Day three was just as awesome as the past two have been here
in Nashville. This morning’s devotional
was on Luke 19:1-10 and was titled “Rethink”.
It encouraged the team to focus on repentance as a form of rethinking
how we approach our faith. As always, we
cannot fit everything that happened into a blog post, but below is a recap of
our day:
Today each group had the opportunity to participate in an
activity called Urban Exposure. The
object of this activity was to expose our students to some of the poverty, homelessness,
and other issues that exists in Nashville.
The groups were given the assignment to either pack an extra lunch or
they were given 5 dollars to meet a need of one of the homeless people they
encountered. This experience was very
impactful for all of the groups as it was a way for them to not only be the
hands and feet of Christ, but also see Jesus where the world tells us He
shouldn’t be.
Serving Group 1:
After morning devotionals, Group 1 excitedly headed back to
YCAP as they continued to foster relationships with the kids at the summer
camp. The kids were just as excited to see them return! The team spent much of the morning playing
basketball, volleyball, four square, and various other games. After free play, the kids split into what they
call “family groups,” and Group 1 accompanied them to their different learning
stations. As the kids at the camp
learned about various skills like cooking, lifetime sports, and dance, Group 1
was with them to learn and keep the good times rolling. After saying goodbye to the kids at YCAP,
Group 1 headed into downtown Nashville for the Urban Exposure activity. The group really enjoyed this activity as it
gave them an opportunity to engage on a personal level with the homeless of the
city. Group 1 reflected at the end of
the activity on the steps of the capitol building as they looked out at the
cityscape and talked about the poverty that they had just experienced first
hand. Group 1 then headed back to the housing
site to meet back with the rest of the missions trip for dinner, porch time,
small groups and bed.
Serving Group 2:
Group 2 began
their morning with their devotions before heading out to Loaves and Fishes, a
local soup kitchen that feeds over 145 people per day. The group helped in many
different ways such as washing dishes, serving coffee and other beverages, and
cleaning the floors and bathrooms. As the guests ate their meals, the team got
to spend time talking with them and learning more about the challenges they
face here in the city. Following lunch with the guests that came, the team got
to debrief with Jeff, one of the volunteers, and learned about the goal of
Loaves and Fishes: to feed the hungry. It was a refreshing encounter to witness
the Christ-like service at the kitchen and compare it with Jesus’s own
experience as He met the physical needs of those around him before the
spiritual. Next, Group 2 set out for their Urban Exposure activity. They really enjoyed praying over the city
that they had the chance to explore and investigate this afternoon, especially
praying for those homeless men and women that they had the opportunity to meet. After the exposure activity, Group 2 went
back to the housing site for dinner, porch time, small groups and bed.
Serving Group
3:
The Boys and
Girls club was once again the first destination for Group 3. The team was able
to help put the kids through some athletic exercises and helped them plant
individual gardens with a variety of different vegetables in egg cartons. Today
was all about prepping their "gardens," and tomorrow each kid will
have a chance to plant and eventually take home their creations. These mini
gardens are meant to be an environmental experiment and to help get the kids excited
about eating healthy.
After working
with the kids in the morning, the team embarked upon the Urban Exposure. They
started by eating lunch with Barry, a man who has been homeless for 35 years.
The group got to talk to him for a while about Nashville, the city’s history,
and the realities for homeless people in the city. Group 5 also had the chance
to walk up to the top of a large parking garage to pray for Nashville and the
people of the city. To finish their experience, the team sat and listened to a
group of street performers before asking them questions about their time in
Nashville. Finally, everyone went to a local boot store and tried on all sorts
of fun footwear before heading back to the housing site for dinner.
Serving Group
4:
Like the rest
of the groups, Team 4’s day started off with devotionals in Luke 19. Then the
group started the Urban Exposure for the morning. One goal for the day was to
meet a need for one of the many people encountered throughout the day. Additionally,
this was an effort to allow the Lord’s spirit to lead each group to where God
wanted the group to serve a need in the Nashville community. For Group 4, this
looked like buying food for the homeless and musicians on the streets. The
total experience was three hours of walking around downtown and interacting
with a wide variety of people. On the bus home, the group did high/lows of the
experience and it was the first time for many of the kids that they felt a "tangible"
difference being made while here in Nashville. After finishing with Urban
Exposure, the group traveled back to Trinity Community Camp where they have
spent each afternoon this week. The group has solidified many relationships
with the children at the camp. A highlight for the group was hearing from one
of the camp leaders, Nate, speaking about his experience with the surrounding
community. Nate explained that most of
the kid’s parents are dealing with substance abuse issue, which had a
tremendous impact on the group. To watch Nate and the kids have full hearts each
and every day even when they have every reason to be discouraged inspired the
entire group. The group came back to the housing site for a Mexican style
dinner, porch time, and small groups.
Serving Group
5:
Group 5 started
off the day with their devotionals and then headed to Fifty Forward, which is an
elderly day care where patrons have a place to spend the day while their
families are at work. The group spent some
time getting to know many of the elderly there, as well as led a time of
entertainment where Group 5 united their voices in a time of worship alongside
the patrons. After worshiping, the group
continued to form relationships with the elderly patrons by doing crosswords,
playing cards, and other activities before being serenaded by a 104-year-old
man playing the harmonica. After leaving
Fifty Forward, Group 5 headed into downtown Nashville to participate in their
Urban Exposure activity. Group 5 had a
huge take away from the activity, as they were able to see three homeless
people that they had served on Monday at Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen. It was amazing for the group to experience
the love of Christ coming from Nashville’s homeless, as heading into the
Exposure activity the group had been focused on sharing that same love to
them. After the activity, Group 5 headed
back to the housing site to meet up with the rest of the missions team for
dinner, porch time small groups and bed.
At Porch Time
tonight, Lex spoke about the Parable of the Great Banquet, and encouraged
everyone to accept God’s invitation and experience life to the full, not just
here in Nashville, but back home in Williamsburg, too. Small groups brought out
some great discussion before everyone headed to bed to rest up for another full
serving day tomorrow. While we’ve only really been in Nashville for three days,
it’s incredible to see the impact that Jesus is already having on the group as
we serve Him here in this city. Please pray for our Porch Time Thursday night,
as it will be our last official Porch Time for the trip. Please pray that God
shows up in big ways and starts to seal some of these amazing lessons into our
hearts.
