Hi Friends!!
Sooooooo, it’s been a while 😂 I’ve been sick for the past 2 weeks so I have lotsss to catch you up on! I’ll do my best to keep it concise but no promises…
Domestic Ministry (Sep. 23rd-29th):
At the end of September my whole squad left Georgia to do domestic ministry in a little town called Macon, Mississippi! In 2010 this town was voted the poorest in America. The first day our host, Keith, introduced us to many of the Choctaw Native Americans that still live there and told us about their history while he showed us around the town. It was pretty jarring to walk through their town square and see all the abandoned shops and buildings. Our hearts were really broken for the people but we were so blessed to have the opportunity to step in and help meet a lot of practical needs in the area.
What We Did:
Our squad was split into two teams for ministry… my group went to Emmanuel Baptist Church. There were lots of different tasks but the primary things we worked on were re-painting a couple of rooms in the church and remodeling a double wide trailer the church owned so it could become their new youth center! We weren’t able to finish the trailer remodeling in a week but we got a good portion of the project done so the pastor was extremely grateful.
Our days in Macon often consisted of doing physical labor at the church from 9am-3pm ish then at night we got to hang out with Keith (our lovely host) and all the Choctaw people! One of the nights we were able to go to a Choctaw youth group and play ultimate frisbee with the kids and just sit and chat with them afterwards. On Saturday, we got to spend some more time with some of the kids playing basketball, softball, and tag on the reservation. Our last day there (Sunday) we had the privilege of attending the Choctaw church! The service was so cool because they sang songs in English but also some in the Choctaw language!! It’s always such a great reminder to me when I hear worship in another language that every tribe, nation, and tongue will be worshiping the King of Kings together one day!!
Debrief + Sickness:
We left Macon, Mississippi on September 29th and made our way back to Gainesville, Georgia for a week of debrief before we left for our first country. Debrief was such a wonderful time to rest, reset, and just sit with Jesus. Sadly, I did get sick the Friday before we left… so I was in the sick room with a fever for the last few days of debrief but it honestly gave me a lot of time to just sit with the Lord (which was such a blessing), even if I did feel miserable.
To The Nations…
So we finished up our time in the states and on October 7th we flew to our first country, Malaysia!
I can’t wait to tell you all about what the Lord has been doing here… but for now here are some photos from the end of training camp and domestic ministry!!
Photo Dump!!
Love and miss you all!!
– Bella 🙂
