Midwest is Best | From the Eureka Springs Perspective

There are many reasons to visit Eureka Springs, Arkansas; from the famous Downtown to The Great Passion Play and all the mountains in between. But the real attraction in this small family-like community is the people who live there.

At our Eureka Springs location, TEAMeffort partners with local ministry leaders who understand the needs of the community better than we ever could. These ministries see the needs of the community during the off-season and help us to look beyond the tourist appeal of the city to see that needs of these people and the hurt in this community is very real.

We partner with ministries to take care of the community in many different ways. We work with a boys’ ranch who helps boys learn more about themselves and who they are in Christ. We work with many local churches who know which families’ homes need of our help. Another ministry we work with is called The Jeremiah House, a home for women struggling with a variety of issues in their life; a majority of the women in the house are recovering from addiction.

There are so many people that make Eureka Springs such a special place and we have so many stories that we could share about how groups have come in and changed lives in this community, but one story we’d like to share was that of a friend from the Jeremiah House.

Our friend had shared that she was facing a pretty serious court case and was very nervous about what the outcome would be. When one group learned about this, they spent part of their free day meeting on the steps of the courthouse and praying for their new sister in Christ. Words cannot not describe the look on her face when she saw a group of middle school student’s praying that The Lord would defend her in the court. There was not a dry eye in the courtroom when we saw the Lord answer the prayers of those twelve year olds and set our friend free from the fear and guilt she carried.

As much as groups have come to pour into this community, the community pours out even more. It is astonishing to see the love that each of these ministries have for the community of Eureka Springs and it is no surprise that their love is contagious. Greg Hendrix, a youth leader for Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church shared about his groups experience in Eureka Springs.
 
“Our youth group has partnered with TEAMeffort for many years, and we have always served in different places throughout those years. Eureka Springs is the only location we have served at twice. The entire experience was life changing and faith growing for us. TEAMeffort has done a tremendous job of identifying and building relationships with ministry partners in the area. As we served alongside these ministries, it felt like we became part of the family and the community in long lasting and God glorifying ways. This place has special people who faithfully and steadfastly love God and love others. Although we are separated by almost 400 miles, we still keep in touch with the people we met.  God has certainly blessed us through this place and the people.  Yay God!”
 
The love in this community could never be accurately portrayed in words, but we hope that you will chose to serve with TEAMeffort at our Eureka Springs camp to experience this love first hand.