Mississippi

The above pictures are from my Spring Break Mission trip to Mississippi. The top one is of me and Brittany supporting Stephanie, one of the kids at the orphanage, in a cheerleading move. The middle picture is of Brittany and I again, this time posing in front of our creative posts on Elvis's wall at Graceland ("Dear Elivs, you should have met Celine Dion." and "Elvis, my grandma has a crush on you"). The bottom picture is of our group outside the civil rights museum (Erin, Ben, Alicia, Amy, Me, Megan, Brittany, Chris, and S. Maribeth)

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Spring Break is now officially over and I am very sad that the time is gone. I think I mentioned that I was going to Mississippi on a mission trip with a group from MMC, and it was great in sooo many ways. We had to each pay $400 dollars to make the trip, but it was more than worth it. Let me give you a little synopsis.

We left (9 of us - 7 students and 2 faculty members) in a big clunky school van on Saturday morning at 5 a.m. (the first day of break). Brittany (my wonderful friend and travel companion) and I decided it would be wise to not even bother going to bed beforehand. Instead, we went to Augustana College in Sioux Falls to watch a very impressive performance of the play Eating Through the Fabric, a tragedy set during World War II. Perhaps more impressively, we didn't even have time to start packing until about 2:00 a.m., three hours before departure time. Now, you have to admit, that's pretty impressive for two girls going on a week long vacation.

We traveled 14 hours on Saturday and stayed over night in Sikeston, Missouri. On Sunday morning, we hit the road again, stopping in Memphis to write on the Graceland Wall, take a walk down Beale Street, and explore the National Civil Rights Museum. I was very impressed by the museum. It is definitely something everyone should see - incredibly eye-opening and powerful.

We arrived at the Dwelling Place Retreat Center in Brooksville, Mississippi, our final destination, on Sunday night. We spent Monday touring the three small towns in Noxubee County, MS, getting a feel for the culture. In a nutshell: racism in the area is still alive and well, and there is plenty of poverty to supplement it. I was shocked by the reality of it. I had no idea racism was still so prevalent in the U.S. Case in point: at the Brooksville Cemetery, there is a gravestone memorializing the closing of the white school, a gravestone that was decorated with fresh flowers. It was an overwhelming and powerful day.

On Tuesday, we were finally given the opportunity to serve. We spent the morning performing cleaning and maintenance tasks at the Dwelling Place and then took the afternoon to tutor at the county grade school and middle school and play with the children at the Palmer Home Orphanage.

Wednesday was spent helping Clare and Mary of the Dwelling Place move into their new administrative building. It was such an exciting thing for them, and all of us were happy to help them take that big step in continuing and expanding their ministry. We celebrated by spending a second afternoon with the kids at the orphanage.

Thursday was our last day of service, and we made the most of it, spending all day at the schools and the orphanage. I fell in love with the kids. I felt tears wanting to come when we had to say goodbye. It's very humbling to know that you can do such a big service simply by loving someone. Heck, I played zombies with a little girl at the orphanage, and I felt more purposeful than I have in a very long time. The joy that I think all nine of us felt during the trip was surreal.

Friday and Saturday were spent in the van, about 19 hours on the road to home, refreshed and changed and reluctant to begin school again.