This past June, as temperatures hovered above the 90s and rainfall was scarce, a group of teens from Bell Buckle United Methodist Church (BBUMC), Shelbyville First United Methodist Church (SFUMC), Trinity United Methodist Church of Murfreesboro (Trinity UMC), and Shiloh Outreach Church (SOC) of Bedford County spent 48 hours focusing on a mission to serve local families in need.
BBUMC hosted the 2024 Mission Possible event under the direction of Pastor Laurie Raulston, and Korley Carson from SFUMC served as the director and provided resources for the teens who were housed at BBUMC. Other spaces in the Bell Buckle community such as The Webb School pitched in by allowing teen volunteers the use of its shower facilities.
The event kicked off on Sunday, June 23, with Raulston giving the charge by outlining the work in the community that must be completed over the next two days. After breakfast and devotions Monday morning, everyone packed their lunch before heading out to accomplish their daily assignments in Bell Buckle, Deason, Shelbyville, and Wartrace.
“I was able to experience Mission Possible for the first time — which is a youth mission event held locally — but this year, it was held in collaboration with SFUMC, SOC, and Trinity UMC from Murfreesboro. Twenty-five to 30 youth furthered their faith journey through service, worship, and play. We adults just got to come along for the ride in awe. We are looking forward to next year already,” said Raulston.
The annual Mission Possible event began in 2000 with Pastors Jon Bell and David Adams from SFUMC. According to Carson, its name was inspired by the wildly popular movie “Mission Impossible.” Bell and Adams’ original mission of teaching youth to serve within their own communities versus traveling and paying to be part of an outreach elsewhere has remained unchanged. When they first launched the event, they partnered with Shelbyville Central High School to house the teens. This continued until Monica Lewis from BBUMC led the event as director, and BBUMC gladly stepped in to become their home away from home.
In 2023, Lewis contacted Carson, who had recently transitioned from Normandy United Methodist Church to SFUMC as its director of student ministries. She asked Carson to take leadership of the Mission Possible event, which she joyfully accepted.
“We completed 10 jobs to assist the elderly, the physically and/or financially challenged,” said Carson. “Jobs ranged from light yard clean up, cleaning out gutters and garages, and assisting with miscellaneous jobs. Our goals were to provide an environment for the youth to encounter Jesus in a new and fresh way, make new friends, build intergenerational relationships, and to become the hands and feet of Jesus within our community by serving others. We focused on what it was like to love our neighbors as ourselves and the importance of community. I feel as if this mission was accomplished.”
On Monday evening, the Rev. Jerrell Nelson of St. John and Banks Chapel United Methodist Church spoke to the group about what it looks like to follow Jesus at their age, and he discussed the rewards and hardships that may follow. Many of the teens were inspired by Nelson’s personal testimony. Following the nightly services, everyone was encouraged to befriend teens who were attending from other church groups.
“God truly orchestrated Mission Possible 2024! We committed to holding the mission camp regardless of whether we had two or 20 youth,” said Carson. “Two weeks before the start of the camp we only had a handful of youth registered and about 10 jobs that needed to be completed. I was really nervous about how we were going to pull this off, but by the kickoff on Sunday, we had 29 youth registered! I was then concerned that we might not have enough camp T-shirts, and water bottles, or food to keep them fed and enough work to keep them all busy. Not only did we have enough of everything — we had an abundance. We even had the right size T-shirts for all the youth and the workers. God worked it all out as only He can do!”
Mission Possible 2025 will begin on Sunday, June 22, and end on Tuesday, June 24.
“It would be great if we could tackle bigger and more complex projects, and I’d love to not only host a summer camp but also a fall camp or even designated Saturdays so that our teens can continue working throughout the year to help those in our community who are in need.” GN
