A few weeks ago I woke up early and went with some friends to a rougher side of my city, picking up trash and chatting with anyone who wanted to talk.

It seems insignificant to be the nameless group of random college students picking up smashed water bottles, cigarette packages, empty vodka bottles and wet cardboard. But as I walked 29th street and the surrounding area, I thought about what I was saying through my actions on that chilly, overcast day.

If I had driven through the neighborhood the day before and looked out my window, I would have been a little disgusted, afraid and unmoved. But as I leaned over to pick up a piece of wet cardboard and put it in my trash bag, I knew for certain that my outlook and my heart were changing from disdain to love.

What I didn’t realize was that what I learned on the streets that day was a lesson that would start changing my life. A lesson that taught me that biblical communication is more than just spoken words — and it all starts in my heart.