Serving Atlanta 2025

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Today was our last full day in Atlanta. We woke up around 8:30 and ate breakfast and then got ready for church. We started off by singing. The first song was The Blessing. Once we sang that there was a call to worship that was led by Charles. This was a quite long call to worship, some of us thought that was the main message. We talked about obedience, and that when you obey God and do the work that He has called us to do, He will provide for us. Charles shared many stories about seven bridges and how God has provided for them. One story was about pastor Seven, Charles explained that pastor Seven liked cars, he would buy them and they fix them, this one time pastor went to go look at a car to buy. When he was with the owner test driving the car pastor seven asked him why he was selling the car, the man explained how he need money to go be with his family, he told him how much he enjoys the car and how much he invested into it but he had to do what he had to do. Pastor seven had the money with him ready to buy the car, he had a calling from God to give the man the money and let him keep the car. So that’s what he did. He listened to God and obeyed His calling, and when he returned to seven bridges, they found a check on his desk for the same amount he paid for the car. This was just one story of how God has blessed seven bridges. After he finished the call to worship we went on to more worship. We sang amazing grace and some other songs I wasn’t familiar with. Worship was led by Cantrell and Mike which was very nice. After worship, Chris went on to preach the message. The message was about repentance and turning away from sin. I appreciated the amount that Chris talked about scripture. He was read through a passage and then talk about the passage and how repentance worked in that story and how it relates to our lives. Towards the end he played the song “The Truth” by Megan woods and let us talk to God and repent where we need to. Then anyone who wanted to and was comfortable they went up and took communion. They take communion every Sunday, which is different from what most of us were used to. After that the men from seven bridges prayed over us knowing we are leaving the next day. This was very sweet. Over the past couple of days we all had the chance to get to know the men in the ministry. One big take away that I had was the way that most of them were so Christ centered and love for the Lord. It was very encouraging to see the joy and the love that they had that so obviously came from God. Truly having Christ at the center of your life really made a huge difference and it was something that overall was very encouraging throughout the week.

After church we went to the Georgia Aquarium. This was so amazing. We saw so many different things. The first thing we looked at were the sharks, and looked at some other fish. Then we got to see a dolphin show. This was incredible, the dolphins were doing flips in the air and all sorts of tricks, they even had the trainers ride on their noses and swam across the tank with the trainers still on them. It was so fun and mesmerizing. It is so cool that God gave them the ability to learn all these things and be able to do the things that they were doing. It was seriously so cool to watch. After that we went through a tunnel of glass, it was filled with all sorts of aquatic animals, there was 2 whale sharks and there was a saw fish that were so cool. Big and small, there were so many intricate details in the animals. Then we got the chance to go into separate groups and look around. We met together at the gift shop and then we left. We went to the Varsity for dinner and then we went back to the church and played some games. Overall it was a super fun last day.

~ Chloe Gutoski

Breakfast, Sunday morning

Ready for church!

Worship

Getting our bedding out of the way before church

Some in our group were pretty excited to see palm trees. Had to get some pics.

First stop at the Georgia Aquarium. The Predators of the Deep.

Got our seats for the dolphin show

Pics can't catch the amazing ability these animals have to perform

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Supper at The Varsity

Our annual picture with Nick and Jess, good friends we met years ago through the ministry:)

One of the women involved in the ministry overheard our girls talking about how much they liked the shampoo in the showers. She found a bunch in a Costco donation and handed it off to our girls. They were pretty excited:)

Today we started off by sleeping in a little bit longer than usual and didn’t start packing lunches until 10. We packed around 300 lunches ,and had to do them again because we found maggots in the cookies. Once we got out on route at noon we started off by handing out lunches, hygiene products, and our jackets and blankets we brought. One man that I got to talk to was Willy. He lived under the bridges and all he had was a small little tent with this things. All he wanted was a lunch which I gave him and then had the opportunity to pray with him which he explained how it was very impactful for someone to do that, and how loving I was in getting to know him. Yesterday we got to meet a lady that was deaf that one of the leaders in the ministry was able to communicate with, and today we got to go back and visit her and give her some new socks. Going through the tents really opened my eyes to the realities that other people live in, seeing trash everywhere, starving dogs, and the kids especially changed my perspective completely. The trailer park was really sad to see, because there were kids just running around without warm clothes or parents in sight. It was really difficult to communicate with them but we were able to pray over a few of the homes we visited. Naomi, Ben, and I all met this guy named Brother Paul yesterday who asked for prayer for his wife Stephanie. Stephanie lived under the bridges but Paul was able to find a place to live but visits her everyday. He appreciated the lunches and we asked if we could pray over his wife with him. Then today, we went back to the same area and saw them both again. Ben gave him a sweatshirt which he put on right away, Naomi gave Stephanie some hat and gloves and we were all able to pray over them again, Brother Paul remembering who we were from the day before. It was our longest day on route, so everyone was ready to come back, shower and eat dinner. After that we did a brief 2 and a half hour debrief and devotion with the group, followed by some games. Overall, today really allowed me to see the true focus on God through all the work we have been doing, and how influential even the smallest thing can be for anyone you may just walk past in your day to day life.

