On Saturday, April 27, five South Siders departed on a 7 day mission trip to the American Indian Christian Mission (AICM) in Showlow, Arizona. AICM serves Native American families by offering several outreach programs including a Christian school for children. The one-way trip took two days and covered 1,387 miles across five states. The purpose of the trip was to completely re-roof an aging building on their property. The tired and ineffective asphalt shingles were to be replaced with a sturdy and long-lasting metal roof.
This trip helps illustrate a key aspect of South Side’s mission philosophy - we want to offer financial and relational support. It’s one thing to send a check each month. It’s an entirely different thing to send our love.
After three long days of ladders, tape measures, screw guns and saws… the project was finished. What was once a building plagued by leaks is now on it’s way to being used as a dormitory for students. The team was able to check a huge item off of the missions “to do” list and in the process, show a great deal of love.
The Missions Team at South Side works very hard (and they do a great job!) to pursue real, meaningful relationships with all of our missions partners. Behind every bulletin insert, blogpost, or facebook entry is a team of people pursuing ongoing relationships with the leaders of each organization. This sort of intentionality lets us know when opportunities for partnership arise.
Over the course of the trip, the team was able to interact with AICM’s Executive Director, Jeff Cline. They saw first hand how much Jeff and his staff cares about the Native American students and families that are served by AICM’s various programs. In a thank you note that he shared with our team, Jeff noted that the brokenness of the people they serve can only be helped by one thing - the love of Jesus.
Thanks to the efforts of five dedicated South Siders, AICM has another building they can use to help share the love of Jesus with others.
If you’d like to learn more about AICM, be sure to visit their website at: https://www.aicm.org
