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by Clay Selby, EM Summer Staff in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta Mission Trips

As Sunday night arrives, emotions are high and everybody is getting super hyped for the upcoming week. Without a doubt, it is one of my favorite (and most stressful) times of the week. EM staff makes dinner and meets the teams we will be working with for the next week. Excitement is real as we get to see tired travelers emerge from the bus for the first time into the moist Atlanta heat. Although expectations are high, nobody really knows what to expect for the upcoming week. To be fair, not even us, the EM staff, can imagine what the next five days will hold. Each week is a new experience. It is a time to learn through struggles, but also rejoice in the many victories. This past week was filled with lots of laughter, tears, change, commitment, and thousands upon thousands of beautiful smiles.

This week was particularly special for me as I not only got to work with a group of incredible individuals from Arkansas, but an awesome youth group from my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Canteen was definitely one of my personal highlights of the week, but it was also something that will be remembered for a long time by everybody that was able to participate, both in our group, and the people we had the blessing to serve and talk to in the community. To go out onto the streets of Atlanta and have mission trip teams come face to face with the raw realities that so often occur just miles from our homes is so cool to see. Everyone is immediately thrown way outside of their comfort zone as we step out of the car and hear someone shout at us, "Welcome to the hood!" (Yes, I was literally greeted like that this week.)

Atlanta Mission Trips

It is such an amazing thing though to be able to serve others with a pure love, but also to be served. To just sit and listen to some of these people's stories is so incredible. Christians are called to serve, but I have discovered that so often that means to let others serve me. Serving someone a hot dog won't change a life, but listening and genuinely caring about there story and growing that relationship from week to week, that can change lives, both lives in the community and those of us on EM mission trips.

As I reflect on this past week so many great memories flood my brain. Painting and strengthening relationships at a nearby apartment complex, hearing about lives touched at the Boy's and Girl's Clubs, and seeing kids grow as we hang out with them in the afternoon; these are a few of the unforgettable experiences.

On Friday, I started to think back on this week as a completed action, a job well done, but before the buses could even leave the parking lot that thought was quickly altered. One of the young men pointed out a women walking up to us. She was clearly in a very bad state both physically and mentally. She had no clue what time it was or about anything that had happened in the past twelve hours. The evils of drugs such as cocaine and heroine have never been so apparent to me as they were in that moment. As I gazed deeply into the rolled back eyes of this troubled individual, I couldn't think of anything to say so I simply sat and listened.

We had an opportunity to pray with her and give her some food and something to drink, but it signified something deeper to me. It was a reminder that we've all heard in the past, but still need to hear again. That moment reminded me that we're never done. This week is over and this mission trip is completed in a sense. But our mission as Christians is so much greater than just taking a few days every year to go and serve, rather it is to serve every single day. It is paramount to our faith to remember that our mission as Christians on this earth is never over. That is my prayer for the mission trip teams as they return home to the streets of Flint and Arkansas. That they would remember the fun times we had, which were plentiful indeed, but also the desperate need for Christ in their hometowns as well. This week, I witnessed a group that had a passion and love for what they were doing. The things that could be accomplished after they return home are unimaginable if they continue to serve and love those around them.

Atlanta Mission Trips


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