Three college groups spent their Spring Break loving the neighborhood and learning from the community. They volunteered in the schools and at two:fiftytwo, cleaned-up streets, painted rooms, worked in a community garden, and started demolition on the building. Check out the photos!

If you would like to bring a team to Jacksonville for a week during the summer or school year, visit our "Teams" page!

The third grade boy and I were reading a story book together at two:fiftytwo, 2nd Mile's new after school program, the he saw a picture with a speech bubble coming from the mouth of a bird.  It was a quick reminder of who these kids really are.

No matter what's going on at home . . . 

No matter how many times I ask before they seem to listen . . .

No matter how rough the neighborhood, school, or family they come from . . .

These are still kids.  And to a kid, a talking bird is hilarious.

Furthermore, these are kids made in the image of God, who we have been given the opportunity to engage with the Gospel and a clear picture of Christ.  What a tremendous honor and grace!

If you want to know more about two:fiftytwo and how you can partner with us, check out our page here: http://www.2ndmile-jax.com/twofiftytwo/

One week ago, our summer interns arrived.  Just a month ago, it appeared we would only have one intern, but suddenly and by clear working of the Lord, we now have four interns spending the summer learning, living, and ministering in our community.  It has been really run to see them gel and get comfortable with each other this past week!

In less than 24 hours, our first summer mission team of the season will be arriving, coming all the way from Camarillo, California!

And, one month from tomorrow our 3rd Annual Summer Day Camp will launch.  This year we will once again be setting the cap at 70 students and seeking to add a new element: educational enrichment, where we will work on math and reading skills with the kids along with our usual crafts, Bible study, recreation, worship, and dance stations.  It's looking good.

Thanks for your partnership with 2nd Mile, without your donations of time, finances, and materials we couldn't do this.  

Finally, thank you for your prayers.  We would love to invite you to join us in praying for God's restorative, redemptive, rescuing mission to work powerfully in and through lives this summer.  Pray that he would draw many people to himself and that all of us would be brought close to him in the process!

Thanks again!

As I think about Christ being Emmanuel (God with us) He did the same thing; He was up
close and personal with His creation. Stop and think about it for a moment, the
Creator of the Universe being up close and personal, walking along side and talking to
his Creation. He definitely made an impact on the lives that He came across. And that
impact can still be felt to this very day. It’s a very powerful thing to be up close and
personal. It’s messy, it takes time, and it definitely isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

For most of us, we are the product of the ones who took the time to be up
close and personal with us, they took the time to build into our lives. Often times it might
be because someone saw something in us that we ourselves couldn’t see. They
believed in who and what we could become.

I love God’s way of doing things, He takes two fishes and five loaves of bread and feeds
the five thousand. He takes twelve ordinary men and turns the world upside down. He
takes a beauty pageant winner and a forgotten kid sitting in a jail and saves a nation. The
statistics and reality for this community are often times overwhelming, but so is trying to
feed 5000 with some kid’s little lunch that his mom has packed for him. After all, with God
all things are possible!

I believe with all my heart that now is the time for 2nd Mile Ministries to invest and build
this Community Youth Center. I believe God wants to be up close and personal with the
folks in the Brentwood community. It’s not just a building, but it’s the difference between
being near or up close and personal. It is the opportunity to build and make an impact
with this community.

Now is the time to build! Will you join us?

Grace and peace,

Andraé Robinson
Executive Director, 2nd Mile Ministries

Summer was fantastic for us here with 10 great interns, a very well-attended and appreciated Summer Day Camp, and two mission teams (one of 68!) coming to join our vision for a week.  But summer, as we all learned as kids, must come to an end and the next season begins.

This fall 2nd Mile is thrilled to have 3 interns that will be here for 9 months.  Two Jacksonville natives and a transplant from Jamaica/Iowa.  Hopefully, throughout the year they will even be able to use this space on the blog to update you on their experiences.

Further, we are excited to continue working with local schools and building our the leadership of our discipleship group students as we look towards setting out to reach younger students.

Finally, this fall we will be making big strides towards moving into a building here in the neighborhood that we would love to make our home.  But first, we'll need the funds and to do some renovation.  More details are sure to come . . . 

If you're the praying type, we'd love you to join us in praying for:

• Our interns time here as God works in and through them.
• For this exciting opportunity with the building project.
• Our D-Group students spiritual and leadership development

Thanks!

These are good questions, but prior to answering those questions, it is more important to answer another question, "Why?"

Why does 2nd Mile exist? Why is 2nd Mile Ministries doing whatever it is they do? Why do they live and work in a part of Jacksonville that's usually bypassed and avoided?

Plainly, without reservation, the answer to these why questions is: the Gospel.

Gospel, a word that literally means "good news."  At 2nd Mile, we believe the good news about Jesus and unashamedly pursue gospel-centered, gospel-believing, gospel-consistent ministry in our neighborhood.

This Good News shows up in a story that is the macro- and the micro- narrative of all humanity.  It starts "in the beginning" where God made a good world, without flaw, and created humankind to live in right relationship with Him, with each other, with ourselves, and with the creation around us.

However, humankind chose a different path and chose to seek fulfillment and joy in other things outside of God's loving direction and the result was sin.  Now, all our relationships were broken.

. . . with God.

. . . with others.

. . . with our own self.

. . . with created things.

These God-deserting choices have and continue to wreak havoc on our world.  Brokenness is everywhere.  Something is wrong.  Things are not as they ought to be.

But . . . 

The all important conjunction.

But, God is not a distant God.  He's not a uninvolved, uncaring God.  God is a God who loves His creation, who loves men and women who are in the midst of destroying His right creation and plan.

And because that is the type of God he is.  He is not satisfied with the brokenness.  So he sets into motion a plan to redeem, restore, and rescue these ridiculous, wayward people.

He, Himself, enters our world.  He lives a perfect life, never erring in the sin that has marked this Earth.  And he goes to a cross, to an instrument of death, full of Love for us.  For you!  For me!  For Jacksonville!

And in doing so, he opens up the way for people to return to him.  By grace, through faith in Him and His finished work.

And he's not done.  No, he promises that in "the end" (remember we started at "the beginning"), all things will be made right.  All things will be restored.  Not just people to Jesus.  But people to people.  People to creation.  All things will be made new and all things will be made right.

This is the Good News that we believe.

And we believe this God, who is Love, calls us to live for that future reality today.  That he calls us to live out those restored relationships right now.  To be agents of reconciliation and signposts pointing towards His Kingdom and His Reign.

It's good news.  It's the Gospel of Jesus.

New 2nd Mile website coming soon!