"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.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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
A New Season for Blythe and Stephen- Ch. 1 (Sept. 13th)
When I was about 13, I spent the summer at Camp Brookwoods in New Hampshire, as my brothers and I did almost every summer growing up. I remember one hot June afternoon I was eating lunch on the front lawn of the dining hall with some of my friends, when I saw my youngest brother - who was about 9 at the time, and small for his age -getting pushed by a fairly rotund-looking bully. As I watched, feeling my heart start to beat faster and faster, the boy kept pushing my brother and wouldn’t let him walk by. At that point in my life, I couldn't imagine that anyone would purposefully do anything to hurt another person.
But as I watched that kid prevent my much smaller brother (who at that point still walked with a limp due to a stroke had while in utero) from passing by for seemingly no reason, I saw that happen. And I saw that it was wrong. My brother was clearly smaller and weaker, and this kid knew it and exploited the physical power he had over my brother. And as I realized this I felt, for the first time that I can remember, what I now recognize as deep anger against injustice. And I wanted to fight it. So I marched over, put my arm around my brother, and stared down at the bully - who was not so much of a bully when his victim’s teenage sister was towering three heads over him - making sure he knew that he should never so much as lay a finger on my brother again, or else.
As I hugged my brother and walked him back to his cabin, I still remember feeling such joy that I was able to “rescue” him – that I had the ability to help. Through the years, as I’ve gone on to high school, college, and now live in the very real world of inner-city DC, my eyes have only been opened to more, much greater injustice in the world. God has continued to cause my heart to break for those who are hurting, for anyone in pain or alone, for anyone who does not know love. And those who know me well know that I often put the burden of rescuing all these people, just as I rescued my brother, all on my shoulders. But this only leads me to rely on my own ability, which in turn leads me to try to do way too much. Thankfully, though, God has helped me realize over the past couple years that Icannot save the world. I cannot do everything needed to make sure no one is hurting, to get rid of all injustice. I cannot march over and make sure the bully never hurts the victim ever again.
At times this truth has, and still does, make me despair. But what God has also helped me realize is that He can do all of this! He has already come into the world, experienced every pain that I’ve witnessed and more, and provides a love that can overcome even the deepest hurt and redeem even the most dire of situations. And He calls me not to try to re-do what He did and be another savior to the world, but to join the work that He has already done and is still doing. To believe in His love and live it out, in word and deed. To work with Him, trusting in His power to save and redeem souls and circumstances.
And He has now provided me with an amazing opportunity to do just that! Stephen and I have been attending an amazing church the past year called The District Church (TDC), where we have been ministered to, encouraged, and challenged, and where we have discovered more of God’s purpose for His church and for us personally. The vision of TDC aligns so closely with the passions God has placed on our hearts and the direction we feel God leading us: TDC is based in the Columbia Heights area of DC and is committed to being “A Church for the City,” a church that seeks to bring Christ’s redemption to the broken people and situations in our neighborhood, the city, and the world. And though only a year old (TDC was just founded last September) the pastors of our church - Aaron and Amy Graham - have already started a Leadership Residency Program, the purpose of which is to teach, train, and equip young leaders to better join with God in the ministry to which He has called them. Aaron and Amy have asked me to be a part of this program through being the Outreach Director at our church and, after much prayer, Stephen and I feel very confident this is where God is leading me to serve him for at least the next year! So I officially accepted and started the Leadership Residency Program and the role of Outreach Director on September 1!
There are already many exciting things happening as I’ve started my new role, and in updates to follow (I don’t want to make this letter longer than it’s already going to be!) I will provide more detail on my role and the things I’ll be doing. For now, I’ll just briefly talk about what this program is going to be like and how it aligns so closely with the passions and desires God has given me:
Through the Leadership Residency Program, I’ll learn more about what it looks like to live an out-reaching life, and how to help others do the same: I will receive direct teaching from my pastor and other leaders on mobilizing and equipping the Church to live out Christ’s teachings, through means such as advocacy, community organizing, and mentoring. I’ll be learning more about what it looks like for the Church to live differently in our materialistic culture - how we can better use our time, money, gifts, and daily lives to reach out to this hurting world.
