Picture Perfect

By Patti Pitts

As I reflect on the trip to Tennessee this summer with the youth, I am overwhelmed with amazement at how God works, I saw God work in individual lives, saw Him work through individuals to reach out to others who desperately needed His loving touch, and saw Him blend individual talents into beautiful ministry teams that worked together to be His hands and feet in the community that we were serving. It was such an incredible experience for me to witness! I am a "picture person" by nature, meaning that I love to take pictures, look at pictures, etc. I'd like to give you a few snapshots of what took place that week in Tennessee, so you can "see" it, too.

Picture a twelve year old boy wheeling a 90 year old woman into a common room of a nursing home to then paint her finger nails and visit with her. A group of students sitting around a large table playing bingo with just as many elderly men and women, laughing and shouting and winning "bingo-bucks." An adult leader sitting beside a bedridden woman, reading the Bible and praying with her. A very soggy and muddy group of leaders and students scraping paint from the side of a trailer in the rain. The smile of a little girl who was finally comfortable enough to come out of her shell and sing and play at VBS. A middle school boy reaching out to a homeless man, offering him candy and listening to his stories. Some pretty tough kids in the community seeing God's love offered to them through the patience and consistency of our students and leaders as they came to Boys and Girls Club each day.

Now picture a night at "Club" where students and leaders are washing each others' feet and praying for each other, humbly honoring the other by serving them. Picture a high school guy walk across a quiet room to hug and pray with a couple middle school boys. Picture students taking time at an amusement park to sit with a student that was sick and make sure he felt cared for. Picture leaders and students playing together in a fast flowing river and encouraging each other to try new adventures. There are so many more pictures I could share with you, but I'm running out of space!!

I was so blessed to be a part of this incredible team of students and leaders, many of whom gave up a week's salary or time from other important things to be there. I came home from the trip challenged to look for opportunities to reach out to those in our own community that need God's love and help. And I came home actually rejuvenated by the love and energy of our student ministry. If you get the chance, ask some of our students to share their mental "snapshots" of the trip with you, too!