Mission Moments: Anna Tepool
Mission Moments: Anna Tepool
(From the Downtown Living Newsletter Archives)
**Downtown Living is a local neighborhood newsletter serving the residents of Blossomwood, Twickenham and Old Town.
Neighbors Connecting with Neighbors.
One of the columns they feature each month is a Mission Moment piece. Katie Wilson is the resident reporter who gets to write a “Gossip Column” about the Glory of the Lord shining through everyday, ordinary heroes of faith, who are living right next door! Their stories inspire and challenge us all to step up and out boldly to build the Kingdom!
These local Mission Moments are definitely a BRIGHT SPOT in our city; therefore we will be sharing these stories of From the “Pew” to the “Do” in our BRIGHT SPOT category!
Prepare to be blessed and inspired by the Glory of God displayed through the lives of those who are simply available and say:
“SEND ME!”
Anna Tepool
SOS (Service Over Self) Mission Trip
Last summer I had the privilege to travel to Memphis for a mission trip with SOS (Service over Self). It’s an organization that goes into the city of Memphis and repairs roofs on the local homes of the Memphis residents. While I was there, I was blessed to work on a home owned by Miss Gladys and her brother Jim.
Miss Gladys is different than most homeowners. Instead of sitting around and watching us work, she worked right along with us. One day we were all on her roof repairing an area where the water damage was really bad. All of a sudden, my friend Brandon went crashing through the roof and was hanging on a piece of wood in the middle of her bedroom. Not only had we put a huge hole in her roof, but we had also caused the insulation to fall all over her bed and in her room. We were scared to tell our group leader and Miss Gladys that while we are supposed to be repairing her roof, we actually caused even more damage!! As we told Miss Gladys what had happened, she didn’t say one negative word, instead, she was willing to help us clean it up and fix it.
I can’t explain this woman’s heart. It was one of kindness, love, joy and most of all forgiveness!! Miss Gladys wasn’t focused on the big hole we had just put in her roof, instead she was just overjoyed and thankful that we were there to help her out. While her living conditions would cause most people to have a bitter heart & no joy, she didn’t let that affect her attitude.
One of the things I’ll always remember is our lunch-time devotionals. Everyday while we ate our lunch, someone would share a devotional and Miss Gladys would join us! She would always share her thoughts and her faith with us and even pray over our group. Going into this trip, I thought I would be the one blessing others by working on their home, when in fact I was the one blessed by Miss Gladys.
A week after we returned home, I received news that Miss Gladys’s brother, Jim, had passed away. I decided to send her a letter just to let her know we were all praying for her during this hard time. I wasn’t even sure I had the right address and had no clue if she would ever respond, but I was hoping she would! A couple of weeks later, I received a letter in the mail from Miss Gladys. She was so happy to hear from us. She even put in her letter “Tell Brandon there is nothing to forgive (smile) all is well, and I’m so glad he didn’t get hurt!” haha!! It was the little things about Miss Gladys that stuck out to me the most. From making us lunch and helping us work, to covering our group with prayer.
Miss Gladys really lives out 1 Thessalonians 5:18:
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” She made my mission trip one to remember!
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