Amanda-

So Day 1 already and I have been feeling God move within me so much. I thought it was really cool to have the opportunity to tour and travel all around Jackson today. Throughout today I remember having many conversations with my teammates about some of the things that we saw. West Jackson is completely different than my hometown and the two look nothing alike. The  time spent as a team in discussion these past few months mentioned the current state of west Jackson a few times but seeing it here in front of me made it all become real for the first time. While going throughout the town I saw the people in their current state of need for a rebuilding of their community. Old shops were abandoned and sometimes whole neighborhoods were boarded up and grown over. It seemed as if time in Jackson had almost stood still since it’s hayday. A lot of our discussions throughout the day left me with the idea of this hurt being systemic. It started as this oppressive environment to a people who had no means to change the situation and continues today with a similar vicious cycle, though the blatant racism and segregation has left. But not everyone in the community of Jackson chooses to simply accept this. This morning after breakfast we were able to go to Koinonia Coffee shop and listen to a woman tell her story as to why she decided to open a coffee shop in a run-down place like west Jackson whose demographics wouldn't usually support a business venture like this. As a senior looking to study business in college, I found that God used Lee Harper’s story to speak to me. I see it was definitely God working through her that allows her to run a successful business in Jackson, a community where no business thrives and no business wants to go. Though it’s going to take a little more than a coffee shop to encourage business back into the town and more than just business to fix the economy of west Jackson, they are small steps that are taken with God in the right direction. God is working through the people here and he is now working in me in this new way.

Railroad Crossing: Breaking the Barriers.

Hi friends and family! I am so happy to say that our first day out in Jackson was great, perfect, amazing, moving, and successful. This morning we were blessed to have our morning devotions lead by Big John. We dove into the word together and read through Leviticus 19. Leviticus talks about the ways in which The Lord calls us to live. It covers honesty, integrity, generosity, justice, and love. Justice is headed by the Lord calling us to love our neighbors. The phrase “love your neighbor as yourself” is short, but I learned that it is much more than 5 words. The first part is ‘love.’ To do justice and to show love require action. The second part is ‘neighbor.’ I know that sometimes a neighbor is only defined as the people next door or even our friends in church.