WOW where to start….
I went to this training camp for the Novas Project for 5 days in Gainsville, GA an hour outside Atlanta. It was AMAZING the leaders were…. different, but awesome. They liked to keep us guessing and constantly challenge us left and right. We would ask them, “Hey what are we going to do now?” and they say….. “I don’t know”. It was sort of their favorite phrase, just to keep us guessing and allow us to not worry about anything and put it all in God’s hands.
So from the moment I arrived at the airport to the moment I left the airport I was just thrilled with EVERYTHING that went on, from the down time (where I would sit and read the bible) to doing crazy stuff left and right to get us out of our comfort zone. When I got to the airport I had no idea what to “expect”, but I found the group of kids that would soon become my best friends, my family, and my support group forever. One of the leaders (Tana) introduced herself then handed me an envelope. I hold the only thing that could maybe tell me anything about what is going on then she says, ¡°don¡¯t open it until everyone from your team gets here.¡± WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!? But I wait until more and more people start to show up and we head over to this church called The Eagles Nest, which is a church for homeless people. As all 33 or so people show up little by little our personalities start bursting out of us because we are all so excited we cant contain ourselves. Hours go by as we wait for everyone, then our leader of the Novas Project aka Tag Thompson brings us into a room where we sit and pray and have a time to lay down all our expectations, hopes, or anything else we ¡°feel¡± like this training will be and just ¡°surrender everything¡± to God. After much praying asking and crying on my part, we put all of our belongings in our bags grab a water bottle and hit the streets of Atlanta. Now I thought we were going to go talk to some people about Jesus because this felt all too familiar according to what my church does a lot, but we get to a park and they hand me another piece of paper that says you will be spending the night on the streets of Atlanta. Im thinking AWESOME HOMELESS FOR A NIGHT MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE!!!! So our small group and I set out to find our ¡°zone¡± we would be staying in.
My group decided to just sit down and learn about each other some more, so we pray, we talk, ¡¦.and pray some more. Then our leader with us tells us that we have 4 assignments that we are to do throughout the night and we must completely finish one before we can get another one. I don¡¯t think I will tell you each assignment one because I don¡¯t remember all of them, but they were all assignments for us to get to know each other a lot better. As the night goes on we meet some awesome people on the street who ask us for money and it was so fulfilling to say we don¡¯t have any money, we actually have nothing, we are homeless for the night. It was awesome to see people¡¯s faces as we explained this, some didn¡¯t fully believe us others were more than happy to welcome us in.
Overall the night on the streets was eye-opening, fulfilling, challenging, and life changing.
I think that¡¯s all for now
I pray blessings to anyone reading this blog
Love John
Hi John…miss seeing your face around the church here. Bet my ping pong is getting better that yours!! 🙂
So excited for you on this journey…You should be heading to Uganda soon…Praying for your brother!!
Love,
Suzanne
my last line should read…praying for YOU brother…did not want to alarm you!! 🙂 Hugs!!
“I don’t know,” surely was their fave phrase. For some reason, no matter what mode I hear from you, you are always encouraging. So, thanks.
I’m New at all this “Blog” stuff! I wrote this on your “About” page. Now I found this page and decided to copy and paste my post here.
I have been thinking about you OFTEN! I am praying for you and love you. Can;t wait to hear how things go!
September 23rd
John, today you are on your way to your wonderful new adventure with Christ.
I have read your intro letter for the first time. There are a few things I was not aware of, but knowing them makes me even more proud of you for how far you’ve come.
I want you to know Landon and I had a good talk after we “sent you out to the Nations” at the airport today. What a wonderful blessing Landon has been, and continues to be in our lives!
MacKenzie wants you to know she’s carried your coat with Her ALL day. She says she misses you already
I love you dearly “My Sleepy Little Boy”!!
Love you always and praying for you
Mom
Hey John, Mary Rachael and I are eager to hear how you are doing… I am so glad that we were able to connect with you and we cherish your spirit and your willingness to share it in such a powerful way.
John-O, where are you? I was hoping to hear from you by now. Well, you did send me a nice email, that was awesome and unexpected. I am Anxieous to hear what’s going on.
Lots of people have been asking if I’ve heard from you yet. I need to give out your BLOG info. I’m stopping right now so I can hand it out a church. Be right back…
Ok, I got a bit side tracked, but I finished them!
I love you honey and am praying for God to not only give you the opportunity to be a blessing to someone, but to also put people in your life that will be an encouragement and blessing to you every day!
Love Mom
John, without anyway to communicate with you I hope that you will get this message eventually. I talked to Admissions, they said we can NOT send any clothes! I did get medicine for your toe and rash, they said I can send that. I am leaving for the airport in less than 2 hours so I will try to get it boxed up to send.l They said Tag leaves on Monday to come back to Mexico.
Love you
Mom
John-o
Thinking about you a lot! I love you and miss you. I’m definitely anxious to hear how things are going and how you are adjusting to things. How is the gear working out? If for some reason you don’t have my email please get it from mom so that we can keep in touch that way too. How is your toe? I saw mom’s post so I’m guessing it’s not doing great. Maria says “hey” and she misses you already too. Know that you are loved, missed, and prayed for constantly. I hope to see something on the blog or hear from you via email sometime soon.
With Love,
Your Brother- Robert
P.S. I’m so proud of you. Please be safe and take care of yourself.
John, where are you?? I miss you terriblily!!
I am writing to two of your team mates on their blogs to see if they can get word to you. We ALL want to hear from you!
Love
Mom
Hey John, I know we never really had a chance to talk but I hear about you all the time from your mom at Mercy Street and at Bateswood. If your wondering who I am, I’m the son of Noel Love and step-son of Donna Clark Love.
When I saw and heard you pray at the 7 day meditation prayer at Mercy Street I really got an understanding of the faith and love that you have in God. When I was your age I had a much closer relationship with God than I do now but unfortunately I kept doing things that seperated me from him, hopefully I can get back to him as I stay sober.
I know your really busy so don’t worry about writing back but instead if you come across a couple of minutes alone with God I could always use a prayer. In return I’ll pray that God keeps you safe and on track with his will.
Your brother in Christ Matt Love