Our VBS was held at Bend Tree Apartments. VBS was each day of the week; for three hours each day. Every day we taught God's word, sang songs, held crafts, and played games. Over the week we poured time into building relationships. We built relationships that were deep and filled with God's love and truth. Kids accepted Christ, and our work there stayed even when we left. God blessed us with beautiful personalities and opportunities. At points I felt like the kids taught us more than we taught them. We had a great time doing this VBS and overall it was a success!
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We spent our last day in Memphis, experiencing the culture and sites. We started off by walking across the Mississippi River, to the Arkansas, Tennessee, Border. We experienced the southern cooking by choosing a diner to explore. After that, we walked Beal Street. Some of us went to Sun Studios, the birthplace of rock and roll, while others visited gift shops. The culture and history of Memphis, was amazing. After this we all went to the National Civil Rights Museum. Here our hearts were burdened with the sinful past of our country. That night we learned how to deal with the hate we saw. We learned that when faced with hate, we must return that hate with love.
![]() Calvary Mission is a homeless shelter for men. Here they teach the Gospel and provide men with a home, food, showers, and a nightly chapel. On the Thursday of our trip, we went to Calvary to cook a meal and experience the chapel service. We all found the joy and peace in the men's lives so encouraging. We realized that we can be beyond happy with so little. We found out that the chapel was where Elvis grew up singing worship and where he attended church! Overall, this experience was humbling and very encouraging. The Grizzly Center, in Memphis, Tennessee, was one of our projects. This organization was devoted to teaching the youth in the community about God. They held sport teams, and tutored kids in/out of school. This center had us clear trees and weeds along the fence line. They had troubles with security, not being able to see along the fence was a problem. Another team pulled vines and made the landscaping look sharp. With this work came poison ivy and chiggers. Everyone in the youth had at least one or both of them! With this job came hard work and team effort. We all enjoyed each others company and overall, this was a great team building experience.
![]() Our Second and third day we started the morning at our work projects. There was two groups in two different locations. The first group went to St.Vincent's, a homeless food pantry. This was an eye opening experience where the youth, served homeless men, women, and kids a meal. We cooked, cleaned, picked up trash, and served everyone we could. We ended up serving over a hundred and seventy-seven meals! The second group spent their time at, "The Tree House" this was a home in a black community. This particular home had a tree fall on it in May of 2017. The family was still living in the house, under miserable conditions. The insurance refused to fix anything without the tree being removed and everything cleaned. The youth then spent the next two days, deep in thorns, bushes, and poison ivy, cleaning the place. Church Without Doors. Our youth, from Living Gospel Church, in Nappanee, Indiana, went on a missions trip to Memphis, Tennessee. Our church partnered with Praying Pelican Missions. We spent our first morning at Bend Tree Apartments handing out VBS Flyers, and attending church with Pastor James. We were instantly impacted by the southern culture that felt so joyful in our hearts. After this, we went to the Church Without walls. This church is outside and is a symbol for christians, that God can't be contained by walls. This loving church is dedicated to the homeless in the community and meets every Sunday rain or shine.
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