Day 5: The Bridges

Dear Parents and Church supporters,

This is Michael and I am very excited to tell of some of my experiences here in Atlanta. I'm sure that the others in my group have explained how our days went, so I am going to tell of a couple of personal experiences that I had.

On the first day, I got to meet and pray with a man named Mitch. He had just had someone break into his Brothers house, shoot him in the shoulder and take some of his things. We prayed for protection for him and the rest of his family because the men were never caught. Also on the second day, we took the van into the ghetto of Atlanta and even saw the building where the largest heroin sales in the East coast take place. Despite the gloomy haze that seemed to hang over that area, there were many people on the streets that came and accepted a lunch and insisted that we pray with them. Then again today, i was privileged to meet three little hispanic kids who were more mature than I probably was at that age and also very responsible and kind. I love them dearly and will keep them in my prayers.

As a group we thank all of you for your loving prayers as well as financial support. This trip has definitely brought me closer to God in many ways!

- Michael Alsum

So far our trip to Atlanta has been a very powerful and eye opening experience. Today we went on the Bridge Route where we got to spend a lot of time with some of the little kids who live in a large apartment complex and many of the people who live under the bridges next to where cars are going by all the time. Today was the 2nd time we went on the Bridge Route. It was very powerful because we got to see children that we had just talked to on Monday. All the kids grouped around us and asked many of us if they could go on our shoulders. It was a great experience to go walk around town and hand out lunches to the homeless people and then pray for them. It was surprising to me that many of the homeless people know and love God and in many cases instead of you ministering to them they will start teaching you about God's love. I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support given to us to make this trip possible.

-Zach Hendrikse

Today we had the chance to go on the Bridge Route again, which goes to three places. The first is at a little round about parking area near the corner of a busy intersection where lots of homeless people come to get lunches and prayers from all of us. It's cool because almost all of them come mostly for the prayer because their faith is strong with God. The second stop is at an apartment complex where lots of children of 16 and under (mostly little kids) come out to play and have fun with us. We get to talk to each other, sing little kids songs, and pray as a group. It's a very cool experience to watch all of these kids sing along to songs that state that Jesus is our Savior. The third stop was in a parking lot where people come to get lunches and prayer as well. We then walk to a nearby bridge where we go to hand out lunches and pray to homeless people that live under there. To see how much they have makes me think about how greedy we are because they are thankful for what they have and we take a lot for granted. Throughout the whole route we stopped frequently to hand lunches out to people on the side walk because we want to form a relationship with everyone so they get to hear about Jesus.

-Josh Huenink

Melissa leading us in stretches before our day starts

Devin joining others in praying over a man that stopped by

Noah greeting Corey who he met on Monday

Devin and a new friend

A young man riding on top of Michael's shoulders and wearing Mr. Chris's sunglasses

Bill, from 7 Bridges (white t-shirt and sunglasses) calling the kids over for a Bible story

Angie helping a little girl eat while she listens to stories

Zach helping a little boy with his candy

Some students from our group explaining to a passerby what we're doing

Michael, Zach, Josh and Noah praying over someone's bed

Devin, Allison, Josh, Andrew and Jenny help close us out in prayer

A little pool time by Megan and Aaron Johnson's

Noah, Josh and Zach thinking they're funny getting this pic while Mr. DeMaster catches a quick snooze

Day 4: The Bluffs

Today after breakfast and making lunches we hopped in the van to go to the Gardens (7 Bridges). When we got there we started to make another 525 lunches to handout, and were informed that we were going to the Bluffs, a group of complexes that is known for heavy drug use. The first stop was the one that impacted me the most, half way through singing our songs I noticed a little boy making his way towards us slowly because he didn’t have any shoes, so I walked over to him and immediately put his arms up for me to carry him. He didn’t talk to me or respond to any of my questions until I asked if he knew Jesus and he immediately nodded his head. I hope I see him next time we go to the bluffs.

-Jenny Wieskamp

After going to the first complex we hopped into the vans to go to our next stopping point. When we got to a parking lot we got out and each grabbed 3 lunches and our water bottles to walk the streets. While walking the streets we gave away well over 200 lunches. Then we went to a different apartment complex and gave away the rest of the packed lunches, and the other group with us even gave away their own lunches they made this morning. While eating our lunches in the park the 7 Bridges guys asked for volunteers to come up in front of the group and answer some questions. After eating lunch we headed back and the guys went swimming by Mrs. Demaster’s daughter's house.

-Angela Wieskamp

                                                                                                                                                Each night at 8:00 p.m. we worship together as a whole group.  Tonight we talked again about our brokenness.  The question was asked, "How do we use our brokenness?"  We are victors in Christ, but we can't be both victors and victims.  We must make a choice to either wallow in our brokenness and get comfortable with it and allow it to define us, or we can allow God to work through our brokenness and we can give Him the glory.  What are you doing with your brokenness?

Attached to the church, this is our nightly place of worship

Noah sharing his experiences from the day 

Devin takin' a break and watching others play 21 on the basketball court

Praying before we left this morning

Praying with the other groups before we hit the streets with another 525 lunches

Michael and his new friend

These kids need love and attention, and they get it several days a week when 7 Bridges comes with their volunteers to sing songs about Jesus and hand out lunches

What a sweetheart...

Jacob helping a boy with his lunch

The yellow house is on the most well known corners in the Southeastern United States for getting heroin

What is left of St. Mark's Church which had been rebuilt in 1939 (inside)

Andrew sharing his experiences with the group

Allison sharing her experiences with the group

Michael sharing his experiences with the group

Jenny joining others in closing us with prayer

A little fun after our worship service tonight

A little pool time by Megan and Aaron Johnson's place

 To the parents, relatives and friends...  You would have been blown away if you could have watched our youth today.  Most members of our group had the opportunity today to initiate a conversation with someone who needed food, offer that person a lunch and then pray over that person and give them a huge hug.  We smelled a lot of alcohol, urine and sweat today, but every last one of us would tell you we are blessed and highly favored.  What an incredible experience to be the face of Christ to those we are daily given the opportunity to minister to on the streets.