This past week, some of our students began a new service project of cooking for a local homeless shelter on Wednesdays. They buy the food and cook in our kitchen at the Presbyterian Student Center, then take it over to the shelter and serve. We have a big kitchen, but most meals eaten at the PSC are catered. As such, it can feel like we are not being the best stewards of our kitchen sometimes. If this project continues, then that could change all of that. It’s good to have students coming together to use our space in this way and to have the opportunity to serve others.

On Oct. 18, we hosted the Jerusalem Women Speak tour at the Presbyterian Student Center. The idea behind the tour is that a Palestinian Muslim women, an Israeli Jewish woman, and a Palestinian Christian woman will tour together and tell about their experiences in Israel/Palestine and their work toward a peaceful and just resolution to the ongoing conflict in Israel/Palestine. This was the 16th Jerusalem Women Speak tour and we were one of four stops in Athens.

One of our students covered the event for the Red and Black, the campus newspaper. Click here to learn more.

Pictured here are Mitch, our campus ministry intern, who organized the event for us along with the women from the tour and me. We had about 70 people come out to hear the women and to learn about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The students asked some great questions.  It was a very meaningful evening for our ministry as we struggled with issues of sin and suffering in a world that longs for the peace of God.

Most of the students are gone for the summer and some of our students are working at camps, etc. This is a picture that Hayley sent from a staff training event for Camp Fellowship, a PCUSA camp operated by Trinity Presbytery. Hayley is one of the co-directors this year. Apparently, gator-wrestling is part of the job. I like how they taped his jaws…a portent of things to come in Jacksonville in late October? We’ll have to see. [posted by Andy]

We had a great time yesterday afternoon planting the bed outside the back door for Earth Day Sunday. Here’s a picture of the folks who helped. We covered the bed with mulch made from recycled pallets. After we finished, it rained (good timing, God).

We also had a great worship service centered around environmental stewardship. Mitch and Calley made a slide show and a brochure to help us be better stewards. Let us know if you’d like a copy of the brochure or if you’d like to see to slide show (.ppt document). [posted by Andy]