Very humbling
After church we had a "dinner" and invited members from all the churches. About 60 came - 8 from the white church and the rest from the various black churches. This may have been the first time ever that many sat down together to a meal. Afterwards, we went to one of the "subs" and saw some of the poorest of the poor. We played ball, painted faces, drew chalk pictures on the sidewalk, and made beaded bracelets. We held babies while barely more than baby-aged mothers got their faces pained and made bracelets. We saw children so cold (in sun dresses) they shivered but didn't want to leave. They were thrilled with our presence and the small tings we did with them. While gratifying, it was very humbling.
Gloria B.
Hope
I have traveled to many places and seen great poverty. I have often said "the United Stats has the richest poor people in the world", that is until I visited Tunica, MS. Some of the black communities in Tunica equal poverty I have seen in Egypt, China, Thailand and Malaysia. In Romans 5:3-4, "we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character hope." In the eyes of the black children of Tunica, I saw no hope. With such hopelessness what can I do? I pray that just one child felt God's love from me, maybe a spark of hope was generated, a thought brought to the surface of a young mind, there is a different way.
Linda
A Servant's Story
New Year's Eve 2007 and I am here in Tunica, MIssissippi. What a different place then Austin in so many ways, yet at the same time I saw so many things in common. Tunica is so flat, with huge cotton and rice fields. We went to a black church in the middle of some of those fields and the spirit was alive. It was one of the best services I have ever been to and the people were so welcoming. They went out of their way to hug us and make us feel welcome. Hmm... something to bring home.
I also saw a lot of poverty, teenage moms and kids who are hungry for attention and love. Just the small act of face painting, stickers and wooden bead bracelets made the teenage moms and kids happy in the North subs.
So much happened but the bottom line is there are so many people who need God's love and Jesus' forgiveness and I can share that as His servant!
Roxanne C.
When God calls, we have to obey
I felt God call me back to Tunica. People have asked me why I want to go. Pastor Rodney answered better than I can. He preached about obedience. Obedience is the first step to victory.
When God calls, we have to obey.
Now that we have returned I feel I know why. Relationships established on our first trip were revisited on our return. New relationships were built on this trip on the expectation that there could well be a third trip.
We have felt the needs of a whole new community at a place called Kirby Estates. The kids joined us for a three day "After Christmas Carnival". They were treated to skits, crafts, games and snacks while hearing the Gospel. We have established ties at the care facility. It's a mighty and strong hand that lifts the spirit of these infirm.
We worshipped our risen Lord daily. There is no other way I would have preferred to end a year and begin a new one.
Barry C.
The story of the missing keys
After spending Friday with the children of Kirby Estates, Kathy noticed that there were three types of teenage girls present: those that were already mothers, those that soon would be, and those that had to play the role of mother because the biological mother was not fulfilling her role.
In an attempt to show these girls an alternate future, Kathy designed a project that would allow the teens to map out their dreams and desires of where they would ideally be in ten years. They would comb through magazines and create posters and write stories. In what would later be seen as God working through it all, Kathy even invited Miss Yolanda, a local lady with a powerful message to come share her testimony. All of that sounded great and we were all excited but God has a way of making things even more interesting.
You see, after gathering the young ladies together and outlining what would be happening, Kathy handed her leadership role over to Yolanda, while Kathy tried to figure out the location of her missing car keys. Nearly 700 miles from home on New Year's eve, Kathy frantically raced about Kirby Estates trying to locate her keys. She searched the grounds between the parking lot and the meeting room. No luck. She offered a $10 reward to some local youth. No luck. She asked the members of her team. No luck. She called her daughter in Austin to try and find a dealership that would make a new key. No luck. For over two hours, she searched for the missing keys.
All the while, Miss Yolanda started a relationship with these young ladies by telling her life story and creating new dreams for their own lives.
The one person on the team, participating in activities at the same location, working with members of the same team, had the keys the whole time and was never called into the search. Nine people all looking for the car keys and the one person that had them didn't even know folks thought they were missing. Isn't it interesting to see how God works. He shut the mouths of the nine so that a much greater story could be told.
Miss Yolanda's testimony provided some much needed hope to these young ladies. She has pledged to look in on these teens over the years to continue to build a relationship.
I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next.
Bruce S
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