Day 1: Monument of Loveby Lauren Thomas | July 31, 2016 10:35 PM
The team arrived very late last night, so our first real day was today! We went to Monument of Love Baptist church this morning and heard a wonderful word from Chris, the group leader of the youth group from Edinbrook. We sang, worshiped and fellowshipped with the congregation members and became familiar because this is the church we will be serving with this week. We then ate a wonderful meal prepared by Sister Bobbi at the church! After that we came back and had a group meeting and then went and had an adventure at the Bass Pro Pyramid. We ended our day with tacos and student-led worship and talked about why we wanted to come on the trip!
Day 2: Into the Neighborhoodsby Lauren Thomas | August 1, 2016 10:04 PM
Today was our first full day of ministry! We started out at Monument of Love where we split up into groups and painted various parts of the church. After breaking for lunch we went out into different neighborhoods around the church. We knocked on doors, passed out fliers and offered prayer to anyone who needed it or wanted it. We then stopped for sno cones, went to dinner at a local community center called Caritas Village and then ended the night talking about where we saw God today, either in our experiences or in each other.
Day 3: Rainbow Rehabby Lauren Thomas | August 2, 2016 8:36 PM
This morning we went back to church to keep working on the painting projects, putting ourselves in a good place to finish up by tomorrow! We then went to Rainbow Rehab, a medical retirement home, and walked around talking to the residents asking them how we could pray for them. Then the guys went to help organize the facilities storage shed while the girls hung out with the residents during a piano concert and sing along. We then went on a prayer walk through downtown Memphis and had an opportunity to shop around on Biel Street. For dinner we got a home cooked meal from sister Robinson at Monument of Love and then packed up backpacks with school supplies that we will get to hand out to the kids later this week. We ended our night with worship, sharing about the day and snacks!
Day 4: Finishing Upby Lauren Thomas | August 5, 2016 9:41 AM
Today we spent both the morning and the afternoon finishing up our work painting and cleaning at Monument of Love. In the afternoon a small group left to go begin cooking dinner at Calvary Rescue Mission, a men's mission that feeds the residents and does a mandatory chapel for them every night of the year. The rest of the group joined up at Calvary and we ate dinner, served the men dinner, had chapel, and then served the men dessert while getting to know them. It was a great last full day of ministry!
Day 5: Backpacksby Lauren Thomas | August 5, 2016 9:43 AM
Today was our recreation day. We ate donuts and went to the zoo in the morning. After we went to an apartment complex and helped a local pastor and some of his people pass out over 300 backpacks with school supplies to the children in the community. We also got to play with the kids! We then went bowling and to a park to play. We ended our night with barbecue, ice cream and a meeting about how to take the trip home with us!