Hello all! I'm sorry I didn't immediately start blogging once I got to Memphis. But we were doing training. I had free time, but I didn't necessarily have things to talk about. I do now!
So, if any of you don't know exactly what I'm doing, let me give you the 411 as simply as possible; I'm working as a missionary for Street Reach Ministries this summer. Staff is broken up into Junior Staff (high school students AKA me) and Senior Staff (college students). There are 8 girls and 7 guys. On Monday through Friday mornings we run Bible Club, a variety of fun activities and a free lunch for children up to the age of 12. There are 8 different sites around North Memphis, with two staff members at each site (some have only one senior staff member). Teams on summer mission trips from churches around the country rotate in on Sundays to assist us with Bible Club for the week and to do other projects. In the afternoons, different staff members head up different projects. We also work to serve breakfast and some dinners to the teams, and we represent the cleaning crew. This is all housed in Brinkley Heights Urban Academy. Street Reach was born through Brinkley Heights Baptist Church, and the Urban Academy is a result of Street Reach. Church is held in the gym right next to the school, which is also used by MAM (Memphis Athletic Ministries).
Did you get all that? Good! Now let me tell you about my leadership assignments. I'm at a site called Kendrick (all the sites' names are based off of a street they're on, except one that is a trailer park). The reason I requested to work at Kendrick, besides the fact that I worked it when I was here last year on a mission trip, is that it's one of the smaller sites. It is the second newest sites and it used to be on the chopping block. But the two staff assigned there last year did an awesome job with canvasing for kids and making relationships with them and their guardians. So Kendrick has a LOT of potential! That's why God put it on my heart. I want to continue the good work that happened last year and extend Bible Club out even more!
I work with Kacie. She is one of my roommates and I LOVE her! She is extremely sweet, funny, and passionate. This is her first year on staff, but she has been coming with a mission team for a few years now! She is 27 years old and in seminary right now.
My afternoon project is volunteering at a community center. Although Bible Club is going on THIS week, the kids' program will start at the community center NEXT week. But basically, I take teams there and we play games and hang out with the kids. There is a staff there, but apparently they just kind of give it up to Street Reach when they come over. So we will probably split them up into age groups and play games and do relay races with them. Since it's a community center, we can't do devotionals with them or stop talking about Jesus. If they ask questions though, we can answer them. Some people have a problem with that aspect of the ministry, but I think it's awesome. This community center is in a really bad area, so getting the kids off the streets and to a safe place to hang out with good role models is essential.
As a junior staff member, I also have kitchen duties. On Monday mornings I have the second breakfast shift (8:00-9:00), which involves serving, and on Friday mornings I have the early breakfast shift (7:30-8:30). Jason (the program director and my boss) didn't want girls having the early shift, because that involves loading all the food into the oven and whatnot. So I got the early shift on Friday, which is when Jason makes pancakes! I'm also helping to cook, set up the kitchen, and serve food for dinner on Monday nights, along with two other junior staffers.
And that's about it! Except it's ten times more amazing. So this is what I'm planning on for this blog. Every week, either on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays, I will do a post about the week in general, highlighting the special moments. But I'll also be posting scripture, stories, songs, etc. that I think about during the week. I'm learning a LOT right now, and I want to share it with as many as possible.
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