Each serving group began the morning eager to make an
impact on the city.
Serving Group 1:
Serving Group 1 started their day at Loaves and Fishes, a
soup kitchen for men, women, and children. The group was able to serve in both
relational and practical ways by not only visiting with the guests, but also by
cleaning and helping in the kitchen. The group was able to eat the same meal as
the guests and then donated the bagged lunches they had prepared earlier at the
housing site. After lunch, Group 1 hopped into the van and began their Prayer
Tour through the city. The Prayer Tour is a great way for the team to really
encounter different parts of the city and to start engaging with the issues
that exist in Nashville. After the tour, the group had a much better
understanding of how they can impact the community here and how we can start to
see the city through God’s eyes. For dinner, Serving Group 1 went to Sitar, an
Indian restaurant, where they enjoyed several authentic dishes, especially the
naan bread! It was exciting to experience a different culture and step outside
of our comfort zones for at least one meal.
Serving Group 2:
Rising early, Serving Group 2 headed straight to Y-CAP,
which stands for YMCA – Community Action Project. Essentially, Y-CAP is a
summer camp for lower-income children in the area. The team got to work with
their middle school group, playing games with the kids and building
relationships with them. Mid-way through the morning, the kids went to their
individual breakout sessions and got to choose between several options such as
dancing, basketball, or running. After lunch, Serving Group 2 drove around the
city participating in the Prayer Tour. The tour ended with dinner at Swett’s, a
restaurant specializing in southern soul food. Everyone loved their meals and
used the fuel for their final serving opportunity of the day at People Loving
Nashville, an organization that provides clothes and food for homeless people
near the downtown War Memorial. The group members were so engaged in their
service that they didn’t want to leave at the end of the day, wishing that they
had even more time to talk to the guests they had met.
Serving Group 3:
Serving Group 3 spent their morning at Family Affairs
Ministry, a community center focused on restoring families through programming
and social services. The team briefly helped serve breakfast to the kids before
heading to orientation, where they learned the history of Family Affairs
Ministry and met the team that makes the organization run. After orientation,
the group participated in “Sidewalk Sunday School,” singing songs with the
children and helping engage the students in a fun biblical teaching. Once the
large group lesson had been taught, the children were divided into age groups,
and several team members helped each group with different educational
activities, from math lessons to bible verse memorization. While those lessons
were taking place, other members of Serving Group 3 contributed to the
community center by touching up the paint in order to transform the space for a
new day-care component. After eating lunch in a nearby park, Serving Group 3
spent their afternoon participating in their own prayer tour of Nashville. To
end their afternoon, the team met up with Serving Group 4 at Istanbul, a
Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant.
Serving Group 4:
Lexington Gardens Apartments was the first stop for
Serving Group 4 today. This complex offers housing to people without a
background check, allowing people who are either recovering from homelessness
or who are about to become homeless to find an apartment and keep them (and
their families) off the streets. The group played with the children from this
community, engaging them in both large and small groups. After lunch, the team
spent part of their afternoon at N.I.C.E., a community-based organization
dedicated to empowering refugees and immigrants in middle Tennessee through
direct social services and educational programs. Serving Group 4 helped the
children at N.I.C.E. by teaching them English and math lessons. The group is
excited to continue working with the children here throughout the week. Once
their time at N.I.C.E. was done for the day, Serving Group 4 met up with Group
3 to experience authentic Turkish cuisine. After dinner, the team embarked upon
their own Prayer Tour before heading back to the housing site.
Serving Group 5:
Serving Group 5 was excited to start assisting at Project
Transformation this morning, a program to help kids keep their reading levels
on track over the summer. One big challenge for kids in this area is
maintaining their skills during the summer months when they’re out of school. The
team broke up into two groups, some members helping kids with crafts while the
rest of the group played games with the children in the gym. One of the
highlights for this group was when the kids at Project Transformation taught
members of Serving Group 5 a few new dance moves, after which everyone
demonstrated their new skills together in a really fun bonding experience with
the kids. In the afternoon, Group 5 also did a Prayer Tour before heading to
Swett’s to enjoy soul food for dinner.
When each group’s serving activities were done for the
day, they all headed back to the housing site to get cleaned up and ready for
Porch Time. After sharing some fun memories from the trip so far, as well as
identifying places where team members had seen Jesus, the group sang a few
worship songs together before Lex gave the evening’s message. Lex encouraged
the group to embrace Jesus’ strategy of having compassion and loving recklessly
by “getting dirty” as we serve this week (and at home).
Please continue to pray for safety and for God to reveal
Himself to us in new ways. Also, as many groups will be returning to some of
their serving sites, please pray for relationships to grow and develop
throughout the week.
