Washing Feet in West Virginia

So I got the chance to put together a little slideshow together of my mission trip to West Virginia this past weekend and though it's been a long time coming in sharing them, these pictures are only a few of the many photos I took and even they don't give this trip enough justice.

As I did last year, I was blessed with another opportunity to work with the nonprofit ministry group called Samaritan's Feet, they are a Missions ministry that is focused on bringing hope to children and the youth everywhere, by sharing love and compassion through washing feet and by giving out shoes. {If you get the chance read more about Samaritan's Feet and it's founder, Manny }. We also teamed up again with the groups Playbook for Life, Medical Samaritans, and Coca Cola {yes Coca Cola the drink ... think about that the next time you grab for a can of soda} and we all served in a little old town called Bradshaw.

We woke up at the crack of dawn to drive up the mountains to this little town where we washed feet , gave out shoes and ministered to people all day long. Though we came with multiple groups we lacked a few helping hands in the washing department, so that's where I ended up staying for most of the day, besides leading worship with my "geetar" and Hope.

Washing stranger's feet has been
the most humbling experience of my life.

So often we neglect the feet we walk on and where we let our little feet go, and if our feet could talk ... oh the stories they could tell. So to be given the opportunity to do what Jesus did and humble myself before God and before others ... I am so grateful, now more than ever, for the two little feet I call my own and for the shoes I put on them.

Maybe your wondering why West Virginia, and why this particular town ... well the people who live there live off of little or nothing at all and many of the children there are neglected and or abused. There are 4 year old boys with tattoos and little girls being sold to prostitution to make money for themselves or their families. There are 4th graders pregnant and incest that grows as rampant as the ivy growing in and around the high schools that have become vacant lots and mausoleum of education. For years they've shut down all the local high schools because of a lack of money and resources so the children are only get educated till about the 6-7 grade.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than to see children stripped of their innocence and left with such little to make of themselves. I know that God is doing mighty things every time the mission trip is brought back there and I just hope and pray that God continues to mold them and even their families making opportunities for change and growth every single day.

I don't know exactly how much of a difference I've made in the lives of these people, it's something I might never know ... but for me, these people have changed my life forever, some of them since the moment I'd met them last year. They have taught me humility, gratitude, contentment, strength and how to really be a servant, most especially Brother Jr. and his congregation at Open Arms Ministries. These people still give and give and give, when they have such little to begin with.

When I think of all that I have but yet I still want more, compared to what little these people have, I am put to shame. I thank God for giving me a chance to go on this trip again and for putting me in my place and showing me what humility and servitude really mean.

"After that, he poured water into a basin

and began to wash his disciples' feet,

drying them with the towel

that was wrapped around him."

- John 13:5