Jax teenagers befriend Memphis homeless
by: Stella Prather - May 15, 2008 - comment
There is no place like home.
This reality recently touched home for Brooke Peeples following a mission trip to the Memphis Union Mission, March 24-28.
“On the mission trip, I learned that I need to be thankful for all God has given me,” says Peeples, a member of Second Church of Jacksonville. “I realize now that it is only by the grace of God that I am not in the same situation…as the homeless people at the mission.
“I need to always be thankful for my family and my home.”
Peeples was one of the 36 teens and adults from the Jacksonville church that spent spring break ministering at the mission, where they served lunch to and befriended area homeless. They also tackled several clean-up jobs and helped in worship services.
For three days, Steve Walter, a pastor of Second Church, led a Bible study in North Shelby County for a group of homeless men taking part in a 7-month rehabilitation program.
Recalling a baby and mother who stopped by the Union, Peeples said the baby had no diaper and was wrapped in a towel.
“So many of these people have nothing, but they still come to mission services to worship God,” she said. “They raise their hands…and are not ashamed to worship.
“It made me wonder why we are often ashamed to worship like that in our churches.”
The trip, said Peeples, has motivated her youth group to seek out ways they can minister to the homeless closer to home.
“I know there are probably people in Little Rock, Jacksonville and even at my school that are in that position and need someone to care.”
This article is reprinted from the May 1, 2008, issue of the Arkansas Baptist News, the newsjournal of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Faith, Ministry, Citizenship, Hunger/Homelessness,