Domestic Ministry week!!
After loading up all thirty-six M-squad members and their belongings into three (maybe air conditioned?) vans, we began our six hour drive to Macon, Mississippi.
Our host, Keith, welcomed us with open arms on Monday (9/23). The house we stayed in was the Mennonite Service Center, built in 1907. The house came with a wonderful outside cat that was dubbed Cheezit. The first day we were there we went prayer walking around the small town, and Keith gave us a tour of some historic Native American, Choctaw, sites and the churches we would be working at. It was nice to be able to get familiar with the area before jumping straight into service.
Actual Ministry included the teams splitting up. Two teams went to Emmanuel Baptist Church, while the other went to Pearl River Church. My team went to Emmanuel Baptist, where we met the Pastor and some of the congregation who were so kind to us. Ministry looked like a lot of physical labor. The church owns a double wide trailer that sits in the back, being used for storage, but they wanted to turn it into the youth building. We tore down walls, moved furniture, hung sheetrock, until we ran into a mold issue and had to pause on the project. Then inside the church, we replaced broken windows, which was not a skill I possessed going into it, but now I am confident in my abilities. So let me know if you need any window help 💪 We repainted some rooms, cleaned out a closet that had receipts dating back to 2006, pretty much anything they needed help with, we did. There were some ups and downs, but overall I felt like our squad is learning how to work together in a way that calls each other higher, and is glorifying to the Lord. I can’t wait to be on the field!
We also spent some at Choctaw Christian Church. On Wednesday (9/25), we played ultimate frisbee and duck duck goose with their youth group. And it was such a blast to be able to build connections there. We also went to the Crystal Ridge Reservation’s park on Saturday (9/ 28) where we got to hang out with the some of the kids and talk a bit about who Jesus is, which was such a good experience. As many at home know, I am not the best with kids, but I really feel like working at North Georgia Christian Camp over the summer prepared me to better interact and minister to them, even if it is still awkward for me. We also went to Choctaw Christian Church on Sunday (9/29) morning for service and we sang hymns in Choctaw and it was so lovely to hear praise to Jesus transcended language barriers.
We came home to Gainesville late last night (9/29) and will spend the remainder of this week debriefing and having cultural sessions on Malaysia, where we will be in a week!!
Also, prayers for K squad. One of the other groups were in North Carolina for domestic ministry when the hurricane hit. They got hit by a mudslide, which took out the building they were in. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, besides a broken ankle, but they did lose a lot of their belongings, including a few missing passports. AIM got them back safely to Gainesville, and they are now in the process of recovering and replacing items, with the hope to launch on time. Please just pray for these racers as they walk through a traumatic time. If you would like to know more, here’s a link:
https://give.adventures.org/story/Mudslide?_ga=2.191789994.1856919884.1727472998-271642868.1727472998
Additionally, there are still some people in my squad that are not fully funded. If you feel called to give, please reach out so I can provide their links. Also, it is recommended to have around $100 each month for spending money, if you would like to support me in that way.
Venmo: @reannon0412
Cashapp: $ellawhitehead412
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me and reading my updates!! I am trying to be better about responding to messages and comments. They’re so encouraging for me to receive! Love you guys!
