Today was a long day but a joyous day to our incredible trip. We
began the day where we started, Mercy Community Church. This time
instead of us working directly with the pastor only, we immersed
ourselves in the community. We began with sharing breakfast and
conversations with the church members and then worship where we
sang along with Pastor Chad and the whole community.
We had to leave the service early so we could make the worship
service at National Divine Spiritual Church. Our tour guide the day
before, Pastor Bobby, welcomed us to their service. Here again we
sang hymns, prayed, celebrated communion, and studied God’s
Word. After worship the church invited us to lunch.
Attending both services and witnessing God’s Kingdom at work was a
wonderful way to end our time in Atlanta.

The Kingdom of God is worship.

The day started with our chef Jenny filling our bellies with food and love! Around the table that morning we shared our highs and lows from the day before and where we are seeing God. Then we headed out the door for a long yet thought provoking, impactful, friendship making, joyous day.

Our day began with meeting Rev. Economy, Pastor Bobby and a few youth from National Divine Spiritual Church. Like every place we have gone this week, music brought us together. Pastor Bobby played the organ while we sang together. Followed by Pastor Bobby gave us the history of his community. 

The church he serves, National Divine Spiritual Church, is across the street from Ebenezer Baptist Church. His grandparents started the church and were friends with Martin Luther King Jr. Pastor Bobby told us about the struggles and the joys the community shared through the years as he discussed community, non-violence, and God’s grace. Then we headed out for a tour of the community.

Our first stop on the tour was the famous Paschal’s Restaurant. Here we had unbelievable food and we met Mr. Marshall Slack. Mr. Slack began working at Paschal’s in the 50’s and never left. He told us about the Paschal brothers, their relationship with Martin Luther King Jr., and the meetings that took place in the restaurant.

From there Pastor Bobby continued his tour of downtown Atlanta pointing out both historical and current places making an impact. Two places outside of the MLK center, the original Ebenezer Church, and MLK’s home, stood out to the group: Alonzo Herndon’s home and the Catholic Church beside Martin Luther King, Jr. home. We learned how Mr. Herndon along with the Paschal brothers and others supported the civil rights movement financially and strategically. We also learned that Dr. King was influenced by his Baptist Christian theology along with his relationship with the white nuns and priest behind his house, and Ghandi.

After a day of learning, reflecting, and touring we went to the top of Ponce City Market (an old Sears Roebuck distribution center) to play putt-putt, carnival games, and slide down slides. It was a perfect way to end a special day.

The Kingdom of God is like next door neighbors planting seeds.

After another amazing breakfast by Jenny, we joined our Bible Study leader for the week, Holly, to look at another parable by Jesus. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed…The Kingdom of God is like yeast…

Then we headed to Mercy Care. Mercy Care helps those experiencing homelessness recover from surgery. The campus we visited were all men. After introducing ourselves, we played board games for 3 hours! Some of us got destroyed in checkers and chess. Others of us learned how to play Spades and shuffle cards, while others of us taught the men how to by Jenga and other board games. The games were wonderful and the conversations lifegiving. After our time playing games, we ate lunch together, danced a little bit, laughed a lot, and took tons of pictures. No one wanted to leave.

We headed back to Columbia Theological Seminary for rest. After some R&R, we met another youth group from Shalom Presbyterian Church for pizza and more Bible Study. We were welcomed with open arms and engaged in Jeremiah 29:7. What does it mean to seek shalom within your city? We learned this looks different from those of us who were born in our hometown than those who moved here for safety reasons. However, we also learned it looks very similar too because at the end we all are seeking peace, welfare, grace, and love.

The Kingdom of God is like being in a room of diverse backgrounds, races, ethnicities, languages as we share stories, laughs, tears, and meals.

We started the day off with Mrs. Jenny’s cooking, pancakes. Wow! They were good.

Then we hit the road and went and saw Druid Hills Presbyterian. The sanctuary was one of the most beautiful sanctuaries many of us have ever seen. There were gigantic stained glass windows each representing different stories from the bible.

After that we went down to Mercy Church and met with Pastor Chad. It is smaller than many churches but beautiful just the same. We all loved the painted murals and the colorful walls in the church. The church was also filled with artsy banners made in honor or memory of their members. Many of the congregants are experiencing homelessness. During our time, Pastor Chad led us in music, Bible study and a conversation about homelessness. We talked about living in community, guilt, and parables. After our conversation we headed onto the streets and served sandwiches.

Next, we went to the civil rights museum it was probably my favorite thing we did I think it was very interesting. There was a counter and we put headphones on to listen to how the people doing the sit-in would have felt. It was intense but informative. The whole museum was a wonderful, intense, educational experience.

As the day ended, we reflected on our highs and lows. We also challenged each other to write their own parable. The Kingdom of God is like…

The Kingdom of God is like making sandwiches for 60 people and 5 showing up. God’s grace is overflowing. Like a farmer throwing seeds everywhere.

The Kingdom of God is like…

That is our theme during our Atlanta Exploration trip as we immerse
ourselves in a new culture and study parables in Matthew 13. As the
eleven of us from Lillington Presbyterian Church, venture into this
exploration, we are challenging each other to keep our heads up,
listen, and watch for God’s Kingdom at work (Matthew 13:16-17).
On the first day, we traveled to Atlanta and arrived at our destination,
Columbia Theological Seminary. The campus is quiet in the summer.
So after Bible Study and meeting some new friends who joined us for
study, we played a game of “Man Hunt.” Man Hunt is like hide and go
seek without a base. We hid all over campus as a team of two sought
to find us. As the night grew, we grew tired and sweaty. We called it a
night, ready to go to bed, and ready for what God had in store for us
tomorrow.
The Kingdom of God is like playing “Man Hunt.” No matter where we
hide, Jesus keeps coming and coming and coming until everyone is in
the loving arms and grace of God.