thebabyperks

From Sunday to last night I was on a mission trip in Memphis with my youth group. There were 122 of us staying at a church, going around Memphis and serving. I've gone on two other mission trips before and this was probably my favorite by far. 

The first day we went to the Union Mission in downtown Memphis, it is mens homeless shelter.  There is one requirement for the men to get food and be able to sleep overnight, they must attend the worship services held each day. I was fortunate enough to be able to go to one of the worship services. This was probably my favorite part because these men who had nothing had everything while they sang to God. We planned to serve 400 men and only had food for that, but we actually served 475 people and had enough. Seeing God work in these people's lives was incredible and it was a blessing to be able to witness their relationship with Christ.

1 of the 9 pastors at Union Mission who led us on a prayer walk

This was where worship and lunch were held and also where the men sleep

 Day two was spent at the Sycamore View branch of the Boys and Girls Club. My goal was to connect with some of the kids there because I never had during my other mission trips. There was one little boy who I really connected with and he was so sweet. He was waiting in line for the bounce house and one of the people from my church came over and said he wanted me. He was the first child to come up to me and tell me how much he liked my music video for "Happy". There were also 3 teenage girls who came up to me and started talking. I'm not a very outgoing person, so it's sometimes difficult for me to go up to people and to see them come up to me was inspirational.

The Boys and Girls Club facility and children

FUEL choir singing "Where is the Love"

 One of the coolest things is giving each kid a Bible. There are so many kids that we needed to give out Bibles to so originally they were looking a $4 Bibles each. Our Children's ministry director showed us these Bibles which were interactive and easier to read especially for kids. However, they $13 and we couldn't afford that. Through an anonymous donation, we were able to purchase these Bibles for all of the children at the Boys and Girls Club.

And finally my favorite photo from the Boys and Girls Club.
My youth pastor, Troy Merseal, asked if any of the kids wanted to pray before the kids went to do crafts, get their faces painted, etc. All the kids standing up said they wanted to pray. I especially love the little boy with his hand raised so high. Whenever Troy asks the youth to pray we all suddenly become very interested in looking at the ground. These kids were so excited to pray and it warmed my heart.

The final day of serving I don't have many photos of because I went to two different places both of which I had little down time or couldn't take photos of the children. The first place we went was the Tennessee Children's Home. I helped set up for our concert and watched the concert but then a group of us went to the Millington Boy's Ranch. There the boys in our youth group helped pick weeds, clean horse stalls, and carry tree limbs. There were only about 7 girls at the Boy's Ranch and we helped stock and organize their food donations. I was pulled aside and I organized all the donated clothes the Ranch had. It's hard to tell in the pictures but the closet looked extremely better than when I started.

Before

After

The guys played a lot of "Knock Out", which is a basketball game if you couldn't tell

Just a small portion of the farm land

The people I have met over the past five days have truly changed my life. I want to thank my church family for being my second family and best friends. No matter what is going on in my life I can always go to them for love, advice, and support. We laughed, cried, and prayed together and I hope we continue to grow closer over the next year. I love you all so, so, so much. 

Until next time,
Taylor xx