To & From Presidio with Love

With 50+ large scale mission trips under my belt I was convinced I knew the drill. Surely serving in three Muslim countries on multiple occasions and all of our treks into the epicenter zone after Haiti’s earthquake would make a long weekend trip on the border between Texas and Mexico easy and uneventful. Boy, was I wrong. I was quickly reminded that it’s not the level of intensity, danger or stage-of-world a place holds; no, in missions it’s all about opportunity that God presents. This was, I must confess, my great-reawakening in terms of missions. Despite preaching to the contrary I had been lulled into compartmentalizing missional opportunities and effectively ranking them. I‘ve already apologized to God and mended my ways. Never again will I rank foreign missional opportunities by location, possible danger or (my) perceived level of need. If God is in it and God wants JCBC to be in it…Off We Go!

Several years ago the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship asked us to consider adopting Presidio due to their standing as one of America’s poorest counties. After former staff member Rickey Letson visited the local leaders it was decided we could help by creating a sports ministry program in the schools. To say Presidio is isolated would be an insult to Siberia. It’s not uncommon for their basketball team to bus five hours to an away game. Distance also created problems in securing quality coaching for all sports and the kids were playing with decades old equipment. Over the years our church and a very dedicated core group of fifteen people have made it their mission to provide excellence in base-level sports instruction and in securing equipment. Georgia Tech assists every year and occasionally the Braves step up as well. January’s trip impacted almost 600 kids, and it was done while sharing the Gospel all along the way. The school leaders tell us our work has allowed them to pour additional funds and energies into academic strategies, which has allowed them to dramatically decrease drop-out rates while sending more kids off to college than ever before.

We are committed to Presidio for the long haul. Three new initiatives are being put together for 2015’s trip. Eighteen people made the trip last month but with our dramatic increase in kids and new options we will need even more help. Stop by the Presidio exhibit on March 2’s Mobilization Fair and speak to members of our Presidio team (they’ll be wearing blue jerseys). Who knows, Presidio could be your NeXt. Stop by the other 29 exhibits as well and plan to eat spaghetti at the youth fundraiser for their upcoming trip to Santo Domingo. Your next step in Loving God and/or Loving Others may be nearer than you think.

Michael McCullar
Formations Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church

In preparation for the Mobilization Fair, take some time to browse the numerous ways you can join the Mission of God, by clicking here.