3 to go!

Week 6 is done and our week 7 groups from Arkansas, Ohio, and South Carolina are currently on their way due to arrive in a short hour and a half! Each week comes with new challenges, excitement, joy, and fun. It is absolutely incredible the amount of growth that is seen particularly in youth from Sunday night to when they leave Friday morning. One of the cool things about being a middle school only site is that this is a lot of the youth's first missions trip. Many of them will come into the week wrapped up in their friends, seeking out that attractive opposite sex from another church, or scared not knowing what to expect. By the end of the week all of this is still happening yet, they have a new sense of service and spreading God's love. They have been exposed to people and things that they might not have been before and have a love that is new and fresh. It has been so refreshing to see this growth week by week!

This past week at Kids Club was peace week. This concept was a lot harder to teach for four days than I had thought. The youth did a good job portraying peace through their skits the first couple of days but I just didn't feel like the kids were grasping the concept. God has yet to fail me though in showing that these kids are really understanding and that the youth are thriving in their role of leadership. At each site on Thursday God showed how he worked through the week. At Glenwood as the kids were lined up to say the bible verse for the week, a little boy came to the front of the line very sad and confused because he didnt know the verse. I asked the boy Randy in front of him who knew the verse if he could help and teach the other one who didn't quite know it yet. Randy took him over right away and then others flocked. I sat there and watched a 6 year old teach others the word of God. Boy did my heart melt! Afterwords Randy came over and I thanked him and asked him if he wanted to be a teacher. He responded with, "No! I want to be a police officer!" I asked him why and he said so he could help others but that he wouldnt put them into jail because they might've not known they did something wrong. There is that childlike faith which I am constantly reminded of and utterly thankful for!

Here is Randy teaching the other children!

At the Boys and Girls club a youth was reading a story with one of the kids. The word peace was in it and the kid pointed to it and said that that was what we were talking about! Also, at Avondale, a youth was able to talk to one of the kids about peace and his anger. She pulled out the bible verse and everything! Its the little things like these that I know God is working not only in me but in the youth and the kids as well!

This weekend my team and I were able to go to Atlanta for an area retreat. We met the Birmingham team, Atlanta team, and our area director Courtney there and spend  Friday night and all day Saturday. It was such a nice time to laugh, dance, and just relax as we are all experiencing very similar things this summer. We went to a Braves game Friday night, dressed up as cows to get free chick-fil-a (and yes, at the original restaurant!), went to the MLK museum, went swimming, and then went to a really cool food truck place for dinner! 

Chatlantaham!

MLK and Corretta Scott King's graves

Food trucks!

MLK's birth home

The church MLK preached at

Week after week all I can be is thankful. I am thankful for the friendships that God has given me through this experience. I am thankful for the laughter and fun that I've had. Im thankful for the ways I have seen youth glorify Him and teach children. I am thankful for the ways children have grown to know the Lord's love. But mostly, I am thankful for how God is so evident here in Chattanooga and I am so excited to see what he is going to do in the last 3 weeks to come!