Specifically, I will be doing things like: organizing outreach events to provide practical relief to the disadvantaged in our city; loving and mentoring those within our own church; coordinating initiatives and mentoring programs for the youth in our neighborhood; leading studies on the theology behind justice and outreach, as well as leading practical trainings on various aspects of outreach; and helping to spearhead a Faith & Justice non-profit that would help unify churches in DC to do the work God has called us to do.
So would you join me in this exciting process? First and most importantly, I need your prayers. As a passionate, independent, and controlling person it is easy for me to go too hard and depend entirely on my own strength. Please pray that I would learn to better listen to Christ, follow His lead, and truly believe that He can do more than I could ever even ask or imagine through His power in me (Ephesians 3:20). Please pray that He would teach me to rest in Him continually, even as I am doing His work, and that I would trust His power to save and redeem even when my own actions seem to fail. Please pray that He would continue to grow The District Church (TDC), working through our community to bring His love and redemption to individuals, our community, and the world. Pray that we would follow His vision, not our own.
Please also pray for Stephen: He has just begun his first of two years in the intensive Teach For America program, and on top of rigorous training throughout these two years, he has been placed in a high-needs school with a very challenging 5thgrade class, full of students who each bring their own very distinct set of needs. Being the compassionate, wonderful teacher that he is, Stephen will need prayer and support as he strives to bring change and growth to these students’ academic and personal lives. Please pray that he wouldn’t become overwhelmed and easily discouraged as he faces heartbreaking situations on a daily basis in his students and in the DC education system. Pray also that God would help me love, support, and partner with Stephen in the ways he needs as he follows God’s call over the next few years. Before anything else, I firmly believe that the first thing God has called me to do throughout the rest of my life is to love and support my husband. Please pray that I would have wisdom when organizing my schedule, that at this intense season of Stephen’s life I would support him the way he needs, just has he has always done for me.
Please pray for our partnership and ministry together as well: God has used Stephen to open my eyes to the innumerable problems that burden our education system and amplify the issues that so many youth already face that prevents them from becoming all that God intended them to be. Stephen has also opened my eyes to our role as the Church in addressing these issues and truly loving children as our Father loves us, and I am praying about ways that I can support and help Stephen in this work that is so close to God’s heart, including ways through my job at our church. God has intertwined Stephen’s and my passions and has given us a vision for our work together in this world, and we are so excited to see how God uses us together this year! So please join me in praying for Stephen’s work, for the ways I am called to support him, and for our partnership together.
Would you also join me by receiving my newsletter updates? (Most of them will not be this long, I promise!) This will allow you to be kept up to date on what myself and The District Church are doing, as well as partner with us in more ways as opportunities come up. If you decide you don’t want to receive these updates, that is totally fine! You can “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this email. You can also read my blog (which I’ll update on a more regular basis) to read more about what Stephen and I are doing and to get even more insight into my crazy thoughts :)
Lastly, would you consider joining me financially? Because TDC is so new Aaron, Amy, and the other members of our leadership team (which now includes me) all raise support for our ministries. Our leadership community is made up of passionate people who follow God’s call, trusting His provision as they diligently do His will. I am seeking to follow their example, in the way they trust God as well as in the way they demonstrate what it looks like to depend on others: God has called us to join Him in his work, but we cannot do it alone (Trust me, I know - I’ve tried!) He very purposefully puts us in relationship with others and desires us to be in community, supporting each other, teaching each other, and learning how to serve Him and do His will together. TDC is an amazing community that models what this looks like so well, and one of the ways the leadership of our church does this is by relying on each other and others when it comes to finances as well. Our community expands beyond those who come to our church every Sunday morning – it extends to those who helped get our church of the ground by providing the financial support we need to do God’s work. Aaron and Amy humbly model the balance of trusting God to provide, while also diligently seeking the help of others, trusting others to be God’s hands and feet by providing for us financially.
