Pre-race Worship Service Draws a Crowd

Attendance doubled at our second annual 6 a.m. pre-race worship service before the Athens Half Marathon. Close to 100 people huddled together in the Atrium to keep warm on chilly morning to enjoy a brief time of singing, prayer, and inspiration.

Many runners who attended came from other cities, and expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to enjoy a worship experience before tackling the hilly 13.1 mile course.

Elders Bertis Downs, Kitty Donnan, Denise Horton and Drew Brantley served as readers. Julie, Sam and Claire Thompson led the singing and accompaniment. Parish Associate Bob Googe inspired us all with a timely message. After the service, participants enjoyed Jittery Joe’s coffee and access to clean bathrooms and free parking.

Here are comments we received from runners who attended:

“It was simple, meaningful and helped me throughout the race, and the day in general.”

“It was a great way to start a great day.”

“It was a terrific service and a great way to start the Half-Marathon.”

“The service this morning was wonderful. Thank you, again, for perfect start to race day.”

First Presbyterian had 24 members or relatives of members complete the race. Two members came home with age-group winner awards – Mary Catherine Smith and Carol Robinson.

Here’s the order in which they crossed the finish line:

• Mary Catherine Smith
• Jessica Ward
• Andrew Whitehead
• Julie Osborne
• Julie Thompson
• Christina Iwane Dunn
• John Dunn
• John Eric Schleicher
• Richard Williams
• Denise Horton
• Bob Googe
• Tommy Jackson
• Madie Fischetti
• Daniel Thompson
• Steven Havick
• Sam Thompson
• Chuck Toney
• Dan Horton
• Ashlee Schleicher
• Katie Pinson McNeil
• Kielly Dunn
• Carol Robinson
• Sarah Latimer
• Bertis Downs

Thank you to coordinator Megan Sperr, co-captain Drew Brantley and Jessica Owens, Elizabeth Brantley, Kitty Donnan, Addie Downs, Chuck Hunt, Jimmy Klein, Bryan Owens, Claire Thompson, Leslie Trier and Allison Shelton who represented First Presbyterian Church at the mile 12 water station.

Let's Cheer On Our First Presbyterian Runners!

On Sunday, October 23 at 6:00 a.m., our church will host a community pre-race worship service before the 7:00 a.m. second annual Athens Half Marathon. The Rev. Julie D. Thompson and The Rev. Bob Googe will lead a brief 15-20 minute worship service in the Atrium before they line up to run the marathon. All runners, volunteers, and fans from the community are invited.

Proceeds from the race will benefit AthFest’s music and arts education programs in local schools. The race begins at South Thomas Street behind the North Campus Parking Deck. It will wind through the UGA campus, through several of Athens’ distinctive neighborhoods, and along the North Oconee River before returning to downtown for the finish on Clayton Street.

More than 25 First Presbyterian Church members and relatives of members have entered to run, including:

• Bertis Downs
• Christina Iwane Dunn
• John Dunn
• Kielly Dunn
• Madie Fischetti
• Bob Googe
• Steve Havick
• Dan Horton
• Denise Horton
• Tommy Jackson
• Sarah Latimer
  
• Katie Pinson McNeil
  
• Julie Osborne
• Carol Robinson
• Ashlee Schleicher
• John Eric Schleicher
• Mary Catherine Smith
• Daniel Thompson
• Julie Thompson
• Sam Thompson
• Chuck Toney
• Jessica Ward
• Andy Whitehead
• Richard Williams

The Invisible Community

We all have done it. We have all walked right past and averted our gaze, sometimes pretending to talk on our phone, sometimes pretending to dig in our purse or bag, sometimes pretending to not even notice. This is how they received the moniker "The Invisible Community." Of course, I am talking about the homeless.

On Wednesday, we received a firsthand experience of this. We volunteered at an organization called Street Sense, which produces newspapers, written by the homeless containing news on current issues and topics. The paper is produced every two weeks. Vendors (homeless people who choose to work to earn money) purchase the paper for 35 cents from Street Sense and in turn sell the paper for $1. The profit is kept by the vendor and used to purchase more papers the next day, food for the day and shelter for the night. Vendors stand on a street corner and sell the paper to passer-bys. Most people ignore the vendors and walk right past, assuming they are dirty street people.

