We're in the Lord's Army

This morning started off with a little bit of adventure for our group. One of our two buses broke down. We ended up unloading all of our stuff off the bus and waiting for the other bus to drop the first group off and come back to get us.













Today was Salvation Army Day. So, the first group split up with one group going to a nursing home and the other picking up trash. Once the second group got there, they were split into 4 teams. These teams cleaned the kitchen, food pantry, library and gym. Quite a bit of work was completed in an hour and half.











































After lunch, we went on a prayer walk around downtown Marietta. We passed out fliers inviting people to our concert and had the opportunity to pray with some of the people in the town square.





Then it was time for tech rehearsal!




After rehearsal, the students helped with after school care and visited an apartment complex to play with some children.
















Tonight at debriefing, we surprised Tina with two birthday cakes.








The Salvation Army was so good to us today! They provided meals and snacks all day. It was a blessing to be able to work with them!

We are looking forward to our last day of concerts tomorrow! Please continue to pray for our group!

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One Group Helping Three Ministries

This morning we split our group- to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Garden and the Andrew P. Stewart Center.

The group at the Atlanta Community Food Bank was able to process 8,333 lbs. of food which made 5,555 meals. They serve over 800 agencies in the Atlanta area. These agencies give food to individuals.

The group at the Garden where they pulled weeds and cleaned up the garden so they could plant for the community.








The group at the Andrew P. Stewart Center helped with some housecleaning, organizing, yard work and cleaning out a van. This group was able to complete in 2 hours what would have taken the staff a week to complete.

Both groups joined together about midday to do a short concert for their after school program. They sang outside in the heat without complaining. They did a wonderful job!





Random photo of the day:

7 Bridges

Yesterday, we got to participate in a unique ministry- or at least unique to us. We worked with 7 Bridges Ministry. We had two crews that participated in various projects and did a concert.







Our comfort zones were stretched when we went out under the bridge to give out lunches to the people living under them. Many of them were very willing to tell their story to each group of the kids. Everyone's hearts were touched by the kindness of each person they met. Many of the students mentioned how they felt so bad for all their complaining when these people had so little.
We did a concert for the people living there. The people were wonderful and were very responsive. God is truly doing a work through this ministry!
God really worked in the hearts of our students yesterday. He showed them a whole different part of our Judea.

Surrendered...

This morning we started off with a wonderful church service at the pool side.  Steven spoke to us about surrendering all the little things in our life to Him.  One of the big things he said was "He has to become greater and I have to become less".  It sounds so simple, but it is going to take a daily surrender of EVERYTHING to Him.  As a result of this service, one of our students- Katie- felt led to be baptized.  What a remarkable symbol of surrender!  She was able to be baptized right then and there in the pool.  God set that up perfectly!



















Our first place of ministry this morning was at MUST Ministries.  They have several campuses in the Atlanta area.  We were able to serve them by wrapping silverware for their lunches and bagging snacks for their residents to take to work with them.  Once we completed that, we took a tour of the campus.  It was really neat to see how they were training and helping their residents to get back to work.  They were kind enough to serve us lunch before we held our first concert.  The kids did a wonderful job singing and ministering through drama and stomp.  The people who came genuinely looked encouraged by what they saw and heard.
Our final stop of the evening was Shadowbrook Baptist Church in Suwanee.  This church blessed us by serving us a delicious meal before our concert.  They even had these awesome cookies for us:

This church is currently working on their High School choir, so it was neat to be able to share with them.  The kids did another fabulous job in their performance.  They definitely showed Jesus to this church!
Please be praying for the group tomorrow as we minister at 7 Bridges.

Eating with our fingers???

What a wonderful day our first day has been! We made it to Atlanta with no bus problems. It was nice to make it here and then be able to rest before heading off on tonight's adventure.
This evening we were treated as lords and ladies at Medieval Times. Dinner was served on 'pewter' dinnerware and our silverware was our fingers. Yes, that's right. Fingers. Don't worry we sanitized before hand. :) Our first course of the evening was a delicious Tomato Bisque Soup. It reminded me of a thinned out spaghetti sauce. I actually ended up dipping my garlic bread in mine and it tasted sooooo good! Next came our meal- roasted chicken (I think it was honestly half a chicken for each of us), one spare rib, and half a roasted potato. Despite all the food, I heard a couple of kids mention that they were still hungry and could eat more. Our dessert was the final part of the meal. We were served a delicious Apple Turnover. I think everyone enjoyed the fact that we got to eat with our fingers.
While we were enjoying this scrumptious meal, there was a jousting tournament going on. Everyone was dressed in Medieval attire. There was lots of cheering as our group ended up divided into two teams. We are praying some of them get their voices back by tomorrow's concerts. Medieval Times is one of those experiences that I don't think the kids will soon forget.
Ministry activities begin tomorrow. We will be doing two concerts as well as A few other projects. Please pray that God will be working in the hearts of those we are ministering to.

*pictures from today's activities will hopefully be uploaded tomorrow. :)


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Location:Atlanta, GA, United States

A Note to Our Students & Parents

Our God is a great God! He is worthy of our attention, in fact, he is worthy of our life. That is why we go on mission each year. The correct response to what God has done for us is complete surrender of who we are and what we do. Following the Lord’s command to spread his Gospel is something anyone, regardless of age or background can do! Throughout the Bible God was always calling and sending his followers. I am glad you are not just hearing the call, but actually responding in obedience!

This year we are staying close to home, to a city in our backyard, Atlanta. I am sure most of our students and adults have been to Atlanta numerous times in their life, but how many times have we stopped to pay attention to the less fortunate people in that city? How many times did we think about the lost when we took a weekend trip to the World of Coke, or went shopping at IKEA, or took in a Braves game? Atlanta is one of the North American Mission Board’s target cities for this year. It’s been said that if you reach the cities, then you’ll reach the nations. Atlanta, with its 5.7 million people, is a very lost city. 

Many of the ministry opportunities we have this year focus on homeless shelters. My prayer is that the message of Christ will resonate with all who find themselves in the position of being homeless and without hope. Our students will be exposed to the realities of a fallen world: kids that have been neglected, people who are hungry, and people who have no one that loves and cares for them on this earth. It will be difficult. It won’t always be pretty. But that’s reality. The experiences that students often have on these kinds of mission trips can impact them for a lifetime. It can break down the walls of selfishness and expose the compassion that Christ-followers are to display. 

Just a quick word about our adult sponsors. The adult sponsors accompanying the students on this mission are all gifted, trusted individuals who have a heart for students and evangelism. They each pay financially to be servant leaders on this mission trip. Please be in prayer for them as they teach and exhibit the attributes of Christ during our time in Atlanta. 

In closing, please know that I will do my best to provide the leadership you expect on this mission trip to Atlanta. This is my 13th choir mission trip at WBC and I have learned that there are always unpredictable situations and difficult decisions that have to be made. Please pray that I will have divine wisdom in making those decisions. If you have any questions, feel free to call me or email me anytime: matthew.sloma@wbccares.org 

Love,

Rev. Matthew D. Sloma

Coming Soon...

Choir Tour 2012 to Atlanta is just 23 days away!!!  The blog will be "under construction" for a little while as we get the information together to post.