Notes on the Youth Mission Tour

Here are some of the thoughts I've been having since I returned from the Youth Mission Tour to Atlanta, Georgia, with a wonderful group of high school students.

1. Atlanta, Georgia is a beautiful city. From our residence at Central Presbyterian Church, we could walk through the heart of downtown Atlanta, including Peachtree Street, the Underground, Woodruff Park, and my favorite, Centennial Park, which was built for the 1996 Olympic Games. On Thursday evening, we ate a picnic at Centennial Park, played soccer and played in the fountains, and shared a closing service and communion in the midst of the skyscrapers. It was a beautiful place.

2. Poverty is a harsh downward spiral. One day, we worked at a place that offers job assistance to people who are homeless. They help with resumes and the job process, and provide credit for public transportation to interviews and during the first weeks on the job. Imagine trying to find work without access to a telephone, computer, or even an address to put on your resume. Each setback makes it harder to make a move forward. The place where we served provided mail service, a voice mailbox, access to computers, and professional clothes to wear to an interview.

3. The faces of poverty are many. Some are harsh, but many are beautiful, delightful, and full of cheer. We met many people, adults and children, who lived in the poor areas of Atlanta, or who don’t have a home at all, who greeted us with infectious humor and goodwill. Many of the people with whom we volunteered were there to help because that place had helped them. They were formerly homeless, addicts, jobless, but now they were back on their feet, and on days off from work, they were volunteering to serve soup, run the showers in a shelter, or check people in for free clothing.

4. The faces we met were the faces of God. The organization that hosted us in Atlanta is called DOOR, and their guiding vision is to see the face of God in the city. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that when we feed the hungry, or offer clothes to the poor, we are doing it for him. It was Mother Theresa who said that she had seen Christ, seen him in the distressing disguise of the poor.