So, the Hunger Games. I'm a fan. And a couple articles I've read recently describe perfectly why I like them so much - they're gory and graphic at points, yes, but for a purpose:
"In fact, the books communicate an anti-violence message through violence. Collins' editor said that the author brilliantly crafted "a critique of violence using violence to get that across, and that's a fine line." (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2012/hungergames.html)
Suzanne Collins blatantly and accurately describes our culture today and the scary direction we're headed. It made me think about how horror movies and creepy killer thrillers continue to come out of Hollywood and only grow more and more perverse. And how people desire violence, and are entertained by it, instead of being disgusted by it. And how my husband's 5th grade students talk about their graphic video games and shooting each other like it's nothing, and how they hit each other as a part of their normal interactions.
"Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the lead role of Katniss Everdeen, described Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy as holding up "a terrible kind of mirror: This is what our society could be like if we became desensitized to trauma and to each other's pain." (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2012/hungergames.html?start=1)
It is clear to me that there is much action that needs to be taken by the Church. So many of us shy away from speaking out on important issues because our political and cultural situation is so polarized and messy. We are placed in either the conservative or liberal camp, are labeled Republican or Democrat. And most of us are neither because most of us recognize how distant both views are from the biblical truth we hold to, so most of us just remain quiet at a time when our voice is more important than ever, hoping to stay out of the ugliness of our current political situation.
But I believe it's this shying away by the Church that has in part allowed our culture to get so out of control. The world needs the Church's voice, the voice of Christ, speaking His Truth into its darkness. We must participate, we must use our voice, we must use government as God meant for it be used: as a tool to do His work, to bring His good purposes into this world. We cannot ignore the redemptive force that the institution of government can be. We cannot remain silent and let a certain party or politician use government - as well as the "evangelical block" of voters - for its purposes.
We need to begin to speak more boldly about the cultural issues that are taking our country in such a dangerous direction. The issues that cause divorce, broken families, fatherlessness, increased desire to see violence...it is these issues that produce the anger, rage, and brokeness in the individual that lead to the perpetuated violence and desire for bloodlust.
We need to speak out on these issues, demanding leaders and policies who will help our country turn in a different direction. The more the Church speaks out on these issues, creating programs and advocating for policies that work, the more the government and our culture will listen.
We need to develop after-school programs that teach moralism and character in our schools. We need to teach respect and the importance of non-violence to our kids. As my pastor oftens says, every social movement that has produced lasting change in our country was begun by the Church: women's rights, civil rights, labor rights...it is Christ's revolutionary teachings of love, peace, and justice that truly bring change to our country, because it is knowing Him and follwoing His teachings that speak to the heart, and produce change in the individual person. Christ knew that it was change in the heart of a person, not programs forced on someone by the government, that would produce change. That is why the Church must speak out. We are needed to lead the way. We must bring Christ, show His truths, to truly bring change to individuals, and ultimately our culture. By speaking out in Christ's name, voicing His truths to our culture and our leaders, demanding action that aligns with His teachings, our culture will be affected.
But if we don't begin to speak out and lead the way, I fear the path we are headed down is one toward the world Suzanne Collins created in her books. The desensitivity to death, even to death that right now is the worst kind of evil to us: the death of children. The fascination with watching children fight, the bloodlust, entertainment for some at the cost of the lives of others. The focus on clothes, food, appearance, materialism. The use of entertainment for evil.
"While the outer districts look upon the Games with horror and foreboding, the privileged, spoiled, and ridiculous citizens of the opulent Capitol love every minute—like we worship football or any given reality show. To them, these deaths are only a good show...Like many good sci-fi fables, Hunger Games says a lot about us: our voyeuristic culture, the tempering distraction of mindless entertainment, the balance of compassion and self-preservation, the interconnectivity of the haves and have-nots, hope and fear as controlling agents, and children's loss of innocence." (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2012/hungergames.html?start=2)
That world, as creepy as it is, is not far off from what I see around me now. And unless the Church leads the way and boldly brings Christ and his Truths into our politics and culture, I fear we will continue down this path.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
New update!
See below for my latest newsletter update:
https://us2.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/preview?id=1404049
https://us2.admin.mailchimp.com/campaigns/preview?id=1404049
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Q, Humility, and the Church
Below is a blog I just wrote for The Church in DC blog:
Q, Humility, and the Church
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Q Conference came to DC earlier this month. Q is a space "where church and cultural leaders can learn, dialogue, innovate and collaborate around the important topics shaping the church’s future role in culture...We are driven by the belief that inherent in Christian faithfulness is the responsibility to work towards creating a better world, one that reflects God’s original design and intention. Q is a place leaders can explore what that might look like and how God’s kingdom is showing up in the lives of their peers as they restore through the cultural goods they create and lead."
Yes, Q was as awesome as it sounds. It was an amazing experience, full of challenging talks and inspiring ideas. I will be processing it all for awhile, but a couple things in particular really stuck out to me:
One of them was David Brooks' talk on Humility. If you weren't able to attend Q, I highly reccommend you listen to his talk (which will be available on the Q website on May 31st). It was funny, brilliant - and a painfully accurate description of the self-centerdness and pride that defines our culture today.
"Humility is not low self esteem. Humility is low self-preoccupation." -David Brooks
It is with this definition that Mr Brooks showed us how much our culture today is severely lacking in humility. We as a generation are entirely self-preoccupied. We are consumed with ourselves, with our opinions, with our lives. Our national debt is so high because we consume more than any generation previous to us, with little thought to those coming after us - because we think we deserve it. Whatever is best for us is what goes. There is no moral standard today - in fact, according to research, there is a serious moral emergency: when asked, people literally cannot describe a situation with a moral dilemma, because there are no defined limits of right and wrong. Whatever the individual thinks is right, is right. Each person defines their own morality. This is a true moral dilemma. Our culture today tells us it is all about us - that our purpose in life is to find ourselves. But as Mr Brooks pointed out, our purpose in Christ is actually the opposite - it is to lose ourselves.
We as the Church need to show our generation this truth - that true fulfillment is found in losing ourselves, in thinking less of ourselves. But are we even promoting this truth well within the Church, or do we reflect our larger culture more than we realize? How much do we each think about my personal faith, my future, my job, my possessions, my comfort, my sexual satisfaction, my emotional needs, how am I making a difference in the world (I personally struggle with focusing too much on this last one). We are so caught up in ourselves, in our needs and desires, that we often forget God's two greatest commandments: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Yes, we are important. God says to love our neighbor as ourselves, which means we are to love and take care of ourselves. God desires us to know Him and spend eternity with Him, so our lives and our personal salvation are important. But because we are sinful, selfish, prideful human beings, it is easy to focus too much on this. He has created us and blessed us in order that we may love Him and love others - that is what is best for us because that is what he has created us to do. And as we've clearly seen from the world around us, the more we focus on ourselves, the more miserable we each seem to become and the more broken our society as a whole becomes:
A couple of the other most moving, poignant talks at Q for me were on racism and our criminal justice system (which will, again, be available here on May 31st!) The brokenness that exists within our justice system, and how it so unjustly affects young African-American men especially, blows my mind. How does such injustice exist in our country today without more Christians speaking out about it? How are there not more voices raised demanding reformation? How are more believers not involving themselves in the lives of youth to break the cycle and bring redemption to lives written off by so many?
I believe the answer directly connects to Mr Brooks' main point: selfishness. The Church today is too similar to the culture around us. It is easy to not care about that which does not affect us directly. We are focused more on ourselves than on loving God and loving others. The Church needs to lead the way in shifting our perspective outside of ourselves, or else I truly believe our societal problems will only get worse. As my pastor reminds us often, every powerful social movement in our country's history has started with the Church. It is the Church that must lead the way in stopping the inward focus of individuals in our culture. God meant for His Church to live differently than the culture around us, to further His redemption in the world and exemplify His sacrificial, sefless love to the world so that Christ would be seen. I believe that means we as the Church must be aware of this disease of selfishness infecting us, must pray and discuss this more, and must take active steps towards focusing outward, towards taking all that God has given us and using it to better love Him and others. We must do this, because I really believe it is only the Church that will be able to help bring about this shift in our larger culture as well, and help bring the full life that God desires to all people - those who are in physical need as well as spiritual.
And I think praying about and taking action on the injustices surrounding our criminal justice system is a great place to start. What if the Church in each city came together and unified around the issues that cause these injustices? That would be a powerful movement, a powerful voice, that our larger culture couldn't ignore. If every member of every church in DC committed to becoming a mentor for one vulnerable, at-risk youth in our city - either one headed down that path or one who has just come out of incarceration - I believe the rates of incarceration among African-American males would drop dramatically. I believe this would bring attention to the problems surrounding our justice system, as well as the very real solutions that could be brought about. And all this by the churches in our city unifying around a committment to disciple and mentor - something we can all do, and something for which I believe Christ commands we make time.
Through my church I am looking into what programs already exist and what ways we as the Church can invest in the lives of vulnerable youth. This month we at The District Church have committed to praying specifically for foster kids and other vulnerable youth, and about the ways God is calling us to bring Christ's redemption into their lives. Please join us in praying and in seeking God's will for how He wants the Church in DC to be His hands and feet in this area!
April is actually Child Abuse Prevention Month, and this coming Sunday, April 29th, is Blue Sunday - a national day of awareness for child abuse and neglect that many churches across the country are observing. As you'll see from looking at the website, Blue Sunday is a great example of a way the Church is already taking action to invest in the lives of vulnerable children, helping to break cycles of neglect, abuse, and fatherlessness that feed the cycles of high incarceration rates, joblessness, and racism. Many in the Church are already taking action to think outside of themselves. So please help bring this converation into your church, or continue it if it's already going on! And please let me know if you'd like to join our church in the initiative we are praying about, or let me know what your community is already doing - I know there are already many churches working to bring God's redemption into this area, and I would love to hear what's already happening and see this become a widespread, unified movement among the Church in DC!