~Amie Burgard

Today was our last day of route. All of us felt sad that we could not do it again just because of the impact it made on us. We opened the day with our usual Bible readings and chants. I enjoy these because they prepare us for the work ahead. They give me confidence to know that God is working through us and that He is with us in our words. We packed 300 lunches (about 100 more than usual) because Saturday routes are typically longer than usual. We stopped at 6 different places today many of which we have been before. Saturdays are also special because many community members volunteer and join on the routes. Before leaving one of our leaders Chris gave a small devotion and challenged us with a question. He asked us what healed us during this trip? In other words what part of our mind or faith was healed through our experience. Personally my mind went straight to prayer. I believe so much more in the power of prayer than I did before. Whether it would be putting your arms around someone or prayer from afar there is now more passion in how I pray and intentionality. Under the bridges we collected our lunches and donations to go out. I saw many of the people I did in the past and often times they would recognize us. Two people I saw today was DJ and Stephanie. I prayed with both of them the day before and both times they were very thankful for the food and the prayer. Afterwards we visited the trailer park and gave out lunches there. Instead of doing our regular route we went through the entire trailer park and handed out lunches to those who wanted them. We saw many of the same children who of course came up to us and gave us big hugs. One women we met spoke no English at all so the communication barrier was very hard. The men we were with called her grandma and she was just as they described. She was very loving and warm despite not being able to communicate. She demanded hugs from everyone and was very grateful for the lunches and donations. In another location we went to was under some highway bridges. This was a new location! There we met several people living underneath and near the streets of the busy roads. We met one woman named Diane who was on the side of the road near one of the exits. She was very happy and thankful to see us. We gave her gloves, a hat, a jacket, a lunch and hygiene products. Though she had trouble hearing us she made sure her thanks were made to us. We all prayed for her and you could tell she was filled with the Holy Spirit. On our way back to the vans we met a man named Durain, after giving him donations and food we prayed for him. Even though we gave him materials he was most thankful for the prayer. His face was beaming when we finished our prayer for him. He showed me how much the Lord can work in someone’s heart so quick and through a simple prayer. On our last stop we parked especially for a woman named Amber. She was a resident at seven bridges in the past but unfortunately got kicked out . Our leader Contral told us her story and emphasized loving your neighbor and for many of the men Amber was their literal neighbor. He really showed passion when talking about Gods love both near and far but also how special it is when Gods love is so close with your “neighbors”. When we got back to the church we ate and cleaned up. We also made a video as a reflection of our week.

~ Ella Rocklewitz

Today we woke up at about 8 am and ate breakfast together. We didn’t need to be down stairs for or morning Bible verses and chants. So in the time before 10 we all got ready and did personal devotions and journaling. At 10 we went down to do our chants and another group of moms and sons were joining us packing lunches. Chloe, Ella, Naomi and I also packed flour bags. We met outside today and a mom and son and a father daughter group joined us on rout which we left around 12:30 to go under the bridges and I was really hoping to see cash that I saw the day before because he didn’t have anything that could keep him warm. I saw him outside the van and Mr. Hendi was seeing if we had a jacket and I called out that’s cash I got it and I grabbed everything I wish I could have given him yesterday. I gave him a blanket, a jacket, a lunch and some gloves. I prayed over him and then later after our prayer circle we went throughout the tent city and saw his tent and gave him some hygiene stuff and I prayed over him again. There were a few dogs and we were told we shouldn’t pet them but when Naomi and I went to go pray for Richard his dog named Hunny Due Love jumped up and was loving on me. Also Richard asked for prayer that everyone could get off the streets and it truly shows how they all do care for each other. We ended up going around to 6 different stops and at one of them we stopped at we talked to this lady named Pam who we had talked to and prayed for the day before. She had told us that she had such a better day after we had prayed for her. In the Trailer park we went to a grandmas house and we gave lunches and a bunch of hats and gloves. Before we left we sang days of Elijah with the kids. And then at our last stop we had a man who didn’t smile the whole time but after we prayed for him he began to smile. I love that we had the opportunity to help so many people.

~ Gwendolyn Lampe

Because today was Saturday, our routine looked a little different. After being able to sleep in a little longer than usual we ate breakfast, then got ready for the day. at 9 o clock we went back down and said our morning prayers and affirmations, then helped put together lunches with a few other volunteer groups from the community. But then after putting together 300 bags of food, me and Amie saw a MAGGOT on the table. we told the leaders after finding more and eventually found out that they were coming from the cookies. so we had to take them out and start again. once we had the meals ready we went out on our route which was longer than usual with 6 different spots. Handing out food, hygiene products, blankets and clothes. It was especially cold out today so it was even more heartbreaking to put myself in the shoes of those who had to bear the cold with almost nothing. Every time I wanted to complain about how I literally could not feel my toes I would remember that many people that we were serving didn’t even have socks or shoes at all. One of the ladies that I have been able to help for all three days that we’ve gone outs name is Kash. She just stook out to me because of how grateful she was every time I saw her and how she was able to smile despite her circumstances. Another woman that stood out to me throughout this trip ( I don’t remember her name unfortunately) but I remember her because of her sharing with us that her prayer request was that her “family would come back for her”. This really broke my heart knowing that she was still just waiting for the only people in her life to help her out, when they really might not be coming back at all. This trip has helping me have more of a heart for those without a home and in poverty situations, and has been really beneficial for practice in praying for all kinds of people.

~ Emma Handziak