"'Tis not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums,
but deeds of love and mercy, the heav'nly kingdom comes."
Here are some details that I don't think I've told yet as to what's going on with the ministry. The after-school program is officially starting Sept. 12th, which means, us interns and volunteers have a little over a week to get the church basement set-up and organized, curriculum planned, and supplies bought. This program is from roughly 3 to 6:30 Monday through Friday and we will most likely be renting a van to pick up 12 kids total from three different elementary schools in the neighborhood. My responsibilities for the year include planning for recreational time every day and giving the Bible lesson two times per week. Everything is coming together nicely, we only had to wait a little longer to begin this thing.
Currently in the Green House (where I live) we have been terrorized by mice. If you've ever seen the movie Mouse Hunt, we are on the verge of blowing up this house too. Yesterday morning Tiara (fellow intern) and I bought 8 mouse traps for $2 (a steal) and scattered them around the corners of the house, hoping to lure a little menace with a piece of Krafts Singles processed cheese. I wasn't so sure these cheep sayonara seats and the counterfeit calcium (forced alliteration, clearly) would work. Coming downstairs last night to a dark kitchen, hearing a squeak, I got a little excited, hoping to chase one into a mouse trap (I apologize for this side of me). To my surprise, one of them worked. The mouse was trapped. Yep, it sure wasn't going anywhere. Wait, it's not going anywhere. Unless I physically dispose of it, it will not go anywhere. Dang, what do I do now? After many options ran through our head, some good, some bad, some hilarious, I finished the job with a shovel. The only way I was able to kill the mouse without having any attachment issues (its eyes were kind of beautiful), was to put my mind on something else, not thinking about the end result, the effects my actions had on the "mouse world", the mouse's family. I just hit it, squished it, it was thrown out and out of my thoughts.
So why tell you any of this? Jacksonville is the murder capital of Florida. I've never been in a situation where I was so messed up that I've ever come near to killing a person. I can't imagine and don't want to imagine that happening. But what if my actions, or lack of actions, were in fact killing people, or slowly making their lives worse. You are only one human being, unable to fix all the problems of the world, so, as a Christian, what does God want us to do in this world?
I read 76 pages of "Generous Justice" this week to catch up from last. Instead of sharing what I learned from all 76 pages, I just wanted to share one section. Keller writes, "You could make a good argument that our problem in society today is not that people don't know they should share with others and help the poor. Most people do know and believe this. The real problem is that, while knowing it, they are insufficiently motivated to actually do it." So what in the Bible should motivate us? "The Bible gives believers two basic motivations--joyful awe before the goodness of God's creation, and the experience of God's grace in redemption." He then goes on to explain Genesis 1:26-27, how God created us in his own image. Image: to resemble, to represent, to reflect. What about us resembles or reflects God? Glad you asked. "Over the years thinkers have pointed to human rationality, personality, and creativity, or to our moral and aesthetic sense and our deep need for and ability to give love in relationships. All of this and much more goes into being the image of God, though we must beware of trying to nail it down into a list." Every human life is sacred. Every human being has dignity. God created each of us. No accidents. God loves all that he has made (Psalms 145:9, 17). The default of the human heart is to label people "barbarians", undeserving of respect, attention. C.S. Lewis writes, "The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken." A refusal to acknowledge the poor is the refusal to acknowledge that God has made all of man in his image.
There are so many parts of this book I wish I had time and space to write about. Like how our money is not ours but God's. How God made it law to leave a portion of the field to the immigrant, the fatherless, and the widow (Deuteronomy 24:14, 17, 19). "When you come upon those who are economically poor, you cannot say to them, 'Pull yourself up by your bootstraps!' because you certainly did not do that spiritually. Jesus intervened for you. And you cannot say, 'I won't help you because you got yourself in to this mess,' since God came to earth, moved into your spiritually poor neighborhood, as it were, and helped you even though your spiritual problems were your own fault. In other words, when Christians who understand the gospel see a poor person, they realize they are looking into a mirror."
Mice are much different than men. Although both created by God, one is created in his image. Believing we should help the poor is not enough. We are saved by his grace, through our faith (Ephesians 2:8) but faith without works is dead, is not evidence of true faith (James 2:14-26). How do you help the poor, especially if you don't live close to them? Helping out at schools, getting to know families that need some errand run. If you are interested in helping the inner city, the easiest thing for you to do is to not come up with your own ideas of how to help, just ask a church or ministry in a poor community what they need help with. Most likely they will have a better idea of what their community needs. Whether its volunteers, financial support, school supplies, donated clothing or books. Who knows?
Someday I will write a short blog.
Please pray for:
-the final few kids to be recruited for the after-school program
-God to prepare and lead our character/Bible lessons and general demeanor for the kids' spiritual and academic growth.
Also I would love suggestions for:
-Fun outdoor or indoor games you remember playing growing up (remember, 12 kids, concrete ground)
-Ways to dispose of a mouse after it has been caught in a trap.
Love you all
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