Justin Lorenz:
This week in Clarkston Georgia I witnessed God’s work in the lives of the poor and less fortunate and all of it in different situations: kids not having someone to play with or not having enough money for a daily healthy lunch, and even not even having a home to stay in or food to eat. But through the week I have talked, played and had fun with all types of people and I have gotten to know them better. Society sometimes completely ignores them but they are all amazing people and most of them know about the lord and are in a relationship with him for eternity. Most of the kids were refugees and my friends and I took that feeling away and changed it into a happy time they were always smiling around us and they never once frowned.
The whole week I thought I would be just going through the motions but it turns out I was wrong I had more fun in just one day than I have had in my whole life God is definitely working in these kids lives and mine and if I hadn’t come to Georgia I would’ve never grown closer to my Lord and savior.
Britni Lorenz:
This week has so far been one of the best weeks in my life so far. I have been in Atlanta, Georgia and in Clarkston, Georgia this week and I have met a lot of very interesting people. I have hung out with the kids and talked to the adults. Many of the stories I heard and the kids I have hung out with have changed my view of just about everything. Thursday we helped out with books for Africa, an organization that packs up donated book and sends them to places in Africa that does not have any reading material at all. We helped organize the different books and when I took some of the religious book to the religious books bin I was encouraged by how many books were there. I was happy that all those people would be getting to read. I also played with some of the kids at English Oaks and a trailer park during a lunch program. They were the best kids I have met in Georgia. It is not easy to talk to people who cannot speak English but it was interesting to have someone translate for me and tell them what I was saying or asking. The looks on the kids faces when they are having fun or just hanging out is the best look I have ever seen, the smiles on their faces and them laughing is the best thing I have ever encountered and I am glad that I got to come and hang out with them and help others.
Courtney Trowbridge:
This week has been amazing! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when we got to Atlanta but it has been awesome! One of the things that has stood out the most to me his week was going to the homeless feeding on Tuesday. When we first got to Atlanta our leader told us that we would be helping at a homeless feeding and I thought “cool, we get to go cook and then give the food to homeless people.” But then on Monday at the team debrief our leader told us that the main reason we were going to the homeless feeding was to talk to the people. I think instantly I lost almost all my enthusiasm for going to help. I don’t really like talking to people I don’t know, I prefer just working in the background. So Tuesday morning during devotions I was reading and this verse just really stood out to me “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) And that really made me think, we are ambassadors for Christ we represent Him to the rest of the world. We show God’s love and share his story of forgiveness to the rest of the world. I think because of this verse I was willing to just step out of my comfort zone and talk to people.