On Wednesday, we became vendors for the morning. We paired with Michael, a gentleman who is currently down on his luck, but has a plan on how to rise above his situation. During rush hour traffic, he normally sells the paper. In the afternoon, he buys and sells water outside. The money he makes that day helps put a roof over his head and food in his stomach. For two hours, our group stood on four different corners selling Street Sense. Many people walked right past, never even glancing at us. Some people pretended to talk on their phone, or crossed to the other side of the street so they did not have to engage us, or found a reason to not notice us. Some people looked us in the eye but kept walking without a word. Some acknowledged us with a brief head nod or even a kind word. Some even engaged us in conversation about what we were doing and why.

After two hours of selling newspapers, we only sold roughly 20 papers. In two hours. As profit, we only made $13 for Michael. We talked about how we would survive if we only have $13 to spend on the necessities for the entire day. It was a tough conversation. Thankfully, by the grace of God, many people gave a donation to us and did not want to take a paper from us. In total, we were able to give Michael $228 (including a very generous man who gave a $100 bill to one of our youth). Michael was beside himself. He had enough money for the day and told us he was going to put some of it aside to help put a deposit down on an apartment. He was many days or even months away from that dream, but with God's help, we moved him in the right direction.

We experienced firsthand what happens when we are ignored, when people intentionally walk right past us and do not engage us at all. On Tuesday evening, we had a discussion with two current homeless people who are trying their best to earn enough for a place to call their own. Andre, a very passionate and energetic man, told us the most hurtful thing in his day is not being acknowledged as a human.

The biggest thing we learned from Tuesday's seminar and Wednesday's experience was to speak, say "Hello," and smile to the homeless we see. This is something we will forever hold with us. We are all God's children and we all need other human interaction.

High School Mission Trip to Washington, DC -- Happy Memorial Day

After two days of traveling from Athens to Washington, DC, we arrived safe and sound. We woke up really early Monday morning (5:30 a.m.) to prepare for our first work site: So Others May Eat (SOME). We helped to prepare, serve, and clean up from serving over 400 people breakfast and 400 more for lunch. The work was hard, but very rewarding.

Those we served were genuinely pleased to see us and our smiles. For six hours, we worked in a hot kitchen alongside other volunteers and SOME staff members. What we did today, they do every day. SOME does not close for holidays, bad weather, or to take a day off. Hundreds of people, men and women, rely on the hot meal provided by the "five-star restaurant" that is the SOME dining hall.

While discussing the needs of the clients of SOME, it was mentioned that men's underwear is a particular need. If you would like to help fill this need, please contact Adrian Martin at amartin@firstpresathens.org. While SOME primarily deals with feeding people, they also have career counseling, clothing services, health services, and much more. Check out their website at http://www.some.org/.

This first day has made quite an impression on our young people. With four more days serving in our nation's capital, I anticipate many more positive experiences similar to ours today while serving SOME. Please continue to pray for us and the work we are doing. Pray that lives are transformed, not just those we have come to serve, but the servers themselves, too.

Haiti Trip -- Day Eight

One year ago, the capital of Haiti was essentially leveled in a massive earthquake. Over 300,000 people died, with many more suffering injuries. Disease was an after-effect of the quake, killing many more people.

Today, the nation of Haiti took the day to mourn. We had a moving two hour worship service with the community in the morning. Even though most of the service was in Creole, we felt the emotions of the congregation and mourned with them. As Pere Bruno said, everyone in the room knew someone, had a family member, or were friends with someone who was injured or killed in the quake. But the service did not end with mourning. A passage from the Gospel of John was read and we were reminded that Jesus is indeed the Resurrection and Life! The service ended with a very joyous song and much dancing and clapping.

The capital took a moment of silence in the early afternoon to reflect on the loss they have experienced as a nation. The country is rebuilding. Lives are being put back together. Homes are being built. Hope is returning. And we their hope is in Jesus Christ!

Haiti Trip Days 5-7

I am sorry that I was not able to post recently. Since my computer has not been working, it has been difficult to get online.

The past several days have been eventful, to be sure! Sunday, I worked with a massive cholera awareness campaign, where more than 150 volunteers traveled to Fort Libertie to pass out small bottles of Clorox and to educate people on the dangers of cholera. Each volunteer visited 25 homes each, so many, many people were informed.

While I was working with a group of people presenting information (we had a Haitian who did the speaking for us), we came to the home of an elderly lady. She was sitting outside of her wood and mud home, and before we could get too far into what we were doing, she stopped us so she coudl retrieve a chair for each of the Americans at her house! She found three chairs and insisted that we sit while we explained what we were doing. The guests were offered seating (the Haitian with us, Kismel, had family in that neighborhood, so he was from there, even though he does not live there). To me, her act showed the generosity of the hatian people.