As I pray for this initiative and the injustices that exist in our city, I continue to think about Mr. Brooks' observations and advice. I pray that the Church would grow in the true humility that he talked about, that we might lead the way in redeeming our culture from the grip of selfishness and pride that leads to so much personal and societal injustice. I pray we would look to Christ and be filled with hope by the reality that in the end His selfless love will win out against all pride and greed and the evil it brings. But I also pray that we would rely on the power of His love in us and follow His example of sacrificial love in our everyday lives - thinking less of ourselves - so that we may help His Kingdom come just a little more in our world now.
Q, Humility, and the Church
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Q Conference came to DC earlier this month. Q is a space "where church and cultural leaders can learn, dialogue, innovate and collaborate around the important topics shaping the church’s future role in culture...We are driven by the belief that inherent in Christian faithfulness is the responsibility to work towards creating a better world, one that reflects God’s original design and intention. Q is a place leaders can explore what that might look like and how God’s kingdom is showing up in the lives of their peers as they restore through the cultural goods they create and lead."
Yes, Q was as awesome as it sounds. It was an amazing experience, full of challenging talks and inspiring ideas. I will be processing it all for awhile, but a couple things in particular really stuck out to me:
One of them was David Brooks' talk on Humility. If you weren't able to attend Q, I highly reccommend you listen to his talk (which will be available on the Q website on May 31st). It was funny, brilliant - and a painfully accurate description of the self-centerdness and pride that defines our culture today.
It is with this definition that Mr Brooks showed us how much our culture today is severely lacking in humility. We as a generation are entirely self-preoccupied. We are consumed with ourselves, with our opinions, with our lives. Our national debt is so high because we consume more than any generation previous to us, with little thought to those coming after us - because we think we deserve it. Whatever is best for us is what goes. There is no moral standard today - in fact, according to research, there is a serious moral emergency: when asked, people literally cannot describe a situation with a moral dilemma, because there are no defined limits of right and wrong. Whatever the individual thinks is right, is right. Each person defines their own morality. This is a true moral dilemma. Our culture today tells us it is all about us - that our purpose in life is to find ourselves. But as Mr Brooks pointed out, our purpose in Christ is actually the opposite - it is to lose ourselves.
We as the Church need to show our generation this truth - that true fulfillment is found in losing ourselves, in thinking less of ourselves. But are we even promoting this truth well within the Church, or do we reflect our larger culture more than we realize? How much do we each think about my personal faith, my future, my job, my possessions, my comfort, my sexual satisfaction, my emotional needs, how am I making a difference in the world (I personally struggle with focusing too much on this last one). We are so caught up in ourselves, in our needs and desires, that we often forget God's two greatest commandments: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Yes, we are important. God says to love our neighbor as ourselves, which means we are to love and take care of ourselves. God desires us to know Him and spend eternity with Him, so our lives and our personal salvation are important. But because we are sinful, selfish, prideful human beings, it is easy to focus too much on this. He has created us and blessed us in order that we may love Him and love others - that is what is best for us because that is what he has created us to do. And as we've clearly seen from the world around us, the more we focus on ourselves, the more miserable we each seem to become and the more broken our society as a whole becomes:
A couple of the other most moving, poignant talks at Q for me were on racism and our criminal justice system (which will, again, be available here on May 31st!) The brokenness that exists within our justice system, and how it so unjustly affects young African-American men especially, blows my mind. How does such injustice exist in our country today without more Christians speaking out about it? How are there not more voices raised demanding reformation? How are more believers not involving themselves in the lives of youth to break the cycle and bring redemption to lives written off by so many?
I believe the answer directly connects to Mr Brooks' main point: selfishness. The Church today is too similar to the culture around us. It is easy to not care about that which does not affect us directly. We are focused more on ourselves than on loving God and loving others. The Church needs to lead the way in shifting our perspective outside of ourselves, or else I truly believe our societal problems will only get worse. As my pastor reminds us often, every powerful social movement in our country's history has started with the Church. It is the Church that must lead the way in stopping the inward focus of individuals in our culture. God meant for His Church to live differently than the culture around us, to further His redemption in the world and exemplify His sacrificial, sefless love to the world so that Christ would be seen. I believe that means we as the Church must be aware of this disease of selfishness infecting us, must pray and discuss this more, and must take active steps towards focusing outward, towards taking all that God has given us and using it to better love Him and others. We must do this, because I really believe it is only the Church that will be able to help bring about this shift in our larger culture as well, and help bring the full life that God desires to all people - those who are in physical need as well as spiritual.
And I think praying about and taking action on the injustices surrounding our criminal justice system is a great place to start. What if the Church in each city came together and unified around the issues that cause these injustices? That would be a powerful movement, a powerful voice, that our larger culture couldn't ignore. If every member of every church in DC committed to becoming a mentor for one vulnerable, at-risk youth in our city - either one headed down that path or one who has just come out of incarceration - I believe the rates of incarceration among African-American males would drop dramatically. I believe this would bring attention to the problems surrounding our justice system, as well as the very real solutions that could be brought about. And all this by the churches in our city unifying around a committment to disciple and mentor - something we can all do, and something for which I believe Christ commands we make time.
Through my church I am looking into what programs already exist and what ways we as the Church can invest in the lives of vulnerable youth. This month we at The District Church have committed to praying specifically for foster kids and other vulnerable youth, and about the ways God is calling us to bring Christ's redemption into their lives. Please join us in praying and in seeking God's will for how He wants the Church in DC to be His hands and feet in this area!
April is actually Child Abuse Prevention Month, and this coming Sunday, April 29th, is Blue Sunday - a national day of awareness for child abuse and neglect that many churches across the country are observing. As you'll see from looking at the website, Blue Sunday is a great example of a way the Church is already taking action to invest in the lives of vulnerable children, helping to break cycles of neglect, abuse, and fatherlessness that feed the cycles of high incarceration rates, joblessness, and racism. Many in the Church are already taking action to think outside of themselves. So please help bring this converation into your church, or continue it if it's already going on! And please let me know if you'd like to join our church in the initiative we are praying about, or let me know what your community is already doing - I know there are already many churches working to bring God's redemption into this area, and I would love to hear what's already happening and see this become a widespread, unified movement among the Church in DC!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Update letter
In case you'd like to read it, the latest update letter on the lives of Blythe and Stephen can be found here!
Monday, March 5, 2012
To serve or to walk?
Being involved in areas of service most of my life, but only recently living in a community where I have the opportunity to live life beside those I serve, I have begun to process through some important questions that I've never really thought through before. Some of my rambling thoughts are as follows:
How much are we truly doing incarnational, life-changing ministry if we are continually serving those outside of our world, but not walking alongside them? It just doesn’t sit right with my spirit that so many of us think we have done God’s work if we simply serve the least of these year after year. And it is good to serve. But if we are continually serving, and doing nothing to produce long-term change in the world of those we serve – if we don’t transition to walking alongside them – then I do not believe we are really doing what God intended His Church to do.
In the U.S., there is a sharper divide between the fortunate and less fortunate than in almost any other country, so outreach and service can more easily become something different than it was meant to be. Rather than easily being able to share what little possessions we have, rather than working together for God’s Kingdom, there is already naturally a sharp divide in this country between the fortunate and less fortunate. There are already two worlds. Living in DC I have seen the reality of these two world in sharper contrast than ever before. There are some of us who have a lot, who lived in a world where violence and abuse and rape were only statistics. Then there is the other world where abuse, fatherlessness, violence, death, abortion, and emotional abuse are cycles that haven’t been broken for decades and are only growing stronger. And those of us from the first world think what Jesus means by loving the least of these is to serve some of the ones from the second world – the few who have sought out help or are so messed up they can't hide anymore – and serve them in a shelter or a program once a week. So rather than entering the second world and helping to break the cycles so that we are all working side by side for the unity of all things as Christ taught us to, we are content to do what our American church has told us is “good” – we serve others for years and years, empowering them to stay in their world, and by doing so telling them they deserve to stay in their world.
We cannot be content with this. Being the Church means working for the redemption of all things. It means living out Christ’s love in this world in such a way that it brings people together, that it destroys barriers, that it unifies. I am coming to understand from Scripture that if we are content to be a “Church” that enforces disunity, that not only allows but empowers two different worlds to exist - this is not the Church Christ desired. We are called to live so differently that we break down walls, unify different worlds, and destroy injustice by the very way we interact with others.
It is not comfortable to walk alongside people, which is why I don’t think the American Church is very good at it, and why I am just now learning what the Bible actually says the Church should look like. It is much easier to keep our money, our schedules, our relationships with those who are similar to us, and go serve those who are different once a week so we feel good about ourselves. It is easier to go to church with those who think like us, who are from the world and have the same problems and blessings. Believe me, this is what I’ve been learning about myself the past couple weeks, as I’ve begun to walk alongside my friends from that other world. It is hard to connect with them a lot of the time, to talk to them about Jesus in a way they can relate to from their perspective, to talk about our problems and issues – because they are so different. It has required me to change my schedule, what my free time looks like, what I think small groups and worship should look like at our church. It has convicted me about my own selfishness when it comes to friendships, how it is so much easier for me to hang out with people who are like me. It is intense to truly walk alongside others.
We need to spend more time thinking about what it means to live in such a way as to bring about reconciliation and redemption to all circusmtances and situations. What does it really look like to do that? Do we really believe that is what God has called us to? If so, do we really desire that? And if we do, are we really living in such a way as to accomplish that? Are we willing to? Are we willing to change our lifestyles, how we have always done church, always done outreach at our churches? I believe this is what it will require to really live differently in our culture today and be the Church Christ intended us to be. But it’s worth it – it’s so worth it to see the people you once served giving advice to others stuck in the same cycles they used to be, to see them fired up about changing things. This is what it is all about – walking alongside people as Jesus walks alongside us, showing us what true reconciliation and unity looks like.
