Back to the City

Wow it is hard to believe that it has been over a year since I moved to Atlanta for Mission Year! After a month back in Tennessee I moved back to the ATL for another year of service as an alum intern for Mission Year. I'm very excited about this opportunity. I moved in to Glencastle apartments last Wednesday after a week long orientation in Houston, TX. I'm living with six folks from all over the world, and we are hoping that we will have one more person join the team if they can get their visa worked out. To find out more about the team check out my Facebook page for my first newsletter as an alum. 

A couple Friday's ago we had a scavenger hunt on the MARTA transit system. You may remember reading about it last year. I had a lot of fun this year. It was really cool to actually know where most everything was on the hunt, and it was great seeing my team work together to find all the different places. Now this is a competition with the two other teams in Atlanta, so I'm hoping that we made it to more places so we can win, but even if we didn't make it to the most places we still have a chance to win with the presentation of MARTA day! I look forward to telling y'all how we choose to present our day.

Here are a few pics from MARTA day...

Krispy Kreme at the West End

Zoo Atlanta in Grant Park

Turner Field: home of the best team in the MLB

MLK Historic Site

First African-American Firehouse in ATL

 Thanks for reading,
Shalom,
Adam Q

A Day of Remembrance

  In many ways this post may not seem like it should be a Mission Year blog, but for me it has everything to do with my year here in Atlanta.

  A year ago today Granddad passed away. This was one of the hardest moments of my life. I didn't believe that I would ever have to say goodbye. He was my hero. It didn't matter what I got into he was there for me. Now sometimes that meant that he wasn't happy with my actions, and he wasn't afraid to tell me that. I always loved that about him. He was honest, but he was gentle and loving with his honesty. I was able to grow from all that he was telling me.

   When I think back to when I was just a kid some of my fondest memories are sitting in his recliner (where he always had on the news or the Braves game) reading a Bernstein Bears book. Or as I got older learning how to play checkers. I hardly ever won, but I learned how to loose gracefully. I learned how to love the Braves sitting in his basement. These details are nothing compared to what he did for my spiritual life. I remember saying when I was younger I want to be a preacher just like Granddad. I don't think that dream was lost. I look back to my life starting in the church, and it starts in the front pew at Rural Hill listening to my Granddad sing every song with everything he had. I learned to love God because he loved God. He baptized me when I was twelve. I can still feel his hands clasp behind my back as I came out of the water.

  As I continued to grow, he continued to teach. He taught me many practical life skills like how to change a lawn mower blade, which he helped me with until a few months before he passed away. He was a wonderful example of a husband and father. He was a leader. And he loved everyone.

    After I made poor life decisions, he and Grandma were there. Offering me a place to live and sleep. I cherish those times that I was living with them. He continued to teach me until he passed, even when I was 22. The lessons kept on coming. We talked about financial establishment, and how to take care of funds. How important it was for me to keep my word. He was always asking me if I had paid my bills. I'm so grateful for all the lessons that I was able to learn from him.

    I don't know if he ever knew this, but he is one of the biggest reasons I'm in Atlanta. His life showed me that God was his love, and from his love for God he loved me. I can't begin to explain how special that is to me. There have been many times since I have gotten here in Atlanta that I have wanted to call him up, and tell him how things are going here. To tell him how much he has influenced my life and my decisions. I don't know that he ever knew that he is one of the biggest reasons I am a Christian. If you asked me why I'm in Atlanta I would have to say because my Granddad lived out Jesus calling to love God and love others, and I want to be like him. I want to love God and others like he did.

My Granddad was a great man. He was a father. He was a husband. He was a Granddad. He was a friend. He was a lover of God. He was a teacher and a leader. He was a lover of people. He was MY Granddad!

Granddad, I love and miss you! I can't wait to see you again. I know you are watching over me. Thanks for everything that you did for me! Love you!

Grace and Peace.

