What a great way to end our week in Nashville . . .
Serving Group 1:
For their final morning in the city, Serving Group 1 once
again returned to the Andrew Jackson Boys & Girls Club to help with their
summer camp and play with the kids. The team was surprised to see how quickly
they formed bonds with these children and how quickly it became challenging to
say goodbye for the last time. In the afternoon, Group 1 spent time at Open
Table Nashville, an interfaith organization that journeys with the marginalized
and provides education about issues of homelessness. They spent their time at a
local Baptist church, helping them prepare to house 18 homeless men and women
that evening by setting up and making beds, cleaning the fellowship area, and
setting up tables for dinner. After their time of service was over, the group
headed out for a sweet snack before returning to the housing site to pack,
clean, and get ready for dinner.
Serving Group 2:
Serving Group 2 began their day with one more trip to
Y-CAP to assist with the summer camp there. Similar to Group 1, Group 2 also
found it bittersweet to hug the children goodbye today. What encouraged the
group was knowing that the staff and future volunteers will continue to provide
love and support to these energetic kids. After lunch, Group 2 returned to
Nashville CARES, Tennessee’s leading community-based AIDS service organization.
Whiles at CARES, the team packaged meals for clients who are suffering from
this awful disease. Other members of the group did some grounds-keeping around
the facility, while still other team members assisted with some filing. The
staff was very impressed by the amount that Serving Group 2 was able to
accomplish in just an afternoon.
Serving Group 3:
Meanwhile, Serving Group 3 spent the entire day at FAM.
They participated in sidewalk Sunday school and then helped set up for the camp
water day. They shared a meal with the students cooked by the staff chef, who
also happens to be one of the main pastors! After lunch, they played water and
field games with the children. They set up pools and slip ‘n’ slides, while
some of the children enjoyed basketball as well. The team explained their time
today as one of the most fun experiences of the trip. Overall, they loved
finishing up their week with FAM and the friendships they built with the
children throughout the entire week!
Serving Group 4:
After getting to sleep in a little bit this morning,
Serving Group 4 headed to Fifty Forward, a senior citizens day care center that
other groups had the privilege to also visit earlier in the week. The team
spent time talking with the elderly, asking questions about their lives and
sharing stories from their own. After eating lunch with the clients there, the
group also enjoyed a nice music session, complete with piano playing and
singing. After saying their goodbyes, Group 4 drove to meet up with Serving
Group 5 at Catholic Charities Refugee Training Center. Catholic Charities is a
national organization focused on efforts to reduce poverty, support families,
and empower communities. Groups 4 and 5 helped out by sorting and organizing
donations that would soon go to support refugee families and children.
Serving Group 5:
Project Transformation, Serving Group 5’s anchor site for
the week, is closed on Fridays, so the team participated in “Operation
Hydration” this morning. The team walked around downtown Nashville handing out
water bottles to homeless people in the community, as well as police officers.
After they ran out of water bottles, they ran through fountains and played with
some local children. The entire team agreed that this experience was their
favorite of the trip. It was such a joy to see the students serving others even
outside of their scheduled ministry activities. After lunch in a local park,
they joined up with group 4 to help sort and organize donations at Catholic Charities.
After each group had finished their serving opportunities
for the day, the entire team met back at the housing site to clean and pack
before embarking on our “free night” activity. To celebrate our last evening in
Nashville, everyone got dressed in western gear (or t-shirts the groups had
purchased at Walmart), and all groups headed to a famous, family-friendly restaurant
downtown to enjoy a BBQ buffet and some country line dancing lessons. The team
bonding experience was the perfect way to end such a great week of service and
unity.
Tomorrow, the team plans to depart the housing site
around 8am (9am EST) to return to Williamsburg. We will do our best to make
good time, but we humbly solicit your prayers and patience as we prioritize
safety and healthy bladders. With a team of 62 people, frequent stops are
difficult to avoid. Again, please pray for safe travels, no traffic, and great
group bonding time in the vehicles. This will be our final blog post for the
trip, so to get on the text list to receive updates on our travels, please text
NASHPARENT to 41411. We are excited to get home to share with you in person all
that God has done in us and through us.
