Happy New Year!

This is an exciting time for SOS. What started nearly 32 years ago with a couple of church youth groups repairing two homes has grown to a repertoire of initiatives helping underserved neighborhoods throughout Memphis to be places of shalom and thriving. Through partnerships with the Binghampton Development Corporation, The Heights CDC, Kingdom Community Builders, Memphis Habitat for Humanity, MLGW, several churches and many other partnerships, we have been able to expand our neighborhood revitalization work beyond Binghampton to include projects in Orange Mound and Graham Heights.

In addition to tackling critical home repairs, we now have also been able to offer "aging in place" and weatherization repairs allowing more seniors to remain in their homes longer. We are also developing programs designed to address minor home repair needs in our partner communities.

And through all of that we have developed a portfolio or initiatives empowering urban youth through discipleship, leadership development, and vocational training. We have a growing alumni base giving leadership to some of our cities' strongest organizations addressing poverty (like MTR, BDC, World Relief, Oasis of Hope, just to name a few).

The common thread through all of this is the gospel. From its beginning, SOS has held up the gospel as its motivation and God's glory as its goal. So as I look forward in 2018 and beyond, I get excited. Not just because of the ways that God has allowed us to increase our impact on this city. But mostly because I know the more SOS grows, the more opportunities we have to make God look great by putting the gospel on display. That's what gets us up in the morning. That's what motivates us to press on when things get tough. And that's what brings us the greatest joy in all of our work.

Regardless of your level of involvement with SOS, we hope that each time you encounter this ministry that you walk away NOT impressed by our programs, our staff, our building, or our even statistics on the impact we are having. Rather, we hope you walk away impressed with and in awe of the wonderful God we serve and his sacrificial love towards us.