The team from First Baptist Church, Monroe departed on Saturday afternoon around 3:30 bound for Memphis, TN. To help make the 10+ hour drive more palatable, we stopped in Knoxville, TN for the night, and drove the remaining 5 hours across Tennessee on Sunday to reach Brinkley Heights Urban Academy, which during the summer serves as the host site for Street Reach Memphis . SRM is a 20+ year old ministry birthed out of the hearts of the small congregation of Brinkley Heights Baptist who desired to see their community changed. Now they welcome mission teams from all over the country to work in the eastern portion of inner-city Memphis each summer. Our team of 12 adults and students was assigned to a site known as "National" where we conduct backyard Bible clubs for children in the area. On Monday morning we welcomed about 65 children between the ages of 3-14, and on Tuesday, we joined with about 50 children. Our mornings consist of canvassing the area in teams to knock on doors...
Whether I am officiating a wedding, or a college football game, in my jobs as a ordained Baptist minister, an adjunct college professor & a certified sports official, I am familiar with the "lines" that establish the boundaries that govern activity. In my years, I have found that it is what happens between the lines that so often leads to deeper knowledge and greater insight into who we are in the world around us. Thanks for journeying with me "between the lines."