Today, our first official day, I was a little nervous. We woke up in the morning and went downstairs and ate breakfast with the moms and children. After breakfast we headed back upstairs to get ready for the day and had a short devotion with the group and some personal devotion time. We talked about how the day was going to go. Most of us were super nervous. I know that I was because I normally don't feel comfortable praying in front of people. But as we went out on the Bridge Route, the day just kept getting easier. At our first stop there weren't many people. On the second stop there were many, many, many children. As we pulled up we honked our horns and all the kids ran out of the apartment building, their faces lit up, and ran to us as we came out of the car. The kids gathered in the circle with us as we circle up at each stop to talk and pray before we pray with the others. We sang songs with them, the Potato Chip song and the, "We can beat the Devil" song. The kids loved it and you could see they were filled with God's love. We Handed out lunches, coats and many prayers. The third stop, we stopped at a bridge, we parked a few blocks away and walked and as we walked we ran into a ton of people who wanted prayer, food and jackets. Dayjah ran into a lady who did not want food but only wanted a jacket and absolutely didn't want prayer. She told Dayjah her hands were cold so Dayjah gave her her gloves. As she was walking away from talking to the lady, she said wait I'll take that prayer. That just shows how one act of kindness shows God's love. Going under those bridges was such a life-changing experience. To think of myself living under there I would never last. Living in filth in a small little area under a busy highway bridge. It was so life-changing. Another one of our stops we went to another apartment building and I talked to a lady named Miss Jackie. She was an older lady who you could tell was very excited about God and very excited that 7 Bridges was there. She talked to a couple girls and me about how we need to use what we learn in school to further our success and not to waste the gifts God has given us. She continued for a very long time. She told us how important it was to not waste those things. That showed a little bit of her own testimony. She also told us and made us promise that we will always be obedient to our parents. She impacted me very much when she told us she loved us even though she had just met us. She just really touched me. When we got back from the routes we showered and ate some supper, then again played with the kids from The Garden. Then we headed upstairs and got ready for bed and had another devotional. Today was a great day! We are all blessed and highly favored!
-- Ashley Flipse
Today was our first day down at 7 bridges. We woke up at around 7:30 and headed down to breakfast. We were told to go and mingle with the ladies, and to be honest I was really scared to do that. There ended up not being a lot of women and children down there and we could have easily all sat together. There was one table that had 3 women and about 6 kids. I decided to sit with them and started talking with one of the ladies, she introduced me to her kids and started talking about how she got here. Her story was very powerful and really showed me how blessed I really am, and what the saying "blessed and highly favored," really means. Later on in the day we got together and headed out on the routes, our group went on the Bridge Route. On the way to the first stop I was super nervous and didn't really know what to expect, but when I got there I felt at peace and knew that God had it all in control. The first person that I went up to didn't want any prayer, so Luke and I prayed for him while he was walking away. Our second stop was at an apartment complex where they are all very segregated. When we got there a whole bunch of kids came running out to greet all of us, and most of them wanted to be put on our shoulders :) It was super cool to see how grateful they all were to get the lunches and jackets. In one of our later stops we went to another smaller apartment building. I got the privilege of meeting ms. Hudson, she was one of the sweetest and most God loving women I have ever met. After we were done praying for her she just couldn't stop talking about how grateful she is and how much she enjoys all of us coming. I loved all the experiences that I had today with the kids at The Garden, out on the routes, and with my team. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for me and my team in the coming week.
-- Kaitlyn Le Mahieu
Quiet time after breakfast on Saturday morning. Preparing for the Bridge Route:)
Playing with the kids before their Bible Study on Saturday morning
View of The Garden from the street
The dorm, attached to the church, where the women and children live
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| Hope and Matt helped out during orientation as we prepared to go on our routes. They each read one of the seven scriptures 7 Bridges bases their ministry on. Each individual read the scripture given to him or her and then explained how it applied to how we should live. |
Our lead vehicles ready to lead us on our routes
Our route leaders praying over our route
Terrance saying a few words before we prayed as a group at our first stop
Apartment complex we visited on our route
Mr. Hendrikse and Dayjah
Hanging out with the kids:)
Jocie's first time going solo:)
Trina offering a word of prayer
Briana, Emma and Natalie praying with some kids
Ready to deliver some lunches
Walking down the street, handing out lunches and making our way to the bridge
Ashley offering a word of prayer
Faith, Kaitlyn and Luke praying for the people that lived under the bridge
Ready to head out and move on
Kaitlyn asking some ladies how she can best pray for them
Another apartment complex we stopped at on our route
Spencer, one of our leaders, was super excited to learn "Stand Up and Shout It" After Emma and Jocie led our group in songs at the apartments, Spencer demanded we teach him this new song:)
Selfie time.
The kids love playing with our phones and looking at pictures
After devotions...
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