Welcome to English Avenue

Hello Friends,
I can't believe that only three weeks have passed since I have arrived here in Atlanta. I apologize that it has taken quite awhile to establish my blog and get in contact with everyone as I am participating in a 6 week technology fast (only using my phone and the Internet once a week).

For those of you who don't know, I'm currently living in Atlanta in a community just West of the downtown area. It's known by those who live here as "English Ave." I live on a street called Sunset Ave (the same street that MLK Jr. lived on during much of his adult life!). It is here that I live with 4 other team members: Katherine Langley (24), Tyler Baldridge (26), Colyn Burbank (22), and Joshua Brown-Culp (18). While it may come as a surprise that I'm living in a co-ed house, it makes much more sense in regard to finances and security for the team. Each of the team members is wonderful in their own way and it has been great getting to know them and learning how we can live in community with one another despite our differences in lifestyles and opinions.

Our team has partnered with a church called New Life Covenant Church (led by Pastor Tim Rodgers). This church is a small, multi-racial church that is strongly focused on advocating for the poor and working to help improve the neighborhood. I'm very excited to become a part of the church family. In addition to partnering with the church on Sunday mornings, my team also has the opportunity to work with their after-school tutoring program called SAY yes. It is here that 8 children from the neighborhood come and receive one-on-one tutoring and mentoring (mon-thurs). I love working with the kids at this program. I will be specifically working with a 2nd grader named Elias. He's wonderful and I am already beginning to love and care for him deeply! (In fact, once I get time there will definitely be a blog post specifically about him!)

In addition to the SAY yes program, our team will each have the opportunity to work with another organization in the mornings before SAY yes begins. On October 2nd I will begin working with The Atlanta Women's Day Shelter. This shelter works to support women and children in many different ways. They provide meals, childcare, job placement, and many other types of help. I'm very excited to begin building relationships with some of the women and children at the shelter.

Ok, I apologize for the sporadic information, but I'm attempting to write this quickly as the hours I have left with the Internet are coming to a close!

There will definitely be more information to come in the near future! For right now, I ask that you pray for me, my team, New Life Covenant Church, and the English Ave Community! God is working in so many ways here and I'm looking forward to more opportunities to be a part of building His kingdom here in Atlanta.

Much Love,
Janelle