The beginning

It is difficult to know where to start in our story. We have a lot to tell, but really we probably have only lived a short chapter of this story. What has been exciting and amazing to us, when we try to explain it may be dull and meaningless to you. 

One of the things that amazes me most about our story is how this story began without either Teri or I knowing. I had been serving as children's pastor at a church for a few years, but God started to impress on me that it was time to find a new way to minister, a way that was more involved with the "outside world" as I called it at the time. So, I applied for a job at our local elementary school. I applied for a classroom assistant position and was hired to work in an ESE classroom. I found out that I would be working with Teri Sapp, whom I had met a few times, but did not really know. It didn't take long to find out we were kindred spirits.

At about the same time Teri and I were starting to get to know each other, God started to open my eyes to some of the things that break his heart in Keystone Heights, our tiny little town.  We began to talk about what our community and school and students might need. We talked and dreamed about different ways we might could begin to follow God more fully and join Him in the work He wants to do in our community. One day we were driving through High Ridge Estates, a neighborhood where many of our students live, and Teri said, "You know what I've always wanted to do...I think it would be really fun to drive around this neighborhood like an ice cream truck would, but instead of selling ice cream,  I'd give away books." We both laughed, and then I think we started talking about something else.

Later that night, the ice cream truck with books haunted me. It was a good idea!

Over the next few months, we talked and dreamed with anyone who would listen, and then we made a plan for the summer. We emailed our school faculty and a few others to say we would love to have some used books. At first we thought we wouldn't have enough, but then we were flooded with books. 

We gathered a small group of volunteers, advertised in the neighborhood, loaded up our trucks, and drove to four stops in High Ridge. Last summer, we made a book bus run every other Saturday, and during the school year we have tried to go once a month (although we have had some weather issues). 

We aren't exactly sure what God has planned for us, but we are working on non-profit status, and hoping to find a piece of property in High Ridge where we could offer some tutoring for students and encouragement for their families. In the mean time, we are thinking of creative ways we can bless our students and families living in High Ridge.
Have you ever asked God to show you what breaks his heart in your community? What did you find? And how did He invite you to join Him in his redemption story?