We are serving God's Kingdom here in Atlanta. We want to serve on our terms; we want to create our own story. But we must serve on God's terms, which means sometimes waiting until he shows us the person who needs to share their story. And we wait. And we listen.

On Day 4 in Atlanta, we started our ministry in the morning and did not finish until 10pm. We started with "Street Reach" in the morning by going to the neighborhood near the Atlanta Falcons stadium to hand out bottles of sweet tea and donated boxes of Delta Airlines snacks. The purpose was to let people know that we would be back in the evening with food and blankets. We split into two groups and made the rounds to the homeless who were living on the street, though we shared with anyone we came across. For the most part we moved quickly, but some of the students were able to have meaningful conversations with those we met.

In the afternoon we joined Frontline Response's Legacy Kids program in a condo development by going door-to-door and inviting the kids to come out and play and then we shared the gospel message. There were many "no thank you" responses early on, but once we reached families who had developed a relationship with Legacy Kids, we saw the children come out to play. We learned a lot from our students who shared about their own families and how they would respond to this type of ministry. The kids were wonderful.

In the evening we joined a group of about 20 Frontline Response volunteers and we went back to downtown Atlanta to hand out blankets and a hot meal. At first this seemed rushed, as if getting rid of the blankets was the goal (and they were in demand!).

But as we approached people outside of a place called the Shrine and a shelter called Gateway, conversations began to develop. Students in small groups were able to listen to stories that ranged from someone who could not read or write and had been homeless for only a week, to someone living in a tent and homeless for over 40 years. There was the lady who was hooked on heroin and was difficult to understand, but our students were able to pray with her. And then there was the man who missed his flight back to Detroit, was kidnapped and chased down on the streets of Atlanta by men trying to force him to commit their illegal activities. He was connected last night by phone with his Mom (who thought he was dead) in Detroit and rescued by being brought to the Greyhound station and boarding a bus back to Detroit!

Today is our last day of ministry. We will again be ministering to the homeless and the children as they minister to our hearts. May God's story be shared as we listen to their stories.