So I ask some of you to consider being that for me as well! TDC is providing a stipend for us, and Stephen and I feel called to lead simple lifestyles that do not require a lot of expenses. I am also pursuing several promising leads for part-time work outside the church. All of this, in addition to the fact that Steve is blessed with his full-time teaching position, lowers the amount of support I need to raise for my ministry with TDC. The cost of working and living in the city, though, as well as feeding someone that eats as much as Stephen does (we’ve been married a year and a half now, and it still amazes me how much he eats…), still provides an opportunity for you to contribute financially, if you feel led! I know these are tough economic times and me sending you this letter in no way means I expect anything of you financially. The main reason you’re getting this letter, and all future letters from me, is to ask for your partnership in prayer and to keep you updated on our lives! If you do have a desire to support us financially as well, that’s wonderful - even a one-time gift of $10 would be a blessing. But again, the most important way you can support us is through your prayers and encouragement!
If you do decide to support us financially, you will be helping me do ministry with TDC, which makes your contributions tax-deductible. For your records, you are supporting the ministry I am doing here in DC with my church, which is why if you were to write me a check you would not write it to me personally - you would write it out to "The District Church." (My church will make sure all contributions desginated this way get to me. More about giving options later!) This will make your contribution tax-deductible and allow my pastor and others to keep Steve and me accountable with the money we are getting. I have a more detailed breakdown of our expenses, as well as TDC’s policy on fundraising and what the whole process looks like, which I can provide for you’d like (again, I really don’t want to make this any longer!) And I would love to talk to you more about what my work with the church will look like, as well as hear about what’s going on in your life - so please don’t hesitate to email me at blythe@districtchurch.org or call me at 757-561-7462. Also, I am always looking for ways to partner with others in the outreach work I am doing, so if you ever see an opportunity for that in your life – whether it is through your job, church, or just an idea you have – never hesitate to contact me!
To support my ministry at church:
You can write a check to "The District Church," with "Leadership Residency - Outreach" in the memo and send it to: The District Church, PO Box 3116, Washington, DC 20010.
The most convenient option for you to give would be online via the church website. Please make sure to select "Leadership Residency - Outreach” when it asks you to “Choose a Fund,” to ensure your gift is designated for me!
***All gifts are fully tax-deductible.
But as I watched that kid prevent my much smaller brother (who at that point still walked with a limp due to a stroke had while in utero) from passing by for seemingly no reason, I saw that happen. And I saw that it was wrong. My brother was clearly smaller and weaker, and this kid knew it and exploited the physical power he had over my brother. And as I realized this I felt, for the first time that I can remember, what I now recognize as deep anger against injustice. And I wanted to fight it. So I marched over, put my arm around my brother, and stared down at the bully - who was not so much of a bully when his victim’s teenage sister was towering three heads over him - making sure he knew that he should never so much as lay a finger on my brother again, or else.
As I hugged my brother and walked him back to his cabin, I still remember feeling such joy that I was able to “rescue” him – that I had the ability to help. Through the years, as I’ve gone on to high school, college, and now live in the very real world of inner-city DC, my eyes have only been opened to more, much greater injustice in the world. God has continued to cause my heart to break for those who are hurting, for anyone in pain or alone, for anyone who does not know love. And those who know me well know that I often put the burden of rescuing all these people, just as I rescued my brother, all on my shoulders. But this only leads me to rely on my own ability, which in turn leads me to try to do way too much. Thankfully, though, God has helped me realize over the past couple years that Icannot save the world. I cannot do everything needed to make sure no one is hurting, to get rid of all injustice. I cannot march over and make sure the bully never hurts the victim ever again.
At times this truth has, and still does, make me despair. But what God has also helped me realize is that He can do all of this! He has already come into the world, experienced every pain that I’ve witnessed and more, and provides a love that can overcome even the deepest hurt and redeem even the most dire of situations. And He calls me not to try to re-do what He did and be another savior to the world, but to join the work that He has already done and is still doing. To believe in His love and live it out, in word and deed. To work with Him, trusting in His power to save and redeem souls and circumstances.
