Students share stories of how they saw God move in and around them during the SENT Atlanta middle school mission trip.

On July 10-14, a group of middle schoolers and leaders traveled to Atlanta to partner with a nonprofit organization called City Takers in food distribution, street evangelism, and homeless ministry. Here are some of their stories!

“I actually wasn’t even supposed to come on this trip. But my small group leader texted me and said there was an open spot, so I had to take it!

 

On the first day, we went out on the streets of Atlanta to do evangelism. We handed out socks, prayed over people, and had really good and uplifting conversations. I will never forget the smiles on the faces of those I prayed with—it was amazing that we got to experience that on just the first day.

 

We also went to a food pantry and served meals to people experiencing homelessness. At one point, we handed out dinners to about 300 people, and another time we helped around 170 people at the pantry.

 

One of the biggest ways I saw God move during the trip was through prayer—just being able to pray over so many people throughout the week. It was really powerful to see their joy, and it was such a cool experience.

 

The whole week turned out to be so much more than I expected. It was an incredible time at SENT Atlanta!”

– Tucker Hammarlund, 8th grade

“During the SENT Atlanta mission trip, we were able to help different nonprofits: we fed the needy and got to participate in a block party for the homeless, which was really fun.

 

As a group, we made new friends and got to grow closer in our own walk with Jesus. Experiencing this trip made me really think about how we need to share Jesus more.”

– Grace Strohm, 7th grade

“When I was on the mission trip in Atlanta, I could feel and see God working through everyone that was there.

 

Out of all the things we did when we were on the trip, I would say that my favorite thing that we did was the sock outreach. The sock outreach was a serving opportunity we had when our group of missionaries went onto the streets of Atlanta and evangelized. It started with us walking around a park in the middle of the city. We carried bags full of socks, so when we would pass homeless people, we would introduce ourselves and ask for the person’s name. Once we would get a conversation flowing, we would try to start shifting the subject to God. At the end of our conversation we would give them socks and ask if they wanted us to pray over them.

 

I got a very special opportunity to pray over a man on the street. It was awesome seeing the homeless man be kind and open to us when he didn’t have any reason to be. This specific outreach that we did on that trip really helped drive my motivation for evangelism and just sharing the Word of God with whoever I can. I enjoyed this trip and cannot wait for next year.”

– Joaquin Pluguez, 8th grade

At Bethlehem Students, we do our best to help instill a love of serving into our middle and high schoolers, as well as equip them to share Jesus with others. We are so thankful for the hearts of these students and many others who participated in domestic and international mission trips to Atlanta, Nashville, the Dominican Republic, and our local community this past spring and summer. God is using the next generation in powerful ways, and we couldn’t be more grateful to be part of it!