Two for the price of one...

6/18/2011

Week one down in Memphis, seven more to go, and there is no turning back now. Tonight we went out to dinner with our missionary partners, who just might be the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with. As we stood on the bank of the Mighty Mississippi the hot Memphis air competed with the smooth breeze of an impending storm and we talked of injustice and grace.
Steve, one of our partners, said, “Bad neighborhoods aren’t bad because bad people move in; they’re bad because good people move out. In your best neighborhood you will have bad people and there is nothing that will change that.” They drove us around several neighborhoods and pointed out dozens of houses of people who have chosen to move into the roughest, toughest, scariest places because they understand what these people need most is consistency and someone to love them. They need someone who is going to hold them accountable to what they do, to show up to sporting events when their parents won’t, someone to provide a safe haven and a strong hand. They don’t need our pity or our money; they need faith, but most importantly peace.
In the car on our way home from dinner we talked about intentional living strategies. When you’re called to a foreign country to do ministry, what do you do to prepare for that transition? 1) Move there, duh. 2) Study the culture and history. 3) Learn the language. 4)Find out where they –ing and –ing with them. (I.E. Shopping, eating, walking, laughing, etc.). You will bumble through attempted friendships until you find someone who is warm, excepting and willing to teach you the ins and outs of this new place. The exact same thing works for inner city ministry. Turns out it’s not rocket science after all, but it takes a whole lot of perseverance.
You will face resistance, be pushed back and knocked down several times until it seems like you’re ready to give up, but the moment when you’re at your wit’s end is when it gets good.

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6/25/2011

Colton, Emily, and I have just said good bye to our second group of student and are taking a break at the Memphis Public Library. This last trip started off with a bang... well it was more of a smash... Within the first hour of the trip the youth pastor, the female adult staff, and myself managed to accidentally break a window of the fifteen passenger van in an attempt to retrieve the keys that were locked inside. A few minor cuts, a trash bag, some duct tape, and a whole lot of sweeping later, the window was patched.
the week did get better from there.

One question that I want to be able to answer at the end of my summer is this: How has prayer shaped the last 10 weeks?
I want to be more diligent in prayer knowing that when we pray for things that seem impossible, we get a chance to see our faith increase and God gets a willing instrument to use. The last two weeks I have been praying for got to provide "enough" for all our teams and for myself. Enough patience to make it through the day, enough work for the work site, enough sleep to function, enough perseverance to push through the hard patches in the week, enough food that everyone's full, etc. I have always considered abundance as what I need and have found myself frantic when it gets down to the wire, but there has always been "enough."

Fools in the Kingdom

Do you ever have moments where things really do seem to be in slow motion? Like those moments in the movies when the guy sees the girl of his dreams gently tuck her hair behind her ear or the father watches his children giggling in the front yard after a long day at work. I had one of those as I walked from the LeaderTreks office to my car tonight. I started thinking about the very first summer I spent with LT as an intern. There was so much question to what would happen over then next 10 weeks and I questioned if I had what it took to make it through. I had no idea what was coming. As I turned back towards the building the slow motion hit and I felt in the bottom of my stomach the same feeling I felt as an intern. The one that told me I was on the edge of something much larger than myself. The one that says the weight you're about to take on will grow you and make you fall more in love with your Savior in the most challenging life experience. The one that reminds me there is hope and peace to be found. The one that whispers stories of lives that are about to encounter the living God in ways they have never before.
This will be my third summer of trip and I still feel like I have no business being in the authority position I am. Everyday I am humbled to know that I have been entrusted with SO much. My feeble hands will help restore the Kingdom of God? Really? If God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, then I am definitly a fool and ready to be foolish.