And He has now provided me with an amazing opportunity to do just that! Stephen and I have been attending an amazing church the past year called The District Church (TDC), where we have been ministered to, encouraged, and challenged, and where we have discovered more of God’s purpose for His church and for us personally. The vision of TDC aligns so closely with the passions God has placed on our hearts and the direction we feel God leading us: TDC is based in the Columbia Heights area of DC and is committed to being “A Church for the City,” a church that seeks to bring Christ’s redemption to the broken people and situations in our neighborhood, the city, and the world. And though only a year old (TDC was just founded last September) the pastors of our church - Aaron and Amy Graham - have already started a Leadership Residency Program, the purpose of which is to teach, train, and equip young leaders to better join with God in the ministry to which He has called them. Aaron and Amy have asked me to be a part of this program through being the Outreach Director at our church and, after much prayer, Stephen and I feel very confident this is where God is leading me to serve him for at least the next year! So I officially accepted and started the Leadership Residency Program and the role of Outreach Director on September 1!
There are already many exciting things happening as I’ve started my new role, and in updates to follow (I don’t want to make this letter longer than it’s already going to be!) I will provide more detail on my role and the things I’ll be doing. For now, I’ll just briefly talk about what this program is going to be like and how it aligns so closely with the passions and desires God has given me:
Through the Leadership Residency Program, I’ll learn more about what it looks like to live an out-reaching life, and how to help others do the same: I will receive direct teaching from my pastor and other leaders on mobilizing and equipping the Church to live out Christ’s teachings, through means such as advocacy, community organizing, and mentoring. I’ll be learning more about what it looks like for the Church to live differently in our materialistic culture - how we can better use our time, money, gifts, and daily lives to reach out to this hurting world.
Specifically, I will be doing things like: organizing outreach events to provide practical relief to the disadvantaged in our city; loving and mentoring those within our own church; coordinating initiatives and mentoring programs for the youth in our neighborhood; leading studies on the theology behind justice and outreach, as well as leading practical trainings on various aspects of outreach; and helping to spearhead a Faith & Justice non-profit that would help unify churches in DC to do the work God has called us to do.
So would you join me in this exciting process? First and most importantly, I need your prayers. As a passionate, independent, and controlling person it is easy for me to go too hard and depend entirely on my own strength. Please pray that I would learn to better listen to Christ, follow His lead, and truly believe that He can do more than I could ever even ask or imagine through His power in me (Ephesians 3:20). Please pray that He would teach me to rest in Him continually, even as I am doing His work, and that I would trust His power to save and redeem even when my own actions seem to fail. Please pray that He would continue to grow The District Church (TDC), working through our community to bring His love and redemption to individuals, our community, and the world. Pray that we would follow His vision, not our own.
Please also pray for Stephen: He has just begun his first of two years in the intensive Teach For America program, and on top of rigorous training throughout these two years, he has been placed in a high-needs school with a very challenging 5thgrade class, full of students who each bring their own very distinct set of needs. Being the compassionate, wonderful teacher that he is, Stephen will need prayer and support as he strives to bring change and growth to these students’ academic and personal lives. Please pray that he wouldn’t become overwhelmed and easily discouraged as he faces heartbreaking situations on a daily basis in his students and in the DC education system. Pray also that God would help me love, support, and partner with Stephen in the ways he needs as he follows God’s call over the next few years. Before anything else, I firmly believe that the first thing God has called me to do throughout the rest of my life is to love and support my husband. Please pray that I would have wisdom when organizing my schedule, that at this intense season of Stephen’s life I would support him the way he needs, just has he has always done for me.
Please pray for our partnership and ministry together as well: God has used Stephen to open my eyes to the innumerable problems that burden our education system and amplify the issues that so many youth already face that prevents them from becoming all that God intended them to be. Stephen has also opened my eyes to our role as the Church in addressing these issues and truly loving children as our Father loves us, and I am praying about ways that I can support and help Stephen in this work that is so close to God’s heart, including ways through my job at our church. God has intertwined Stephen’s and my passions and has given us a vision for our work together in this world, and we are so excited to see how God uses us together this year! So please join me in praying for Stephen’s work, for the ways I am called to support him, and for our partnership together.
