Today was our second full day in Atlanta. The two sub-teams of our group swapped sites today. So even though we're starting to get in the groove of putting VBS programming on for the students, the day was completely different for each team.
For those of us who were on last year's Atlanta team, it's been great to be back in Atlanta and reconnect with some of the wonderful kingdom workers and students from the Stewart Center. It's also been great to see growth (both physically and spiritually) in these people.
From the Walton Site . . .
After a day full of piggy back rides, hair styling, and football games (on Monday), fatigue finally set in, that was until we stepped foot into the Walton site. We were immediately greeted by smiling faces, and everyone felt completely welcomed. We started the day by serving the kids a delicious breakfast, then everyone changed into their swimsuits and hopped in the pool. A little fun in the sun was all it took for the bonding to take place. The kids began to connect with us in ways we wouldn't have believed after 20 minutes of knowing us. They had no problem dunking us, splashing us, and asking for us to carry them around the pool.
The fun didn't stop there however, we shortly began an extremely competitive game of kickball. This intense game was shortly called off so we could go eat some delicious lunch. After our tuna sandwiches, chocolate milk, and cookies, we were able to fully realize how out of shape we are by doing some basic kickboxing, which turns out to be extremely painful. Everyone was sore and sick from running off their tuna sandwiches except for James Hauser, the king of P90x.
After this exciting event we all headed to an awesome display of our artistic abilities by coloring. It was a great opportunity to hang out with the kids, and start some meaningful conversations. We ended the day with some hilarious chants and we were off. Of course the day wouldn't have been complete without a Sonic trip to pick up the always delicious Cranberry limeades.
From the Stewart Center Site . . .
After a breakfast of biscuits, the students at the Stewart center gathered together for their morning freedom school main session. It's called Harambee, which is Swahili for something like "we all work together." The students participated in singing songs, cheering chants, and participating in traditions they in the session, and the students get very excited . . . which in turn got us excited too.
Then, the students went off to their summer learning classes while our team got to make some final tweaks to our workshops for the day. As well, we helped prepare mid morning snacks and a full-scale spaghetti and meatball lunch for the kids.
After lunch, our teams led workshops on worship (which was crazy), a Bible Study, a craft of beaded bracelets, and outdoor activities (clothespin tag). Each one lasted about 30 minutes. The students were wild, crazy, and fun. And we really got to know them as we taught the workshops, which was fantastic.
Mallory and Melinda, during the workshop time, left to go on field trips with two of the groups of kids from the center. One went to the High Art Museum while the other went to the water playscape in Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta. Both groups had fun, but we learned that gradeschool kids and art museums are an "interesting" mix.
The day ended with our team playing with students . . . on swings, basketball courts, dance troupes, foosball, and several other activities. It was fantastic to be able to share the love of Christ with these kids - children who desperately want to receive attention and love.
In the evening, the Atlanta team split apart to go to a few different places in the city to fee the homeless. One of our groups went to "The Docks", a parking lot with some warehouse loading docks. About 25 homeless men and women were waiting to be served a hot meal, a variety of beverages, and their choice of several sweet confections for deserts.
During and after the meal was being served, we got to jump into conversations with some men who were living on the street. Some reeked of body odor, some were missing teeth, some were barely understandable from slurred speech, and some were as average as could be. We jumped in head first, walking up to complete strangers and initiating conversations. We heard stories of tragedy, superstition, God's victories, and apathy. Each member of the team had a completely different experience from the other, meeting different people, getting different reactions, serving in different ways. All of us walked away tonight encouraged by what God is doing and also internally challenged.
I think we all have some questions lingering in our minds. "What did we really accomplish in an hour and a half?," "Why serve here, but not back in Louisville?," "When did my heart get hard towards people in a different life circumstance?," "What needs to change in my life when I get back home?," and many other similar thoughts are filtering through our brains. To be sure we're, there's a bittersweet feeling to be a part of what God is doing in us - excitement, fear, guilt - perhaps. And the question remains, "What's next?"
P.S. As I write this, about a third of the team is doing the P90X Plyometrics routine.
No comments:
Post a Comment