I am so thankful that I received the opportunity to come on this mission’s trip this spring break! We have done so many things over the last 5 days but I am going to tell you about this Saturday when we toured Jackson. One of the things we did that really struck me was when we went to the house of Medgar Evers. Thad, who works at the Perkins center, told us about the story of Medgar Evers life, which was quite emotional. After Medgar was shot, his family called the police, but since he was black, the policemen decided to wait 4 hours, since he was not priority. So, his family took him to the hospital, but once again his race stopped the doctors from immediately operating on his wounds. After awhile when someone decided to operate, Medgar only made it through 45 minutes of surgery before passing away. What really struck me was the fact that people were hateful and racists enough to ignore a dying man’s plea. It was only his race that stopped people from helping him, which is just wrong. Thad also told us that after that, Medgar’s widow would be seen on the driveway often trying to scrub away the blood stains, and when I heard that it really made me hate the way people were treated back then.

One of the great things about this place is just the people who run it. At the Spencer Perkin’s Center, the people who work here really care about the people in the community, and also run a daycare after school for kids in the community so they could be safe. Dr. John Perkins is also one of the cutest sweetest old man I have ever met! His passion for God is so great, and every morning when we have devotions with him you can just see how much he loves this community, and how he wants us to be the generation for change. That is a tough position to fill, but I pray that I can be a part of that change!

                 

Sincerely, Molly Anne Penalver J