Jackson, MS: WeWillGo

Hey all!

So this past week I spent my time in Jackson, Mississippi. The first thing I thought when I heard we were doing our mission trip there was oh my word that is where The Help took place, basically meaning it is a huge piece of the slavery story. Which while that was true, I learned that now typically any rich person or middle class person moves about twenty minutes north to Madison or Hattiesburg leaving Jackson the impoverished area that it is today. Literally 80% of the houses are abandoned or drug/prostitution houses. I also learned that pizza delivery men aren't able to even deliver pizzas there because its too dangerous. So crazy.

So that was my first impression of Jackson. Then I met the people at WeWillGo and was absolutely AMAZED by the fact that they live IN these horrible neighborhoods and restored abandoned houses for the WeWillGo staff and interns to live in. We had so many awesome opportunities to work with and serve the people of Jackson through working with kids, to manual labor for repairs, to canned good hand outs, to prayer walking, and even a clothing store. It's amazing the work that they do there. While in Jackson, we worked with another family, a single mom and her two kids: Ava, age 6 and Haley, age 4. It was incredible the attachment they took to Madi. Spending time with this awesome family was one of the highlights of my trip. They're adorable!

While prayer walking our first day in Jackson, we met a dog named Goldie. She legit walked the entire way with us (no leash she is a stray) and checked out the area each time to "make sure it was safe". SO amazing and cool. When we left she even started chasing after the car and Madi's mom had to lead her back. My favorite part of the trip was going to a place called the fountain where kids come and hang out in the afternoon for a few hours a couple days each week. There are pool and ping pong table, a gym, a craft area, a "book nook", and an outside playground. It is so awesome seeing firsthand how WeWillGo impacts these kids through the fountain.

We also got to spend some time playing with local kids on the basketball court. If you know me, you know I don't play sports. Ever. So knowing I am not hand eye coordinated, well I ended up in a bush trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. Here's what my lovely bloody leg looked like (-->). I learned a lot about the power of prayer and being a servant during this trip. A verse that captured the trip overall to me is 1 Peter 4:10 which says "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." I definitely think that is relevant to our time in Jackson and is something everyone should think about.

So that's it for me. We are now in Michigan relaxing after I worked 3, 13 hour shifts at the hospital in between trips! Fun times guys, fun times. So have  you ever been to Jackson? What are your thoughts? What areas do you think needed prayer? If you haven't been, consider doing a mission trip with WeWillGo. You will learn a lot about yourself and the importance of serving others on a big level.

Thanks for keeping up,
Olivia :)