Making an Impact

I am home this weekend. But, I'm not here by myself. I have four people staying at my house for a mission trip weekend coordinated with Baptist Student Union family groups. We came here this weekend to work with Impact Baptist Church, a church plant of Bellevue, located in a poorer neighborhood of Memphis. To be honest, I was not particularly looking forward to this weekend, as you'll read (hopefully) below. But, reflecting on the weekend so far, I am extremely thankful that God provided me the opportunity to go.

First of all, since I am from Memphis, I was willing to help plan the weekend for the four family groups assigned to Memphis. Danielle, a group leader, was assigned to Memphis last year and also wanted to help. This planning proved difficult at times, particularly regarding where everyone was going to sleep. Instance #1 of God's awesome plan (IGAP 1 [I still like to be efficient]): everything worked out. Everyone has a place to stay, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. His plans are so much greater than my plans.

Our work at Impact was twofold: this morning, we worked in the food pantry, and this afternoon, we split into teams: either cleaning a freezer, sorting clothes and other donations, or moving stock around. This morning, I loaded groceries into people's vehicles. IGAP 2: I thought that it would be too cold for outdoor work this morning. However, once we began working, we were just fine. Alex Hammond and I were beasts at loading cars, making sure each family received four bags of normal groceries, a bag of potatoes, a sack of produce (even though Alex didn't like that word), and a case of soft drinks. God's plans are so much greater than my plans.

Before we began work, the two men in charge, Tom and Jerry (no, really), explained to us that without our help today, they would have been very understaffed for the food pantry. Also, only about ninety people came through this morning instead of the 150 they had planned. IGAP 3: I thought that the turnout was somewhat dismal. In previous times I worked there, we had over two hundred families. However, God still showed up – twenty-three people prayed to receive Christ as their Savior today. Praise God! His plans are so much greater than my plans.

After lunch, I volunteered to work with three other guys to clean out their walk-in freezer. This freezer had frozen ice cream stuck to the floor from an outage earlier this fall, and no one had been able to get to it until we arrived. So, Alex, Blaine, Ben, and I cleaned most, if not all, of the ice cream out of the freezer, cleaned all of the shelves, and organized and labeled all the food in the 7°F cold. IGAP 4: While we were scraping ice cream off the shelves, a drop of cleaner fell onto the white part of my shoe, leaving a dirty spot. I haven't discussed my shoe habits on this blog as of yet, but (short version) I like to take care of my shoes. (Yes, I'm strange.) So, I was bummed that I had soiled my shoe. However, God reminded me that many of the people we served today would love to have a decent pair of shoes with only one drop of dirty cleaner on it. He reminded me of the many blessings that I have. So, I got over that disappointment very quickly. I don't think I'll even clean that spot off; it will serve as a reminder of what God has done for me. (I've noticed a trend; God speaks to me in very offbeat ways. I love it.) His plans are so much greater than my plans.

IGAP 5: Finally, one of the main reasons I didn't want to participate in this weekend was the fact that I didn't know most of the people going. None of my family group members were able to attend, but my "wife" and I still came. I didn't have anything against the people coming to Memphis; we just had never hung in the same circles. However, I have gotten to know a lot of the people on this trip. On a mission trip (as described on Stuff Christians Like), one generally can see the "true colors" of a participant. Today, to be honest, I saw nothing but Jesus. Every person from our group, every person that volunteered from Bellevue, and every person from Impact Baptist exemplified Christ. Not one person complained when the work became tedious. Not one person became grumpy when lunch was approaching. Not one person tried to get out of working since we had been awake since 7:00 am (way too early for college students). It's been a very long time since I've seen this unity, support, and love in the name of Jesus. These are the types of people with whom I should surround myself. His plans are so much greater than my plans.

I thank God for the lessons He has taught me this weekend. I pray that we would not receive any glory, honor, or praise for our service today. I pray that He receives every ounce of praise. And, ultimately, twenty-three souls have been changed forever! "To God be the glory; great things He has done!"