(Not) The End.

Posted by Amy on March 19, 2010 · 1 Comment 

Friday….oh, how do I even begin to explain such a day?

First, Steph made us french toast Friday morning, a wonderful going away treat! It was a great morning except for the rain outside. Considering the staff’s plans for the group were outside…Jeff had a little reorganizing to do and the solution was another morning at Nashville Rescue Mission (which I’m pretty sure all of us were excited about!). Thomas’ face as we stepped off the elevator that morning to help him once again was priceless, as he was definitely caught off guard!

That morning we did a little more organizing of clothes in the warehouse. We were total pros at organization at this point..so we had a little fun in the meantime. Clothes became outfits and well, check out the photos for yourself— We found a size 60 pair of pants that both Emily and I fit into!

Overall, it was a fun morning, we got the job done quickly and helped the mission once again in saving space and time.

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Our next activity, the group had anticipated a little bit…but I know I certainly didn’t expect the outcome.

All week we had been doing “Ask the Lord” activities and really learning how to seek God and His will and to listen to Him. We asked Him where He wanted us to go, who He wanted us to talk to, and we just waited and listened. Friday was the day to really do His work in the real world without scheduled times for activities and boundaries.

It was 2 p.m., we had to be back by around 6 p.m. Jeff didn’t set rules, he didn’t set boundaries. This was a time for us to go out and listen to God and do His will in the real world, just like we would be doing at home. That was the whole point of  the week, to just ask and listen to God; listen to where He’s guiding you and spread His love in ways He asks you to.

So, our group set out without too much of a plan. We had some images, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Glen. I had this urgent feeling that we needed to take him to the Mission since he may not have the capability. No matter what the reason, I just felt like we needed to find Glen. Either way…we set out into the city and went down to Broadway in the main area of Nashville. We stopped and talked to a guy playing guitar. To be honest, he was in rough condition, and we had a hard time understanding his conversation, but we didn’t leave. We went and bought him a couple of guitar picks so it would be easier for him to play and just listened to him play. We continued on for a bit and talked to a few people…we stopped and prayed….we went to the riverfront….and then it was 4:00. At that point, we decided we were a little discouraged because we didn’t really know where God was leading us, so, we went to Panera to meet up with Matt to talk. We expressed how maybe it wasn’t supposed to be a day of super-grandiose happenings or miracles, but rather conversations and simplicity. Maybe it was just an off day…..God works in simple conversations, and maybe that was our call for the day. Matt reassured us, but encouraged us. But then, he told us he had a feeling we should set off in a certain direction and pointed toward the church behind Panera. “I think you guys should go that way.”

A simple statement after a nice encouraging conversation. We left Panera and stopped to pray, then set out in the direction he pointed us in.

Literally, within 3 minutes, we ran into Yolanda.

We approached her to talk to her and she asked us if we had a blanket, because she was visibly shivering and her sleeping bag had been ruined in the rain the night before. In that moment, Emily told Yolanda she could have her sleeping bag and she and Bailey went back to the church to go get it for her. After the two girls came back, we helped Yolanda wrap up in the sleeping bag and talked with her on a nearby bench. She told us that the bench was her usual spot and that’s where she spent all her time. The group of us sat in the middle of the sidewalk and just talked with her. Yolanda had the most beautiful smile and joy was pouring out of her. A couple of people went and bought her dinner at Panera that Yolanda thoroughly enjoyed— a sandwich, soup in a bread bowl, a cookie and coffee. We continued to just stay and chat with her. We learned about Yolanda’s life, her children, and her past; She was hoping for a house in Madison, TN where her children were so that she could be near them. I could go on and on about what we talked about…..2 hours later, it was about that time for the group to head back to church, but we couldn’t leave her. She was shivering, it was sprinkling and we just couldn’t leave her, we had to take her somewhere. After a couple of calls, we were taking her to the Nashville Rescue Mission. (Though the mission mainly does a men’s program, they invite people in on a nightly basis to provide a temporary place to stay)

After all week working at the Mission, we got to take someone there for comfort. Yolanda was so excited, she was excited about being inside, away from the cold. I asked her, “Yolanda, is there anything else we can do?” and she simply replied, “No, I’m happy” and smiled a bigger smile than I had ever seen. She didn’t have a home and she was cold, but she couldn’t ask for anything more. I think Yolanda taught us more that day than we could have ever even imagined teaching her. I don’t know where she is right now, and I don’t know where Glen is, but I don’t think I, or the people in my group will ever forget them.

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God worked in us and stretched us last week. He taught us to listen. He taught us to release fear and anxiety because He will give us the strength and courage to do His work. He walks with us and gives us the words to speak. He put people in our paths for certain reasons and He taught us through them. He taught us to truly love people instead of grouping them into stereotypes like “homeless.” They aren’t homeless, they are people. I think we always knew that, but God really threw us out of our comfort zone and told us to love His children. No one has labels, no one has groups or stereotypes. Everyone is a person, no matter their circumstance. Don’t just avoid talking to people because they may “scare” you, they are just like you….why would you avoid them? I have, and I think we all have. I’m not so sure why since I want to love people and God wants us to love people. I don’t know why, and I’m ashamed, but God taught me, and He taught us all a lot this week. He taught us how to be missionaries every day and we learned how to truly listen to Him and be Christ’s light each and every day no matter where we are.

So…that’s my week. That’s the day-by-day outline. But, as it says in the title, it’s not the end. God only sparked a fire that was already flaming and made it larger than ever before. I’m going on a youth retreat with the church this weekend, but I’ll have plenty more to say next week. Stories from this weekend, and even more reflection on last week, because even though I wrote a week’s worth of posts on the trip, I seriously can’t express and write enough about how much God worked in us and how great our God is.

Until then…check out photos from Friday here!

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