The mission trip to Meridian, Mississippi was absoultely the BEST experience of my life. I realized SO much on this trip...about how God works through people, and how things should be. God did so much in me on this mission trip... I am definately a changed person.
In Meridian, there were approximately 160 people--85 to 90% teens--from all over the United States. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, and Tennessee a are just a few of the states that were represented. When we arrived in Meridian, they split us into groups of anywhere from 10 to 15 people and sent us to a host church on Sunday morning. The church that we visited fed us lunch throughout the week on the work site. After lunch at the church we were sent to the house that we would be working on to see exactly what work we would be doing and meet the people we would be working for. On my house, we were supposed to retile the ceiling in two rooms, fix and paint the ceiling in two more rooms, level her porch, and then re-paint the wood on her porch. A job that seemed as if we could finish, but that it would take all week. That night, as we did every night, we went to worship service, and then lights out at 11:00 pm.
The next morning, we awoke at 5:45 and went to breakfast at 6:15. At 7:00 we arrived on the work site and worked untill 12:00, when the church would bring us lunch. We took about one hour to eat, we had a devotion, and then went back to work. Throughout the day as people would pass by the house, we would hand out WWJD braclets, Bibles, and offer food and cokes to the passerbys. No one was lead to the Lord on our crew, but many were witnessed to. We would knock off for the day no earlier than 3:30 pm, most of the time later. The lastest we worked was approximately 4:30. The entire week, the temperature was in the high 90s, it never hit 100.
When we got back to the school, we would take our showers and eat supper at 6:00 (absolutely the WORST cafeteria meal that I have ever had in my life). At 7:00 we would have crew chats and talk about what had gone on that day, and what we would be doing the next day. At 8:00 we would have a praise and worship service, and then somewhere between 9:00 - 9:30 we would have youth group devotions with our church groups that we came with. From the time we got done with that untill 10:30 we were free to do whatever we wished. We had to be in the rooms by 10:30 and lights out at 11:00...time to sleep with the biggest roaches we have ever seen on a straight-up concrete floor. It wasn't even tiled. Just cold, hard, concrete.
On Wednesday, we got off work after lunch so that we could spend some more time with our youth groups. We were able to tour Meridian and do whatever we wished...we even go to have a decent meal!!! Thank God for O'Charley's!! *L* The rest of the week went the same as Monday, and Tuesday. No more getting off early for us!!
By the end of the week, over 20 people that had passed by on the streets gave their lives to Christ, and an uncountable number had been witnessed to. Each house was completed, and on some houses, more had been done than was supposed to have been done. For example, on my house, we re-tiled the two rooms that needed to be re-tiled, we painted the ceiling in not two, but three rooms, fixed her roof where it had been leaking, replaced some rotting wood on her porch, repainted the entire porch..not only the wood, but the top part and the sides (it wrapped almost half-way around her house), and did some basic yard work (picked up trash, weeded a little bit).
The entire experience was SO awesome..and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't want to leave! There was so much more work that we could have done to help Miss. Sarah, and so many more people that we could have witnessed to.
God did so much work in Meridian...more than any of us could see with our eyes. Friday night, God was working with me in such an amazing way...I have been battling something for the past couple of years, and a lot of it came out Friday night at worship service. I firmly believe that God put the people he did on crews together for one of two reasons: either to help lead people to Christ, or to help each other grow as Christians. I know that I was on the crew that I was on to grow as a Christian. All through the week, I had felt attached to a lady from South Carolina that was one of the adult chaperones for my crew. I didn't really understand why at first, but on Friday night she helped me SO much. She gave me some advice that I have needed to hear for a very long time..and because of it, I have made some very important decisions for God, and she has helped me take the first and hardest steps into a complete 180 degree turn. I thank God for her because she has helped me grow emmensly as a Christian.
If ANY of you EVER get a chance to go on a World Changer's mission trip, I would urge you to go. It is the absoulte best experience you will ever have, and if you don't go, you'll regret it. I can't express enough of what I learned on that trip....a lot changed inside of me, and I view the things that I've been living with all of my life in a different light. I see the way things should be, and I've realized how God works.
To see a picture of my crew on our work site and other pictures taken during World Changers, click here.
