I am truly amazed by the ways that
God prepared me for this past week. We,
as a class, were given the opportunity to travel together to Kansas City,
Missouri, and work with a unique ministry called The Hope Center. The Hope Center, located in the middle of the
neighborhood with the second highest crime rate in the United States, works to
teach children living in this area how to be leaders in their community. They run a school, provide tutoring, and
provide different afterschool and evening activities for the kids and teenagers
who have grown up in often times broken, or non-existent homes. The goal of this ministry is to equip the
students to be lights to those around them, and hopefully make the area a
better place.
It was an extremely humbling experience
to be in a city so different from what I am used to. Urbandale, Iowa, the 39th nicest
town in the United States (according to our commercial), is probably just about
the furthest thing from inner city KC. I
was amazed to see children getting off the bus and running home playfully, just
as I once did, and hearing six gun-shots just minutes later. Probably about two blocks from the street I
was standing on. I cannot even begin to
imagine what it would have been like to hear things like that growing up, and
just accept it as normality. This was
the first time I had EVER heard gunshots, and I wanted to run inside and hide…
but this is what these kids are used to; this is what they have grown up
around. But that was just the
beginning.
Later on in our trip, we had been
divided up into our groups of four, also known as our ‘family’ groups, at lunchtime,
and each group was given a number. One
group received a 1, three groups received a 2, and four groups received a
3. Group 1 got to enter into the lunchroom
first. They were seated at a table full
of catered in Chick-Fil-A, Coke, and Dr. Pepper. It was the meal we had all been craving after
a hard day’s work. Group two walked in,
and was seated on some couches, and given sack lunches containing PB&J,
chips, and Gatorade. Although it was no
chick-fil-a, they accepted the lunch and sat down to eat, content with what
they had, yet jealous of the other group.
Group three came in to two large bowls of beans and rice on the ground
with several spoons stuck in each bowl.
We were asked to sit on the floor, and otherwise ignored.
This ended up being a powerful
demonstration of the separation of classes in the United States. As students from primarily upper class
families, we often don’t realize how well off we really are. We can choose whether or not to eat the meals
provided to us, knowing that we will always have other options; that we will
never go hungry. We are given more than
enough food that other people would love to have even once a month, or
less. We take advantage of our blessings
by wasting food. We don’t realize that
there are people proverbially sitting on the floor sharing bowls of rice and
beans. We are immune to the fact that
there are people starving to death in our own cities because we can’t
comprehend what it truly means to starve.
We waste so much food that we do not need on ourselves when we could be
sharing our wealth and giving food to those who cannot provide it for
themselves.
We were given many different
opportunities to serve throughout the week.
We helped clean up a house that The Hope Center had purchased with the
intent of inviting a Hope Center family to live in, cleaned up around the
school itself, and helped clean up an old catholic parish the Hope Center had purchased
a while back. When we got in there, this
church (as stereotypically beautiful as any catholic church may be), was
packed, front to back, wall to wall with stuff.
I couldn’t even tell you what… just stuff. Some of it trash, some of it ready to be
given away, and some of it very valuable or even priceless. We spent two days clearing things out,
storing them properly, and getting rid of literally tons of trash.
Once that was done, we spent the
rest of our time cleaning up around the building. Mind you, this church has probably been
abandoned for a solid 20 years, and the dust really does build up over
time. We swept, vacuumed and scooped out
the dust from the building. When we had
finished, it felt like we were standing in a completely new church. It was a great feeling. The director of the Hope Center could not
thank us enough for all that we had done.
He told us that we did more work in three days than they could have done
in a year. Knowing that we helped them
with a project that will positively impact many people for years to come is a
feeling that cannot be described.
This trip really showed me that you
don’t have to get on a plane to go on a mission trip. Frankly, you don’t even have to drive four
hours to one of the most dangerous areas in the country. There are people in need all over the place;
people who need homes, food, clothes, and most importantly, Jesus. We have no idea whether or not any individual
has heard the story of the gospel, and fully understands its significance. We have no clue where our closest friends’
hearts stand in their spiritual walks.
Yet we are too ignorant to find out.
We hold the key to eternity in our hands, but we are too selfish to open
the door to our neighbors, our co-workers, our families and friends… What are
we waiting for?
God has really used the past three
speakers I have heard from to prepare me, and stretch me through this
week. Marvin Daniels explained to us the
importance of sharing the gospel with our friends, and those we see every
day. He showed us this video about what
it would be like to loose an unsaved friend…
http://youtu.be/YFZ1pt0WX5c
Sunday morning, the church I have
been attending invited a guest speaker to share with us about the ways he has
been reaching out to several unreached tribes near Oaxaca, Mexico. He explained that the world that does not
know Christ is in desperate need of a savior.
Eternal condemnation is at stake for them, and they will have no reason
or excuse when they stand at the judgment seat, other than the fact that no one
ever bothered to share the good news of the Gospel of Christ with them. These lost people are not going to be here
waiting for us in the light. We cannot
keep standing around waiting for them to walk into our privileged little lives
and ask us to tell them about God. We
MUST seek them out. We are right where
Satan wants us. In our comfort zone. No one
wants to get out of their box long enough to make a difference in the life of
another person. There are too many ways
that could go wrong… we could be rejected, out smarted,
embarrassed. We could say the wrong
thing. We could look silly… These are all things that go through our minds
and keep us from sharing what it is we have been called to share. But, things could be worse… WE COULD BE
ETERNALLY CONDEMNED TO HELL. How much do
you have to hate someone to stand behind your own insecurities and fears and
know that that will be their outcome?
Luke 9:23 tells us to daily take up
our cross and follow Him. This is a
verse I have heard referenced time and time again, but never fully understood
the meaning of. To take up your cross,
as Christ took up his, is to recognize that you are about to die… and not only
just die, but be tortured, and killed for an offense you have committed. We are called to die to this world, to our
earthly desires and fears, and become alive in Christ. We are called to live as vessels for him, and
to serve him in every aspect of our lives.
We need to look past ourselves, and seek out what God’s will is in our
lives. We aren’t living for ourselves
anymore, but as sold out followers of Jesus Christ. Can I get an Amen?
Finally, yesterday morning a local
Kansas City pastor came in and talked to us about what it was like to grow up
in ‘the hood’, and how God has changed his life and given him a passion to
minister to the people there in KC. He
talked about how so many people claim to be Christians, but do not know the
story of the gospel at all. They do not
realize the sacrifice made so that we can live, and live eternally. The Gospel is the message we were created to
share; we are called not to be ashamed of it.
God didn’t save us just so that we could go and sit in church on Sunday mornings…
he saved us that we can go and make disciples of many nations. The gospel message is the most important
story we can tell people. It is the most
important thing we can pass on to our children. There is nothing more significant than the
story of God’s love for his people.
There is no excuse for us not to be
sharing God’s love on a day-to-day basis.
There are people all over the globe, in every city and every state that
have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.
GO…PRAY…GIVE. Be a light to your community. Point people to Christ.
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