Meet The Family
Serving in Oklahoma was such an exciting site to be a part of this summer. This was the first summer that Next Step had worked in the state. That being said, there were a lot of firsts to be had while serving the residents in the area. One of the biggest priorities for the team was being intentional about being zealous developers while serving the community during the summer. It's easy to go into a site with the mindset of developing the community from a construction perspective, especially when working in a community recently hit by a EF5 tornado. However, my team and I wanted to go beyond construction and develop lasting relationships with the community. Finding ways to connect with the community became a big prayer of the team and once again, the Lord delivered in a big way. Meet the Magby clan!
Mel and Rusty Magby may be an ordinary married couple to some, but to the Oklahoma team they were much more than ordinary...they were extraordinary. They serve as the young adult Bible Study leaders at South Park Baptist Church. Being members of the church for 30+ years, this couple helped us get plugged into the church so fast that by the third week the church was asking us to help out in areas such as the nursery and worship band.
Mel and Rusty were so much more to the team than Bible Study leaders. Very early on in the summer, they became our adoptive parents. Both were constantly helping us out in and around the church whether it be in the kitchen, our laundry, or stopping by our construction projects to pray over us when we didn't know it. They attended our worship service nearly every night-hearing the same songs and messages every week, but loving them nonetheless.
Serving alongside this wonderful couple was their son and daughter. Just as Mel and Rusty became like parents to the team, Justin and April became like brother and sister to many of us.
On a number of occasions, and by that I mean throughout the summer, Justin came out to many of our construction projects and helped us out when we needed it. I personally got to work with him a lot on the home I was working on and can honestly say I don't think I could have got as far as I did without his help. If he wasn't doing construction, we could find him out back grilling burgers for the kids coming in that day.
April was just as supportive and helpful as the rest of her family. She is very active in the Children's Ministry at South Park Baptist, and had us hanging out with babies and toddlers whenever there was a need. I think it surprised her how often we would ask to work in the nursery, but after working with teenagers all summer, coloring with a toddler for an hour seemed like the perfect change of pace. She was a huge source of encouragement for the team throughout our time in Moore, and became like a sister to me by the end of the summer. Saying goodbye to her, our last week, was not easy. However, like the rest of the Magby clan, I know that we will see each other again soon!
One thing to know about the Magbys is that when you do life with them long enough, you become family. Within the church and their Sunday School class, Mel and Rusty have a handful of "kids" and "grandkids", one of which became another part of our team over the summer. Katie was up at the church almost as much as the rest of the Magbys. She would come hang with us on the weekends, help when she saw a need, and would swing by the work sites with Justin when she was off work. Kelsey, Audrey, and myself all clicked with Katie over the summer and hated saying good bye!
Once again God provided an answer to prayer in a way much greater than the team anticipated. He provided us with a solid support system within the church, but more than that He gave us a family. By the end of the summer, there were a handful of hard goodbyes we had to say. As sad as the goodbyes were, it was a huge blessing to hear that the church would miss us and was already making plans to host us again in the future.
I would ask that you join me in continuing to pray for South Park Baptist Church and the Magbys. It's my prayer the Lord continues to bless them and the ministry they partner in with the church. I pray that the momentum that sparked in the church over the summer carries on throughout the year and that the relationships built with those in the church and community would grow deeper, with Christ at the center of them all!
**Mama Mel**
Mel Magby will never know how much the team appreciated and loved having her and Rusty help us out over the summer!
**April's Daughter Candice**
This little munchkin was one of the first of my nursery babies over the summer! She may be sassy but she's still sweet!
**Justin Magby**
Justin gets major brownie points for knowing every single word to the Frozen soundtrack!
**Justin's Daughter Irlynn**
Probably one of the sweetest babies ever! It was hard not to hold her all the time this summer!
**Miss Thang!**
Avery was my color buddy in Sunday School. We are masters at taking Sunday Selfies.
**Katie and Avery**
The sister from another mister! Katie and her sassy sidekick became like family by the end of the summer!
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