How much are we truly doing incarnational, life-changing ministry if we are continually serving those outside of our world, but not walking alongside them? It just doesn’t sit right with my spirit that so many of us think we have done God’s work if we simply serve the least of these year after year. And it is good to serve. But if we are continually serving, and doing nothing to produce long-term change in the world of those we serve – if we don’t transition to walking alongside them – then I do not believe we are really doing what God intended His Church to do.
In the U.S., there is a sharper divide between the fortunate and less fortunate than in almost any other country, so outreach and service can more easily become something different than it was meant to be. Rather than easily being able to share what little possessions we have, rather than working together for God’s Kingdom, there is already naturally a sharp divide in this country between the fortunate and less fortunate. There are already two worlds. Living in DC I have seen the reality of these two world in sharper contrast than ever before. There are some of us who have a lot, who lived in a world where violence and abuse and rape were only statistics. Then there is the other world where abuse, fatherlessness, violence, death, abortion, and emotional abuse are cycles that haven’t been broken for decades and are only growing stronger. And those of us from the first world think what Jesus means by loving the least of these is to serve some of the ones from the second world – the few who have sought out help or are so messed up they can't hide anymore – and serve them in a shelter or a program once a week. So rather than entering the second world and helping to break the cycles so that we are all working side by side for the unity of all things as Christ taught us to, we are content to do what our American church has told us is “good” – we serve others for years and years, empowering them to stay in their world, and by doing so telling them they deserve to stay in their world.
We cannot be content with this. Being the Church means working for the redemption of all things. It means living out Christ’s love in this world in such a way that it brings people together, that it destroys barriers, that it unifies. I am coming to understand from Scripture that if we are content to be a “Church” that enforces disunity, that not only allows but empowers two different worlds to exist - this is not the Church Christ desired. We are called to live so differently that we break down walls, unify different worlds, and destroy injustice by the very way we interact with others.
It is not comfortable to walk alongside people, which is why I don’t think the American Church is very good at it, and why I am just now learning what the Bible actually says the Church should look like. It is much easier to keep our money, our schedules, our relationships with those who are similar to us, and go serve those who are different once a week so we feel good about ourselves. It is easier to go to church with those who think like us, who are from the world and have the same problems and blessings. Believe me, this is what I’ve been learning about myself the past couple weeks, as I’ve begun to walk alongside my friends from that other world. It is hard to connect with them a lot of the time, to talk to them about Jesus in a way they can relate to from their perspective, to talk about our problems and issues – because they are so different. It has required me to change my schedule, what my free time looks like, what I think small groups and worship should look like at our church. It has convicted me about my own selfishness when it comes to friendships, how it is so much easier for me to hang out with people who are like me. It is intense to truly walk alongside others.
We need to spend more time thinking about what it means to live in such a way as to bring about reconciliation and redemption to all circusmtances and situations. What does it really look like to do that? Do we really believe that is what God has called us to? If so, do we really desire that? And if we do, are we really living in such a way as to accomplish that? Are we willing to? Are we willing to change our lifestyles, how we have always done church, always done outreach at our churches? I believe this is what it will require to really live differently in our culture today and be the Church Christ intended us to be. But it’s worth it – it’s so worth it to see the people you once served giving advice to others stuck in the same cycles they used to be, to see them fired up about changing things. This is what it is all about – walking alongside people as Jesus walks alongside us, showing us what true reconciliation and unity looks like.
Friday, February 24, 2012
This is REAL (thoughts from Ash Wednesday)
There is this deep, excited, magical feeling I get when I read any of the books in CS Lewis' Narnia series, or listen to a song by Mumford and Sons, or look at the view on top of a beautful mountain when no other sign of civilization is in sight.
I get this same feeling when I think about Jesus, living, walking, breathing, talking to people with fire in His eyes. It's this feeling of thr reality of holiness, of glory, of Something so much bigger than myself.
I got this feeling again this week as I worshiped with other Christians at our joint Ash Wednesday service with a couple other churches. There were several moments, when everoyne around me was crying out to God as loud as they could while we were singing Psalm 51 and Amazing Grace, that I just felt this magical, wonderous feeling stirring so strongly inside me. Looking around, I just kep thinking, This is real - and praised God for it. Jesus, someone Ive heard about my whole life and work for everyday, can sometimes become a thought that I get used to. But He lived, He laughed, He touched and healed. And one day I will stand by His side and get to kneel at His feet and thank Him for the fact that He thought of me on His walk to the cross. I will get to stand at His side as He literally destroys all evil.
As I looked at everyone around me believing this same thing and visibly feeling the same feeling I was feeling, the magic of it all only left me more in awe. This is real - not only that night, but throughout centuries, believers have gathered together on Ash Wednesday and dedicated themselves to walkng with Christ through His suffering. They all believed in His reality that much. So did my fellow worshipers on Wednesday - many of whom I did not even know. Yet we were all joined by the magic of Christ - the reality of the combined love and holiness of a God who walked earth and gave Himself willingly up to suffering, for us. And because of this reality, millions of people over thousands of years repeat the same words, pray the same prayers, and dedicate themselves to walking with Him in His suffering. That is beautiful, exciting, magic. That has to be real.
It is this beauty, these moments of knowing God's reality and glimpsing Him "dimly in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:8-12hj...reading this chapter in Scripture is another moment I get a glimpse of another world, something so much bigger than myself) - it is these moments when I am most happy. Because it is these moments that take me outside myself. I am not focused on my selfish worries and prideful little stresses. I am in the presence of Something greater, Something that somehow simplifies myself.
So on ASh Wednesday, I was able to clearly see and committ to what God is calling me to this Lent: He is calling me to live in the magic. Train my mind on the ismple reality of Who He is, and think of myself less. This is a daily, lifelong habit that I know all believers strive for, but for me, this is especially hard. I worry,s tress, and overanaluze. I have a brain that thinks ALOT - which is a blessing when it is in God's hand, but a curse when in mine, because I just think about MYSELF too much. So this Lent, I am repenting of my selfishness, of my over-analytical, selffocsed tendencies that distract me from the beauty that is Christ and the life He has given me, and am committing myself to truly walking with Him in His solemnity and suffering this season. I am commiting to training my mind more on the glory and majesty that I once again experienced on Ash Wednesday - the beauty of God becoming man, of this Man giving Himself for me. The beauty of receiving ashes on my head, along with millions of others, reminding me of my humanity and my sinfulness and my need for Someone to rescue me. And I'm committing myself to the reality of the words of Amazing Grace that we sang at the end of the night:
Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home...
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.
These words fill me with that kind of hope and peace that can only come from really beleiving in the reailty of Something greater than yourself. They remind me that this is real. This wonderous, magical feeling that comes when I am comptely confident that there is Something greater than the hurt in this world and the importance I've given myself and my mistakes. I think this feeling can best be descirbed by verse 12 of Psalm 51, which we read at the service. The "joy of my salvation" fills me, overwhelms me, makes everything so much more beautiful and simple. This Lent, I repent of my selfishness and committ to walking with Christ through His time of suffering, learning to keep my mind trained on Him, letting Him convict me, refine me, teach me - and letting everything else in my life flow from that. And I know as I learn to train my mind on His reality, that His magic - the "joy of my salvation" that He gives me and that we will fully celebrate on Easter - will only increase everyday.
Which means more of my other-worldly Aslan, Mumford and Sons, Ash Wednesday, majestic mountain-top experiences....it's just so much better thinking more about Jesus.
I get this same feeling when I think about Jesus, living, walking, breathing, talking to people with fire in His eyes. It's this feeling of thr reality of holiness, of glory, of Something so much bigger than myself.
I got this feeling again this week as I worshiped with other Christians at our joint Ash Wednesday service with a couple other churches. There were several moments, when everoyne around me was crying out to God as loud as they could while we were singing Psalm 51 and Amazing Grace, that I just felt this magical, wonderous feeling stirring so strongly inside me. Looking around, I just kep thinking, This is real - and praised God for it. Jesus, someone Ive heard about my whole life and work for everyday, can sometimes become a thought that I get used to. But He lived, He laughed, He touched and healed. And one day I will stand by His side and get to kneel at His feet and thank Him for the fact that He thought of me on His walk to the cross. I will get to stand at His side as He literally destroys all evil.
As I looked at everyone around me believing this same thing and visibly feeling the same feeling I was feeling, the magic of it all only left me more in awe. This is real - not only that night, but throughout centuries, believers have gathered together on Ash Wednesday and dedicated themselves to walkng with Christ through His suffering. They all believed in His reality that much. So did my fellow worshipers on Wednesday - many of whom I did not even know. Yet we were all joined by the magic of Christ - the reality of the combined love and holiness of a God who walked earth and gave Himself willingly up to suffering, for us. And because of this reality, millions of people over thousands of years repeat the same words, pray the same prayers, and dedicate themselves to walking with Him in His suffering. That is beautiful, exciting, magic. That has to be real.
It is this beauty, these moments of knowing God's reality and glimpsing Him "dimly in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:8-12hj...reading this chapter in Scripture is another moment I get a glimpse of another world, something so much bigger than myself) - it is these moments when I am most happy. Because it is these moments that take me outside myself. I am not focused on my selfish worries and prideful little stresses. I am in the presence of Something greater, Something that somehow simplifies myself.
So on ASh Wednesday, I was able to clearly see and committ to what God is calling me to this Lent: He is calling me to live in the magic. Train my mind on the ismple reality of Who He is, and think of myself less. This is a daily, lifelong habit that I know all believers strive for, but for me, this is especially hard. I worry,s tress, and overanaluze. I have a brain that thinks ALOT - which is a blessing when it is in God's hand, but a curse when in mine, because I just think about MYSELF too much. So this Lent, I am repenting of my selfishness, of my over-analytical, selffocsed tendencies that distract me from the beauty that is Christ and the life He has given me, and am committing myself to truly walking with Him in His solemnity and suffering this season. I am commiting to training my mind more on the glory and majesty that I once again experienced on Ash Wednesday - the beauty of God becoming man, of this Man giving Himself for me. The beauty of receiving ashes on my head, along with millions of others, reminding me of my humanity and my sinfulness and my need for Someone to rescue me. And I'm committing myself to the reality of the words of Amazing Grace that we sang at the end of the night:
Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home...
