Service Over Self, Inc. began as a two-week inner city missions experience out of a local Memphis church in the summer of1986. Since that time, SOS has grown into a year-round Christian community development organization. As a non-profit Christian urban camp, SOS hosts volunteers throughout the year to work with residents to make homes warmer, safer and drier in the name of Christ. SOS hosts nearly 1,700 volunteers a year to participate in one of our two camps: SOS (Binghampton) - Spring Camps for college students, Summer Camps for junior and senior high students, and groups of any age during our Fall Weekend Camps; and SOS114 (Orange Mound) - Summer Camps for senior high students.

By means of these volunteers, SOS is able to offer free home repairs to homeowners. Volunteers and homeowners strip and shingle roofs, replace rotten floors and leaky plumbing, repair damaged sheetrock, scrape and paint siding, to list a few of our repairs. SOS volunteers have repaired more than 500 homes during these years.



Since 1998, SOS has specifically targeted one inner city neighborhood, Binghampton, for the purpose of fully investing in a particular community of need. Through partnerships with other organizations, community members and families that have relocated to Binghampton for community development purposes, the ministry and work of SOS has been greatly enhanced. Whereas SOS is able to help meet the housing needs of many Binghampton homeowners, our partner organizations and concerned community members are able to address other needs such as: employment opportunities and job training, enhanced education, violence prevention and so on.



In the summer of 2009, SOS began work in an additional inner city neighborhood via SOS114, a grassroots endeavor, to host campers to make homes warmer, safer and drier in the Historic Orange Mound community. SOS114 is run by our Academy interns and hosts six weeks of camp for senior high students during the summer. SOS will continue to focus on Binghampton, but it is also our hope to implement principles learned in Binghampton throughout other inner city neighborhoods of Memphis, such as Orange Mound.



Over the years, more than 20,000 volunteers have spent from a Saturday afternoon to a full week in the heart of Memphis working along side needy homeowners. We seek to repair and renovate housing, but we realize that inadequate housing is just one of the many issues that plague our city. We believe that the ultimate issue, however, is spiritual. While SOS may be able to introduce a change in living conditions, our ultimate goal is to introduce volunteers, homeowners and neighborhoods to the One who can change a heart - Jesus Christ. True and lasting change can only come when people are reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ's love is our only hope. SOS seeks to have a Kingdom impact in our neighborhood, city, country and world through the following ministry objectives:



First, our strategy for reaching the world for Christ begins in the Binghampton & Orange Mound neighborhoods of Memphis. It is from these neighrborhoods that SOS operates workdays, weekend retreats, and weeklong mission camps. Many homeowners are physically or financially incapable of maintaining their home. SOS offers free home repair to these homeowners. Through volunteer labor, homes are made drier, warmer and safer. The volunteers and homeowners strip and shingle roofs, replace rotten floors and leaky plumbing, repair damaged sheetrock, scrape and paint, and clean, to list a few of our repairs. SOS volunteers have repaired more than 500 homes during these years. Our mission for Binghampton & Orange Mound is that SOS seeks to meet the needs of the poor in the name of Christ and to encourage every family into a healthy church home.



Second, SOS seeks to have impact in our city through our partnerships with many local churches. Each week of our summer camps is "adopted" by this ecumenical group consisting of Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Evangelical, Bible and non-denominational churches. Our hope is that as adult volunteers from these churches come weekly to serve us through meals, laundry, prayer, deliveries, etc. they might be exposed to and encouraged to a life of missions and service. We seek to be the close and inexpensive "entry level" missions experience that might ignite the radical, sacrificial heart of the believer.



Third, SOS seeks to have impact in our nation through our contact with the approximately 1,700 college and high school volunteers that attend our spring and summer camps from all parts of the country. We seek to proclaim the gospel; we seek to encourage our campers towards a kingdom minded worldview; and we seek to open hearts and minds to God's spirit and His heart for justice and mercy to the vulnerable of our world.



Fourth, and last, SOS seeks to have a worldwide Kingdom impact through our 10-week relationship with our 40 college staff and yearlong relationship with our college graduate interns. While at SOS, our summer staff and interns have the opportunity to learn how to live in Christian community, how to minister to suburban teenagers and urban families, and how to serve others in a self-sacrificing context. In addition, we focus our private time together seeking to instill in each of our staffers and interns a God-glorifying missions world view. We seek to encourage the next generation of believers to desire to delight the Heart of God through living for His Kingdom and His reputation, and not their own.



We seek to accomplish these tasks through four one-week Spring break missions camps for college students, eight one-week summer mission camps for junior and senior high school students and weekend Fall camps for volunteers of all ages.