 

It is spring time in the ATL

I have been trying to think about what I wanted my first blog of this trimester to be about and sorry it has taken me two weeks to write it. There has been a lot going on since I got back from spring break. We only have one more week of the s.a.y yes program before we take three weeks to plan a killer summer program! I'm really excited about getting to be involved with the kids during the summer. There are some great things planned. Every Thursday we will be going on a field trip, and four of the students are going to North Carolina for a Bible Camp. I can't wait to see the kids growth over the summer.

We started new Wednesday night Bible studies. I am going to one that is about the post resurrection appearances of Jesus. We started with his appearance to the disciples while they were fishing, then studied Jesus' appearance on the Emmaus road, and last week we look at his appearance to the twelve in the upper room. It has been awesome looking at the power in his resurrection, and talking about what that means for us today.

It has been great being in the community for the past couple weeks. With the weather it seems like the neighborhood is coming more alive. There is the smell of bbqing, horseshoes clanking, and laughing. I'm pumped for the summer, and ready to see what it is going to bring.

This is the community garden.

Speaking of bbqing, a couple weeks ago one of the guys in our church threw us a bbq cookout in the churches garden. It was great! It was a lot of fun to get to hang out with neighbors and folks that go to the church. The food and fellowship was an awesome welcome back from spring break! Tomorrow night in the garden we are having a community movie night. This is following our weekly community dinner. I'm hoping that there will be a good community turnout.

Sorry that this post was so jumpy there are just a lot of great things going on. Continue to be in prayer for Atlanta, the English Ave community, and my mission year team! Thanks for all you do.

May grace be up on you.

Shalom,
Adam

Celebrating Holy Week

The whole lent season leads up to this Holy Week. I have never celebrated lent before, but have really appreciated the beauty and intimacy that lent holds. It has been amazing to walk with Christ through fasting for forty five days. Sunday marks the end of the season with the celebration of Christ ressurection (aka Easter).

Holy week actually started last Sunday with Palm Sunday. The celebration of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. The church service was beautiful, and we celebrated with fellowship and food after service. The church service included the presenting of Holy Week symbols, folks reading scripture, and a wonderful sermon about Jesus entering the city (or triumphant entry ). It was a great time of reflection, and a new experience of celebrating the triumphant entry.

On Wednesday we reflected with a prayer walk around our neighborhood. We joined with Jesus lamenting over the city when he wept. We went to different areas in the community starting with an area that had been used for a tire dump, then went to a school that has been closed and boarded up, following that we walked to an abandoned house that someone is trying to flip for profit, and ended at an abandoned jump start building. We prayed over all the areas asking God to intervene and  reflecting on all the hardships of the community. We prayed for the families in the community, and for all the folks that are sitting on property instead of selling it. (There is a whole lot of frustration that comes with that...I will blog about that soon.) This was a hard night, but it was good to lift all those cares to Christ.

Us praying at the old tire dump

Unfortunately I was unable to be a part of the maundy service. The church celebrated the Passover by breaking bread, feet washing, and ended in our community garden.

Tonight we have the Good Friday service. I believe that it will be a powerful experience reflecting on Jesus being hung on the cross. And walking through it with fellow brothers and sisters.

But all of this leads to the big day! A day when death was defeated forever and Jesus brought his Kingdom to Earth. On the third day he rose, and death lost its power! I'm looking forward to a 7:30 am sunrise service followed by activities for the kids, finally leading into an Easter service. Praise God that Jesus rose and the grave could not contain him!

I have truly enjoyed the celebration of Holy Week. God is good and has shown himself to me throughout this lent season and my year here in Atlanta! Thanks for reading.

May grace and peace be upon you.

Shalom,

 Adam Q

Spring Ahead

Atlanta has taken a literal meaning to spring ahead, and I am loving it! The weather went from lower to mid forties up to lower to mid sixties it seems overnight. Since the weather is getting nicer it means more people are out and about. I expect that the smell of barbequing will fill the air in English Avenue here shortly. And I have to admit I can't wait!  I am really excited for the next few weeks and months.

