Truett McConnell students serve communities across North Georgia

CLEVELAND, Ga. — During Inauguration Week, Truett McConnell University proved that faithfulness doesn't wait for easy circumstances. Just days before Serve Day, the TMU family was grieving the heartbreaking loss of a student. Yet on a rainy Tuesday, close to 500 students and 100 staff chose to serve across 16 sites in and around Cleveland, Clarkesville, Helen, and surrounding communities.

At Laurel Lodge and the White County Senior Center, students played bingo and line-danced with residents. At Freedom Hill, students led worship before tackling outdoor projects. Teams walked the streets of Helen, Clarkesville, and Cleveland, praying for strangers and sharing the Gospel. At Bethlehem Baptist Church, students cared for widows and shut-ins across the community. 

At Yonah Community Church, students helped care for the church's facilities. Carrie Evans of Yonah Community Church shared her appreciation for the students' willingness to serve. "TMU students served YCC by painting our children's hallway and laying mulch. The students came ready to serve and willing to jump in where needed. This helps YCC maintain good stewardship of our facilities so that we are able to continue in our mission to further God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!"

At Bethlehem Baptist Church, ministry representative Cindy Walker said she and her husband had repeatedly asked widows and shut-ins if they needed anything, but no one ever mentioned a need, not wanting to inconvenience their church family. It wasn't until she told them college students wanted to help that requests came pouring in. "All of a sudden everyone had needs!" Walker said. "God was definitely in this project."

Gracie Hudson, World Mission Center Coordinator at Truett McConnell University, watched the event unfold with a full heart. "I believe there was something incredibly powerful about watching our university choose to serve in the middle of grief, hardship, and terrible weather," she reflected. "Following Jesus means faithfully loving our neighbors, even when it costs us something."

A sea of yellow TMU shirts moved through downtown Cleveland that day, and Hudson hopes it raised a question in every onlooker's mind: How are they so joyful? What makes them so sold out to do this?

That question, she prays, points straight to Jesus. Serve Day wasn't just a service project; it was obedience in motion, faithfulness proven under pressure, and, as Hudson put it, "the beginning of many more opportunities to serve our community and make Christ known.