Unlike Me

This is unlike me, but I'd like to talk about a couple of movies I've seen in the past couple of weeks.  This is not necessarily a summary, recommendation, or critique, but rather an explanation as to how these films communicate so much about what I believe God's heart is for the lost, and I'm not only talking spiritually either.

Our two:fiftytwo After School Program was named after Luke 2:52, "And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and with man."  This communicates a desire to not only teach our students about God, but also focus on "total" growth, physically (in stature), intellectually (in wisdom), and socially (in favor with man).

The first film I'd like to talk about is Disney's "McFarland, USA."  Kevin Costner plays Jim White, a football coach who gets fired from his job and relocates (somewhat unwillingly) to McFarland, California, a predominantly Latino community.  Being of similar race as Costner, I found it compelling to see this culture change through his eyes, the challenges, the unfamiliarities, the lack of comfortable situations or acquaintances.  As he becomes McFarland High School's gym teacher, he often seems discontent with his situation and just lazily suggests to his class to "take a lap and we'll call it a day."  Through watching his class run and by randomly driving around town and seeing some of his students running to and from school, from early morning jobs (picking in fields), he starts to see some untapped talent.  With no experience of his own, "Blanco" (Coach White's given nickname by his students) decides to start a cross country team.  Perhaps the reason I loved this movie so much was because I used to run in high school, or maybe it's the fact that it reminds me of my own choice to live in a community unlike my own culture and race, but I think the main reason I enjoyed this movie was because of the growth you could see in the runners' character as a result of someone pouring in their time, love, and energy into them.  Any family struggles the students had, they had running as an outlet.  They could take pride in working as a team to achieve some amazing goals.  This film has real heart and determination.  It wasn't that Coach White came in and saved the souls of these poor Latino kids, it was Coach living their world and finding the merit in them as hard workers, fast runners, and very family-oriented.  Cross country was just the key to unlocking what they already had.

The second film is a different setting but a similar premise.  "The Chorus" is a french film about a Clement Mathieu, a new school teacher at a very strict all-boys boarding school for trouble-makers who is more kind-hearted than his harder-hearted colleagues.  He covers for the boys when they get in trouble, peeking their curiosity as to why he would defend them.  As the boys find out more about Mathieu's music background, they want to learn more.  This gave Mathieu the idea to start a chorus.  Rough at first, the chorus grew more and more support from his colleagues and even outsiders who didn't think anything good could come out of this particular school became interested in hearing the boys sing.  A boy named Morhange (pictured below) has been labeled "an angel on the outside but a devil on the inside" by previous teachers.  Often quiet in the movie with glitches of defiance, Mathieu overhears Morhange singing while cleaning for a punishment.  Inspired, Mathieu begins to teach him everything he knows and invests in him.  The film begins with Morhange as an accomplished conductor reflecting back fifty years prior on his times as a student at the boarding school.  It was no doubt Mathieu's influence that led him on a path towards a prestigious career in music.  It was a powerful film with some beautiful singing which you can see/hear by clicking this link.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya2mPO0f-uk&list=PL923B7CA2360CA7F1&feature=iv&src_vid=EXS5TiBYESk&annotation_id=annotation_199368

Those boys in the movie were not lost causes, although probably written off by many.  It's easy to not invest time, love, and energy in people when you are not around them, but even when you are living among them, a choice has to be made.  You could pout, hoping for better days, hoping for more money, a comfortable and prolonged oasis of peace and rest.  I pray that my eyes would not be blinded by bad behavior, imperfections, sin, but rather the love of Christ would allow my to see in people beauty and potential for great things.  Lord, help me take a chance on somebody that I wouldn't normally take a chance on.

Think in your own life someone that God wants you to pray for.  If you've been praying for this person, ask in what ways you can show a Christ-like love in order to bring them to the Lord and be used in beautiful ways.  They may be different from you in age, race, spirituality, cultural norms, or political opinions.  Pray for a listening and watchful heart, also a slow-to-speak or assume attitude.

Christian helping plant seeds at the Nutritional Garden

This is Christian with the light blue "And One" shirt on.  He's in 4th grade and this is his first year in our program.  I got the privilege of hanging out with him yesterday.  He gets headaches/migraines often and he takes medication for it.  Pray for his health.  He's very athletic and active so we make sure he stays hydrated.  He's always helpful and is quick with a "Yes sir" or "Yes ma'am."  He is cousins with Challah and Diallo so the family aspect is pretty fun to experience.  Please pray that his worth and identity is not in sucking up to people so that they like him.  He can be very nice but sometimes in selfish ways.  Pray that God would use him in my life to help me show grace, love, time, and energy in order for his betterment.