Saturday, March 20, 2010

Spring Break Is.... Peace Love Missions

Peace Love Missions was the name of our middle school Spring Break mission emphasis.     Big Guy gave up a big part of his Spring Break to go to Mission First and work for others.    Trust me when I say they worked.      They prepared ground for the pouring of a foundation.    They went to the homes of widows and cleaned.    They raked, shoveled, weeded, picked up trash, cut down trees, and anything else that was on the list of "to be done".     

I don't know if you know much about Mission First, but you may recognize this picture from 1999.   It was the Rosedown Apartment complex.    It was a den of drug dealers, prostitution and vagrants.    Shootings were a common occurance here.   The community wanted it to be torn down.   One neighbor wanted to invest in his community and saw the potential in this.   In this?   I am telling you that Mr. Joseph saw that place with God's eyes because I remember when Rosedown was on the news.     Police were afraid to go down there.    It was bad!

Our youth pastor asked Mr. Joseph how they got rid of the drug dealers.    His answer:  "A lot of prayer."     Don't believe prayer works?     Look at it now.

God's eyes are better than ours.    As far as I am concerned, Mr. Joseph is a modern day Moses.    He took the Westpark neighborhood out of the wilderness and followed God's path into a new land.      Today Mission First acts as a cornerstone for that neighborhood.   

It was an amazing privilege and honor to be a small part of their ministry.    One that we aren't finished with yet.   We intend to make it a habit to be a part of their ministry.


15 teens, 3 adults and 1 great big GOD... 


I adore these kids.      Not just because they are Big Guy's friends, but because they radiate the love of Christ.     I see them growing in their relationship.    I have literally seen them lead our entire church in worship.

7 comments:

K Storm said...

Those are some precious kids...great that they have such a willing spirit to join God in His work.

Shelby said...

This is an AMAZING story -- so why don't these kinds of stories and these kinds of kids get the press? I have found SO MUCH good in people lately.

Big Guy is remarkable (like his mom) in his willingness to step out and be a good and faithful servant.

You and Hubs have done an amazing job of guiding your kids. And the Kingdom is better for it.

Hey -- thanks. For everything these last weeks.

Patti Lacy said...

WOW! Thanks EVER so much for sharing.

God so blessed me a few years back when I got to be the cook for a mission project in Memphis. Isn't it wonderful to see cornerstones being laid in kids' lives??

Thank you again.

Sezme said...

Amazing! :) We need more children with a heart for and of God.

black betty said...

that is just wonderful. what a great group of kids.

great seeing you on saturday! xoxo

Allison said...

Awesome and inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

Taylor & Krisa said...

Awesome! I'm going to look at their website and see what opportunities they have.