Tuesday

Tuesday was a very eye opening and meaningful day for me. We opened up our morning with morning affirmations in which we would recite the Lord's Prayer, recite Psalm 23 and speak other truths as we started our day. After affirmations we had devotions. After that we all went downstairs to start make lunches. We bagged pizza, chicken wraps, sandwiches, and rolls then we packed it all up and started heading on route. While going on route we started at a place known as The Bluff and there where people i prayed with asking to help with addiction and to just make it another day and it really helped me realize how blessed i truly am to grow up in a home without drugs or family members struggling with addictions. After the Bluff we went to another place where there where a bunch of tents just set up through out a forest and seeing how these peoples whole life is just inside that tent and seening the living the conditions they live in made me very grateful for everything my family has done to make sure a roof stays over my head to to make sure i get everything i want and it made me realize how spoiled i truly can be and this trip has truly impacted me and showed me to be grateful i am able to wake up in the morning and take a nice shower eat breakfast and have a roof over my head not having to worry about when my next meal is going to be. During this trip it was amazing to see god working in every single one of us. Before this trip non of us really knew each other we only surrounded our selves with our friends but until we all took part of this trip we all became good friends doing gods work all together as a group not thinking of what others may think of us while we are praying for people because we know it’s the right thing and we know we are doing what god wants us to. I’m very glad i took part in this trip and stepped out of my comfort zone.  

~ Ana Amador 

Tuesday was a very good day. Everyone was feeling much more comfortable and able to go on routes and just go up to people and pray. Everyone had the joy of doing the Lord's work. In the morning we got up, ate breakfast, and did our morning affirmations before making lunches to hand out on the route. Tuesday's route mostly consisted of "walking the Bluff," meaning we go on route in this area called the Bluff. We went out on route, meeting many people along the way. Two notable people we met were Tony and Sequoia, Tony's son just having had a baby but Sequoia having lost her son. We prayed for them both and they were very joyful. We met many more people and many were very receptive to the prayer that we offered.

Overall, this trip has impacted me much more than I thought it would. God has shown me that a lot more people than we might think want and will accept prayer. I've also learned not to be judgemental of the people on the street, because many of them haven't directly got themselves there. God has also shown me the impact that we have on many people. On some routes we had people that came up to us and shared their testimony, telling us how teams like us had impacted them. Overall, this has been a very impactful trip.

~ Joshua Vincent

We only did a morning route today and our first stop we did was in an area called “The Bluff.” In the past on one corner of this place it was known as the #1 drug dealing place in the Southeast for heroin. The guys had us take 6 bags of food each and we took all the donations that we had left on the route. The guys told us that the walk would be about 3 miles. Right when we got our stuff we had some people already either coming up to us or walking by. On the walk we already had met a few people along the way and prayed for them. In one particular area there was a lot of people walking by and coming out of their houses to get food and clothes. So we ended up giving away a lot of food and donations there. Along the way I met a guy named William and he wanted me to pray for safe travels as he is going to Carolina to visit his family. He had a lunch and a hat to help get warm in the cold. We then walked around a bit more and then before we knew it we were back by the vans. By the end of it we had one lunch left and we were able to give it away to a lady that was walking by the vans and we were able to pray for her. This experience impacted me by giving me a different perspective of the world around me and how it is so different from the life I grew up in. It also have me a chance to be grateful and appreciate everything that I have in life.

~ Keeran Blattner

Throughout the days we have served, our group joined together at the end of each route to debrief and discuss what we experienced and encountered. Today was our last time to do a route so after it we all ate our lunches that we made and were asked how we were personally changed through serving at 7 Bridges. It was interesting to be able to hear everyones answers. The answers varied from stepping outside of our comfort zone or shyness, to being more open about our faith. I personally recognized the importance of not being quick to judge people we may encounter. Some of the friendliest, most kind and selfless people I met appeared intimidating or scary before we really got to talk to them. The opportunity to connect and get to know each individual we met will be something everyone takes away from this trip.

