Meet Our Summer Staff: Emily Cole

How did you get connected to SOS? I came as a camper with my youth group in high school and I was a camper for 4 years. I just really loved SOS and Memphis! SOS was always my favorite part of the summer so I thought it would be fun to be on summer staff. I got accepted and worked as a team leader in 2013. That summer, the biggest lessons I learned was what it looked like to fully rely on God, and that poverty is not just materialistic. That really changed my heart and I fell in love with this city, just as others often do through SOS. When I got home, I couldn’t stop talking about it and every time Memphis would come up I would get excited about it! When I was a Senior in college and praying about what I wanted to do with my life, I couldn’t get Memphis out of my head. I ended up working at SOS the summer of 2016 as a staff servant and committed to the SOS Academy for the following fall. Through the Academy I started working with Eikon Ministries where I now have a full job.

What is your role this summer?

I’m the A/V coordinator at SOS114. This includes taking photos and videos to document camp.

What is your favorite part about serving at 114?

I really love the intimate community. It’s very different from my other SOS experiences but it’s really sweet getting to know people a lot better. It’s a feasible goal to know every camper’s name. And it helps me know a different part of Memphis.

What is the Lord teaching you this summer?

The Lord is teaching me to trust Him. I’m a closed fisted person most of the time and with this role and this new environment with new people, it’s challenging and yet also really sweet, because the Lord has been pushing me to open my hands and let him have control. As with other things in my life, learning to let him have full control and surrendering to him. Seeing him as the most valuable part of my life.

How is serving at 114 different?

It’s a lot smaller. It’s in Orange Mound. Which is a different community with a different culture. Not every under-served neighborhood has the same culture and it’s sweet to see that. The staff is smaller and there are less campers and less adult leaders so there are more opportunities to know people on a deeper level. As staff, we’ve taken a challenge that every camper who stays behind in chapel will be prayed over.

Which team leader has the best scraper games?

Carter Mackie