This past week I went to a tiny town in the utmost southern part of IL call Cairo (Sounded out Care-O). I was there on a mission trip for a week, with my whole group. It all started with us packing our bags and filing into a 15 passenger van for about 7ish hours.
Cairo is a very rich in history but also very abandoned, the town boarders MO and KY, which is separated by the Ohio and Mississippi River. It is such a unique location I think. If it were to have thrived a little more, it could have been a great place. But it turns out to be an area that is plagued by poverty and hopelessness. Of the population as a whole, 33.5% lives below the poverty line. Many people would call this town “ghetto” I would not, I would call it “hopeless”
“Cairo is a sad place. It really feels abandoned. The population is roughly 3000 which on face value seems like a healthy number, but the city was built to sustain a population five times larger. The buildings are still there, large stone banks, churches, and government buildings; grand in design, but with their promise unfulfilled. They look sad standing their abandoned.” –St. Louis Community College.
Overall I rate this mission two thumbs up, it was a great bonding experience for our group, we had many discussions that we had been avoiding earlier on. Get gained some unity as a group which is super important. We learned each others dreams and ambitions. We fought off a lot of spiritual warfare especially because the town was oppressed by forlornness. We also come up with some ideas of how we can improve our lives together based on how Two Rivers runs. God sure did move in so many ways this past week!
yeah for two thumbs up! glad that a place that so impacted my heart impacted yours too. i’m praying for restored hope over cairo and restored hope for comlife too!! 🙂
thanks for letting us know about more people for whom to pray! glad your group is melting all together so nicely.
Hi Mags – Thanks for sharing this story. It’s so easy to forget that hopelessness is all around us in the lives of those that don’t have hope in Jesus. We’ll pray for Cairo, for the hopeless and as always for you. – The Frosties
I continually pray that the “eyes of your heart” are opened. Cairo is a great example of seeing why Jesus came, died, and rose for all of us.
Mags,
Considering your comments on Cairo, the one word that caught my attention was FORLORNNESS. The world probably thinks that it has been forlorned by God. But that is so far from the truth. Our God, the God that created the world and everything in it is so close that even the thought of Him brings Him near. Mag’s, let us seek the Lord of the harvest and reach out to a lost and dying world without God. The last days are upon us! The clock is ticking away, the world is nearing the midnight hour!
I am praying for you that God will use you in a mighty way, in His Kingdom, in these last days.
You betta get, get, get it MaGita!!! I’m so proud of you!!! And miss you so much. But Im glad u r doing somethin beneficial.
Wow….nice road trip! Glad your team is working together..for common cause…one cause…God’s cause, and not own needs. Take care and be safe always sweetie!!