These could be short or long, not sure yet. But I’ll give a brief rundown of what we did at Mission Fest last week. But to save space on the main page, I’ll put most of what I type in the extended entry section…so click below to keep on reading.
But we attended Mission Fest at Galloway UMC in Jackson. Our youth group has gone the past 4 summers now and this one was probably the best so far.
I wasn’t too pumped about going at first. Our youth group wasn’t going to go because we’d planned a different mission trip to Jackson, but turned out that a few of our kids couldn’t go that week because of other things and really wanted to go on a mission trip, so we planned to go back to MFest. It was a small group and I was going to be away from my wife/kid for a week and put a slight crunch on my wife with her work schedule and all. But I knew that MFest had always been a rewarding time as well, so I was looking at it with an open mind.
I was hoping to be able to work at Habitat again, but found out just before leaving that there wasn’t going to be a Habitat worksite. They had no foundations ready for us to build on. I’d worked with them last year and had a most excellent time. To be honest, it was one of them most fulfilling work experiences I’ve ever had.
But after getting down there on Sunday afternoon with our half a van load of people I find out that I’m one of the site leaders at the Voice of Calvary worksite (here’s their official site). Also found out that the other adult at my site an co-leader was a good friend from Tupelo. After getting all checked in, moved my stuff in my nice, empty dorm room at Millsaps, orientated, we met with our work group.
We found out that group of 28 of us would be working to start the renovation process of Capitol Street UMC in downtown Jackson. It used to be a very fine church in the area, but “white flight” a few decades ago left the church slowly degrading. It’s now been abandoned for a few years, they tell us. But there’s now hope. Voice of Calvary will take it over and be a beacon for Christ in a dark part of the city. But there’s lots of mowing, weeding, hedge clipping, tree pruning, and kudzu yanking to be done. So we’ll be sweating and burning up in the Mississippi sun for the Glory of Christ.
After a bland hamburger supper and some inflatable games in the bowl, we go to Galloway for small groups and worship. After a nice time there with Eddie Willis leading worship, we head back to campus for a long youth leaders meeting and then bedtime. I’d been up way late the night before and still hadn’t made my bed, so I crawl into bed and read some of Jackson’s free news/opinion weeklies before I turn the light out….lots of stuff ahead of me.
