop was David’s Tent. They have 24/7 worship and prayer in this tent set up on the National Mall, and it’s been going on for 5 years!! What an amazing place! I don’t even know how to explain the thick presence of God that was in that place. I wanted to stay there, like, bring me a sleeping bag, I’m moving in. Were we setting ourselves up for disappointment, hitting the most epic place first? No. It was all amazing and epic. But, if you go to D.C. go to David’s tent.
They had a special emphasis on evangelism in David’s tent, encouraging us to share our faith with people in D.C. We left there and walked along the National Mall, shared our faith along the way, and prayed for anyone who would let us. Covid restrictions/timing did prevent us from going inside the Washington Monument, but it was still impressive walking along the outside of it.
We also stopped by the World War II Memorial. It honors the 405,399 American soldiers that died or went missing during World War II, what a sobering thought, to think of the lives lost for the freedom of others. The monument was much bigger than I realized, and it was really unique in that it was very kid-friendly and interactive. The fountain where the kids could stick their feet in was a special treat. By the way, the weather was perfect, high 70s in October? Yes, please.
After the memorial, we trekked back towards the “Let us Worship” stage because we heard about communion happening there. We joined in with about 1,000 other Christian “pilgrims” who made this journey to D.C.
After communion, and some singing, we decided to check out a restaurant my sister and her husband were excited to revisit from a past (pre-covid) trip. It’s a long story, but let’s just say the restaurant was less than excited to see a group our size (13 people). But, all was not lost, in the same neighborhood, we ran into a lady street preaching with a megaphone. She was awesome, we stopped and talked with her, she encouraged us to say something about God with the megaphone. So my sister and Matt preached to the neighborhood, it was such a cool moment, and I was too caught up in it to even get a picture!
We decided to head out of downtown in search of a restaurant for dinner. After a few failed attempts, and with the help of a friendly stranger, we found the Silver Diner, Yum. Late night dinner with a wild group. After this fun and eventful day, I was tired and ready for sleep.
D.C. Day 2
The excitement of this day had been building up inside of us, and not even the cold rainy weather, nor the complaining of a few of our beautiful children could dampen the joy in our hearts! We started the day at the Supreme Court where we were a part of one of the largest prayer gatherings at this location in history! Praise and worship, prayers of repentence, and prayers of hope for a future without abortion filled the air outside of the Supreme Court. It was a beautiful historical moment and I felt honored to be a part of it.
After getting quite wet and chilled, we decided it would be best to go back to the RVs to relax and regroup before the main event started at 4pm…
Back in D.C. we were able to get a wonderful spot saved for the “Let Us Worship” Event. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and our blanket spread on the ground stayed miraculously dry.
The Let Us Worship event was 4 hours of worship, prayer, dancing, and some encouraging words from Lou Engle and Jentezen Franklin, among others. I have been to plenty of outdoor concerts, this was different than that. It felt more important, it felt historical, it gave me a fresh dose of hope for Christianity in America and for humanity in general. I hope that this is what the future of Christianity looks like for Americans. Not some watered-down version of the world’s brand of entertainment, but the coming together for the express purpose of worshiping our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
^^Watch the full film release here^^
D.C. Day 3
Today was a history day. After saying goodbye to my sister’s family, we went back into D.C. to explore the various monuments and a Smithsonian Museum.
Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial. It did not dissapoint and was just as huge and epic as I had hoped.
We left the Lincoln Memorial and walked to the Vietnam Memorial. It hit me harder than I thought it would. Just seeing the individual names listed like that was so sad. To think about the individuals that those names represented was incredibly sobering.
From there we walked past a couple different statues honoring the soldiers and the nurses of the Vietnam War.
We then walked to the Korean War memorial. It was very striking and eerily lifelike.
We then drove our car over the The Smithsonian Museum of American History. I love museums and this one features various aspects of American life – innovations in travel and food, pop culture, and iconic memorabilia from the Presidents and First Ladies. The war section was closed and so we will have to save that for another visit. I especially enjoyed seeing Julia Child’s kitchen, an interesting display about shipping containers, and the different clothing displays from the Presidents and First Ladies.
After our museum exploration (for free by the way, thank you America) we visited David’s Tent one last time. We then drove around our Nation’s Capital and noticed, sadly, the after effects of some of the recent protests and the police preparing for more potential protests and riots. It was disheartening to see that unrest in the midst of what had been a most epic, and very positive adventure for our family.
Thank you for reading all about how our Plan B ended up being Epic and hopefully someday soon I will get to tell you of our family’s adventures in Hawaii! I hope you all are having great adventures!
If you would like to find out more about our ministry, Kingdom Pursuit Ministries, go to www.kpministry.org