Memphis: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (Part 1)

Where do I even start? Have you ever been somewhere that no matter how many times you visit you always leave changed? This was my fourth visit to Memphis and my fourth life changing experience in Memphis. God never fails to show up and amaze me.

I was a bit frustrated as we prepared for the trip. Some of our students weren't prepared and they didn't seem focused. Bryan was also feeling this way. We loaded up on Sunday morning at 6 am. We finally made it to Memphis around 4 pm their time, making it an 11 hour trip. After dinner and orientation, Bryan kept our kids aside and laid it out for them. He hates those hard talks, but realizes that they are necessary with teenagers sometimes.

To carry on our theme from SURGE, we awoke Monday morning to a bus with busted glass. God proved to us at SURGE that these things are nothing more than Satan's feeble attempts at stopping His mighty moving in our students. Needless to say, things got off to a slow start, but we didn't let it stop us and not a single kid complained or freaked out (our kids have freaking out mastered!).

Each morning we went to our site (Johnson Ave) in the roughest and poorest neighborhood in inner city Memphis. We spent several hours at the site running backyard bible clubs. We would then go to Brinkley Heights for lunch and then load up for afternoon projects in the community. In the evenings we had dinner at Leawood with the Street Reach staff and the 2 other groups serving. After dinner was worship and share time (this strikes fear in MSM leaders; our kids love to hog the share time) followed by team meetings.

Many/Most of our students have had very little contact with children unlike themselves (middle class and white), so working in a neighborhood that is 100% African American and well below the poverty line was a first for most of them. It was also tough to ask guitar playing, video game loving teenagers to spend 4 to 6 hours of their day working outside in 106 degree temperatures with 100% humidity. On top of that, they constantly had kids on their backs or "on yo neck".

Despite the less than ideal conditions, God moved and I can't wait to share it with you. For the sake of time and the fact that I am at work, I will continue this tomorrow. So, stay tuned!