Wednesdays are a breath of fresh air for an Institute student.

Known as ‘Spiritual Emphasis Day’, it is a day full of organized opportunities for us to worship, pray corporately, serve the greater Nashville community, and implement the Word we’re learning throughout our week. On Wednesdays we set all our responsibilities aside and devote our energy to service. 

As a sophomore, I can say that this is such a helpful practice the Institute has weaved into our curriculum. Wednesdays change my week drastically.They provide a space for me to lay down what I’ve been carrying, subject it to my very capable heavenly father, refocus my attention on Him, and use my energy for thinking of other people. I also get to spend facilitated time with my friends within the context of ministry. That alone has encouraged fruitful and productive conversations between my friends and I with respect to the needs we saw and met, as well as the things God did in us personally that day. 

Ministry projects are the portion of Spiritual Emphasis Wednesday that I believe can be a catalyst for real spiritual development in a student who is watchful for God to teach them. They look a bit like this: 

• The student body is split up into teams and assigned a student-lead. 

• That team works and serves together over the course of three weeks at the same service project site. 

• Once that period of time ends, new teams are created and groups rotate projects. 

It is really great to work with the same team for three weeks. We’re able to develop friendships and a team dynamic with peers that we may not get personal time with during our busy weekly schedules.

Friendships are developed as we learn about the various gifts each person has when needs come up. We learn how our gifts can work together to successfully satisfy what the environment, and or person, is in need of. 

Another wonderful aspect of the team dynamic is developing leadership skills when assigned as a team lead. For example; learning to stay in communication with the organization we might be working with, prayerfully beginning and ending projects with the team, making sure safety is prioritized, being aware of surroundings, and ensuring our team humanizes the people we’re serving and not solely giving ourselves to the practical need presented. 

This month, my team and I spent our ministry project hours visiting some of Nashville’s Elderly, living in an assisted-living center for lower-income geriatrics. This project was not the first time I’ve gotten to serve at this center. I can say that the Lord has utilized every time I’ve served there to bless, use, move, humble, and train me for the service he’s called me to do abroad. From cleaning the parts of people’s homes that they can’t reach (due to disability) to singing worship songs with the residents to playing bingo in the lobby with them.

This month I was able to  visit a woman I’ve had the gift of knowing and serving since I was 14 years old, Alma.*

I say I’ve served her, but I often tell people that she’s the one doing the serving every time I sit with her. I’ve spent countless hours cleaning her apartment and helping her organize her spaces. I’ve even had the opportunity to take a youth team to meet her, spend quality time with her, and clean her small quarters, bathroom, and kitchen. Serving in this way has prepared me for the practical aspect of getting on my hands and knees to scrub the inner corners of a home that is not able to be taken care of by its owner because of a lack of resources and scarcity of family members or any sort of help. 

Ms. Alma has been a vessel for the strength of God in my life and an inspiration to me as a young woman hoping to also faithfully reach the end of my life with my character intact, perseverance developed, wisdom, and a firm foundation in my knowledge of God’s Word. She has all of those things. Ms. Alma carries herself with such poise and legitimately laughs without fear of the future (Proverbs 31); knowing that her God who has carried her this far will continue in faithfulness and develop this next generation for his good purposes. She prays for the next generation with hopes that they will represent Jesus according to how he’s revealed in the Word. She’s spent so much time praying and crying over me, just asking God to use me and my friends for his will and glory. I know he hears Ms. Alma and I know I will get to watch him respond. She has taught me worship songs that have gotten me through some of the most difficult days of my life so far. She has scolded me when I’ve taken the wrong mindset into a situation that she knows I need more of the Lord for, more worship, more prayer, and transformation of my mind through the word. In more ways than one, she has served and changed me. 

With the help of these Wednesday Ministry Projects, our student body has been able to ensure Ms. Alma receives the best of care, the upkeep of her room, and frequent prayerful visits to see her. She is so thankful for the work we do and remembers every one who visits her by name. I’ve changed my own hair color several times, just in the last year, and every time I return I think she must have forgotten me, but nope! She remembers every time and once laughed very hard at me when she noticed I was shocked at her ability to do that. 

I am blessed every week to practice prioritizing the needs of others and maintaining a global consciousness through our ministry projects. Knowing that while I serve Nashville’s elderly community my friends are elsewhere feeding the homeless, organizing youth groups for refugee churches, landscaping for local widows, and harvesting locally-grown food for communities all over Nashville is such a wonderful thought. I am always deeply encouraged by the stories told after our projects. Having service to the needy as a part of our Institute curriculum is one of the greatest gifts a student of God’s Word could ever receive.

*Name changed for privacy.