“Nothing is by chance. God has a plan for it all.” This is a
quote by our friend Nick who is one of the leaders at 7 Bridges. When thinking
about this quote, it puts everything into a new perspective after being at the
Garden, and being God’s hands and feet in the Bluff area of Atlanta. It wasn’t
by chance that Carissa, Mike, and I got the opportunity to pray for a man named
Bashir, who was looking for lunches for his kids, and then asked about 7
Bridges and if he could become apart of the ministry. It wasn’t by chance that
a group of us were able to give lunches and pray for a lady who was bed ridden.
It wasn’t by chance that we prayed with people in front of a prostitute’s
house. God had a purpose for us yesterday to be there. We weren’t the ones who
helped these people. It was God working through us.
I learned on this trip that I am not the one that is helping
the people whether in Atlanta or in Oostburg. It is God who is working through
me. We are simply his vessels. Yesterday, there was a group of us girls who
gave lunch to a lady that had a learning disability. We asked her what her name
was (It was Stephanie) and then what we could pray for, for her. Right as I was
about to pray, one of the 7 Bridges guys came past and said that we should have
her pray. She blessed me more than I could possibly imagine. She not only
prayed for herself, and for our lives, and us but also was praising God for his
greatness, and how we are all sinners and need forgiveness.
Lately, I’ve been lacking in my prayer life. I could blame it
on the busyness of my life, but that is no excuse. Stephanie encouraged me to
become closer to God through prayer. Another way yesterday that I saw God
working was the last man I handed a lunch to. We were debriefing in a park, and
I saw him walking and went over and prayed and gave him a lunch. He took it to
a park bench and ate it. Terrance (7 Bridges Guy) told me that I could give the
rest of the lunches that we had left to him. So I went over and said “Here are
some more…you’ll be set for a while!” He looked at me with love in his eyes and
said “I won’t be keeping these, I’m going to hand them to the people sitting
across the park.” This is the true love of God. He could have easily kept the
food for himself, and he would have had food for a couple of days. Instead, he
showed the love of God, and was giving them away. God is great.
Back at the garden, we were always able to play with the
kids that lived there. There was a little boy named Amir (nicknamed “Yum Yum”J), who is about one and
a half. He is usually a ball of energy, but he had a fever. He was just
standing in the middle of the fellowship hall looking around, and when he saw
me, he reached up his arms. On Monday and Tuesday, he slept in my arms. When I
had to put him down, he bawled. I realized that this is kind of like us. When
everything is going swell, and your healthy, you don’t really “need” God. But,
when there are hard times, we tend to pray, asking God to help us through the
situation. When we let go of God, we are lost without him (the crying by Amir.)
The difference though, is God never lets us go. (If I could take Amir back to
Wisconsin, I would.)
You know those pastors that everything that they say, you
want to write down? Well that is Pastor 7. On Sunday, he preached about Psalm
40, and had so many grand points. The one that really stuck out to me was about
James 4:7, and how we need to surrender ALL. What am I holding onto that is
keeping me from being a fully devoted servant to God?
I learned I need to give my whole self to God, not just
parts, when I want to. This trip really helped me understand that I am not
better than the people on the streets, or in poorer situations. Some of them
have faith stronger than mine, even though I have been a Christian longer. We
talked about how a lot of these people have problems, but sometimes, our
problems are that everything on this earth is going fine and dandy. We have no
time for God then. The people at the Garden are immersed in the Bible and
talking to God all the time. I am going to strive to work harder at having my
whole life be devoted to God. This trip also confirmed my desire to go into
social work, and my dream is to start a place like 7 Bridges someday. If this
is God’s plan, I look forward to being able to be God’s hands and feet, and
minister to the people who are searching for their heavenly Father.
~ Allison Gartman
The blessing of innocence is one of the things I learned to
appreciate on this trip. I am so glad that my eyes were opened to the amount of
poverty that goes on in just this one area of the world. What I am grateful for
is the life I have been given and that I have always been aware of God in my
life and that I have never been without a meal or warmth.
While we were walking
through the Bluff, our guides/bodyguards informed us that there was so much
going on around us and we were totally unaware. One of the 7 Bridges men
picked up some bullet shells just lying on the road and gave some to various
members of our group, so that we could pray over them as a physical reminder of
what these people are going through. Many of the prayer requests from the
people we met, were for their friends and family to have faith in God through
the violence and addiction going on around them. It was amazing to me how
strong some of the people’s faith was in their situations. This trip has
allowed me to see outside of “My Own Little World” and to know better what to
pray for when thinking of homelessness. I want to help out in my own community
and go on other missions trips if possible and be a working tool for Christ.
~ Liz Smies
When we were getting ready to go on this trip, I was kind of scared of praying over people. I can walk up to a stranger and talk to him but
praying over someone is a totally different thing. This trip was a great
learning experience for me in many ways, I found out that praying over someone
is not hard if you are willing to do it. We sometimes overlook what we have and
do not appreciate how blessed we are. This trip revealed the truth of God’s
love and how much he is blessing us. God has given us so much - this life, a
family, friends and people who care about us... Not everyone gets all of this. This
trip made me able to see it and appreciate it. It also was a great experience to
work with the “7 Bridges” ministry down in Atlanta. Seeing God’s work down
there in bad situations showed me that God is greater than any evil situation in our lives. He always comes through to help. “WE ARE IN WISCONSIN
YEAAA”, I just heard everyone shouting that in the van. We all are happy to be
home but there is this wish in our hearts that we could’ve stayed for longer.
~ THE MOOSE... UNCLE MUZII… BUZII… JAPAN… UNCLE MOOSE… MUZII...
I got quite a few names now.. ;)
 |
| Packing the lunches... |
 |
| Getting ready to pray before heading out on the route |
 |
| We met Lebron James! Yeah, according to the men in the parking lot Lebron James was the name of the cat:) |
 |
| Following the 7 Bridges bus on the route |
 |
| A corner notorious for drug trafficking - especially heroin |
 |
| Tim, one of our leaders, brings left over lunches to the men sitting outside a store |
 |
| A look from the Bluff towards the stadium where the Falcons play |
 |
| The city of Atlanta, just down the street from the Bluff |
 |
| Debriefing in the park |
 |
| As Allison mentioned in her post, she is handing some extra lunches to a man that came up to us while we were debriefing. |
 |
| Back at the Garden playing with the kids |
 |
| A group shot with some of the kids |
 |
| A picture with Eddie Windsor - We were able to catch a basketball game at his new home school, Landmark Christian Academy. |
 |
| A stop at Sonic - Snacks for some and a 2nd meal for others:) |
 |
| Allison "droppin' the beat" |
 |
| Play time at the Garden |
 |
| We found where they kept the cookies, but I don't think many of us had an appetite for cookies anymore. |
 |
| Alycia, Noah, Michael and Sawyer with David. David was one of our leaders. He was rescued from the streets two years ago. He is a gentle man with a kind heart. I sure hope we meet again someday in the near future. We need to continue to pray for the men at the mission as many of them are young in their faith. In addition to facing their past, they continue to work on the streets day after day. What they give of themselves is amazing. |
No comments:
Post a Comment