Let my life light up

On our fourth full day here in SE DC, we had the opportunity to get out into various community ministries and serve. One of my students remarked how after spending three days learning about the various communities and neighborhoods (and the residents), it made serving that much more purposeful and empowering. I agreed thoroughly. When you come to love the communities you're trying to minister to, it makes the service that much more intentional, thoughtful, and sincere.

I had  the opportunity to lead a group of seven to the Mayfair Mansions Community Center to do some GED tutoring. I'll admit that I was very nervous because I wasn't sure how my math would stack up (I realized it's been some 16 years since I did any sort of significant math!) My student was Mijajuwon - named after his father MIchael and Hakeem olAJUWON. Our assignment was algebraic equations. To summarize a long story, some of the tips and tactics I used stuck with him, and by the end of the tutoring session, he went from solving simple equations to multi-step word problems. The most amazing thing was the gleam in his eyes and his wide-eyed smile as he mastered this skill. The sense of fulfillment as a tutor was unbelievable. He was empowered. His self-confidence high, and his smile huge. He kept saying thank you, but it was I who was thankful (not only because he reminded me how to divide decimals!) He showed me the power of knowledge, and how if it is given in a humble, caring, and empowering way, it can totally change someone's outlook and demeanor.

We arrived back a little early after the tutoring and had the opportunity to stop in at the home of Frederick Douglass to do a quick tour. What an incredible time of learning history, and being reminded that God does incredible things through ordinary people as they surrender to him. Since I'm preaching on Sunday, I walked to the local coffee shop to work on my sermon. An Ethiopian immigrant greeted me (his name is Mack), and I spent about 30 minutes working on my sermon until he stopped me to ask about my ethnicity and what I thought about the tsunami in Japan. We began talking about CNN's coverage and how his customers didn't want to see the images. He agreed with me that something was messed up about the world we were living in, and I made a casual remark about how God is going to make it all right. That's when he stopped me. He had a quizzical look on his face as if someone had said something shocking. Mack asked me if I really believed that and what I meant by it.

I went on to explain how Jesus would one day return and that he would make all things right (no more earthquakes, cancer, AIDs, tsunamis, etc.) Mack disputed that faith in God was only a spiritually abstract thing, "in one's head," he said. So I asked him, "if that is true, what's the point of living? Why not just believe and die, so God could whisk you to heaven?" As I began to explain the beauty and hope of resurrection and new creation, Mack just stared at me wide-eyed, a glimmer of a tear in his eyes. His countenance was the face of man who had just heard from a long-lost loved one, good news that one day they would be reunited. Right there, I shared the entire Gospel with Mack, declaring to him the resurrection of the dead, and the coming of the present and future kindgom.

We talked about a lot of other things that afternoon, and as I left, he invited me to come back tomorrow because he had some questions about the place of Ethiopia in the Bible. Over some intense time of prayer and worship last night, I realized that God was showing me a pattern. I won't forget the look of those two men as they came face to face with Truth - a light in their eyes! It reminds me of one of my favorite sermons by Jonathan Edwards, "A Divine and Supernatural Light Immediately Imparted to the Soul". After the introduction, the first line is:

"...there is such a thing as a spiritual and divine light immediately imparted to the soul by God, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural means." Edwards goes on to explain that conversion happens by the power of God shining a light into our souls - in essence, lighting our life up. I saw it in practically in the faces of two men, and I longed for it to come supernaturally in their souls. Maybe it begins with an algebra equation and blossoms into a full-blown proclamation of Christ. "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice." (Phil 1:18).

I'll close with the lyrics to a song by Christy Nockels called, Let My Life Light Up, as my closing prayer.

Let my life light up like the city lights

Let it burn for you in the darkest night

Where does your light need to shine? Who are the people in your life who need light? What would it take to shine that light?

True Wealth: An Exciting Church Experience in DC (Guest blog by Ryan Schultz)

One of the more exciting opportunities so far in Washington, DC has been the pleasure to worship with an African American Catholic church. We spent about two hours in fellowship worshipping God, and there are several aspects about the service that I feel encouraged to share:
• Although the community surrounding the church was poor, the church itself appeared vibrant. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best and the art on the walls and windows of the church itself were beautiful. I felt privileged to be in the midst of such a vibrant church.

• The congregation was enthusiastic during the whole service. People were singing, clapping their hands, dancing, and jumping in joy.

• The church was responsive to the priest. Throughout the service, when the Word was quoted, I would hear a loud "AHMEN!" or Praise Jesus!

