Good morning mom's and dad's and friends of all ages.
We have a pretty usual morning about to happen here.  Some kids are gonna find out they are being woke up in about 10 minutes and then the rest getting that same news about 20 minutes later.  Breakfast is cereal, toast, yogurt, oatmeal.  Today is exciting though, because after breakfast and morning devo time we are all going to new service sites.  So we'll have another quick orientation right after devos and then find out about our new places to where we are serving.
Little thought for road here.....Would you rather be abducted by aliens or ride a massive tornado???

And of course the POTD..........

Going nonstop all day
Another Day ahead of us
No turning back now
Going out for service
Shoes get left behind too
Down to the pool we went
Open to new opportunities
Dat was AWESOME
Three took a break today

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QOTD...........

"Wait, what happened in the 3rd floor bathroom?"
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Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers throughout the week.  Things are going great.  Please keep praying for safety during travel, work sites and free time and also for the kids to keep learning so much about themselves.
Have a great day!!!!

Dear St. Luke's,

This is Atlanta life from the YW! Staff.

Today was an awesome day! We got up, had some waffles for breakfast, some of us cleaned the building, and then we all came together for devotions. The theme of today was "investing." From there we went to the ministry sites. Some of us went to Loaves and Fishes where we cleaned an Orthodox church and prepared meals for community members that are living in poverty. While others went to the Atlanta Food Bank, where they sort individual food drive donations and more importantly had all the chocolate they could eat. Another group went to the Emmaus House and worked hard outside cleaning up the community by gardening, painting and doing other random things. The Frazer Center was a big hit as well. We worked with children and adults with disabilities playing boche ball, basketball, and learning some spanish. Others went to Project Open Hand where they did an assembly line of food to make meals for people with health issues.

This is just an example of some of the things we did today. Overall, a great day!

After the ministry sites, we had some free time, went to the pool, and then went to the Martin Luther King Junior Historical Site where we saw Martin's tomb, where he preached and a museum about his life. After that we came back for some Taco Tuesday, spent a little free-time on the soccer field, had some pudding also known as an 'Astele', and then our club time at night where we learned about investing our own talents.

Peace and Love From the YW Staff

Thanks for sending a great group here!



"Oh so how long have you been drawing" said Aaron, a YW Staff.
"Since I was 3 years old" said Taylor.
"Your motor skills must have developed early" said Aaron.
Silence. Followed by lots of laughter.


Goodnight to all from ATL

Good morning to all from ATL
Not much time this morning for extras so straight to the point for now.....

Poem of the Day!!!!!

All together now
Lifting up our songs
Three went running again
Everyone is very tired today
Riding around in our 12 passenger vans
Constantly moving
At the pool
Tuesday is here
Into the community we go
Out for the day
New adventures at hand

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Please pray for energy to make it through today and for patience as kids are getting tired and just might be a little on edge because of lack of energy.  And as always prayers for the people we are serving today.

Monday is done now. Well it is time for bed and the kids are supposed to be going to sleep but there are sure to be a few that whisper about their days of what could have been better and what was bad about it or what they thought was awesome and can't wait to do again.
  Groups went to all sorts of places today and did things from cooking and serving food to homeless people from the area to unloading over 100 mattresses and boxsprings.  Some pulled weeds and picked over 15lbs of tomatoes.  Another group went to an elderly ladies house and did some weeding and cleaning up around her yard.  Other groups went and helped with disabled children and adults and others still to get to know some older people better and play some bocee ball with them.  Adults and kids came back after our day of service around 3-330pm and some were wore out and sweaty and some  came back with sonic slushies.  l can personally speak about the kids from the group "wicked" who worked super hard today cooking doing dishes and they were the ones that had the privilege to unload the 100+ mattresses and boxsprings as the last part of their work day.  Reports from all adults came back with positive remarks about kids that did things they thought they were not good at like hanging out with little kids or making scrambled eggs or just talking to people they do not know.  
  Dinner was pasta with red and white sauces, garlic bread, salad and of course some water to drink.  After dinner we took our first side trip to Centennial Park in Atlanta and it was very cool to just walk around and see all the different memorials and such from the '96 Olympic games.  The kids occupied themselves with football, frisbee, hanging out, and some ice cream treats.   We spent a couple hrs at the park and then came back to our "homesite" for club time(which is our evening large group bible study time).  We split up into our family groups and ended the evening with a little free time and then to bed for the night. 
    Tomorrow will be the usual wake up about 645 and breakfast and send off for the day.




Goodnight from ATL




Quote of the Day----
        "l got this guys, l'll be in culinary 3 next semester."

Good morning from Atlanta!!!!!!  For some the day started at 530 with a few people that did a little morning run around the park across the street.  The streets are nicely lit for just such a thing and encountered several other morning people from the area who also enjoy the earlier hrs.  For nearly everyone else the morning started closer to 645 when the breakfast prep crew was doing their job and then breakfast and lunch making shortly after.  Breakfast and building cleanup crews are underway then morning devos and then off to our projects for the day.  l am sorry to say that evening blog updates will most likely happen after the 11pm hr since we have so many things to fill our days.  But here is a little something special we have put together......
 The Poem of the Day!!!!!!!!!!


In the morning
Three went out
Went down the road
In the morning
Late nights
Long days
Beautiful skyline
United together in Christ
Friends are AWESOME
Outdoor a lot
Under the ATL sun
Traveling through the ATL

And morning QOTD

Why do we have to wake up before 7am????

The day started off in the church parking lot as the adults pulled in and lined up all 6 vans at 6:15am.  The kids started arriving around 6:30am for check-ins and to set up their spots in their vans and catch up with those they haven't seen for a few days or weeks.  We all attended the 8am worship service in one large group where we got commissioned and were able to attend communion.  We then exited directly to the vans and drove off on our week long adventure.  The vans had all different sorts of excitement consisting of sleeping, snack sharing, and l'm sure many other various situations that were encountered.  We stopped for lunch at the Georgia welcome center and had a good chance to stretch our legs.  Then continued on our adventure, with a couple more bathroom stops, until we arrived at our site church in Atlanta.  We unpacked vans, settled into rooms, made beds, then ate some dinner (pulled pork, mac n cheese, salad, fruit and veggies) and had orientation meetings.  Tonight we had our first "club" time where we sang some songs, saw some skits performed by the youth works leaders and then had "family group" time.  We finally wound down the night with some board games and some giant scrabble.  We are looking forward to waking up and really getting started with our week tomorrow morning. Prayers are appreciated for anything from safety to patience and for thankfulness for this great opportunity we all have.

Good night from ATL:

quote of the Day----You might be able to go to the furniture bank and move mattresses for 4hrs, but it will be AWESOME

Summer 2012 - Atlanta GA

The youth were commissioned this morning and sent on their way to do mission work in Atlanta Georgia.  They will be working with Youthworks to build, fix, and share the love of Jesus.  Watch here for details!