Here we are in Jackson, Mississippi! I was so sleepy last night that I’m not even sure that I actually said that we arrived.

It is really good to see the number of students who have been on all three trips or this one being their second. It seems almost that these opportunities to serve have become part end of summer ritual/part rite of passage–becoming real clay in the hands of our loving G-d.

Our first day has been one of getting in to the groove of the schedule. Everyone is divided into teams and work crews. Parents, you would be so surprised. Your students are washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and making meals for over 75 people. And they are doing all of it with a smile! I’ll do my best to get some pictures of them in action.

By the time it is 9:00 a.m. everyone has cooked, eaten, made their lunches, cleaned the entire building, had a devotion and are ready to head out to their work assignments for the day.

Here are some pictures of your students in action at their sites.

When you are gearing up for a trip like this, one of the toughest things to do is to figure out what to bring and what to leave behind.

For some of us we can travel light knowing that the bathroom sink can double as a washing machine–or if you run out of clean clothes, they will somehow become “clean enough” to wear again!

Others of us pack deep and heavy. We are afraid to leave home knowing that the one thing that you leave behind is the exact thing that you wish you should have brought with you.

At this point, some students have already discovered that they didn’t pack enough socks or that three pairs of “foundational garments” divided by 6 days equals…. you figure that one out.

But there is one other dynamic that each student is dealing with. The things that they brought with them but won’t take up any space in their suitcases.

A cell phone that they can’t use for the next week, a television that is never turned off, noise that pulsates in their ears–things that fill up their time, lives, and hearts– with little to no room for Christ.

Pray for us as we not only serve but learn to decrease so that Christ might increase in our lives. More to come after group time tonight. PJK