Building Bridges: On Our Own Campus, Across 7th Avenue
by Suzanne Smotherman
Did you know that we have a huge ministry that is churchwide, a mission that our church has embraced to show God's love, care, mercy, and provision to some of the neediest individuals in downtown Nashville?
That mission is Room in the Inn (RITI), whose name takes its inspiration from Luke 2:7.
RITI takes place during the cold winter season, when many shelters are at or above capacity. We provide a hearty meal, a warm place to sleep, a clean shower, a Bible study, laundry service, clothing, a bedtime snack, breakfast the next morning, and a sack lunch for each guest.
This past year we helped an average of 28 individuals per night for 22 nights. That's 618 beds, 1,848 meals, and about 240 loads of laundry!
It means so much to our guests that we take the time to engage them in conversation and serve them. Reaching out to another human being and letting them reach back are moments of kairos: appointments on God's kingdom calendar.
RITI would not happen without our volunteers who supervise the work, recruit other volunteers, organize tasks, and do the "grunt work" of cooking, cleaning, and setup. Thank you to those who have contributed funds and other resources to make RITI possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have lent a hand (or back or oven or driving ability or grocery shopping savvy!).
Thanks especially to those who volunteered on a weekly or monthly basis. Those people include the weekly directors: Teresa Phillips, Wilburn Honeycutt, Mike Harris and Billy Smith; as well as the weekly registrars: James Kennon, Jeff Mobley, Melinda Matthews, and John and Sarah Galloway. These folks were at the Rec Center one week out of each month. Kathy Wilcox led our Bible Study. Tim Lehning took laundry to a laundramat for us many times this year. Countless other volunteers cooked, cleaned, visited, spent the night and helped with details that make RITI a churchwide ministry.
Also, lots of thanks for Charlene Carter for running our sister ministry, the clothes closet!
Also in the April 24, 2008 Issue of The Evangel
» Frank and to the Point
» Mission to Murmansk, Russia
» Building Bridges: On Our Own Campus, Across 7th Avenue
» Married to a Minister...and His Ministry
» Mission Friends Open House
» Honoring the Class of 2008
» Staff Anniversaries & Birthdays
» Annual Church Picnic is June 1
» 2008 Church Pictorial Directory
» Upcoming Events
» This Week in Worship
