It was hot. The average temp was around 93° with humidity levels staying above 80%. It felt like we were swimming in our clothes, but man, did we have a blast. Nine of us from Zion, along with 14 of us from Lord of Life, caravanned out to Nashville, TN for a week of service. Along the way, we stopped in St. Louis overnight for some fun at Six Flags and a chance for the youth to bond. Our primary method of bonding; volleyball and mafia (a strategy game in which town’s people try to figure out who the mafia are to win the game).
After our pitstop in St. Louis, we headed to Smyrna, TN where we would be staying for the duration of the week. The community we stayed in was old military base housing that was bought up to be used to house people in need. The community was also where one of our projects was taking place. Everyday, part of our group would stay and help on housing projects. We learned a lot of new skills that week: floor replacement, pouring concrete, and even installing new roofing.
Our second project that week was working with an organization called Dream Streets. Dream Streets works with children in need and also provides childcare during the day for families that can’t have kids alone at home. Everyone enjoyed hanging out with those kids and many new friendships were formed.
Overall, everyone really enjoyed the trip, despite the heat and it was a blast being able to partner with another church. From all of us, thank you to those who donated to help make this trip possible. It was a unique opportunity for all of us.