~ Anna Parks

Making lunches again:)

 

  

Ready to go!!

Praying in at our first stop

Grabbing all our donations so we can hand them out

Michael shares some scripture that is on his heart before we head out to walk the Bluff

Many opportunities to talk and pray with people

This particular gentleman (Artis) had a stroke a few weeks back and is still having problems walking

A group pic outside a vacant school building before leaving the Bluff

A "tent city" our teams have never visited before

Time to head back and debrief

Some of our students volunteered to read different scriptures as part of our Bible study time before dinner

Dorcas leading the Bible study.  She has been at 7 Bridges for at least 10 years. She often leads the Bible study for the women and children.

A few volunteers cleaning our dishes

A little playtime in the rain.  We had some pretty strong storms come through.  Some guys took a second shower with soap and shampoo under water that was pouring off the awning.

Why not climb a magnolia tree in the rain

Game time our last night

Monday

 

Today was a very impactful day for me, and I met a lot of really cool people that I wouldn’t have thought I’d ever meet in my life. At the beginning of the day, we all ate breakfast, and a little bit after that we all gathered to make lunches for the homeless people. God blessed us with the weather too, because when we went on the route it was nearly perfect outside. We first stopped at some apartments, where I met Gabra and Sarah just to name a few. It was very hard hearing all of their struggles, but it felt really good to pray for them. After the apartments we headed to under the bridges, where we helped a lot of people. First we prayed for a man and his wife, and that they would be able to get off the streets, and I also met a guy named Jerome who I prayed over. After we got back from the route, we started to get ready for the night route, and we left at about 5:00. 

At the beginning of the route we went under some bridges again, and we came across this man with a Jean jacket who spoke to us about how he used to be homeless, and it was people like us that kept him going and get out of his mess. I wasn’t able to catch his name, but it was really inspiring. We also met some great people nearby the capitol, I met this man named Dread who held my and and thanked us for what we were doing, and talked to us about how we all needed to stay together, and it was really amazing. We met some more people, such as Landry (idk if I spelled that right) who talked about how he is only alive by the grace of God, and just overall we met a ton of homeless people who were highly faithful to God, and it was incredible. Overall, it was just a really inspiring day, that I was glad I got to be a part of.

~ Josiah Guenther

Monday was a very meaningful day that words can’t describe. First of all we all opened our morning with breakfast and morning acclamations. The men stayed on the first floor while the women went downstairs for theirs. I love morning acclamations because it reminds and prepares our hearts and minds for what’s to come later that day and every other day of our lives. It’s a clear reminder strait from God that keeps our heads on strait by knowing of God's overflowing love and forgiveness. After morning acclamations the group gathered down stairs and began to prepare lunches for the homeless. After lunches were made we came back up on the first floor and began to sort through clothing donations by category. We had multiple oversized garbage bags filled with jackets, hats, gloves, socks, all supplies for the homeless and loading them onto the van. We prayed at the church one last time as a group and began our journey and fulfilling God's calling for us. 

Our first stop was at an apartment complex and after arrival and prayer some of us prayed for a man named Tony. Tony was filled with the joy of God and asked for prayer about peace. Tony also was kind enough to pray for us which meant a ton to me because I haven't had someone do that for me during the trip. Our next couple stops consisted of many special children of God that we all had a chance to pray for. We stopped at a bridge and went tent to tent praying for each person while donating lunches and donations. The final spot was at a plaza where we met multiple special people, specifically to me a man named Willy. He asked for prayer towards his family but also to the rest of the world. This was meaningful to me because even though he was in major need he didn’t ask for anything but instead asked for prayer to others. After the first routes we stopped at a local park and talked about the impacts we were making and enjoyed some extra lunches. Once we arrived at the church we had some free time until we set out to our night route. 

