BSBC: My week was so rewarding!

Courtnie Watkins
Bullard Southern Baptist Church
Age: 17

Prior to my week at Mission First, I thought it was going to be a long one. I hadn’t been home a lot the entire summer and didn’t have time to catch up on my sleep before traveling to Jackson. This would be the last stop before I would be at home for the summer. Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t dreading the trip by any means and was very excited for the journey, but didn’t expect to have the energy that I did. God did a work in me and gave me the strength I needed for that entire week.

Since the group I went with didn’t go through MFUGE; we worked directly with Mission First’s staff. This was so much fun because we had the opportunity to work with both the children’s educational program and the community development program. It was so amazing to invest in the lives of children, and to help rebuild a house in the community just a block away from the campus. I cannot tell you how blessed I am for having the opportunity to experience working in those two different areas.

The first day we met the children. They automatically gave us their biggest smiles, enormous hugs and asked us what our names were. It amazed me to see how much they knew and how fast they could learn. I had many of the kindergarten and 1st graders read challenging books to me. By the end of that first day, almost every child in the place was calling us by name, even those that were not in our class. I knew that the reason these children were doing so well academically was because of the facility and programs that Mission First provides for them.

When we made it to the work site and got a chance to look around at everything, it really hit me at how much of an impact this organization was making on their community. These people needed help rebuilding their homes and lives back up to what it had been before. Mission First is doing an exceptional job with this task.

It really isn’t possible to completely describe what Mission First is like. It is full of loving, caring people that put the kids and the community before themselves all the time.
No matter what we did, having fun playing with the children or using the circular saw and cordless nail gun (oh yea, that was me!), together we were helping serve families, children and adults. It’s so amazing how doing the Lord’s work, whether loving relationally or serving with physical labor could be so much fun. It truly is rewarding.