Get out the Vote! 11/4-9

We spent the last 5 days going door to door and phone banking for a non-profit that encourages Christians to vote.

Our goal was to get Christians (who may not want to cast a vote for the presidency) to vote, so that godly men and women running for other offices might be elected. We did not share our opinions on any candidate (as some Generation Joshua teams do), rather we were helping to "get out the vote".

Phone banking - many times (if they listened) people were refreshed that we weren't telling them WHO to vote for but rather just encouraging them to go vote.

A couple girls surrounded our "headquarters" with encouragement.

Our team: Erin (who has been on 12 teams) showed us how to do everything

Phone banking. Jo hated it at first, but helped anyway.

Sy cried after being hung up on twice but found a new way to contribute. He was our data entry guy at the end of each day - inputting almost 1000 responses! He even took his work "home" to his hotel room to finish!

Door knocking

Refueling the teenagers, regrouping and planning the next neighborhood to visit

Ky with her roommate.

Sy's new buddy - fellow younger sibling along for the ride. (:

Final day's push: goals set and met for phone calls made

Skit night. Acting out funny situations the teams ran into while door knocking.

Go Team Bravo! We were small but mighty - thanks to Erin's leadership - earning first place for most doors knocked and a spot on the door knocking campaign for the final day.

Funniest door: I was supposed to knock on the upstairs door (downstairs was a different address) - notice the lack of stairs! 

Overall, we had a great time and introduced our kids in a tangible way to another part of the political process. 

Generation Joshua seeks to educate students on the history and founding of the United States of America, while also providing hands-on opportunities for students to be involved in government and politics today. 

GenJ members 14 and up can take part in student action teams every November. Members 11-13 can participate with a parent. Sy got to come and participate because the rest of us were doing it. 

Everyone had to leave their comfort zone. Everyone was super uncomfortable on the phones. Jo learned to be effective without ever liking it. Kik learned to like phones. Ky was super shy about door knocking but became bold and was looking forward to the 2nd day. Sy was able to boldly speak at doors and found he was really good at entering all our responses into the tablet. 

We will definitely continue with GenJ through their online programs and we're looking forward to next year's SATs.