Summer Mission Success with SLAM

This summer, junior high and high school students from the Academy participated in a mission week with Students Living a Mission. The theme, REK’NIZE, drawn from Colossians 3:1-3, informed the sermons by speakers for the week’s Derek Bargatze and Gregg Garner. Students were challenged to consider their identity in Christ (who they are) and how God is asking them to seek things from above (where they’re at).

Each day began with worship and prayer before heading out to service projects all around the Nashville area. In the evenings, students shared meals together and participated in an evening session before heading to focus groups. These moments of reflection and connection helped them process the day’s mission work, fostering a deeper understanding of their faith.

The students dedicated their time to serving local nonprofits and ministries across Nashville including Project CURE, The Bridge, kids’ day camps, and visiting homes of the elderly. They worked without complaint, showcasing a spirit of service by sorting donations, organizing food drives, and assisting with community outreach programs. The following testimonies were shared by some of our team leaders and chaperones:

A Memorable Service Project for Our 7th Graders!

BY KK NADEAU

Our 7th graders took part in a truly special service project at the Madison Church of Christ Garden, a wonderful place dedicated to serving the homeless and elderly daily. Last year, this garden produced over 2,000 lbs of food to help those in need. 🌿🥕

On this cool morning under a sycamore tree, we were greeted by Nature Nate, who eagerly shared his inspiring story of faith and resilience. As we picked onions and potatoes, the students were enthusiastic about the mystery of how many potatoes they’d find under each plant. Nate taught us all about hydroponic gardening using fish poop (which the boys found especially fascinating), rainwater, and limestone. His resourcefulness and heart for teaching shone through every moment. 🌱💧

Nate's story of Obedience, Endurance, and Humility in the Lord deeply touched us all. He shared his testimony which continually pointed to the Lord. We took time to lay hands on him and pray over him, as he is having knee replacement surgery soon. He expressed his gratitude to all the students for helping him do things that were painful for him. Service projects are at the core of our program, but it’s rare to meet someone who gives so much of themselves like Nate does. 🌟

One of the highlights of the day was when we worked together to plant 500 lbs of pumpkins! Each student played a crucial role in digging, measuring, and planting, and with 18 of us, we completed the task in just 45 minutes—a job that would normally take Nate seven hours! Nate’s praise for our teamwork and unity was a true honor, and he even told us the college students who help every summer could learn these lessons from us. 🎃👏

Special thanks to Fawn and Jason Teska, Quinn’s parents, who volunteered alongside us and heard similar compliments from others in the garden. We’ve been invited back in the Fall to help harvest all those pumpkins, and we can’t wait!

A Special Moment with Mr. Odero

BY AMANDA DAVIS

What a full day of service for our crew as we served at Dandridge Towers Apartments. We cleaned 10 apartments and visited with the residents. The people we served were elderly and cleaning for them was such a blessing as we heard them say over and over how helpful we were.

One apartment that touched my heart was that of Lukio Odero a former geograpy teacher from Kenya. He is 80 years old and has been here in the states for 2 years. He suffers from severe back pain at times. He LOVES the Lord and it blasted worship music as we cleaned. Through out he would say Mrs. Amanda “I can’t tell you how much you all are blessing me.” He loved talking with Levi and answering all of his questions.

We sang two songs, “Ni Wewe tu and Yesu Ni Wangu” that the kids have learned at school and Mr. Odero said he felt so at home after we sang with him. He continued to testify and prayed over our students. God’s spirit was with us.

Below I will post a clip of Mr. Odero testifying when he mentions about being new to this land I couldn’t help but think of this verse from Leviticus! Our kids lived out these God’s word today we are so proud of them. They were the hands and feet of Jesus.

33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Academy Students on Mission this Summer

The following excerpt was written by Vice Principal Meg Mathews, who organized the Academy SLAM Nashville Week 2023.

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What a wonderful week we had as a student body of worshiping the Lord together, serving those in need in Nashville and studying His Word! I am so thankful for safe travels and for the Lord meeting us every night in Worship. This year’s theme was "How Much it Cost?" from John 15. I can say the energy that our students bring to worship is unmatched. I love watching our students give their all, even on the first night, without hesitation. 

The Service Projects that we participated in last week were as follows:

1. The Bridge Ministry 

1. THE BRIDGE, INC. exists to alleviate the suffering of underprivileged children, the homeless, and the working poor by providing life-sustaining resources and a message of hope.The Bridge is housed in a 20,000 square foot warehouse in Nashville, TN, that not only stores the food for the Tuesday evening services, but also acts as a local food bank for other area ministries. The Bridge Ministry also aids school children on assisted lunch programs by filling their backpacks with food on Friday afternoons so that they have food to eat over the weekend.  Academy students packaged over 1,000 care packages for the homeless. 

2. Dream Streets

1. Dream Streets is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Their mission is to protect and empower individuals living in distress. They provide supplemental groceries and family-strengthening tools. In addition, they foster positive community relations at our physical locations, mobile ministry sites, and the streets we serve in West and North Nashville. Students got to help distribute food two days this last week.

3. Mother to Mother 

1. Mother to Mother is a non-profit organization founded in 2004 with the sole mission of connecting those in a position to help financially with the case workers and healthcare professionals who see firsthand the enormous needs of struggling mothers and children.

4. Widow & Elderly Care 

1. Students got to help elderly residents in need by doing some much-needed landscaping around their houses, mulching and trimming hedges. 

5. TWO Refugee and Immigrant Kids Camps at the Summit and Overton Apartments

1. Students had the opportunity to get engaged with the next generation! We brought activities to each location, and facilitated kids camps, engaging the children with the gifts that God gave us.

6. Old Hickory Estates

1. Ms. Paula is the manager of the trailer park where Camp Skillz Madison is held each year. The trailer park community center needed some stain put on a new fence, as well as some landscaping around their offices. Students were able to complete this task, helping in this community of need with very limited resources!

7. Madison Church of Christ Garden and Meals on Wheels

1. The Madison Church of Christ Church Garden creates a common growing space for the Madison Church family to work together, practice stewardship, build relationships with each other, and provide a tangible expression of God’s love to their neighbors through providing fresh and healthy foods for the local community. They raise chickens, fish and grow fresh fruits and vegetables without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers in raised garden beds and aquaponic systems, which are then distributed to the local community through their Benevolence Center and Meals-On-Wheels program. In the short time our student group was there, the director reported that they knocked out the equivalent of two weeks of gardening projects!

2. Meals on Wheels: Volunteers prepare and deliver about 35 lunches per day, six days a week, to nearby residents. Most of the people who receive this service live alone, don’t drive, and live on a low income. Students served these recipients, doing everything from washing dishes to organizing and meal preparation.  

8. Dandridge Apartments, Trevecca & Chippington Towers

1. Students cleaned the apartments of the elderly by doing tasks that they no longer can due to their physical age. We are so thankful we can serve those that are in our city’s high rise apartments.

I can truly say that the Lord was with us every step of the way. I really am so thankful for all that transpired amongst our student body, and my prayer is that they will continue to reflect upon what type of friend they are to one another. 

I left the students with some questions to reflect on as they finished out the week: 

1. Are your friendships rooted in the shared value of loving Jesus? How can you evidence this?

2. According to John 15, how can you cultivate a mindset of joyfulness despite whatever circumstances you might be in?

3. How do you think we make God known through our relationships?

4. How can you be a better friend this summer, denying your preferences so you can love your friends like Jesus modeled?

My prayer is that as students go into the rest of their summer, that they will spend their time wisely investing into the things that matter, such as family and friends. May they look to the interest of others and not their own, and spend time with Jesus every day because that is the best time spent.