When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.
These words fill me with that kind of hope and peace that can only come from really beleiving in the reailty of Something greater than yourself. They remind me that this is real. This wonderous, magical feeling that comes when I am comptely confident that there is Something greater than the hurt in this world and the importance I've given myself and my mistakes. I think this feeling can best be descirbed by verse 12 of Psalm 51, which we read at the service. The "joy of my salvation" fills me, overwhelms me, makes everything so much more beautiful and simple. This Lent, I repent of my selfishness and committ to walking with Christ through His time of suffering, learning to keep my mind trained on Him, letting Him convict me, refine me, teach me - and letting everything else in my life flow from that. And I know as I learn to train my mind on His reality, that His magic - the "joy of my salvation" that He gives me and that we will fully celebrate on Easter - will only increase everyday.
Which means more of my other-worldly Aslan, Mumford and Sons, Ash Wednesday, majestic mountain-top experiences....it's just so much better thinking more about Jesus.
The Deepness of Adoption
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:3-8)
Ever since I first met my beautiful adopted cousins when I was just an awkward pre-teen, I've desired to provide a home for those who had none, just as my aunt did for my cousins. And as I've gotten older and come to understand the beauty of what God has done for me through Christ, my desire to love others the way He first loved me - to give others a place the way God gave me one - only deepened my desire to adopt. As Paul says to the Ephesians in the passage above, God planned before time even began to show His amazing, glorious love to us through adoption. He planned to give His only Son - whom He loved so much - as a sacrifice for us so we could be adopted into His family. He planned to bring us from nothing and make us sons and daughters, so we could see how very deep His love is for us. Beginning to understand this - and I know the deepness of God's adoption for us will take my whole life to even begin to understand - has given me a deep desire to show love to the most lonely, most hurting, most vulnerable people. And most often the most vulnerable are children, especially those without parents to take care of them the way God intended.
And living in DC this past year has opened my eyes to the meaning of "adoption" in even deeper ways. There is so much brokenness in our culture today - and almost every single issue of brokennes we see around us can be traced back to broken families. There are so many children in the foster care system who have never known the unconditional love of two parents. There are so many children who still live with one or both of their biological parents but still do not receive the love and affirmation God desires them to have through their earthly parents. Whether it is through talking to an employee at DC Child Welfare Services, hearing my husband talk about his 5th grade students, or seeing how a mother interacts with her child on the street - there are so many children who need to be "adopted." Whether legally adopted into our homes, or adopted through mentorship and discipleship, God has called us all to show the love He has shown us to others. And adoption is one of the most tangible ways - if not the most tangible way - we can do this. And while I do believe Stephen and I will legally adopt a child into our home someday, and while I believe God has blessed many with the desire and resources to legally adopt, others might not be called to adopt in that way. But I believe we are all called to give the world a glimpse of our adoption into God's family by adopting others into our family in some way.
I just read a thought-provoking article on urban ministry called "Discipling Urban Youth," where the author, Tyler Staton, highlighted the importance of discipleship. As I often need to be reminded, Christ didn't call us to start an orgnaization that saves the world or try to come up with a plan that will change a city overnght. He called us to be intentional with a few others in our life - loving them, discipling them, and bringing them closer to Him. And through doing this, the world will be changed, but by bit. Because Christ knew that through doing this - through intentionally pouring our lives into a few others, walking with them, discipling them as He did His disciples - He knew that they would feel the same feeling of adoption into a family as we felt at one point into His family. And it is this adoption into our lives that will help others get a glimpse of God's love for them, of God's reconciliation and adoption into His family for all eternity.
So whether you're at the place where you're ready and able to legally adopt a child into your family forever, whether you're at the place where you can meet with a child once a week, or whether you can go into a local teacher's classroom and help tutor some students on a regular basis - we are all called to adopt in some way. We are called to live differently - to live in such a way that Christ's redemption can be seen in our lives. And in our world today, there are enough children without families, without parents to show them the unconditional love of God, that this is an obvious area where God is asking us to live differently for Him. Whether it be giving up time with friends, time relaxing at home, or some over-time at work, I truly believe this is a way we can be "salt and light" in this world, helping to bring the Kingdom of God into this world. Adopting children into our lives - whether they be 2 months old or 22 years old - is a need the Church can fill in every coutnry in the world, and an incredibly beautiul way to show God's eternal love to the restof the world.
I've been thinking and praying with Stephen and some others at my church about ways the Church in DC can step in this gap and help lead the movemnt of adoption in DC. There is much space in the foster care system, in our public schools, and in many other places for the Church to step in. So please be praying for us as we seek to dsicern God's will for us in this area. Most importantly, be praying about how God is calling you to show His heart for adoption to this hurting world.
FYI: One of my pastors, Amy, preached a sermon last week on restoring the family, foster care, and adoption. It is definitely worth a listen! You can go here to check it out.
Ever since I first met my beautiful adopted cousins when I was just an awkward pre-teen, I've desired to provide a home for those who had none, just as my aunt did for my cousins. And as I've gotten older and come to understand the beauty of what God has done for me through Christ, my desire to love others the way He first loved me - to give others a place the way God gave me one - only deepened my desire to adopt. As Paul says to the Ephesians in the passage above, God planned before time even began to show His amazing, glorious love to us through adoption. He planned to give His only Son - whom He loved so much - as a sacrifice for us so we could be adopted into His family. He planned to bring us from nothing and make us sons and daughters, so we could see how very deep His love is for us. Beginning to understand this - and I know the deepness of God's adoption for us will take my whole life to even begin to understand - has given me a deep desire to show love to the most lonely, most hurting, most vulnerable people. And most often the most vulnerable are children, especially those without parents to take care of them the way God intended.
And living in DC this past year has opened my eyes to the meaning of "adoption" in even deeper ways. There is so much brokenness in our culture today - and almost every single issue of brokennes we see around us can be traced back to broken families. There are so many children in the foster care system who have never known the unconditional love of two parents. There are so many children who still live with one or both of their biological parents but still do not receive the love and affirmation God desires them to have through their earthly parents. Whether it is through talking to an employee at DC Child Welfare Services, hearing my husband talk about his 5th grade students, or seeing how a mother interacts with her child on the street - there are so many children who need to be "adopted." Whether legally adopted into our homes, or adopted through mentorship and discipleship, God has called us all to show the love He has shown us to others. And adoption is one of the most tangible ways - if not the most tangible way - we can do this. And while I do believe Stephen and I will legally adopt a child into our home someday, and while I believe God has blessed many with the desire and resources to legally adopt, others might not be called to adopt in that way. But I believe we are all called to give the world a glimpse of our adoption into God's family by adopting others into our family in some way.
I just read a thought-provoking article on urban ministry called "Discipling Urban Youth," where the author, Tyler Staton, highlighted the importance of discipleship. As I often need to be reminded, Christ didn't call us to start an orgnaization that saves the world or try to come up with a plan that will change a city overnght. He called us to be intentional with a few others in our life - loving them, discipling them, and bringing them closer to Him. And through doing this, the world will be changed, but by bit. Because Christ knew that through doing this - through intentionally pouring our lives into a few others, walking with them, discipling them as He did His disciples - He knew that they would feel the same feeling of adoption into a family as we felt at one point into His family. And it is this adoption into our lives that will help others get a glimpse of God's love for them, of God's reconciliation and adoption into His family for all eternity.
So whether you're at the place where you're ready and able to legally adopt a child into your family forever, whether you're at the place where you can meet with a child once a week, or whether you can go into a local teacher's classroom and help tutor some students on a regular basis - we are all called to adopt in some way. We are called to live differently - to live in such a way that Christ's redemption can be seen in our lives. And in our world today, there are enough children without families, without parents to show them the unconditional love of God, that this is an obvious area where God is asking us to live differently for Him. Whether it be giving up time with friends, time relaxing at home, or some over-time at work, I truly believe this is a way we can be "salt and light" in this world, helping to bring the Kingdom of God into this world. Adopting children into our lives - whether they be 2 months old or 22 years old - is a need the Church can fill in every coutnry in the world, and an incredibly beautiul way to show God's eternal love to the restof the world.
I've been thinking and praying with Stephen and some others at my church about ways the Church in DC can step in this gap and help lead the movemnt of adoption in DC. There is much space in the foster care system, in our public schools, and in many other places for the Church to step in. So please be praying for us as we seek to dsicern God's will for us in this area. Most importantly, be praying about how God is calling you to show His heart for adoption to this hurting world.
FYI: One of my pastors, Amy, preached a sermon last week on restoring the family, foster care, and adoption. It is definitely worth a listen! You can go here to check it out.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Living Simply, Living Beautifully
In thinking and praying about what I'd like my life to look like in 2012, I've realized that I want it to look more simple. And more beautiful.
These are things I naturally struggle with. I struggle to live simply with my physical possessions, to live simply with my time and money, and to live simply mentally. I want to live with my mind constantly on things above, on Christ and Him crucified, as Paul said. As I do that more, I know the things I spend my money on, how busy I am, and how much I stress and overanalyze, will begin to decrease more and more. My life will look, and will be, more simple. Thinking more of Christ and less of myself will allow me to truly know more of Him, what He desires for this world, and for my life. I’ll be able to prioritize easier, make decisions easier, and over-analyze everything less. I strive to know more of Christ, and therefore live more simply this year.
I also strive to live more beautifully. Everything that is of God is beautiful. So do I reflect that beauty in every area of my life? Do I live beautifully? Does His love break through me in my love for others, and is His glory, His beautiful, incomparable holiness, reflected in every decision I make, every part of my lifestyle? He is BEAUTIFUL. He radiates. He is the sun and every color, He is magical and exciting and produces greater awe than the most majestic sight we've seen on this earth. Do I reflect that in my life? Do people look at me and see little flashes of the beauty of Christ? Am I a "poor reflection as in a mirror"?
