The Beginning

by Josh Wilson, Director of Mission: St. Louis 

What does it look like to serve the city?

This is the question that drove us. After two years of working with kids in the inner city, I had seen first hand the effects of poverty in St. Louis. With the weight of this experience, I began a mercy ministry in July of 2006 at The Journey. We started trying to "fix it all." We were involved in every kind of typical activity surrounding serving the poor in the city, from soup kitchens to women’s shelters and everything in between.

After a three month flurry of unfocused activity, we realized that we were in fact attempting to do good and failing. We had not built any relationships, shared struggles, carried burdens, or really loved our neighbors the way we should. We thought we knew what the poor needed without really listening to, identifying with, or knowing anyone. Despite all our busyness we were not actually accomplishing anything. We were not empowering economic, social, or developmental change. Our once eager volunteers were burnt out. After trying to fix the city without a vision or a mission we had actually done more harm than good. We didn’t really know those who we were serving, and we didn’t know who Mission: St. Louis was or where we were going.

The Turning Point 

The crucial turning point came in the midst of yet another project- a school supply drive. The first school to receive supplies was Adams Elementary in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood.  The day we delivered supplies, we were met with a gratitude and hospitality that left an impression. After dropping off supplies at a few other schools we knew, “We’ve got to go back to Adams.” And so began a relationship between Adams Elementary and Mission: St. Louis. We asked Adams staff “What are you dreams for this school?” Then, we began to see how Mission: St. Louis could be a part of this vision. The school staff took us by the hand and introduced us to themselves and the neighborhood.

As we were becoming connected in Forest Park Southeast, we began to learn from organizations like CCDA, who helped us think in terms of Community Development instead of just Mercy. We had found a school that was inviting, and a neighborhood that was facing tough issues like poverty and gentrification. We began to study and learn how to serve in a way that dealt with the root of these issues. We stopped haphazardly working all over the city and began to narrow our focus, guide our volunteers, and put all our resources into one specific community. We needed a place where we had a relationship that could be built on, where we could really get to know people and their needs, and where we could work toward true community development.  For us, that became Forest Park Southeast.  

Where We Are Now

We are still an organization committed to transforming the city of St. Louis. Now we see that this happens through the three core values of: education, empowerment, and development. Our vision is to network churches and organizations willing to strategically serve neighborhoods throughout the city.  We believe that such a network will have a lasting impact on the city of St. Louis. We are now looking for others to join us in this mission: people willing to serve, churches willing to connect with neighborhoods, corporations and organizations willing to sponsor our work.  Join us in transforming the city.