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