S.O.S (Service Over Self)

This weekend I had the opportunity to go with the Wesley Foundation to S.O.S. in Memphis.  S.O.S stands for Service Over Self and it is a non-profit Christian urban camp that hosts volunteers throughout the year to work with residents to make homes warmer, safer and drier in the name of Christ.  Today, our group was mainly focusing on Binghamtpon, an inner city neighborhood in Memphis.  On one of the street corners in Binghampton, S.O.S. has plans of opening a fresh food market.  The market will take the place of an old gas station and needs a good bit of work before it can open to the town.  Our assignment for the day was to paint the outside of both buildings that will be used for this.  It was a great time, and I must say the buildings looked great after we were finished! 
After we finished with the painting jobs we went and had lunch in the park.  A graduate from MS State, who now works in Memphis with inner city children (mainly from Africa), brought all of her kids from day care out to play with us.  Some lived right around the corner from the park and others lived further out.  She explained to us that many of these children are refugees and have not had proper schooling.  They are placed into a grade based on their age instead of skill level, so many times they fall behind in their school work and are picked on by other kids. 
Our main goal was to simply love on these kids.  We ended up having around 50 or 60 children come out and play.  It was incredible.  They were anywhere from ages 3 to 13 and they were some of the most loving children I have ever hung out with.  Not only did we get the opportunity to love on them, but they were loving on us all the more.  We played soccer, did monkey bars, went down the slide, spun incredibly fast on the tire swing, and so much more.  I felt like a kid again. 
After all the kids left the park and we started heading back to S.O.S. these verses started running through my head, "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'  He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18: 1-5
What a powerful few verses.  So often I get caught up into thinking that I am constantly the teacher and children are learning from me.  However, this clearly states that we should change and become like little children or we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  I am so thankful for this weekend and the community that was found in it.  I hope that I will get another opportunity at some point to go back to Binghamptom and work for S.O.S. again.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Here are a few pictures of the S.O.S. facility where we stayed this weekend.  It was so nice : )

Where we had worship Friday night

Dining Hall

This is the work we did while we were in Binghamptom.  We had such a great time and had the opportunity to play with the children for a few hours.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to go.



"Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" by Hillsong