Serving Atlanta 2021: Tuesday: Trailer Park and Seven Bridges (Last Day)

As I reflect on this trip I can say that the trip as a whole was both a spiritual awakening and revival. Throughout the past few months, I’ve been focused on certain things like college and school to the point where I was not setting time aside for the Lord as much as I should have. But getting out into the streets praying for the homeless and the needy helped me realize that there is a lot more to life than what lies right in front of me. The day that made me realize this was on our night route on Monday, under all of the bridges where I felt an overwhelming amount of the devil's presence, and it was so strong that it affected my mood entirely, and I basically shut myself down for the rest of the night. Not only that, but I started thinking of dark things as well, like specific outcomes of situations where some of or all of the people in our group wouldn’t make it back, and it started to scare me because that is always a possibility. After the route was over, I didn’t even eat anything and just went to bed to think and pray to make my mood lighten, and it finally got better the next morning. Stuff like that just makes me realize the frightening power that Satan has over the unbeliever and how it affects those around them.

Another one of my favorite experiences of the trip was Tuesday afternoon as after we had done our route, we had so much extra food leftover that we set up the trucks on the side of the road and started flagging down every car that passed and handed out our leftover food to them. Even though we weren’t directly giving to those in dire need, many of the people who stopped to grab food didn’t even take it for themselves, but for others they knew were struggling. It’s just so awesome to see how God’s grace can reach people as we help others and show them His love. God works through his servants in ways we can't predict. We just have to be obedient. Overall this trip has been my favorite use of a week I have ever gotten since I got to grow in Christ and help others to know Him.

~ Sam da Silva

On Tuesday’s route our group went to a trailer park to give out food to the people there. Throughout that time it was so impactful to be able to see their thankfulness and being able to pray with them. I also met this little boy, Amar, who lived at the trailer park. I learned that he hasn’t been able to go to school or see his friends since Corona, so it was amazing to see how excited he was to play with Hayla and me. Overall, the experience of sharing the gospel with others was very touching and I was able to see how the Holy Spirit works through people.

~ Mackenna Epping

Today, we went to a trailor park to give some food out for free. While we were there, this kid was playing by himself. I felt so bad for him because it seemed like he had no friends to play with. Then, Mr. Hendrikse went to go and talk to him. Once he was done, he came back and said that the he doesn't play with any kids because of corona. He can go to the playground, but only when no one else is there. Once I heard this I felt so bad. I just imagined my self with no one to play with for months and being so lonley.

Once I was done packing one of the foods in a bag, I saw the boy on the wall and I went and sat by him. I asked him his name and he said it was Amar. He was so cute and adorable. I learned about a lot of things about him like how his grandma lives next door to him, how he has 2 brothers, one that is 1 years old and another that is only a few months. He also said how old he was, and how his parents are divorced. The parents divorced thing kind of touched me because my parents are also divorced. But his situation is much worse. He said that he hasn't seen his dad in a long time and that he lives far away. That was all really sad, but after we started playing the smile on his face made me so happy! And also knowing that he finally got someone else to play with might have made "Covid" a whole lot better for him, also it made me really happy! It's also funny and cute because he gave me a rock that I can keep. I know that anytime I look at that rock I will think of him and 7 bridges.

7 bridges has meant so much to me. Just hearing everyone talking about God amazes me! Even with normal things these people talk about, it always leads back to God in some way. This was especially true in this one lady, Candice. She has these 4 amazing kids that are so kind and just so caring! She is an amazing mom and any time a word comes out of her mouth its just life. You never want her to stop talking! And her kids Jeremiah, Josiah, Keiyah, and Providence, they just have so much love to give and it really touched my heart! You just never want to let them go and just take them with you. It was also amazing to me that Josiah, who is just 10 years old also just talks about God a lot. These young kids can just talk about God just like that. They know more about God then I do and I can tell that this place has helped them with that! Everyone here is just so welcoming and wants you here and it feels like nothing I've experienced in Sheboygan! I know that next year I will definitely be trying to come back here and see everyone and help everyone, and hopefully get out of my comfort zone even more to pray for people.

~ Hayla Besaw

Today at the trailer park I was able to meet and talk with a woman and her son. Chloe and I helped her son find a cute little scarf he liked, which took forever since he was very picky. We prayed for her and then talked with her and learned a little about her story. She had recently started a new job in roofing and was able to go back to church for the first time in a long time since she no longer works on Sundays. She was explaining how it was such a blessing to her and how much peace and joy it brought her by going to church. It was such an amazing experience to be able to see how much joy it brought her and how thankful she was.

Another one of my favorite experiences from today was playing with the kids. My favorite one was a little 2 year old girl named Providence. She was the cutest and sweetest little girl. She enjoyed doing everything and anything, from being pushed around in her little car to being swung by me and Chloe. Overall, the entire experience here at 7 Bridges has been such a blessing and an amazing opportunity.

~ Lilliana Young

Loading up food for our route!

Setting up at our station for the morning. This trailer park has about 250 homes. Many of the people we connected with here are Hispanic and didn't speak much English. It was a great opportunity for our students to practice using their Spanish:)

Lilli and Chloe helping find clothes

Hayla and Amar

He we are shortly after setting up shop back by 7 Bridges. It was a blessing to pray with people and bless them with food. Some people really needed food, and others stopped to get food for others. One person that stands out was a teacher who picked up food she could drop off at the homes of some of her students.

Whether it was the sign that brought people in or Iain's dance moves is debatable.

Some of our students played with the kids while the rest stayed up by the road handing out food.

Not that Iain needed encouragement to dance, but Starsky gave it to him anyway:)

Couldn't even venture a guess as to how many pounds of potatoes we gave away today.

Our guys were blessed to sit under the teaching of Pastor Robert F. Vann during the Bible Study time. Pastor Vann is an authority in the field of addiction and relapse prevention. He leads class every Tuesday night at 7 Bridges.