Today we finished off the 1,047 mile journey to Jackson, MS.  We started the morning at around 7 and were pulling into our first Starbucks by 8 - made me wonder how our youth pastors back in the 80’s and 90’s ever tolerated us that early in the morning with no Starbucks around.

For those who weren’t there at the church when we took off, we drove two vehicles down here: a 15 passenger van and another one that seats 12.  We have a total of 27 people on this trip, so I wondered how we’d all last with such little free space for two days.  But somehow, the trip may have been the best road trip that I’ve ever been on - definitely didn’t feel like 19 hours of driving.
There were nothing but good times all the way here.  Here are some of the best quotes from the conversations I heard in my van, at least:
-Tseganesh: Missouri looks surprisingly like Iowa

-Devin Wiggs (when talking about the pollution problem): Who cares? I’ll be dead before it gets real bad.
Steven Ricci: Plus, one day they’ll find a cure for all that and we won’t even have to breathe oxygen anymore anyway.

CHARLIE SPOTS ONE OF THE LOCAL CELEBRITIES JUST BEFORE WE LEFT ST. LOUIS THIS MORNING

We arrived at the Perkins Center in Jackson at around 6pm.  Soon after we got our things put away in the house across the street, Dr. John Perkins (or “Grandpa Perkins” as he wants us to call him) came over to make us feel welcome.  He talked to us for about 20 minutes, and I could tell that there was something inspiring about sitting in a room with the same person we had all been reading about in his book, “Let Justice Roll Down.”
He talked a little bit about the differences between how states like Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Iowa, and Northern California have processed the issue of race differently than a lot of states in the south.  He said that places like the northwest (or the midwest) find their identity in things that they love; like the seasons, the terrain or the activities they’re drawn to in their different regions.  He said that when a peoples’ identity is defined by things they love, they approach most things in life with a greater capacity for love (as a culture), and are more likely to begin at a place of acceptance.
He said that in places in the south (Mississippi and Alabama, etc.) a lot of people still identify themselves first by the things they hate: “I’m a democrat in the south; I hate republicans,” or, “We First Baptists don’t take too kindly to Southern Baptists around here.”  When a large part of a culture identifies itself first and foremost with things that they stand against, those tendencies keep them from approching human beings with an attitude of love and acceptance.

He hung out with us for just a short time, but already, it looks like there’s a lot we could learn from him.  One prayer request we have is that we could all approach this time as students first (meaning we let ourselves be taught by those disciples here that have walked some tough roads before us).  It still feels like some of us feel like, primarily, we came on a mission trip - that we could help those less fortunate than us.  But it’s feeling more and more like it’s Grandpa Perkins that could help us learn what it’s truly like to walk with the broken and carry the burdens of an often depressing world.

NOTHING MAKES YOU FEEL AT HOME (OR FEEL REALLY HEALTHY) BETTER THAN LITTLE CEASAR’S PIZZAS