This year I strive to live more in His Presence, so that His beauty and His Truth manifests itself more in me and brings others to see more of Him.
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
-1 Corinthians 13:12
These are things I naturally struggle with. I struggle to live simply with my physical possessions, to live simply with my time and money, and to live simply mentally. I want to live with my mind constantly on things above, on Christ and Him crucified, as Paul said. As I do that more, I know the things I spend my money on, how busy I am, and how much I stress and overanalyze, will begin to decrease more and more. My life will look, and will be, more simple. Thinking more of Christ and less of myself will allow me to truly know more of Him, what He desires for this world, and for my life. I’ll be able to prioritize easier, make decisions easier, and over-analyze everything less. I strive to know more of Christ, and therefore live more simply this year.
I also strive to live more beautifully. Everything that is of God is beautiful. So do I reflect that beauty in every area of my life? Do I live beautifully? Does His love break through me in my love for others, and is His glory, His beautiful, incomparable holiness, reflected in every decision I make, every part of my lifestyle? He is BEAUTIFUL. He radiates. He is the sun and every color, He is magical and exciting and produces greater awe than the most majestic sight we've seen on this earth. Do I reflect that in my life? Do people look at me and see little flashes of the beauty of Christ? Am I a "poor reflection as in a mirror"?
This year I strive to live more in His Presence, so that His beauty and His Truth manifests itself more in me and brings others to see more of Him.
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
-1 Corinthians 13:12
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
THANK YOU - Ch.3 (December 28th)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth...And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given thruogh Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known."
- John 1:14,16-18
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all! We hope you are having a joyous, restful holiday season!
As 2011 draws to a close, Stephen and I want to thank you all deeply for your prayers and support this past year. With Stephen entering Teach for America and beginning the most intense year of his life thus far teaching 5th grade at an inner-city DC school,, and with me beginning my job with our church, it has been a year in which we have needed you all more than ever. Thank you for being there for us - your prayers and support have done more than you could ever know, and this has been especially evident this Christmas season:
"Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we…
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born"
"O Holy Night" has long been my favorite Christmas song - and one of my favorite songs of all time - but this stanza has resonated with me especially loudly this year. As I've seen so much heartache, pain, and oppression around me every day, I get tears in my eyes as I sing these words, believing that His love really does break chains, bring peace, and will one day cause all oppression to cease. And, praise God, I have seen evidence of the truth of these words, especially this Christmas season - so much so that it has truly caused me to "fall on my knees."
Along with my pastor, I helped organize an Advent Conspiracy campaign for our church this Christmas. If you're not familiar with Advent Conspiracy, it is an amazing nation-wide campaign started a few years ago that focuses on helping the Church truly love like Christ during the holiday season. The campaign encourages the Church to focus less on the materialistic aspects that our culture has brought to Christmas, but instead encourages us to spend less and give more where people really need it - and in the process help bring the focus back to what Christmas is truly about: loving others and worshiping Christ more fully. So we took the basics of this campaign and adapted it to fit our church and the needs of our community: we asked members of our church to commit to buying one less present for a family member of friend who doesn’t really need it, and instead spend that money on a gift for someone in one of nine local organizations or schools that our church supports.
In addition, our church partnered with Living Water International to raise money to help repair a well in Bomi County, Liberia, where many people are without access to clean drinking water because of a long civil war. We asked people to give to both aspects of the campaign not out of guilt or out of excess, but to truly change something about how they spend their money and give a more relational gift this Christmas. Instead of buying a gift that is not really needed, we asked them to get a gift for someone in need in DC or donate money to repair a well in honor of their loved one, and then write a letter to that person to share how they have inspired this gift. My pastor, Aaron, has spent the past four weeks of Advent preaching on the four main aspects of the Advent Conspiracy Campaign - spending less, giving more, loving all, and worshiping fully - and I highly recommend listening to his messages on our church website. They are encouraging, convicting, and incredibly insightful, and shed more light on this campaign and why we believe the Conspiracy is world-changing. Aaron was asked to write an article for the Washington Post on our campaign, in which he said, "We are crazy enough to believe that the story of Christmas can change our neighborhoods and nations. Therefore we are conspiring to spend less so we can give more and thus fully worship Christ this Christmas." And it fills me with such a feeling of overwhelming joy to say that we really did see our church conspire together to affect nations and fully worship Christ through this campaign!
As "O Holy Night" says so beautifully, I've seen Christ's powerful love - lived out through His people - break chains and cause oppression to cease this Christmas. After such a busy past few months filled with a good amount of doubt about God's goodness, I feel so blessed to be able to say that God has revealed the reality of His love to me in deeper ways this Christmas. I was able to see His redemption actively at work in the world through those around me: I saw a member of our church, who started coming after we met him at a rehab center when he was a resident there, selflessly give some of the few possessions he had to the people currently enrolled in the program he had just successfully completed. I saw Stephen's 5th graders overjoyed at receiving a few simple gifts from members of our church, and heard one of his boys yell "This is the best day ever!" I saw how loved they felt by receiving their own special, individual present. In total, I saw close to 200 gifts donated to people in the nine different local organizations we partnered with! In addition, over $15,000 was raised to repair a well in Liberia - which was not only enough to repair a well, but build an entire new well and repair two others! As we celebrated Christ coming to earth on Christmas Day, I was also able to celebrate seeing His redeeming love through the members of our church community as they actively spread His “law of love” and His “Gospel of peace.”
And I've seen this through YOU as well. I could not have organized this campaign and served my church in this way - and I truly don’t believe our church would have responded to the Spirit's leading so clearly - if it hadn't been for your prayers. So thank you - thank you for your prayers for me, for my job at church, and for the ministry we are doing in our city.
That is why I need you this coming year as well! Stephen and I continue to grow more and more excited as we see more of God’s vision for us, but it does seem daunting at times - so we continue to covet your prayers and support! One of my biggest passions is for the Church to continue living out the Advent Conspiracy model throughout the year – so through my work at church this coming year a big focus is going to be how we can truly live differently than the culture around us - spending less, giving more, loving all, and worshiping more fully - so that Christ is seen and known more and more in our city.
One of the main ways I want to help our church do this is through continuing to deepen our relationships with the organizations we partnered with this Christmas – like Stephen’s 5th grade class. We’ve already shared with many of you about the immense need in his classroom – almost all of his students are incredibly far behind academically, and each one deals with their own set of intense emotional issues – and although Stpehen is amazing and is working so hard to bring true change to the lives of each of his students, he needs support – more support than our public education system provides. There is much room for the Church to step in. At our church we want to begin outreach to areas of need by supporting those in our own church community who are already doing awesome work addressing these issues, so I’ve begun to form partnerships with Stephen’s school and a few others, to reach youth in our city and begin to address the flaws in our education system. In the new year myself and some other girls from church are starting a Girls Club for the girls in Stephen’s class, as well as a couple other initiatives in his class and a few others. It’s exciting, but scary at the same time! There are so many youth in DC with such need - I know it will be hard not to get overwhelmed, as well as to not lose focus and try to reform our whole public education system this next year! So I needyour prayers! Pray for discernment and wisdom, so that I do not lose sight of the specific calling God has for me and our church in the classrooms and organizations He is leading us to invest in this year.
In addition to deepening relationships with these certain organizations, God has also opened the door for our church to help spearhead a faith-based foster care/adoption initiative here in DC. While daunting, things have fallen into place with this initiative so far in such a way that it is clear God’s powerfully hand is working! But I need your prayers for the Spirit’s guidance as I explore what it would look like for our church to bring the love of Christ to the youth of our city in this way.
As I said at the beginning of this letter, not only has God reminded me of His glorious reality through the celebration of the birth of His Son, but He has also shown me more of Himself as I’ve seen Him work through the community around me to bring His redeeming love to earth now. I pray that you also have experienced this love in even deeper ways this Christmas, and have seen his glory in new ways all around you as you’ve celebrated His birth. And I thank you again for all you’ve done to show me His love, and to help me show His love to others. As I’ve said many times before, the most essential way you can support Stephen and me is through prayer, and through relationally being here for us. I know many of you are already involved with many other wonderful organizations and are already supporting some of them financially, and I in no way want to take you away from that! But if you also want to support my ministry financially, you are welcome to do that - you can donate online on our church website; Please make sure to select "Leadership Residency 2” when it asks you to “Choose a Fund," Or you can write a check to: "The District Church," with "Leadership Residency 2" in the memo and send to: The District Church, PO Box 3116, Washington, DC 20010. (All gifts are fully tax-deductible)
Please pray for:
*Discernment for Stephen and myself as we enter this new year. Pray that we would have God's vision for the jobs He has called us to, and daily learn to listen to His leading. Pray that we would believe every day in His power to do more than we could ever ask or imagine on our own, and that we would learn to exist in His Spirit and live in His power, not our own.
*The many things God has put on my heart to lead our church in pursuing in the new year, particularly: increased involvement in the lives of the youth in our city through starting a Girls Club for the girls in his class, partnering with other DC Public School classrooms, and leading a faith-based foster care/adoption initiative.