Personally the night route was more meaningful because of the amount of people that were out and their stories, specifically Andrew. Andrew was a child of God his entire life that had MANY struggles including being shot twice in the military and surviving out of 8 other men, loosing three brothers to kidney failure, overdose, and near death 5 times, and still loved God with all his heart because he believed he had a purpose and God had a plan for him. Andrew was set to go to California and share his testimony with others. Finally we ended the night with a Bible study, great conversations, and some fun games we played as a group. Monday was overall one of the most meaningful days and most heart impacting experiences.

~Mason Mentink

Monday was an amazing day to see God work through us to help other people. We woke up and ate a great breakfast that South Georgia made for us. Then the men went up to do morning affirmation. This consists of reminding yourself that you are a child of God. This is backed up by scripture and prayer. Then we went downstairs with Eric and made lunches. Overall once you knew what you were doing it was easy but there was a little confusion at first. We prayed over the food we made and then we had some free time to do whatever. Next we went on our first route of the day. The first place we stopped was an apartment complex and handed out many lunches there. There was a man that I met with Mr. Hendrikse who didn’t want prayer but wanted us to pray with him for the world. This showed me how we shouldn’t act like we are better than anyone out on the street because sometimes it can come across kinda mea. This also shows how much people that may be poor think about others. 

The next place we stopped was some underpasses. It was amazing to see the condition these people were living in. I didn’t pray with anyone there because we didn’t see a lot of people. Finally we went to the plaza and handed out a lot of lunches. I met a man made Jibrim and I prayed with him and he gave me a big hug. This meant a lot to him that I prayed for him. One thing I saw when we were at the plaza was a big human poop. This kinda shocked me that the people just pooped on the sidewalk. I’ve never taken having a toilet for granted. We came back and made some more lunches and before we knew it it was time to go on night route. During night route we stopped at some underpasses and had to climb up steep slopes. I enjoyed the challenge and made it up safely each time but there weren’t many people to give lunches to. One man named Lloyd asked for prayer and was very kind, and another man shared his testimony with us about how he was homeless and he had don't drugs and messed up so we didn’t have to. This was very amazing to see and it filled me with joy. 

Our last stop of the day was at the capital. There were a lot of people walking around. At night you could really just see how bad the homeless had it. Many of them were on drugs and were acting weird and others just wanted food. Then we met another man who shared his testimony and he claims he taught jerry rice how to catch a football. But he also told us about how he had kids and a sister and his kids didn’t appreciate him and the money he had helped them with. He said his son tried to hurt him. He was shot many times and almost had an OD. It was a really crazy story and then we prayed with him and he prayed for us. Finally I met a man named Billy. I gave him a lunch and at first he didn’t seem like he wanted to pray because he started walking away. But then I asked to pray with him and he said I could. So I prayed and he thanked me and walked over to a 7 bridges guy. They talked for a while and I heard later that this man wanted to join 7 bridges and get off the street. So I hope I made an impact and even maybe changed his life. Monday was a really cool day for me to experience the night route and and just the regular route. 

~ Joey willsey

Getting our donations ready.

Adding flavor:)

Loading up for our first route of the day

Praying out before heading out

Praying at our first stop

Going door-to-door offering food and prayer

Under the bridges

At the Plaza

Anna going back with some of the men to offer one of the women a jacket

Debrief in the park

A little fun time after debrief

Pizza's on the menu for the night route

First stop under some bridges - a rough area

A gentleman pulled us aside to talk about how he went from hopelessness to having hope thanks to groups like us coming weekly to share, not only food and clothing, but mostly the Word.  He told us he did the drug thing and found it to be a dead end, so we don't have to go down that road.

Praying at our next stop before we head to talk to people

Heading to the Capital

Praying in...

Lots of prayer opportunities

Another man sharing his testimony and thanking us for doing what we are doing

A group shot of the students before heading back for our own meal

Some games after our devotion time

These last few pics are out of order...

Debrief after our first route today