Day 1: Kick-starting our week!

After a long, bumpy ride through a lightning storm and a late-night visit to Waffle House, the Atlanta Team settled in at 3am to our housing and took a brief nap before kick-starting our first day of service at Lutheran Services of Georgia.

 Melanie, the Program Manager at Lutheran Services of Georgia gave us a warm welcome (complete with coffee, bagels, and a welcome sign) and the team spent the morning learning about the organization, refugees in the Atlanta area, and may facts about refugee resettlement in general.  Did you know that the average refugee can remain in a refugee camp for 8-10 years before being resettled?  This was one of the many facts that our team learned this morning before heading to a local favorite - Chick Fil A - for lunch. Melanie also introduced our students to many of the Lutheran Services of Georgia staff who we will be working alongside throughout the week through employment classes where we will help recently resettled adults craft resumes and learn to create professional emails, help set up an apartment for one of the 48 refugees who will be arriving to LSG within the next 14 days, and spend time with seniors who have resettled with their families.  The team did a great job pushing through jet-lag and minimal sleep while immersing themselves in final preparations for working with refugee families.

The Team Kicking Off Monday

After taking an initial team photo, the team headed off to lunch and then to Clarkston Community Center to meet the children we will be spending most of our afternoons with.  Michael, the After School Program Director at Clarkston Community Center, introduced us to Rebecca, who would be co-coordinating the after-school program this week.  Many of the kids are taking standardized tests this week, so homework is minimal.  This, we were told, would allow our group to spend more time getting to know the kids through outside activities and special end-of-the-year projects such as preparing for the Science Fair.    It was a beautiful day so the group was able to spend the first hour of our time with the students outside playing basketball, kickball, red-rover, and even creating secret hideouts!  During this time, many of our team members got to know the students on an individual level and made great connections over favorite games and classes.  

Joel teaching students about Basketball

More Basketball

Ladies engaged in an intense game of Red Rover

After spending some time outside, any students who DID have homework came inside with some of our team to finish it up before any more games were played.  Students needed help on a variety of subjects from math to science to computers to just simply practicing their reading skills.  Our team was tired, but up for challenge of helping students focus while many of their peers remained outside.  During our time of evening reflection, many of our team members discussed how helping with homework challenged them in unexpected ways such as having to watch some of the students experience internal disappointment or frustration or watching students light up about homework in a way that can become lost as school goes on!  Overall, it was a tiring and testing afternoon but one that really helped kick off our week! 

 

  

After a long day of meeting many new people, learning new names, and exploring a new community, the team stopped into Our Way Cafe, a local Southern restaurant for some comfort food.  Our Way Cafe is just outside of Clarkston and features great Southern staples and local artwork which really hit the spot after a busy day!  

Tomorrow (Tuesday) the team will meet with Lutheran Services of Georgia to tour a refugee community in Clarkston - meeting with several families to hear their stories - before heading to a mid-day visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic site and another packed afternoon with the kids at the Clarkston Community Center.  We've been told the weather will shift and the rains will come, but hopefully the storms will hold off.   Keep us in your prayers as we get our first full night of rest and enter into our next full day of service.  Pray for strength both physically and mentally for our team as well as for open hearts and open minds as we meet with families who have resettled in the Clarkston area from locations such as Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iraq, and other countries throughout the day tomorrow.