*Stephen's 5th grade class. As we've already shared with many of you, Stephen teaches an incredibly difficult group of 5th graders. At 10 years old, most of them are already emotionally disturbed, as well as being severely below grade level. Stephen is an incredibly dedicated, passionate teacher, and is doing as much as he can to help his kids - after school tutoring, starting a Boys Club for the boys in his class, creative and interactive lessons - but God has been teaching both of us this year what it looks like to truly believe in the reality of His power in this world, and Stephen is learning more than ever that it is only God's power that can truly save His students. We truly believe it is your prayers that have enabled Stephen to make the progress he has thus far, and so ask that you all committ to continue to join us in fervently praying for his students by name, believing that God is and will continue to work in their lives in miraculous ways, beyond anything Stephen could do on his own! So please pray for:
- Christian
- Jerome
- Samari
- Tazzell
- Da'Nino
- Lonaile
- Shawn
- Markell
- Michael
- James
- Aynia
- Lavondae
- Tracey
- Andrea
- Jasmine
- Dynasty
- Darealle
- Tierra
*And as always, please pray for Stephen: that God would bless him for his selfless heart and would bless the work of his hands. Please pray for our marriage - pray that we would daily learn how to serve God the way He has called us to in our jobs, while still putting each other and our marriage first. Pray that He would continue to show us how to seek Him and His vision for this world together, amidst the busyness of life! Pray that we would learn better and better everyday how to love each other selflessly and love God with our whole hearts.
- John 1:14,16-18
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all! We hope you are having a joyous, restful holiday season!
As 2011 draws to a close, Stephen and I want to thank you all deeply for your prayers and support this past year. With Stephen entering Teach for America and beginning the most intense year of his life thus far teaching 5th grade at an inner-city DC school,, and with me beginning my job with our church, it has been a year in which we have needed you all more than ever. Thank you for being there for us - your prayers and support have done more than you could ever know, and this has been especially evident this Christmas season:
"Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we…
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born"
"O Holy Night" has long been my favorite Christmas song - and one of my favorite songs of all time - but this stanza has resonated with me especially loudly this year. As I've seen so much heartache, pain, and oppression around me every day, I get tears in my eyes as I sing these words, believing that His love really does break chains, bring peace, and will one day cause all oppression to cease. And, praise God, I have seen evidence of the truth of these words, especially this Christmas season - so much so that it has truly caused me to "fall on my knees."
Along with my pastor, I helped organize an Advent Conspiracy campaign for our church this Christmas. If you're not familiar with Advent Conspiracy, it is an amazing nation-wide campaign started a few years ago that focuses on helping the Church truly love like Christ during the holiday season. The campaign encourages the Church to focus less on the materialistic aspects that our culture has brought to Christmas, but instead encourages us to spend less and give more where people really need it - and in the process help bring the focus back to what Christmas is truly about: loving others and worshiping Christ more fully. So we took the basics of this campaign and adapted it to fit our church and the needs of our community: we asked members of our church to commit to buying one less present for a family member of friend who doesn’t really need it, and instead spend that money on a gift for someone in one of nine local organizations or schools that our church supports.
In addition, our church partnered with Living Water International to raise money to help repair a well in Bomi County, Liberia, where many people are without access to clean drinking water because of a long civil war. We asked people to give to both aspects of the campaign not out of guilt or out of excess, but to truly change something about how they spend their money and give a more relational gift this Christmas. Instead of buying a gift that is not really needed, we asked them to get a gift for someone in need in DC or donate money to repair a well in honor of their loved one, and then write a letter to that person to share how they have inspired this gift. My pastor, Aaron, has spent the past four weeks of Advent preaching on the four main aspects of the Advent Conspiracy Campaign - spending less, giving more, loving all, and worshiping fully - and I highly recommend listening to his messages on our church website. They are encouraging, convicting, and incredibly insightful, and shed more light on this campaign and why we believe the Conspiracy is world-changing. Aaron was asked to write an article for the Washington Post on our campaign, in which he said, "We are crazy enough to believe that the story of Christmas can change our neighborhoods and nations. Therefore we are conspiring to spend less so we can give more and thus fully worship Christ this Christmas." And it fills me with such a feeling of overwhelming joy to say that we really did see our church conspire together to affect nations and fully worship Christ through this campaign!
As "O Holy Night" says so beautifully, I've seen Christ's powerful love - lived out through His people - break chains and cause oppression to cease this Christmas. After such a busy past few months filled with a good amount of doubt about God's goodness, I feel so blessed to be able to say that God has revealed the reality of His love to me in deeper ways this Christmas. I was able to see His redemption actively at work in the world through those around me: I saw a member of our church, who started coming after we met him at a rehab center when he was a resident there, selflessly give some of the few possessions he had to the people currently enrolled in the program he had just successfully completed. I saw Stephen's 5th graders overjoyed at receiving a few simple gifts from members of our church, and heard one of his boys yell "This is the best day ever!" I saw how loved they felt by receiving their own special, individual present. In total, I saw close to 200 gifts donated to people in the nine different local organizations we partnered with! In addition, over $15,000 was raised to repair a well in Liberia - which was not only enough to repair a well, but build an entire new well and repair two others! As we celebrated Christ coming to earth on Christmas Day, I was also able to celebrate seeing His redeeming love through the members of our church community as they actively spread His “law of love” and His “Gospel of peace.”
And I've seen this through YOU as well. I could not have organized this campaign and served my church in this way - and I truly don’t believe our church would have responded to the Spirit's leading so clearly - if it hadn't been for your prayers. So thank you - thank you for your prayers for me, for my job at church, and for the ministry we are doing in our city.
That is why I need you this coming year as well! Stephen and I continue to grow more and more excited as we see more of God’s vision for us, but it does seem daunting at times - so we continue to covet your prayers and support! One of my biggest passions is for the Church to continue living out the Advent Conspiracy model throughout the year – so through my work at church this coming year a big focus is going to be how we can truly live differently than the culture around us - spending less, giving more, loving all, and worshiping more fully - so that Christ is seen and known more and more in our city.
One of the main ways I want to help our church do this is through continuing to deepen our relationships with the organizations we partnered with this Christmas – like Stephen’s 5th grade class. We’ve already shared with many of you about the immense need in his classroom – almost all of his students are incredibly far behind academically, and each one deals with their own set of intense emotional issues – and although Stpehen is amazing and is working so hard to bring true change to the lives of each of his students, he needs support – more support than our public education system provides. There is much room for the Church to step in. At our church we want to begin outreach to areas of need by supporting those in our own church community who are already doing awesome work addressing these issues, so I’ve begun to form partnerships with Stephen’s school and a few others, to reach youth in our city and begin to address the flaws in our education system. In the new year myself and some other girls from church are starting a Girls Club for the girls in Stephen’s class, as well as a couple other initiatives in his class and a few others. It’s exciting, but scary at the same time! There are so many youth in DC with such need - I know it will be hard not to get overwhelmed, as well as to not lose focus and try to reform our whole public education system this next year! So I needyour prayers! Pray for discernment and wisdom, so that I do not lose sight of the specific calling God has for me and our church in the classrooms and organizations He is leading us to invest in this year.
In addition to deepening relationships with these certain organizations, God has also opened the door for our church to help spearhead a faith-based foster care/adoption initiative here in DC. While daunting, things have fallen into place with this initiative so far in such a way that it is clear God’s powerfully hand is working! But I need your prayers for the Spirit’s guidance as I explore what it would look like for our church to bring the love of Christ to the youth of our city in this way.
As I said at the beginning of this letter, not only has God reminded me of His glorious reality through the celebration of the birth of His Son, but He has also shown me more of Himself as I’ve seen Him work through the community around me to bring His redeeming love to earth now. I pray that you also have experienced this love in even deeper ways this Christmas, and have seen his glory in new ways all around you as you’ve celebrated His birth. And I thank you again for all you’ve done to show me His love, and to help me show His love to others. As I’ve said many times before, the most essential way you can support Stephen and me is through prayer, and through relationally being here for us. I know many of you are already involved with many other wonderful organizations and are already supporting some of them financially, and I in no way want to take you away from that! But if you also want to support my ministry financially, you are welcome to do that - you can donate online on our church website; Please make sure to select "Leadership Residency 2” when it asks you to “Choose a Fund," Or you can write a check to: "The District Church," with "Leadership Residency 2" in the memo and send to: The District Church, PO Box 3116, Washington, DC 20010. (All gifts are fully tax-deductible)
Please pray for:
*Discernment for Stephen and myself as we enter this new year. Pray that we would have God's vision for the jobs He has called us to, and daily learn to listen to His leading. Pray that we would believe every day in His power to do more than we could ever ask or imagine on our own, and that we would learn to exist in His Spirit and live in His power, not our own.
*The many things God has put on my heart to lead our church in pursuing in the new year, particularly: increased involvement in the lives of the youth in our city through starting a Girls Club for the girls in his class, partnering with other DC Public School classrooms, and leading a faith-based foster care/adoption initiative.
*Stephen's 5th grade class. As we've already shared with many of you, Stephen teaches an incredibly difficult group of 5th graders. At 10 years old, most of them are already emotionally disturbed, as well as being severely below grade level. Stephen is an incredibly dedicated, passionate teacher, and is doing as much as he can to help his kids - after school tutoring, starting a Boys Club for the boys in his class, creative and interactive lessons - but God has been teaching both of us this year what it looks like to truly believe in the reality of His power in this world, and Stephen is learning more than ever that it is only God's power that can truly save His students. We truly believe it is your prayers that have enabled Stephen to make the progress he has thus far, and so ask that you all committ to continue to join us in fervently praying for his students by name, believing that God is and will continue to work in their lives in miraculous ways, beyond anything Stephen could do on his own! So please pray for:
- Christian
- Jerome
- Samari
- Tazzell
- Da'Nino
- Lonaile
- Shawn
- Markell
- Michael
- James
- Aynia
- Lavondae
- Tracey
- Andrea
- Jasmine
- Dynasty
- Darealle
- Tierra
*And as always, please pray for Stephen: that God would bless him for his selfless heart and would bless the work of his hands. Please pray for our marriage - pray that we would daily learn how to serve God the way He has called us to in our jobs, while still putting each other and our marriage first. Pray that He would continue to show us how to seek Him and His vision for this world together, amidst the busyness of life! Pray that we would learn better and better everyday how to love each other selflessly and love God with our whole hearts.
The First Few Months- Ch. 2 (Nov. 11th)
I had a friend ask me the other day what made me decide to work for a church. Good question, I told her, considering I have for most of my life never wanted to work for a church! So why am I now working for one?
