Dr. Drake and Dr. Grant were graciously invited by Bishop Merab to sit next to him during Sunday service. Here, the follow the Bishop to the front during the beginning of the service.

A child, barely pushing two years old, is placed outside on the streets with a bowl, forced to beg. She laid there unmoving. Service Scholars walking by later saw her awake and alert, and were able to play and interact with her for a short while. With the help of Bishop Merab, we were able to find out more about her. Her cousin begs close by, watching the baby and making sure she is safe and on the mat. When it got chilly, she brought out a blanket for the baby and wrapped her in it.

A patron of the Betheli, a Refuge for the internally displaced and the elderly of Tblisi. Sharan is a refugee from Chechneya, lost to his family for ten years until he relocated then a few months ago.

The hosts of the Tblisi, Georgia segment, Bishops Merab and Elliya.

At the Chicago Navy Pier. Really hot but the scenery is amazing.

The architecture here is amazing!

Welcome to Chicago! We can barely hear ourselves over the railways above.

Welcome to Atlanta International!

Day 0

3 hours. I can feel the excitement building up as I count down the minutes before we leave from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Between the sense of hunger, urgency, and sleepiness, I can't help but feel a little calm. Maybe it stems from making overseas trips before, or maybe it is just because I am so tired my body won't respond.

So as I sit on my couch, waiting for the girls upstairs to finish their hour long process of getting ready, I want to contemplate about what I might expect on the trip there. Honestly, the first thing going through my mind is, "Hope Alex makes it." The group already hit a roadblock before the trip started after Alex had a biking trip and broke his collarbone. Luckily he can still go on the mission trip, but we as his friends, peers and mission group will make it one of our priorities to look after him and help in out in any way.

That aside, I start raking my mind about what I expect. Honestly, I don't know. I haven't been on mission trips before. I get a sense of unawareness on my part. I have never shied away from exclaiming that I want to make one of my life duties to serve. However, when one of the bigger moments of mine has arrived to serve, I feel a little lost.

I realize one thing that I think will be very important to me. It is the interactions. I want to be able to interact with people, see the world from their eyes, and witness a life and lifestyle that is not pampers by the lush and lavish lifestyles we all have in the United States. Dr. Grant gave us essay assignments and I decided to focus on the topic "The Elderly in Armenia and Georgia." After doing a bit of research, I learned about the dire situation of these elderly men and women, who are left with a destroyed pension after the fall of the Soviet Union and who are tossed onto the streets by their family. However, what I saw was only words, expressed to me over a screen that is my main outlet to the world. This mission trip will allow me to go through the screen and into the very source of the new. One of my goals is to get actual accounts from the elderly of Armenia and Georgia. I want to see first hand how these people live and survive. And finally, what do they want? What do they think they need to survive? How do they want their problem solved. After all, they are the ones who live their problems. Why shouldn't they have a say in what they believe the solutions are.

So finally the girls start coming down stairs with their gear. Time to eat and hit the road. Let the journey begin. Out.

Day -1

So tomorrow is the big day. I have been extremely blessed to have the opportunity to represent Mercer University and the Mercer Service Scholars on a Mercer on Mission trip to Armenia and Georgia.
This is a little new for me in multiple facets. Its my first mission based trip and my first blog. I'll try my best to post over my next three weeks. How bout that iPhone. Should make life a little easier.
For these next three weeks, my Service Scholar group will be embarking on a mission trip to Armenia and Georgia, working with the Fuller Center and Evangelical Baptist Church. We depart tomorrow for Poland where we will spend a couple days before heading off the Armenia. My class and I had spent the last couple days at Mercer getting ready for this trip. Dr. Grant and Dr. Drake went over various aspects of the history of the location, what to expect, how to conduct ourselves, and most importantly, methods of thinks and asking questions to gain the most out of our experience.
Man, I glad the departure date is already here. Packing sucked! Most of my bag is filled with donations for children. My parents and I went to Wal-Mart and put together little kits for them, containing pencils, crayons, paper, etc. Mostly stationary with coloring books. I'll post some pre-departure pictures. On that topic, I'll be posting multiple pictures on the trip. Again, thank goodness for the iPhone.
Guess I'll call it a close here. Flight tomorrow at 8 am. Out.