Serving Atlanta 2021: Saturday: 1st Day on Route!

Our Atlanta Experience

Today I woke up very excited to go in my first route. It was with a ton of other people which made it a little less nerve wrecking with such a big group. After grabbing some lunches and socks on many of our stops I couldn’t find someone to give it to. Finally on our apartment stop I saw a man standing alone away from the group so I walked over to him and offered him a lunch and 2 pair of socks, and he was very polite. I did not expect him to be so nice to me. Many other people in those apartments where much less thankful.

Also while on route I noticed how many people have nice phones and shoes and cars but bad living conditions. I personally couldn’t tell for sure or not if a person wanted a lunch, so you really had to walk up to them.

It was also cool how people wanted us to pray for them. One women who didn’t speak much English wanted everybody in the area to hug her. That was a very special moment for me. The other highlight of my day was in the morning when all the men prepared for the day by repeating prayers and Bible verses with insane energy for the morning. It really woke me up and was a great experience.

~ Kory Hendricks

It was our first full day here at 7 Bridges. Our team went on Route to 5 different locations. Each stop was a different scene and a different experience. Two of the places had quite a few children running around and the other stops were mostly adults. I felt sad for how the girls and boys did not have the same privileges that we did. I was talking to a 6 year old girl named Zeniah and I asked her what her favorite color was and she responded with pink. I later asked if that was the color she had on the walls in her room. She responded with “I don’t have a room. I sleep with my mom and siblings.” My heart sank. On the way back, I have never felt more heartbroken for kids before. Back at 7 Bridges I sat next to a woman named Shannon during dinner and Bible Study. She told me her life story and how she realized that her abusive relationship was not what God wanted for her. Shannon was not ashamed about her past or present. It amazed me how she was expressing her emotions and inviting me to respond and talk about it with her. Now looking back on this day I have never been through an experience like this. God has blessed me more than I can imagine. This is only the beginning of the trip and I can’t wait to experience more and more.

~ Ellianna Epping

It was our first day riding out into the suburbs of Atlanta, and we were able to provide food, clothing, and toiletries for many experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty - all of whom were accepting and grateful for our presence. But, what they may or may not have known was how grateful we were, and are, and always will be for their conversations with us. From young children below the age of 6 to older men and women above the age of 60, our fellowship was never shy of overwhelmingly blissful and spiritually transforming.

It was personally transforming for two reasons: 1) the Spirit gradually revealed to me how detrimental our luxuries really are when we face people of equal value, distracted by our own lives and interests (in the midst of others who don’t understand what it’s like to be distracted by such things); 2) the Spirit showed me what it means to count what I have gained from the world “as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7). Our brothers and sisters serving at 7 Bridges have demonstrated exactly what it is like to gain everything when you’ve lost so much. As members of one body, we should all at some point in our lives be able to understand full well what we have gained. We should all obviously understand that we have gained Christ “by grace...through faith”(Ephesians 2:8), but many of us need to learn to live undistracted by worldly passions for that very reason. Because I have seen people who are as broken as I am, but who have lost more than I have and have gone through innumerable life experiences I cannot process myself, I am grateful to have seen a glimpse of a thriving community where Christ is the one and only "distraction".

~ Iain Cornette