Hey Pastor Mel! This is Taylor from with the Beech Grove Baptist Church. I miss you and Rescue Atlanta! I have been crying and crying because of all of the homeless people! Rescue Atlanta has brought homeless people to my attention in a major way! I can’t wait till next year. I want to thank you so much for doing Rescue Atlanta and I’ll be praying for you and your family! Taylor 13 - Kentucky

Pastor Mel,
Rescue Atlanta was awesome... I loved it there............ I wished we had a lot more time than just a week. When we got back home we were told that we had to give testimonies.....so we were giving them and Timmy went into tears... (Oh yea did I tell you that I wanted to become a youth pastor when I graduate) tell Mrs. Teresa I said hey - Felicia
Worshipping the Lord at the steps was a highlight for me. I sensed God's approval and His keen presence as we corporately prayed, worshipped and declared "JESUS is LORD" in a public arena! …. let me say that this was one of the most valuable mission trips I've been on. – Doug Bolan
Yea really I can't get it out of my mind. I loved it there. When I came home on Saturday I felt so bad. I want to be there with the people. I felt so bad that I actually came home and just cried. I miss you guys and I miss the people. – Anthony Groves

Mel,
Thanks for a GREAT rescue and relief trip to New Orleans!! Zach hasn't stopped talking about his experiences. He has been pretty down on himself and actually feeling pretty lost, without any direction or vision for about the last year or so. Thanks doesn't seem a big enough word to let ya know how much I appreciate you giving him the opportunity to just get his hands dirty, put forth some energy and effort doing "Jesus Stuff"! You are successfully equipping the church as you live out your life doing what your hands find to do, providing opportunities for folks like us to get outside our box and be stretched. WOW – Cindy Dickens, Rome, GA
I loved every aspect of the rescue Atlanta heart. I believe that Christ is the center of your lives, not by what you say, but how i could see the love of Christ shine through in your actions and overall kindness to those who are thought to be unlovable. - Justin Tyler Weitzel Penn State Navigaters

Hey Pastor Mel,

I loved Atlanta! It was an awesome experience for me. God really challenged me to get rid of the box that I have put him in and start believing in the God the bible talks about, not in some small spirit up in the sky. I want to trust God in all areas of my life and not jsut some of them. Being with you and your ministry real showed me what it means to trust God for everything and I thank you for that. I'll be prayin' for you guys. Lova ya man. - Dave Hart Peen State Navigators

I enjoyed the sermon you gave Thursday night and that you don't water down your message, but speak the truth in love. It was especially neat how you clarified Tyler's message to try to make sure they understood that love does not equal access to heaven. You are an exceptionally talented family; we enjoyed the music immensely. Even moreso, yours is a family focused on the King. Hearing your stories and experiences was a blessing and seeing the work you have done and how the people love you guys really affirmed to us that you all are in step with God. You are bearing much fruit. We had a great time, enjoyed your humor, talents, and stories. I didn't want to leave! Thank you for such a wonderful time! - Capri Rothgaber, Penn State Navigators

Before i went to Miami i was a lukewarm Christian, I was struggling with sin and i had to deal with a lot of sinful people everyday at my job and they were dragging me down, and i was letting them. But then i asked for the week off to go to Miami, and i am so glad i did …. When i was in Overtown on the last nigh there were a bunch of kids that were picking fights for no reason at all, and by the end of the night i hade them all rounded up telling each other that they were sorry. So then i looked em in the eyes and i said guy's it's not good to fight, if someone does something to you it's okay don't retaliate just forgive them and then they all said they were sorry and they said that they would all be friends from now. At the end of the night i had kids all of me and giving me hugs, wondering why i couldn't come and live with them, and it just softened my heart. – Brent

Well it began at the Praise Rally on the courthouse steps, when confronted by a lady who went on to tell me the church is full of a bunch of hypocrites, we’ve all heard this one before, but I was curious to find out what has brought her to this conclusion? Therefore I asked her a few questions, and she responded, by telling me, well the church never meets any real needs. I responded by asking her what real need she had at the moment. She replied, all I need right now is a shirt, and I thought yeah you do, so you can cover yourself up, she had on an old spaghetti strap dress. Just than it hit me, I was wearing an extra shirt under my shirt, something I have never done before, and in the morning while getting ready, I thought to myself, why am I putting on two shirts? Now I was aware of the reason I had on two shirts and after offering her my shirt and her responding with a yes, that’s all I need is a shirt, I took my shirts off right there on the sidewalk, and gave her my extra shirt. Praise God for the opportunity in the small things to be a blessing, and maybe even change someone’s view on the church. – Pastor Bryan

My absolute favorite part was the praise and worship at south beach. I got totally crazy for Jesus and didn't care who was watching me while I did it. I was always so afraid to do that, and in South Beach I just didn't care. I also loved the power jam out in Overtown. I never realized that some kids had it so bad. I loved playing with those little kids. They don't even know you and they love you so much because you are just giving them attention and love. I just wanted to adopt them all! - Alysha , Florida

One day we went out to the Miami court house for praise and worship. Afterwards we had our lunch by the park. I decided not to eat my lunch and to give it to a homeless man. It felt so good when I did it, but it also depressed me. I saw so many homeless people in Miami that it just broke my heart. It was then, as we were driving back and I saw all those homeless people, God called me into homeless ministry. I completely agreed with him and am so excited to do it. I love helping people and I would just love to help every single one of those homeless people and give them shelter and food. I love what you do at Rescue Atlanta – Alysha, Florida