“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve,” preached Martin Luther King, Jr in his sermon, The Drum Major Effect. This statement was the inspiration for the Great Day of Service hosted on January 17th. The Tuskegee Ministerial Council and Alabama Rural Ministry (ARM) worked in tandem to bring the community together to serve, worship, and fellowship together.
The service weekend was kicked off by a community worship service held on Sunday evening. The worship consisted of the Tuskegee Gospel Choir who inspired us with passionate songs of Christ and God’s excellence. Another singer, Nigel Andrews is a young man who has suffered from several strokes but still runs his own family ministry of Christmas Year ‘Round. His condition required him to sing sitting down-but his story and his faithfulness brought tears to our eyes. Finally, we were delighted and inspired when Tuskegee Wesley Foundation director, Sheila Bates, thundered away with MLK’s “Drum Major Instinct” sermon. By her conclusion we were on our feet! We were blessed with guests from the Tuskegee community as well as students from the Tuskegee Wesley Foundation, Alabama State Wesley Foundation, Troy and Auburn Wesley Foundations. The visitors who travelled the greatest distance were youth from Elkmont, Alabama near the Tennessee border.
The Great Day of Service was held the following Monday. Over 60 volunteers and residents worked in the Tuskegee area doing home repair and weatherization. We were especially excited to have the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP) from Tuskegee participate. Significant work was accomplished at the Tuskegee Church that will be used as a community service ministry center in the future. We gathered for breakfast and devotion and then headed off to serve. With King’s words of “everyone can be great because everyone can serve” and Jesus’ command to show greatness through serving-we accomplished much in the name of the Kingdom. It was a blessing to have so many different people together-young, old, black, white, and different faith denominations working, laughing, praying, and sharing!
Overall, it was a great day and we were blessed to have been a part-looking forward to next year!
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