Eating a hearty breakfast Saturday morning with the Wesley Foundation can send helping hands to do mission work, right here in Mississippi.
A pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Foundation located at 224 11th St. S. in Columbus will help Mississippi University for Women students make a return trip to the Mississippi United Methodist Choctaw Mission near Philadelphia.
“We recently came back from a wonderful trip to the mission and plan to go again,” said Melissa Gilmore, president of the Wesley Foundation Board of Directors. “There is so much need there. We’re very proud of our students for being God’s hands and feet.”
MUW sophomore Betsie MacLellan was among about 24 students who went on the recent trip to serve the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. She helped with several projects, including a mini-Vacation Bible School for about 65 children.
“We really wanted to minister and serve the missionaries that are there full-time, to help them take a load off,” said the 19-year-old from Jackson. “We want to go back and do a longer bible school.”
The mission work was eye-opening for 21-year-old Emma Rabalais.
“There is so much that happens, so much to take in,” the junior from Pass Christian said. “Working alongside some of the missionaries, it was so meaningful to listen to and grasp their stories about the way of life in that area. It really put things into perspective for me … ”
The students both want to return to Choctaw and hope a big crowd comes out for pancakes Saturday morning to help make that work possible.
“It’s just $5 for a pancake breakfast with sausage or bacon, juice or coffee,” said Rabalais, who will be pitching in to make pancakes or serve guests.
For more information about the breakfast or about the Wesley Foundation, contact the office at 662-328-1998. The Wesley Foundation is a ministry of the United Methodist Church and welcomes students of all denominations.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.