The past few weeks have been great! I got to take part in a few games of horseshoes with Horrace, Reggie, and Tony last Saturday. It was Reggie and myself versus Horrace and Tony. Reggie and I won two of two. It was a blast! I have to give the credit to Reggie he carried us to victory. I don't think the winter helped my horseshoe game any. I'm looking forward to bonding over more friendly games of horseshoes.

One of the awesome things about more people being out means that there is a real chance to build new relationships. I'm praying that God will bless me with some new relationships, and I ask that you pray for me in this area as well. At the same time I am really excited to see what the summer means for the relationships that I already have. I look forward to being able to sit on the front porch with the Rouse family. Front porches are a wonderful time of getting to know others, and allow them to get to know me.

I think God for the ways he has already blessed my year here! And I can't wait to see the ways he continues to bless my year as the seasons change. Thanks for reading!

May grace and Peace fall upon you.

Shalom,
Adam Q 

S.A.Y Yes! black history performance

This Thursday we had our second S.A.Y Yes! performance. It was a ton of fun. This session was titled Imagine Me. So the kids performance reflected the idea of what there culture means. My kids the K5-2nd graders sang this little light of mine and told a short story about Harriet Tubman. The 3rd-5th graders represented influential people of color. The 6th grade girls quoted poetry. And last but not least the 6th grade boys performed a skit titled The World Without Black People. The skit discussed the different inventions of black people. It was really encouraging and a great blessing to see the kids perform what they have been working on since January. In this case I feel that pictures speak louder than words. So enjoy the pictures from the performance.

The k5-2nd graders performing This Little Light of Mine

 

3rd-5th graders as influential characters

Bring on the Poetry!

The world without black people skit

I hope you have enjoyed following the night through pictures. It was a great night. I'm so proud of all the S.A.Y Yes! students. 

Thanks for reading. Love you all.

May grace and peace fall upon you!

Shalom,

Adam Q

Come and See

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. I can't even begin to tell you how busy this trimester has been. But there has been some really exciting things happening the past couple of weeks.

community dinner!

I will start with two weekends ago. We had what is called come and see weekend, my mom and sister came down and experienced a little of what my life is like here. I had a blast with them here. They got in late Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was a very busy weekend, but we had a ton of fun. We started Friday by going to Cafe 458 and volunteering. I wanted them to see what I do everyday. I think they really enjoyed themselves. I know I had a great time. On Saturday they got to experience a normal Saturday for me starting with morning devotionals, then curriculum and grocery list, and then getting out into the neighborhood for the day. We visited with my neighbors Ms. Rouse and Casandra. It was really neat to see my life in Tennessee meet with my life in Atlanta.After we visited with Ms. Rouse and Casandra for awhile we headed over to the church because I had praise team practice so they got to meet some of my church family here. Finally to end the day we headed back to the house for community dinner. There were a bunch of the kids from S.A.Y Yes! there. So they were able to meet a lot of the students that I help tutor in the after school program. They also were able to meet a few more of my neighbors. It was a beautiful day. On Sunday they came to church and experienced a normal Sunday for me. And after church the whole house headed up to The Varsity for lunch. I had a great time with my family here. I'm glad that they were able to experience just one weekend of what I'm doing.

To shift gears a little, this past Saturday we went to the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a very powerful experience. The museum followed the history of the Civil Rights in Birmingham as well as showing a bigger scope of the movement. There were parts that made me angry and sad one particular was a room with a KKK robe and a cross that was burned on a biracial couples yard in 1991. It is hard to believe that was only 22 years ago. It is even harder to believe that the Civil Rights movement was only 50 yrs ago. There were great strides made by all those that fought for equality in the movement, but I believe we still have a long way to go. We still have a lot to fight for in this country and around the world. There were also parts of the museum that gave me hope the one that really stands out is watching the I Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and another that brought a strong sense of hope was reading about Birmingham's first black mayor and all he did to help the people and the area. I would encourage everyone to go and visit. It is a very powerful and moving trip.

An exhibit at the Civil Rights Institute

Thanks for reading!

May grace and peace fall upon you.

Shalom,
Adam Q.