This is the tenth in a series of blogs written by alumni of the Student.Go program.  This year Student.Go is celebrating 10 years of providing summer and semester missions service opportunities for college and graduate students in locations all over the world.

This blog is written by Mollie Palmer who served through Student.Go in Helena, AR during the summer of 2008.  She later moved back to Helena and has been serving there full time for two years.

The truth is, I applied for Student.Go on a whim.  I’d heard stories from my friend who’d served in Helena the summer before, and I turned her down quickly when she offered me the chance to join her there because most of those stories involved basketball.  Basketball isn’t something I do. 

But somehow, I became convinced that Helena was the place I needed to be for the summer of 2008.

I remember standing on the floor of the community center, under a goal, and watching with fear as a bright orange ball landed in my arms.  I passed it off as quickly as I could to the nearest kid, and just about ran for the hills.  I was terrified. 

Mollie and Brooklyn

And then I met Brooklyn.  And she didn’t want anything to do with the basketball either.  So we met, daily, to make things together – picture frames, drawings, stories.  We’d play on the swing with the younger kids, or they’d climb on my back for a ride.

I met Mr. Allen in a community garden at 6:00 a.m.  And he taught me that even weeds are beautiful, that God causes all things to grow. 

I met Nikki, and listened as she sorted out her plans for her last year of high school and what was next. 

I left that summer with a full heart, and a heavy heart.  Full because I’d seen the face of Christ in the faces of the people I met, and heavy because I knew I couldn’t’ make people understand why this place, just two hours from my home, a place the people within this state call abandoned, dying, and worthless, had captured me. 

My road back to Helena was long and bumpy.  I sought to hear God’s audible voice, screaming at me, “GO THERE!!  You’re needed!”  I’m lucky that I realized that God wasn’t trying to speak to me like that, that he just showed me a place I loved and gave me a chance to love it better, even before I realized that I’m not needed here.  God is enough for this place, and he has a plan for it.  I’m blessed to spend my days in relationship with the people of Helena, on a journey with them to discover what God’s plan is for our community and our lives.  It’s a beautiful journey to walk, and I’m grateful that Student.Go helped me begin it.