I've been home from my trip in Memphis for a whole 24-hours and thought that I would write a little about the last week while it's still fresh on my mind. I'm going to be in Memphis for about 9 weeks this summer so I was hoping that this trip would flesh out possible work projects and VBS sites. I got a whole lot more than I expected.
We showed up at our ministry partner's house on Saturday (the day before our trip is set to start) to find that our concrete project for the upcoming trip had fallen through, but there was hope. A friend of our ministry partners needed some improvements done to their house. We decided to go take a look at what we could do to help and if it was going to be enough to keep 13 students and 6 adults bust for a week. Within ten minutes of being at the house I quickly realized that this was not going to be your ordinary house. We were warmly greeted, shown all around, and glimpsed a little of their vision for change in the heart of Memphis. This wasn't just a house but a community of creative believers with the mission of loving their neighbors. These people were so focused and dedicated to serving other people that they had no time to keep up their own living space.
The whole week unfolded story after story of how these people came to live together and the mission that kept them there. In the beginning, these people were strangers brought together by coincidental meetings and opportunities, which grew into a mission minded community. Since then walls have been broken down (literally and figuratively) to make room for these changes.
I am always amazed at how the seemingly coincidental meetings of people turn out to be less than coincidental. Which makes me wonder about this "coincidence." I saw in that house what I want for my future: community, service, and love. I don't think it was any coincidence that our original project fell through. I think that this is another story in the making of how creative and all-knowing our God truly is.