• The congregation did everything they could to make us, the strangers to the congregation, feel welcomed. The priest had us stand up amidst the whole church to be introduced, and told us that the congregation had "gifts" for all of us. We were then given the gift of hugs from all the members of the congregation near us.
I was humbled by the sense of unity and love the congregation had for each other. I was amazed that the congregation felt compelled to come up to greet and hug a stranger like myself. I recognize that materially I was one of the richest people at the church service. However, in terms of the currency of love, I felt poor compared to these people. I am not about to say that the people of this Church are more spiritual than myself or other Christians I know. However, I do feel like I can be more enthusiastic in my worship and more outgoing with strangers. One thing is for certain: The next time Pastor Mitchel Lee does a sermon and I am in the congregation, he's going to get a loud "AHMEN!"

How a Game of Stick Ball Could Change the World

Yesterday we ventured into Alexandria, VA, a neighboring community just beyond the Potomac River. One of the things that makes DC and its policies so unique is that three separate jurisdictions come together in localized area: Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

The purpose of our visit was to meet some more unique kingdom laborers. Incidentally, it seems like every day here has brought its share of incredibly gifted, passionate, and obedient kingdom servants who are just seeking to be obedient to God. This day we met a community living intentionally in a predominantly Hispanic/Latino community called Chirilagua (named after a state in El Salvador where many of the immigrants are from). We met at two of the homse of this community, and had several discussion and meetings about immigration from the perspectives of the Bible, politics, and our responsibility. For lunch, we enjoyed pupusas, a Salvadorian treat!

The three ladies we met have lived in the community for about 4 years with the purpose of living, listening, learning, and loving their neighbors. Interestingly enough, the ladies were grads of Wheaton College and Taylor! Out of this simple relocation came a vision for reaching the kids of the neighborhood. They started an after-school program called Kids Club that consists of mentorship, homework/tutoring, and a Bible study. Half of our group served there for the afternoon while four of us guys made rounds to the local community stores to pick up food donations for the kids' snacks.

After preparing the snack, the four of us went back to the house to tutor some of the 4-5th grade boys who were not enrolled in the program because of space. There were about 4 of them. After homework was all done, we ended up going to the local playground in the apartment complexes to play some pick-up baseball (or stickball, as I call it). Suddenly, what started as a four-on-four game turned into a four-on-twenty game! Kids started coming out from the woodwork, and it was a rousing time of teaching the rules of baseball, encouraging kids, challenging them to play as a team, and teaching them to deal with decisions or outcomes that they don't like (not to mention how to stop play for a car coming down the road, and what "Game on!" means).

I've had experiences in these spontaneous kinds of games before (even in my own neighborhood), and it never ceases to amaze me how a child's eyes glow when he gets his first hit, or she pitches a strike. The sense of accomplishment a kid feels when crossing homeplate and getting high-fives from his teammates. There's something beautiful, meaningful, and unifying about sports that I was reminded of, something that I lamented is often lost in the suburbs in the name of winning, scholarships, or competition. Have we lost sight of the purpose for our sports?

I wondered as the game finished, "How could a little league baseball league affect and influence these kids for the future? How could it bring an entire community and their parents together? What kind of character could it form as these boys become men?" Your guess is as good as mine. For now, I'll choose to be touched and impacted by the sights and sounds of little kids forgetting about their lives for an all-too-brief moment and enjoying a rousing game of stickball.

Some Remarkable Saints

Yesterday we had the opportuniy to worship at Peace Fellowship church. It's a church located in Ward 7 near Deanwood in NE DC. I was totally blown away by the feel of this church. Again, the hospitality was overwhelming, but this time the multi-ethnicity and diversity in socio-economic backgrounds impacted me. There were movers and shakers in the government (with degrees from Harvard Medical school) standing side by side with recovering addicts. People were sharing prayer requests and giving praises. The singing was joyous and loud. I was moved. Truly the Gospel is for the least to the greatest. A couple of other thoughts:

1. Rev. Dennis Edwards demonstrated that strong exegetical preaching in an urban setting can bear fruit. I was encouraged by the accuracy and simplicity of the message to follow Jesus. No prosperity Gospel here, just a call to deny oneself and take up one's cross, whatever that cross might be.

2. The Smush factor. I can't believe that going to a multi-ethnic church in the hood I'd run into a friend from 15 years ago. Steve Park runs a ministry called Little Lights and it was a joy to see him and his family enjoying much grace and favor from God.

