FUMC Tulsa

At around 7pm we completed our travel all the way to Jackson, MS! We are excited to be here and are getting settled in this evening. We had a meeting to talk about what we can expect this week and how we will be serving! 

We were graciously welcomed by First United Methodist Church Madison. We enjoyed a wonderful Sunday school message and a lovely sermon!

A part of our team was blessed to experience Hilltop Church this morning. We had a great time of worship and fellowship. We heard a message from the pastor about practically acting out our faith. We are inspired to live our faith during our week in Jackson!

Our team had the chance to reflect on the community we will be serving this week by visiting the Civil Rights Museum here in Jackson. We were humbled by the exhibits and so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this community.

One full day in Jackson! We have met some great people already. Tonight we spent some time worshipping and debriefing all our experiences. It was a great way to begin the week. Now we are ready to dive into some service and relational ministry!

This morning we helped the Perkins Foundation with some yard work. We are excited to continue to serve them in the days to come!

One of our groups worked with Canopy this morning spending time with students, sorting supplies in the gym, and cleaning up the ropes course. The team worked so hard and enjoyed our time in the shade under the hot Mississippi sun. 

This morning we split into our three different groups for the week; Team Tyler, Team Michael, and Team Jacob! Team Tyler worked with Pastor Daniel of Hilltop Church and Care Center Ministries to do a lot of cleanup landscaping for a Jackson City Police Precinct. We beautified a courtyard area where officers will be able to find moments of rest during their difficult service for this city. 

We were able to get a lot of work done, and will come back Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to finish cleaning it up. We will also work with God’s Haven on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, so look for more updates from Team Tyler throughout the week!

We had a great time getting to know the amazing kids today and worshiping the Lord together. We cannot wait to come back tomorrow to worship alongside them and learn more about the Lord together!

We continued our landscaping projects and had a great time. Today was slightly eventful due to a vicious yucca plant, but everyone kept high spirits. We cannot wait to come back and see what tomorrow holds!

The team supported a local coffee shop during lunch after a great morning with the children of Canopy. Our team played games and loved on the kids during their summer camp activities. We enjoyed seeing the kids again and continuing our conversations. Shout out to Native Coffee for letting us eat lunch and share stories as a group!

This morning Team Tyler spent time at God’s Haven, a summer camp for boys and girls ages 5-17! 

We planned crafts, games, and Bible lessons to share with them. We also got to spend a lot of time getting to know as many kids as possible while doing those activities with them! We will look forward to coming back tomorrow!

This afternoon, we returned to the Police Precinct to finish up some of the projects we started yesterday and begin cleaning up some new areas. The building has transformed and it has been so great to work alongside Care Center Ministries!

Today we had a blast continuing to worship with these wonderful kids. We had such a great time learning and hanging out today, we are ecstatic that we can come back tomorrow!

After lunch, we got to spend a little more time with the kids at Canopy. They really like playing the game "soup" with us!

We also spent their rest time setting up a new library for our new friends. We also got to enjoy a little story time as well!

We all had a blast working with the Perkins Foundation and are sad to have to say goodbye. We are thankful that we still have to opportunity to spend time with the kids this afternoon. 

This morning our team spent their last morning at God’s Haven summer camp. We had a blast with the kids and loved hearing their stories the past two days! We are sad that we had to leave and there were many teary eyes as we drove away. God is at work in us and through God’s Haven!

We spent our last day at Canopy with our new friends. We started off the morning by grabbing a few more games and activities to spend some really meaningful time together. We have been so blessed by these amazing kids! Until we meet again!

This afternoon our team finished the last few projects at the Police Precinct! We left this place in a much better place than we found it and are hoping that officers use the space to gain energy throughout their hard days. 

We arrived at the Soul Snatchers parking lot. We get to provide free food and free prayer for the community. We are ready and excited about the lives we get to cross paths with this morning. Hoping to share stories and pray for a lot of people!