Would you also join me by receiving my newsletter updates? (Most of them will not be this long, I promise!) This will allow you to be kept up to date on what myself and The District Church are doing, as well as partner with us in more ways as opportunities come up. If you decide you don’t want to receive these updates, that is totally fine! You can “unsubscribe” at the bottom of this email. You can also read my blog (which I’ll update on a more regular basis) to read more about what Stephen and I are doing and to get even more insight into my crazy thoughts :)
Lastly, would you consider joining me financially? Because TDC is so new Aaron, Amy, and the other members of our leadership team (which now includes me) all raise support for our ministries. Our leadership community is made up of passionate people who follow God’s call, trusting His provision as they diligently do His will. I am seeking to follow their example, in the way they trust God as well as in the way they demonstrate what it looks like to depend on others: God has called us to join Him in his work, but we cannot do it alone (Trust me, I know - I’ve tried!) He very purposefully puts us in relationship with others and desires us to be in community, supporting each other, teaching each other, and learning how to serve Him and do His will together. TDC is an amazing community that models what this looks like so well, and one of the ways the leadership of our church does this is by relying on each other and others when it comes to finances as well. Our community expands beyond those who come to our church every Sunday morning – it extends to those who helped get our church of the ground by providing the financial support we need to do God’s work. Aaron and Amy humbly model the balance of trusting God to provide, while also diligently seeking the help of others, trusting others to be God’s hands and feet by providing for us financially.
So I ask some of you to consider being that for me as well! TDC is providing a stipend for us, and Stephen and I feel called to lead simple lifestyles that do not require a lot of expenses. I am also pursuing several promising leads for part-time work outside the church. All of this, in addition to the fact that Steve is blessed with his full-time teaching position, lowers the amount of support I need to raise for my ministry with TDC. The cost of working and living in the city, though, as well as feeding someone that eats as much as Stephen does (we’ve been married a year and a half now, and it still amazes me how much he eats…), still provides an opportunity for you to contribute financially, if you feel led! I know these are tough economic times and me sending you this letter in no way means I expect anything of you financially. The main reason you’re getting this letter, and all future letters from me, is to ask for your partnership in prayer and to keep you updated on our lives! If you do have a desire to support us financially as well, that’s wonderful - even a one-time gift of $10 would be a blessing. But again, the most important way you can support us is through your prayers and encouragement!
If you do decide to support us financially, you will be helping me do ministry with TDC, which makes your contributions tax-deductible. For your records, you are supporting the ministry I am doing here in DC with my church, which is why if you were to write me a check you would not write it to me personally - you would write it out to "The District Church." (My church will make sure all contributions desginated this way get to me. More about giving options later!) This will make your contribution tax-deductible and allow my pastor and others to keep Steve and me accountable with the money we are getting. I have a more detailed breakdown of our expenses, as well as TDC’s policy on fundraising and what the whole process looks like, which I can provide for you’d like (again, I really don’t want to make this any longer!) And I would love to talk to you more about what my work with the church will look like, as well as hear about what’s going on in your life - so please don’t hesitate to email me at blythe@districtchurch.org or call me at 757-561-7462. Also, I am always looking for ways to partner with others in the outreach work I am doing, so if you ever see an opportunity for that in your life – whether it is through your job, church, or just an idea you have – never hesitate to contact me!
To support my ministry at church:
You can write a check to "The District Church," with "Leadership Residency - Outreach" in the memo and send it to: The District Church, PO Box 3116, Washington, DC 20010.
The most convenient option for you to give would be online via the church website. Please make sure to select "Leadership Residency - Outreach” when it asks you to “Choose a Fund,” to ensure your gift is designated for me!
***All gifts are fully tax-deductible.
Email Newsletter
I'm going to start posting the text from my church newsletter updates, so if you miss the email for some reason, you can read it here! If you would like to start receiving my email newsletter, email me at blythe@districtchurch.org and let me know!
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