Mission Atlanta (7 Bridges): Monday, January 5: The Garden and the Bridge Route

This is Livi, this week I’ve been reading and re-reading Romans 5. In this passage it’s written that not only we should glorify God in the good times, but also in our sufferings. Suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance builds character, and character gives hope. When we have hope that means we are filled with the spirit, and it only takes a little hope, to give reason for life. I have learned these past days that without Christ, there is no life, and therefore, no reason to live. Being able to give this hope is only a small part of the trip that gives me joy, knowing that people are still accepting this hope just gives me more of a reason to spread it. We all struggle and no one can know the pain their neighbors have gone through, but we can all come together knowing we have the same hope. When we unite with this hope, we are filled with an overwhelming livelihood that grows with community.

~ Livi Otte

This morning we woke up and got dressed and joined the families down stairs in the Dining Hall for breakfast. After breakfast we helped clean up and put together 500 lunches that were going to be past out later that afternoon. After making the lunches we cleaned the area again and gathered the stuff together that we wanted to take on the route. At 12:00 we left for the Bridges Route in our van and stopped first at a parking lot where the men who would lead us on our route were waiting for us.

After praying with and handing out lunches we left but stopped and handed a lunch to this grateful man walking along the road. As we started going again he held up the lunch and waved to us until we were out of sight in respect and thanks that we stopped for him individually. Our next stop was at an apartment complex where we played with the kids and gave rides on ours shoulders. We then went to another apartment and went to doors asking people if they wanted jackets, prayer, and a lunch. Before we left a woman named Barbra had us all circle up and she sang us a song called “Jesus on that Main Line.” From there we visited an area with a couple bridges and we met some amazing people including “Georgia Boy”, Monica, and “Too Tall”. “Too Tall” talked and blessed us while we were there. From these bridges we stopped by another bridge where we met some more people including David, Jimmy, and Marcus. From here we went to a park to debrief the day.

At the park we ate some of our lunches that we made and listened to Terrance (one of our leaders) give his testimony and how he ended up at 7 Bridges. After the park we went back to the church and took a shower and had a half hour for personal quite time (this was time set aside for us to read the Bible, pray or journal quietly). After quiet time we rushed outside to play with the kids for a couple hours. During the couple hours we played soccer, tea party, house or whatever the kids wanted to do. At 5:00 we went inside for devotions with the residents and had the opportunity to watch a man graduate from the one year commitment program that 7 Bridges offers to homeless that need help. After the graduation ceremony we had a Dinner consisting of pizza and salad. After Dinner we made a trip to Walmart but got distracted on the way by the big orange “Hot Now” sign at Krispy Kreame and stopped there first. From Walmart we came back to the church and Naomi, Michaela and I had the privilege of playing with a little boy named Dominique and watched his Ninja Turtle grow in water. We then went into the sanctuary for devotions and after devotions Dominique was still up and wanted us to go down stairs to give him good night hugs. By then it was 11:00 and I started writing the blog and now here I am just finishing at midnight.

~ Sawyer Mentink