I have always had a strong love for God, but have also had a strong desire to help people and an avid interest in politics. I think my interest in politics and government first developed because I saw how many people could be helped and how much could actually be changed through systemic change. I’ve always naturally been a big - vision person, so I saw people hurting, and I saw governments with the most power to help those hurting people.
But the past couple years – through books I’ve read, conversations I’ve had with friends and mentors, organizations I’ve worked for, and most recently through my church – I have seen that there is great power elsewhere as well:
In the Church. Church with a capital “C” - the body of Christ. As I began to read and study and look at examples, I saw that if the Church was truly living the way Christ taught us to, we would be the most powerful, effective force for systemic change. If the incredibly large Church that exists today was truly living out the radical, selfless love of Christ in every part of our lives, the world would look very different. Power lies in the words and teachings of Christ, and in the Spirit He has given His people that empowers us to live out those teachings.
I began to see that passing a law is ultimately not a guarantee that people will be helped – we see proof of that all around the world today. And having Christians in politics ultimately doesn’t do much good if those Christians don’t really know how the truth of Christ affects their politics. A law can be passed saying drugs are illegal, but that won’t stop inner city youth from using and selling to make enough money to eat if that is the only option they see in their neighborhood.
Power lies in the Church. We have the Spirit of the living God in us. Therefore, we have the ability to change the culture around us through truly living the way Christ taught and the apostles model in Scripture. It lies with us to learn how Christ’s teachings affect the racial and class divides in our neighborhood, the politics we stand up for, the issues we care about. It lies with us to be an example for the government and to utilize the government to truly do justice. It lies with us to live selflessly and care about others as much as we care about ourselves, and to challenge those around us and our leaders to do the same.
And that is why I am working in a church this year. My pastors and my church community model so well what it looks like to live so differently that it affects the culture around us. And I have already begun to see the effects of that on our neighborhood, on the way those in our community think about political and social issues, on what our lifestyles look like. And I want to learn from this awesome church community I have, and be a part of this vision God has given them. I want to learn how to better teach and equip the Church to be an influential effective, powerful force in our culture, so that politics, government, and other institutions are truly used to help the poor and oppressed. I have come to believe that if the Church at large is better equipped and mobilized to live out the selfless, counter-culture love of Christ, effectual and lasting change will come to broken situations all over the world. And the reality of Christ’s love will be seen.
In the past month and a half that I’ve worked for my church, I have already begun to learn so much about what it looks like to build relationships and invest in the surrounding community, help the community where there is need, and mobilize others to do the same. I have seen great examples from those in my church of what it looks like to be the Church to our neighborhood, and have seen how powerful this is. Here are a few of the things I’ve gotten to do in September and October:
- I organized our church’s Columbia Heights Fall Festival: On October 1st our church, in partnership with a few community organizations, held a Fall Festival to meet residents of the neighborhood and provide a fun environment for families and kids! Despite rain and having to move to an indoor location, it was a huge success! Check out some pictures on our Facebook page.
- I’ve been able to meet with various community and religious leaders about the positive work they are doing in our neighborhood, and have been encouraged by the ideas exchanged and the promise of future partnership to together bring justice and peace to our area.
- I have regular weekly meetings with several people, some for more strategic outreach-planning purposes, and others are to give more personal mentorship and guidance. I have already had some amazing conversations, and am excited to see how God uses these regular meetings both in my life and their’s! One of the regular weekly things I’ve started doing is a Wednesday morning breakfast for women in our church, and I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite things!
- I have started leading a weekly small group with Stephen and one of our friends, Bruce, on God and Justice. This small groups studies and addresses some pretty intense issues having to do with God’s justice and what it should look like lived out in our lives today – and there have been some intense discussions! – but every week so far has left all of us feeling encouraged and challenged.
- I have begun to lay a framework for Outreach at our church, researching and developing regular outreach opportunities with many different organizations. I’ve been talking to leaders in our church, as well as my outreach team, about God’s vision for our church and where He is calling us to invest our time and resources over the next few years. For example, it is clear that a huge passion of many people in our church is youth and education, and inner-city youth issues are a huge need in our neighborhood. So I have begun to help set up many outreach opportunities in this area: our church has just launched a Youth Club in partnership with a couple other churches and the Community Center in our neighborhood. I have also begun to see what need our local schools have, and have started by organizing volunteer opportunities in the classrooms of the teachers in our own church, like Steve’s.
- My church sent me to a conference a couple weeks ago put on by the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Check out their website if you have a minute – they are an incredible organization. I learned so much in the three short days I was at this conference about how our church can practically form relationships with schools, non-profits, governments, etc and truly help reform the community around us. I heard some amazing examples of ways churches have turned entire cities around. I heard one story about a church in Maryland that started their own charter school because their public educations system was failing their kids, and they ran their charter school so well and made such a difference in their community that the MD city government approached them the next year and asked them to run the new public school the city was opening! So now the pastor and several other members of this church run this public school, and are allowed to hold chapel everyday –which isn’t mandatory – but every student still chooses to come to chapel! I can’t remember the statistics, but the high school graduation rate in this city in MD has increased by an exponential amount. All because of God’s work through this church investing in their community! That is what it looks like for the Church to truly live differently in this world – so differently that the city government comes to them for help! Needless to say, I’m incredibly inspired. So if you get an email from me at some point asking for money to help us start a charter school, don’t be surprised… :)
I’ll end with this encouraging story: this past summer, I volunteered with the small group I was in last year at Samaritan Inns, a drug and alcohol rehab facility in our neighborhood. We served dinner to the residents of Samaritan Inns, and we got to talk with them as we served them and then ate with them. Myself and a couple friends ended up inviting several of the residents to our church, because they all kept asking why we were there. Well, the next Sunday Antonio - one of the residents we had invited to church - came! And he has been back every Sunday since, and now regularly brings 2-3 other residents with him. Antonio and another woman from the program are now in my small group and are two of the most passionate, kind people I have ever met. I see a genuine love for God and for people that you just don’t see very much anymore, even in church. I’m so glad they are a part of our community, because they both still have a long road of recovery ahead of them and I am so glad we can walk alongside them. But even more than that, I am glad they are a part of our community because God has already used them to teach me so much about what it looks like to love Christ passionately and love others freely. And He has used them to remind me what Outreach is all about, about the heart behind all the programs and projects and strategic planning: we love others because Christ first loved us, and it is through loving others that Christ is truly seen (1 John 4:9-12). Because of serving a simply meal at Samaritan Inns, Antonio now knows Christ, and, as he just told me last night, “I didn’t just follow others out there on the streets. I used to lead others to do bad stuff. And now I want to lead others out there to know this better life.” We serve others so that they can know the fullness of life that Christ has for them, and we strive to help them live in that fullness. And it is through doing this that I truly believe the world will be changed. This is why I work for my church.
Prayer requests:
- God has blessed me over the past few years with amazing connections and fruitful relationships with many wonderful people and organizations. Whether it be through meetings with faith leaders in the White House, conferences with some very influential leaders, or meetings with leaders on important policy issues, God has allowed me to develop and maintain some very special relationships. Please pray that I would not become overwhelmed or try to control these relationships and use them as I see fit, but pray that I instead would, as Henri Nouwen prayed above, be made faithful to the vision God has given me, "so that wherever I go and whomever I meet, I can be a sign of [His] all-renewing love." Pray that I would continue to maintain the relationships God wants me to maintain, trusting that He has led me where I am for a reason, but also trusting in His hand in the situations and relationships He has led me into and releasing them all back to Him to use for His purposes.
- Please pray for wisdom and insight for my pastor, for me, and for the other leaders in our church as we continue to seek God's vision for how He desires His Church to look. Pray that we would be able to discern His Truth from cultural and religious raditions and our emotions and opinions.
- Please pray specifically for wisdom and insight for me as I develop the vision for Outreach at our church.
- Please pray that I would continue to learn how to better delegate, teach, and equip others.
- Please pray for the Youth Club, our work with Samaritan Inns, the relationships we have with various schools, and the other things God is leading our church to do. Pray for His love to be seen through us.
- Please pray for the youth of our city. The things I hear from Stephen, from other teachers, and the things I see on the streets everyday break my heart. The inner-city culture and the subsequent issues these kids are trapped in are so sad and seem so insurmountable, but we know our God can do anything, even change entire cultures. So please pray earnestly that God would save these kids from the cycles their stuck in, from the situations they cannot even help – pray that He would move in their lives, in their culture, and in our city, that He would truly begin to change their minds and hearts and open them up to Him. Pray that He would use us to help do this and that we would be willing!
- Please pray for Stephen. I am blown away everyday by the passion, patience, and selflessness of my husband. Sometimes I can’t even stand to hear about his class because it is that bad – his students are so hard and the reasons why are heartbreaking. He sees and deals with things in his 5thgraders that I can’t even imagine, yet comes home to me and asks me how he can help me. Pray that God would bless him for his selfless heart, and that He would give Stephen strength mentally, physically, and spiritually to go into his classroom everyday and love his students the way God has called him to. Pray for his students, especially for Jerome and Christian, who already seem so past help at the age of 10. Pray that God would move powerfully in their lives, and use Stephen to impact them in greater ways than he could ever imagine.
- Please pray for our marriage. We both have incredibly busy jobs that don’t allow us to spend a lot of down time together. Pray that we would learn how to serve God the way He has called us to in our jobs, while still putting each other and our marriage first! Pray that He would continue to show us how to seek Him and His vision for this world together, amidst the busyness of life! Pray that we would learn better and better everyday how to love each other selflessly and love God with our whole hearts.
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:9-12)
"Dear God, give me the courage to live and work for a new heaven and a new earth as Jesus did. Give me the freedom to be critical where I see evil and to offer praises where I see good. Most of all, make me faithful to the vision you have given me, so that wherever I go and whomever I meet, I can be a sign of your all-renewing love. Amen." - A prayer by Henri Nouwen
I have always had a strong love for God, but have also had a strong desire to help people and an avid interest in politics. I think my interest in politics and government first developed because I saw how many people could be helped and how much could actually be changed through systemic change. I’ve always naturally been a big - vision person, so I saw people hurting, and I saw governments with the most power to help those hurting people.
