Pinelake deacons serve Jackson

Rusty Ryan
Pinelake Church
Brandon, MS

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I'd have say that at first I didn't want to get out of the bed. Honestly, I had a million other things I thought I’d rather have been doing on such a sunshiny day. However, I came because of a commitment I made to be there. When I first arrived, my feelings didn’t change much. Upon arriving, I even found myself drifting back into dreams about what I was missing in the world outside. After a quick overview, we met Eric who promptly put us to work and broke out what was probably the coolest jam box I'd ever seen. It had a roll cage. Awesome!!!!

Once we started to get to work the tension sort of broke. The radio was rocking out and we were singing. I'd look at my brothers and tell them how much I loved them and how much I appreciated them (I didn't tell that to everyone. Just my brothers that I felt comfortable enough to say that to). They'd return the sentiment. By the time we left I honestly wasn't really ready to go. I felt the Spirit of God in us and around us. It was wonderful. We were giving of ourselves for no other reason but for the glory of God. None of us were getting paid and yet we received our payment in full. We left and carried that Spirit with us.

Mark Mays and I stopped off to grab a bite to eat afterwards at The Big Apple Inn on Farish Street, which is one of my favorite places. They have these sandwiches called smokes that I think are killer. Anyway, just before we left, a guy asked me where I worked. I told him that I worked at the Gateway Rescue Mission. We were talking about the economy and how bad it was all over Jackson. I told him that God is doing an incredible work. While man is at work restoring buildings, God is at work restoring lives.

The guy said “I ain't never heard nobody talk about God like you do. You said His name 6 or 7 times since we started talking.” He said “something really bad must have happened to you for you to speak out about God like you do.” I said "it wasn't so much something bad that happened to me, as much as it was something really good." He laughed and said most white folks offer a few words but nobody ever takes the time to really talk like you guys have. We thanked him and then prayed over him and the girl he was with. We walked them out and said goodbye. Then, Mark and I got in the car and drove off.

Mark looked at me and said this was one of the best days of his life. I nodded and said "God willing, it won't be that last."