In the summer of 2001, the Grand Central youth group headed for Atlanta, GA to do a VBS Mission Trip. We were going to go to a large apartment complex in inner city Atlanta and sing, play games, have a Bible lesson, a puppet skit, make crafts, a water day, and of course have a snack. The area that we would be working in had a high crime rate, a high drug rate, and an even higher poverty rate. We also did daily service projects visiting nursing homes, helping elderly in homes, such as cleaning, or fixing something, and we also help sort and package food in a food bank. One of the coolest service projects we did was a thing called C.O.W. which stood for Clothes On Wheels. The church we did the mission trip through had bought an old school bus, painted it like a cow, and organized it with clothes, belts, shoes, hats, etc., for everyone! We were able to go back to the apartments and help children find shoes and clothes that fit. Some of the kids didn't even own a pair of shoes, but when they put on a pair that was way too big or even slightly snug, they were thrilled.

On our VERY long trip home, a group of teens talked to Kevin Lombard about some activities and events we would like to start or consider doing when we got home. One of the activities we decided to do was to do an evening VBS once a week. And what better place to do it than Powell Apartments, our own inner city. There are the occasional drug and crime related events that take place at Powell and there is definitely some poverty, but it wasn't even comparable to that of inner city Atlanta. The group decided that we would be passing up a huge opportunity if we didn't. So, Thursday became our evening for VBS and we gave it the name T.A.G. which stands for Teaching About God. We showed up with sidewalk chalk, games, crafts, Bible stories, songs, puppets, snacks.....and before we knew it we were having to plan for more and more kids. Although most of the teens in the youth group at the time are married and some even have children, T.A.G. is still running strong!

For 4 years, we only did T.A.G. during the summer. The summer of 2005, however, we decided to continue T.A.G. all year long. For years we have drove the chruch bus to pick kids up for church on Wednesday nights. We have also been picking residents up on Sunday mornings to attend worship.

Our ministry has quickly expanded. We have our 4th Sunday evening services at Powell. We provide dinner and a worship service in the parking lot at the top of hill. Every 4th Thursday, while the kids are at T.A.G. parents and other residents have an opportunity to come and "shop" at the Commodities Closet for items that you cannot buy with food stamps, such as soap, shampoo, detergents, cleaners, toothpaste, pain reliever, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. The members at GC help out remendously by giving monetary donations as well as purchasing the items themselves. Members carry the bags for residents while they walk around and pick up their needed items for that month. We have been averaging about 35 families a month who come to shop at the Commodities Closet. We were also able to supply 42 children with brand new backpacks for the school year and hand out a total of 47 bags of school supplies.

During the school year, we try to do something special with the kids on a Saturday. A couple times we went to the park and played football or played on the playground. Another time members of GC helped kids who were old enough to go see Narnia in the theater. When we told the kids we were going to take them to a movie, most of them didn't know what to expect because they had never been to a theater before. Others thought that we were going to go to a drive-in movie....in the cold, very cold, weather.

God is blessing us through the Powell Minsitry. We are always excited to see what He has in store for us next. Keep checking in to see the latest and please keep us, the Powell residents, and the Powell Ministry in your prayers.

~ Jessie Marie