3. The Twins. We had lunch at the home of two sisters in their 20s who were living in a rough neighborhood of Deanwood. These girls were from St. Louis, college grads, and were intentionally living in a community, and teaching in the public schools. I was humbled and challenged by their costly obedience forsaking even their parents' wishes to obey God.

4. Discussion of the day. We've been taking as a team about our responsibility to the vulnerable. We can't got back to our home on West Chicago and simply carry on with life as normal. We can't go back and just try to help people as they cross our paths because we realize that unless we intentionally change our routines, we won't come across the vulnerable. That was a challenging thing to think about - on light of responsibility to the vulnerable, what about my life (routine, schedule, priorities) needs to change?

I don't know if we have answers yet, but they are forming to be sure. What that means only God can show us. Keep praying because these pieces are coming together.

Greetings from Anacostia

Anacostia is a lower income predominantly African-American community in SE Washington, D.C. I and a team of seven college students from CF arrived here late Fiday night after a 12 hour drive. We landed at St. Teresa's of Avila church at the corner of 13th and U. Without going into all the minutiae of details, we slept at the parish life center, then met the other groups on Sat morning.

There were a few students from George Washington University, St. Mary's college in MD, a group of 5 from Stevens Inst. Of Technology in NJ, and a group from Arcadia in Philly (they are divided on who has the best cheesesteaks on Philly). The group is so diverse. We have several Asians, African-Americans, Africans, Caucasians, and Indians. What a sweet opportunity to engage other cultures within even our own team!

The formal part of the trip started with a scavenger hunt of sorts. We divided up in pairs, and each person was given a bus card, $7, and a slip of paper with the name of a neighborhood in DC. Without any directions, we were to find our way there, find out some facts about the neighborhood, and eat food at a local place. So we set out. I was a little nervous because they gave me a place I had never heard of. So Samantha (student from Stevens)and I set out. It was amazing the kind of hospitality we received. We stopped and asked people for directions and people were so helpful and friendly. They told which bus to get on, where to get off, what to see, and where to go. We ran into Jimmy outside a liquor store, who gave us a rundown of our neighborhood, Deanwood. Deanwood borders MD and is a place in transition. Aside from the gentrification going on there, there is a lot of criminal activity as DC and MD duke out their jurisdiction disputes. We noticed that in this entire neighborhood, there were no restaurants, only one fast food joint, one liquor store, and a "grocery market". It put that in quotes because it was more of a convenience store with a gallon of milk going for somewhere in the $8 range. Across a four lane highway were the projects. I learned so much about the systemic injustice of why supermarkets refuse to enter into a community like this. Residents have to travel ~2 miles to the nearest big chain grocery store! That's a long way by bus.

I don't have space to write about everything I've seen, so I'll reflect on some of my biggest learnings. I'll do it in the form of questions.

1. Who's the really poor one here? As I wandered about in SE/NE DC, in places that are self-described by residents as the hood, I was humbled by the welcome and hospitality that Sam and I received. Compare this with the cold shoulders and ignoring you that many of the groups got in NW DC (an affluent part of town), and I was angered and hurt. The wealthy were less likely to help you, less likely to engage in a conversation, less likely to even acknowledge your presence. And knowing the people whom they chose to ignore (my students), I know they missed out. Could it be that all of our stuff, our status, and our pride has actually isolated us and severed community? Isn't relationships where wealth is found?

2. Where in the world am I? For lunch, we ate near Minn Ave and Penn because there were no places to eat in Deanwood (can you imagine that?) we stopped at a fried chicken joint where I had a 3 piece chicken (with Mambo sauce!!!) It was owned by an Afghani immigrant who'd been here for 14 years. As I and Sam (who is 2nd Gen Indian American) ate, the owner introduced us to his Ethiopian friend who worked next door. So there we were (a Korean-American and Indian-American) eating fried chicken in a predominantly African-American hood owned by an Afghani next to his Ethiopian friend. That's all I have to say about that.

3. How do you define success? This was the topic of the night posed by the evening speaker. It sparked a great discussion amongst our team.

4. what will tomorrow bring? That's the subject of my next post. Ryan and Sean will be guest blogging as they share about filling the streets of SE with spontaneous worship, attending an African-American Catholic mass, and I'll post something about a multi-ethnic church with the most balanced exegetical preaching I've ever heard (oh, and running into a friend at that church whom I haven't seen in 15 years. Stay tuned a keep praying for us!