We spent most of the day walking through the neighborhoods meeting people and explaining the dangers of cholera. We did not have much energy after that!

On Monday, we painted the main office of the clinic. A fresh coat of paint brightened the place up quite a bit. Many people commented on how much of a difference it made when they cam in on Tuesday to see the doctors and nurses.

On Tuesday, we began eye tests for the children of the school. With so many children, we are spreading the tests over several days, but we have already identified a couple of children who might benefit from glasses. Tomorrow, we will see more children and are ready with two eye charts and enough volunteers to help make things flow smoothly.

The Haiti trip is almost finished. While Athens is covered in several inches of snow, we are enjoying sunny and 90 degrees! This experience has been amazing, and I look forward to sharing it with you!

Peace,
Adrian

Haiti Trip - Day Four

It is a small miracle from God that I am able to continue to post on this blog with my computer out of commission. One of the people staying with us is allowing me to use her computer tonight. Yeah!

Today, we went to visit the Citadel that rests on top of a large mountain. Now, when I saw large mountain, think something coming straight out of the ground and going up about 3,000 feet. We drove up most of the way, but then it got too steep for the 4 wheel drive vehicles, so we walked. We were so high when we got there, we were literally in the clouds. A cloud rolled in on us while we were walking in the Citadel and cooled things off a bit. Visibility was reduced a lot, which was good since we could not see the straight drop off one side of the building...

In this blog, however, I don't want to focus on how awesome the Citadel was, but the state of the Haitian people around it. When we arrived at the base to purchase our tickets to get into it, there were several people there trying to sell us little items: hats, pictures, boxes, carvings, etc. These people were determined to sell to us, no matter how many times we said no. They kept lowering the price. One vendor selling paintings kept calling it a "Blue Light Special," getting some chuckles from us Blancs (whites). When we reached the parking lot where we left the cars and continued up on foot (or horse if you chose to pay), there were many more people with the same items ready to sell to us. When our group headed out, we had ten people walking up to the Citadel. However, about 30 people walked with us. Even though we had procured the services of a guide through Father Bruno of Bethlehem Ministry, we had several unofficial guides along for the walk. They told us the same things we learned from our official leader. Arriving at the top, we went into the Citadel, where tickets were required for entrance. Our legion of unofficial guides waited outside for us to return. When we finally emerged a couple hours later, they were waiting for us to accompany us on our walk down, pointing out good picture opportunities, coffee trees, small cannon balls in the bush. Each of our new guides expected to be paid for his service (no women walked up the mountain). Most tipped their respective person a dollar. I had two very polite gentlemen, so I tipped them each a dollar.

But then the "vultures" came. The women with the goods surrounded us and kept asking us to buy, no matter how many times we said no. When one person purchased, more came to that person, hoping to sell him or her their stuff, too. The prices were always negotiable, but it was relentless. The only way to make it stop was to get in the cars and drive away.

Speaking to a couple of the regular folks from Haiti, it appears this is their profession. In one day, we only saw two groups go up: our group of ten and another group of three. There are not many people who make the walk to the top, which means there are not a lot of people who are willing to buy their wares. What does this do to their economy? That area was completely tourist driven. What happens when no tourists come for a day? A week? A month?

These people have learned to prey on tourists. It is how they receive their income. There is no easy fix for this problem. I certainly do not have the answers to it. I don't know what would happen to these people if folks did not come their way. I do not know what would happen if those that did come refused to pay for a service they did not ask for.

Today was difficult, not because of the walk to the Citadel or the staggering heights we were standing next to (I can't wait to get home and upload pictures of it for you!), but to see these people in that state of desperate need for me to buy a box or a flute or a small statue. A dollar might not seem like much, but as I have already learned, when one person gives a dollar, many more are there with hands out. That is why people like the men I am rooming with are so important: they want to gainfully employ Haitians. Move them from asking for tips for services unwanted to being able to provide for their families.

The work Bethlehem Ministrydoes helps support this thinking. It is important and needed. It is slow, but important work!

Since I am not sure how often I will be able to post on the blog, if you have a question about a youth ministry international mission trip to Haiti, please ask in the comments section. I will do my best to answer them. It will be easier for you to ask while I am here and can find answers if I do not know them than to wait until I am back in the states.

Please continue to pray for this trip. And pray for my family, who is without Daddy!

Peace,

Adrian