First Week of Programming

So I'm pretty sure the only other worse thing that could possibly happen this week is someone dying...
One youth spent all day in an ER because he was sick - so sick that we ended up sending him home. There was a fight between 5 youth that actually turn into a literal fist fight - there is a whole in our youth hang-out room to prove it. And an entire church group wanted to leave early because they weren't feeling welcomed by some staff and other churches. Also, if you didn't know, Atlanta is racially the opposite of any place I know of in the mid-west. Here the majority is African American at roughly 68%. That was more of a stumbling block than I expected for the groups who came here. It saddened me and angered me that youth thought it was ok and funny to make racial slurs about the people around them. I've seen first hand that the white population does have privilege wherever it goes. It is evident in who's working at the counter in Sam's Club verses who's buying. Who is standing on the street corner verses who's got a roof over their head. Through it all however, God's hand was guiding us in His will and glory. I personally have learned a lot and I could see the hearts of some of the youth change as the week went on. I praise Him for having a purpose through it all!

This is us buying all the food that we need to feed everyone! SO MUCH FOOD!

Driving to Atlantic Station (a wealthy shopping area)

Atlantic Station!

We watched a movie (De Javu) in the "park" at Atlantic Station

Atlanta likes statues of Dolphins for some reason... lol

one of our evening activity sites is the MLK National Historic Site.

This is his grave.

The church that MLK preached at

Evening Activity #2: Centennial Olympic Park. 

For those of you who don't know, the Olympics were in Atlanta in 1996!

Dom lovin' on the dolphin!

Destiny wanted to take this one home...

A huge aquarium! I hear you can swim with Beluga's there!!!!

World of Coke museum!

Micah drinking a Coke

All and all I am confident that God has a plan for each week this summer and I am very excited to be apart of that plan!

Prayer Request: 

• That our team would feel well rested regardless of the little sleep we do get.
• That God would be preparing the hearts of the youth that come to serve and witness to Christ's love
• That God would also be preparing the communities that they youth return to so that the message they receive here in Atlanta can be nurtured and that their faith can be built up. 
• Some names to pray for specifically: Zeb, Chayann, Maria, Micah, Joey, Justin, Maraiah, Birdy... 

Chattanooga Early-bird

My Site director Destiny showed me this song and it has now become my favorite - I can't stop singing it! A lot has happened in this past week that it is impossible to sum up but I'll do my best...

We traveled to Chattanooga to run our first week of programming. They call it Early-bird because all the sites in a particular area come together to practice the first week together. I am in area 10 which consists of Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga. I really like all the staff in my area, we get along really well! While in Chattanooga we each acted on behalf of the role that we were assigned for the rest of the summer. I am a service coordinator so I went around to ministry sites during the day (which were mostly rec centers) and did the rest of the things that I will be in charge of during the week like leading meal prep and clean up. I really liked Chattanooga and decided that it was perfect for my comfort zone. The city was smaller, the ministry sites mostly dealt with kids, and there was air conditioning in every building. But fortunately (or unfortunately) God was not planning on putting me in a comfortable position... Atlanta is huge, the ministry sites we serving at cater to the homeless and the air conditioning is minimal. It was hard not to go throughout my week in Chattanooga thinking how great it would be to stay in that place for the rest of the summer with all 12 staff present and all the other "benefits." Now that I am back in Hotlanta, however, God has shown me a couple things. He never promised comfort when comes to doing His business. He has shown me that I need to learn to interact with people other than kids and particularly people in different life circumstances. He has brought my staff closer together and He has promised me that he will be in this place, working for His glory. I am excited for one more prep week to get this site all ready for youth to come. I am excited to meet the rest of our ministry partners and start a relationship with them and I am excited to see some of our evening activities for the summer.

Here are some of the pictures from Chattanooga:

Dominic, Micah, Me, and Destiny - Atlanta Crew :)

My lovely site director Destiny

Area 10!

Trying to be cool like the guys... I think they rock it ;)

haha... Destiny!