Tuesday was fantastic! The Urban League was booming with volunteers eager to spend their time being the hands and feet of Jesus. The following are reflections from Tuesday's work day:
"Today a few of us from South and Tara (apartment buildings on AU's campus) helped out with Operation Foundation. I expected to go into one of the rougher areas of Anderson, just from helping the past two years, but was unsure what exactly this project would consist of. My group was went to the Rickers on 22nd and MLK where we would pull weeds for about an hour and a half. When we asked a store worker what he needed done, and if he had weeds to pull, he responded "Weed?! We have no weed!" After our minor misunderstanding, we started working. During this time we were able to talk about a lot of thing, but also goof around and have fun. This project, along with other events recently, have allowed me to realize the joy that exists while helping our community with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Anderson is a broken town. As I learn and see more about it, I want to do as much as I can to show the community God's love. Thankfully, this can be done with joy. I absolutely love coming together and serving with others and truly seeing the impact we are having on this town, for Him. It's something that should, and will, extend after this week is over. As Habakkuk 1:5 says "Look at the nations (Anderson) and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." -Justin B.
"Today, our group started out by going to an elderly woman's house who needed her garage scraped and painted. Unfortunately, she wasn't ready for our help quite yet; she wanted to get the roof replaced before we started painting it. When we asked her if it would be better if we came back tomorrow, she was astounded that we would even offer such a thing. She couldn't believe that we had walked "all the way there" ("all the way" being less than 2 blocks) so she insisted that she would pick us up tomorrow.
Once we got back to the Urban League, we headed out for round two! We headed to Bobby's house where we were able to help her stain her deck. The group of students dove right in, but it was cool to see Bobby come out numerous times to offer to help. Mind you, this is a fairly old lady who would probably end up hurting herself more than she would be able to help, but nonetheless her heart was in it!
Though it was really great to see the first lady so pleased that we were more than willing to come back when it was more convenient and to see Bobby so passionate about helping, my favorite part of the day (and Operation Foundation in general) is getting to see Christ shine through my peers. Despite all of the hurdles that came up today, there wasn't a SINGLE complaint out of anyone. As soon as we got to each work site, everyone grabbed some paint and a brush and just dove right in. To have a student orchestrated event based solely on volunteers run so well and help so many people in Anderson is truly a blessing. Nice work everyone! Way to grow His kingdom!" -Ellen C.
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