“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13 NLT
This verse has been Midsouth Hope Garage’s motto as it serves communities in the greater Memphis area. Midsouth Hope Garage is a nonprofit that accepts donated vehicles and makes all necessary repairs before gifting them to people in the local community. This was a dream that started more than a decade ago, when four friends got together and realized they shared a desire to lend a hand to those in need of transportation.
Jeremy and Ashley Brummer and Ben and Joanna Murray met more than 10 years ago, when Ashley and Joanna had kids in preschool together and Jeremy and Ben bonded over their love of auto maintenance.
Through different life experiences, God opened both couples’ eyes to see how a lack of transportation is closely related to the poverty cycle, unhealthy dependencies on substances or relationships, and the inability to keep families together. They were all inspired to meet that need and provide people with a way out of those cycles.
“We all came to the same idea, but from different angles and perspectives,” Joanna said. “Jeremy had a heart and a specific mission to help single moms and widows, and Ben and I came at it with the hope to help the youth who were aging out of the foster care system.”
After a decade of brainstorming, the Brummers and Murrays finally opened the doors of their ministry in March 2020. Both couples were very excited to finally be able to lighten the loads of many people in the surrounding communities.
“We know the car isn’t the answer to everybody’s problems, but it is a very large piece of the puzzle,” Joanna said.
“This ministry is a blessing in every way, and what’s cool is that we are the only nonprofit in the Memphis area for transportation like this,” Ashley said.
Unfortunately, a couple of weeks after opening day, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite having to take new precautions, the Brummers and Murrays worked diligently to serve their community. The first year was a bit slower than they originally anticipated, but that allowed them to lean into the Lord’s grace and His plan even more.
“I think the pandemic probably slowed us down little,” Ashley said. “We were having a hard time even getting one car repaired. However, it was a good slow start to sort of get our footing because, to be honest, nothing else about this has been slow. So maybe the Lord knew we needed some time before we hit the ground running.”
After two years of having its doors opened, Midsouth Hope Garage had become an established name among Memphis communities, and the requests for cars had become more frequent. But as the number of car giveaways increased, so did the cost for repairs. At that point, Ashley and Joanna worried that because of the increase in expenses, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with meeting the needs of the people they wanted to help.
But in the midst of worry and fear, the Lord’s provision took charge. Ross McGregor, Bellevue’s former Local Missions Pastor, reached out to Ashley and Joanna to learn more about their ministry.
“It was super casual, and we didn’t think it would be a conversation that turned toward the Love Offering,” Joanna said.
Little did they know that one conversation would lead to something so much bigger. Bellevue’s 2022 Love Offering was themed For Life and was going to be given to ministries who are a beacon in the dark for local missions.
Through the faithful giving and prayers of many, Bellevue’s Love Offering 2022 allowed Midsouth Hope Garage to have the bandwidth to operate on more cars than ever before, and Ashley and Joanna were able to come on as part-time staff for the garage.
“What Bellevue’s Love Offering did was a tremendous blessing, truly,” Joanna said. “I don’t think we would be where we are right now without Bellevue’s help.”
Over the course of four years Midsouth Hope Garage has gifted up to 76 cars and been able to pour out the love of Christ to many more people. However, their hope is to expand into a permanent commercial lot to be able to provide full-time repair services as well as classes that assist with people taking on the responsibility of owning a car.
“We not only want to gift cars, but we also want to be able to invest in the recipients,” Joanna said. “We hope to have a commercial spot where we can offer classes like budgeting or simple car maintenance to the women we are giving cars to. That way we are not just giving them a car and then continuing on with our lives. We want to invest in them so that they can know the love of Christ.”
Through Love Offering 2022: For Life, Bellevue has been able to come alongside several ministries that serve children, families, and the vulnerable. If you want to serve with Midsouth Hope Garage, visit midsouthhopegarage.org/volunteer.
This year’s Love Offering will be given For All Nations and Future Generations. Visit bellevue.org/love-offering to learn more, and join us for Love Offering Sunday on November 10!