But the past couple years – through books I’ve read, conversations I’ve had with friends and mentors, organizations I’ve worked for, and most recently through my church – I have seen that there is great power elsewhere as well:
In the Church. Church with a capital “C” - the body of Christ. As I began to read and study and look at examples, I saw that if the Church was truly living the way Christ taught us to, we would be the most powerful, effective force for systemic change. If the incredibly large Church that exists today was truly living out the radical, selfless love of Christ in every part of our lives, the world would look very different. Power lies in the words and teachings of Christ, and in the Spirit He has given His people that empowers us to live out those teachings.
I began to see that passing a law is ultimately not a guarantee that people will be helped – we see proof of that all around the world today. And having Christians in politics ultimately doesn’t do much good if those Christians don’t really know how the truth of Christ affects their politics. A law can be passed saying drugs are illegal, but that won’t stop inner city youth from using and selling to make enough money to eat if that is the only option they see in their neighborhood.
Power lies in the Church. We have the Spirit of the living God in us. Therefore, we have the ability to change the culture around us through truly living the way Christ taught and the apostles model in Scripture. It lies with us to learn how Christ’s teachings affect the racial and class divides in our neighborhood, the politics we stand up for, the issues we care about. It lies with us to be an example for the government and to utilize the government to truly do justice. It lies with us to live selflessly and care about others as much as we care about ourselves, and to challenge those around us and our leaders to do the same.
And that is why I am working in a church this year. My pastors and my church community model so well what it looks like to live so differently that it affects the culture around us. And I have already begun to see the effects of that on our neighborhood, on the way those in our community think about political and social issues, on what our lifestyles look like. And I want to learn from this awesome church community I have, and be a part of this vision God has given them. I want to learn how to better teach and equip the Church to be an influential effective, powerful force in our culture, so that politics, government, and other institutions are truly used to help the poor and oppressed. I have come to believe that if the Church at large is better equipped and mobilized to live out the selfless, counter-culture love of Christ, effectual and lasting change will come to broken situations all over the world. And the reality of Christ’s love will be seen.
In the past month and a half that I’ve worked for my church, I have already begun to learn so much about what it looks like to build relationships and invest in the surrounding community, help the community where there is need, and mobilize others to do the same. I have seen great examples from those in my church of what it looks like to be the Church to our neighborhood, and have seen how powerful this is. Here are a few of the things I’ve gotten to do in September and October:
- I organized our church’s Columbia Heights Fall Festival: On October 1st our church, in partnership with a few community organizations, held a Fall Festival to meet residents of the neighborhood and provide a fun environment for families and kids! Despite rain and having to move to an indoor location, it was a huge success! Check out some pictures on our Facebook page.
- I’ve been able to meet with various community and religious leaders about the positive work they are doing in our neighborhood, and have been encouraged by the ideas exchanged and the promise of future partnership to together bring justice and peace to our area.
- I have regular weekly meetings with several people, some for more strategic outreach-planning purposes, and others are to give more personal mentorship and guidance. I have already had some amazing conversations, and am excited to see how God uses these regular meetings both in my life and their’s! One of the regular weekly things I’ve started doing is a Wednesday morning breakfast for women in our church, and I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite things!
- I have started leading a weekly small group with Stephen and one of our friends, Bruce, on God and Justice. This small groups studies and addresses some pretty intense issues having to do with God’s justice and what it should look like lived out in our lives today – and there have been some intense discussions! – but every week so far has left all of us feeling encouraged and challenged.
- I have begun to lay a framework for Outreach at our church, researching and developing regular outreach opportunities with many different organizations. I’ve been talking to leaders in our church, as well as my outreach team, about God’s vision for our church and where He is calling us to invest our time and resources over the next few years. For example, it is clear that a huge passion of many people in our church is youth and education, and inner-city youth issues are a huge need in our neighborhood. So I have begun to help set up many outreach opportunities in this area: our church has just launched a Youth Club in partnership with a couple other churches and the Community Center in our neighborhood. I have also begun to see what need our local schools have, and have started by organizing volunteer opportunities in the classrooms of the teachers in our own church, like Steve’s.
- My church sent me to a conference a couple weeks ago put on by the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Check out their website if you have a minute – they are an incredible organization. I learned so much in the three short days I was at this conference about how our church can practically form relationships with schools, non-profits, governments, etc and truly help reform the community around us. I heard some amazing examples of ways churches have turned entire cities around. I heard one story about a church in Maryland that started their own charter school because their public educations system was failing their kids, and they ran their charter school so well and made such a difference in their community that the MD city government approached them the next year and asked them to run the new public school the city was opening! So now the pastor and several other members of this church run this public school, and are allowed to hold chapel everyday –which isn’t mandatory – but every student still chooses to come to chapel! I can’t remember the statistics, but the high school graduation rate in this city in MD has increased by an exponential amount. All because of God’s work through this church investing in their community! That is what it looks like for the Church to truly live differently in this world – so differently that the city government comes to them for help! Needless to say, I’m incredibly inspired. So if you get an email from me at some point asking for money to help us start a charter school, don’t be surprised… :)
I’ll end with this encouraging story: this past summer, I volunteered with the small group I was in last year at Samaritan Inns, a drug and alcohol rehab facility in our neighborhood. We served dinner to the residents of Samaritan Inns, and we got to talk with them as we served them and then ate with them. Myself and a couple friends ended up inviting several of the residents to our church, because they all kept asking why we were there. Well, the next Sunday Antonio - one of the residents we had invited to church - came! And he has been back every Sunday since, and now regularly brings 2-3 other residents with him. Antonio and another woman from the program are now in my small group and are two of the most passionate, kind people I have ever met. I see a genuine love for God and for people that you just don’t see very much anymore, even in church. I’m so glad they are a part of our community, because they both still have a long road of recovery ahead of them and I am so glad we can walk alongside them. But even more than that, I am glad they are a part of our community because God has already used them to teach me so much about what it looks like to love Christ passionately and love others freely. And He has used them to remind me what Outreach is all about, about the heart behind all the programs and projects and strategic planning: we love others because Christ first loved us, and it is through loving others that Christ is truly seen (1 John 4:9-12). Because of serving a simply meal at Samaritan Inns, Antonio now knows Christ, and, as he just told me last night, “I didn’t just follow others out there on the streets. I used to lead others to do bad stuff. And now I want to lead others out there to know this better life.” We serve others so that they can know the fullness of life that Christ has for them, and we strive to help them live in that fullness. And it is through doing this that I truly believe the world will be changed. This is why I work for my church.
Prayer requests:
- God has blessed me over the past few years with amazing connections and fruitful relationships with many wonderful people and organizations. Whether it be through meetings with faith leaders in the White House, conferences with some very influential leaders, or meetings with leaders on important policy issues, God has allowed me to develop and maintain some very special relationships. Please pray that I would not become overwhelmed or try to control these relationships and use them as I see fit, but pray that I instead would, as Henri Nouwen prayed above, be made faithful to the vision God has given me, "so that wherever I go and whomever I meet, I can be a sign of [His] all-renewing love." Pray that I would continue to maintain the relationships God wants me to maintain, trusting that He has led me where I am for a reason, but also trusting in His hand in the situations and relationships He has led me into and releasing them all back to Him to use for His purposes.
- Please pray for wisdom and insight for my pastor, for me, and for the other leaders in our church as we continue to seek God's vision for how He desires His Church to look. Pray that we would be able to discern His Truth from cultural and religious raditions and our emotions and opinions.
- Please pray specifically for wisdom and insight for me as I develop the vision for Outreach at our church.
- Please pray that I would continue to learn how to better delegate, teach, and equip others.
- Please pray for the Youth Club, our work with Samaritan Inns, the relationships we have with various schools, and the other things God is leading our church to do. Pray for His love to be seen through us.
- Please pray for the youth of our city. The things I hear from Stephen, from other teachers, and the things I see on the streets everyday break my heart. The inner-city culture and the subsequent issues these kids are trapped in are so sad and seem so insurmountable, but we know our God can do anything, even change entire cultures. So please pray earnestly that God would save these kids from the cycles their stuck in, from the situations they cannot even help – pray that He would move in their lives, in their culture, and in our city, that He would truly begin to change their minds and hearts and open them up to Him. Pray that He would use us to help do this and that we would be willing!
- Please pray for Stephen. I am blown away everyday by the passion, patience, and selflessness of my husband. Sometimes I can’t even stand to hear about his class because it is that bad – his students are so hard and the reasons why are heartbreaking. He sees and deals with things in his 5thgraders that I can’t even imagine, yet comes home to me and asks me how he can help me. Pray that God would bless him for his selfless heart, and that He would give Stephen strength mentally, physically, and spiritually to go into his classroom everyday and love his students the way God has called him to. Pray for his students, especially for Jerome and Christian, who already seem so past help at the age of 10. Pray that God would move powerfully in their lives, and use Stephen to impact them in greater ways than he could ever imagine.
- Please pray for our marriage. We both have incredibly busy jobs that don’t allow us to spend a lot of down time together. Pray that we would learn how to serve God the way He has called us to in our jobs, while still putting each other and our marriage first! Pray that He would continue to show us how to seek Him and His vision for this world together, amidst the busyness of life! Pray that we would learn better and better everyday how to love each other selflessly and love God with our whole hearts.
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:9-12)
"Dear God, give me the courage to live and work for a new heaven and a new earth as Jesus did. Give me the freedom to be critical where I see evil and to offer praises where I see good. Most of all, make me faithful to the vision you have given me, so that wherever I go and whomever I meet, I can be a sign of your all-renewing love. Amen." - A prayer by Henri Nouwen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)