I can’t remember the last time I felt so exhausted, or loved what I was doing so much. The last three days have been packed full of being shuttled between sites by Lyndee, running meetings, and trying to make sure everything is happening on time. The days here are full of sun, heat, and constant drinking trying to keep everyone hydrated. I am here in Atlanta and part of a leadership team for Experience Mission.

In the last three days of the mission trip, I have seen a bridge built, a trail carved, and multiple walls covered with a fresh coat of paint. Krista has led a successful Kid’s Club each day at Capitol View Apartments. The kids that she works with are very well behaved, and they fill their afternoon with games, inside and outside, a Bible lesson, and general relational time. On the other hand, Matt is greeted each day by a rowdy group of kids at the Jonesboro trailer park looking for entertainment and making threats if they don’t receive it. The trailer park is a place lacking discipline immensely so it’s been hard work the last couple days as the team works to gain some respect.

Krista heard a small testimony from a Vietnamese girl who attends the Kid’s Club at CVA. Following a Bible lesson addressing things we want to hide from in life, the girl answered that she would hide in a closet to escape “all the yelling and violence.” It strikes a chord in my heart to hear a girl firsthand dealing with things like that in her home-life. Thankfully, most of the kids have been consistent in their attendance and Krista has a good start to strong relationships being built over the summer since for us it is more than just one urban mission trip.

Today at Sol Luna, we had some extra willing hands come out to finish spreading mulch and dirt and put the last nails into the deck of the bridge. Earl and Earlisha are 10-year-old twins I had seen peeking out windows for the last couple days. Their cousins Tunisha (11) and Ronisha (5) also came out to help. I’m continually impressed, and at the same time saddened at how quickly kids become adults, from their vocabulary even to their mannerisms. Ronisha told me all about how she could read in her kindergarten class, and kept telling me how strong she was and how she could take care of herself. I didn’t get to meet their parents/guardians today, but hopefully they will be around and also take an interest in the project going on.

Progress in this community is being seen and, more importantly, felt – by us and the people around us. We got to join Lakewood for their midweek service tonight, opening up a chance to meet even more of the people we are partners with this summer. Tomorrow will be our last workday with the team from Indianapolis, and then it’ll be time to catch up on some sleep!

Take care!

Adrienne

We arrived in Atlanta on the night of June 2nd and have been running ever since! Our week of preparation for the summer mission trips included hours of navigation on the seven lanes of the deadly Atlanta interstate, some sightseeing in the city, getting every detail imaginable in order for the summer, and of course meeting our new best friends for the summer.

Jason Pope and Daynes Viera are both soldiers in the Salvation Army and are going to be our closest contacts for the time that we are here. We also met Captain Platt, who is the pastor of Lakewood, the small community church we will be spending time at.

Throughout the week, we spent nights at Jason’s sister’s house, Jason and his wife’s house, Daynes’ house, and a small house that the church uses for offices. We are so blessed to have each and every one of these people on our team. They are some of the most self-sacrificing, accommodating people we have ever met. During the last few days we have also gotten to spend some time with Miss Lynn, the lady who graciously agreed to cook for our teams every dinner for eight weeks.

We also spent a few days meeting the specific people each of us would be working with in our areas. Matt and Krista have five outreach locations: the 24/7 Gateway Center, which is a sort of half-way house for homeless people, giving them a chance to find jobs or just get a break from the streets in order to get back on their feet; the Atlanta Food Bank, one of the largest in the state, where food and other supplies are sorted and distributed to other shelters; Capitol View Kid’s Club, a program for children that live in the Capitol View Apartments, mostly refugee Vietnamese families; Jonesboro Kid’s Club, a trailer park community mostly Hispanic, Black and Vietnamese; and a DayCamp that is run at Lakewood Church. 
 I will be overseeing two different construction sites; one at Capitol View Apartments, and one at Sol Luna Apartments. Capitol View is associated with Salvation Army, who has been running the Kid’s Club that Krista will be coordinating this summer. As I said before, it is mostly Vietnamese refugee families, and low-income black families. The manager is Bob Leathers – I have never seen a manager with such a heart for his tenants. Mr. Leathers has been very helpful and giving in his willingness to help supply us with things that we need.

We will be doing some painting of dumpsters, retaining walls, and the apartments themselves. The Sol Luna Apartments are owned and operated by The Initiative for Affordable Housing, run by Lisa Wise lives with the mission to provide housing for extremely low-income and low-income families. They own four apartment complexes and 20 houses that are available to these families. Here we will be clearing a walking trail for the residents. This will involve building a bridge and clearing about a half mile of overgrown bushes and vines. 

Every day we became more and more excited about our time here, the upcomin mission trips and all the teams from accross the country who will be serving here.

-Adrienne

An incredible four days was spent at Miracle Camp in Lawton, MI, when the Experience Mission interns were united for CPR, First Aid, Wilderness and general EM philosophy training. All the training was in preparation for the mission trips we will lead in Atlanta this summer.

Our team down south consists of our amazing trip coordinator, Lyndee Flint; Matt Crouch and Krista Jensen, who will be coordinating multiple outreach events, and myself, in charge of construction coordination. Our first task as a team during this weekend was to obtain a montage of people singing Yankee Doodle. We accomplished this by driving 20 minutes to the nearest town and bombarding people, mostly in the local bars, with our strange request. We were met with great success and a variety of willing singers, from bikers to an elderly couple on the sidewalk.

The next few days were spent interactively filling our heads with knowledge of wilderness medicine and EM sessions where we dove deeper into the heart of our mission to build relationships with each other and especially with our partners and communities.

Training was completed with an intense scavenger competition between each of the EM teams leading us on a wild chase through Kalamazoo and Portage, MI, before instructing us to build a boat with supplies bought with the money provided to us. After building the boat, we had to float across on it to a location about a hundred yards from the launching place and back. The night ended with our boat in five different pieces, but our team united from frustration, perseverance and an inner sense of accomplishment and triumph.

We are ready for Atlanta!!!

Serving in the south,

Adrienne