I am definitely one who loves an adventure, but I don't think I had any idea what an adventure I would be getting myself into when I decided to move to the city. And it's not just any city...it is the wonderful city of New Orleans. You may have your own opinion of this city, but, yes, I do think it is quite wonderful. And now I call it home.
If someone had asked me two years ago what I would be doing two years from then, I would have said looking for a job teaching math to high schoolers. It is weird to think back on that time when that was MY plan. Little did I know that God had such a different plan. And now, just two short years later, I find myself in my little apartment on seminary campus in the wonderful city of New Orleans.
I have only been here a week, but what a week it has been. I started volunteering at the Baptist Friendship House. I don't think I knew what I was getting into when I signed up to spend my summer volunteering there, but it has already been the biggest blessing in my life. The BFH ministers mainly to homeless women and children. They are also working to help stop human trafficking, which I will get to help out with this summer. I am very excited about this because, as many know, I feel the Lord directing me to work in this field.
I got to see the work the BFH does with homeless women first hand the other day as homeless women came in to shower and find donated clothes. God opened my eyes tremendously that day. Each woman who walked through those doors had a story. I got to sit down with one woman and talk with her, and it was such a blessing. One of the most humbling moments was when that woman offered me some of the little food she had. There are not words to describe how that made me look at things from a different perspective. By the time I left that day, I thought I had seen it all, although I know there is plenty more to come. My heart was broken into a million little pieces, but that is exactly what we need sometimes. To think that after I left I went home to my nice cool apartment with all of my security and worldly possessions after hearing about a woman who got her backpack stolen that contained literally everything she owned. To think that I went to sleep that night in my nice warm bed after hearing a woman saying that she hoped she would be able to find a porch to sleep on that would protect her from the rain that night. To think that the next morning I tried on several different outfits to decide what to wear that day when I saw a countless number of women come in searching for a new pair of clothes so that they could change out of the clothes they had been wearing for days. If seeing that first hand doesn't give you a heart check, I don't know what will.
So what now? We love. Yes, we must step out of our comfortable bubble and help these people in every way possible, but we must do it with Christ's love. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." I say 'these people' very loosely, because who are these people. I am not just talking about the homeless. The bible says to love your neighbor as yourself. Well these homeless people are my neighbors now in my new city. But who are your neighbors? Who is God calling you to reach out and give a little extra love to?
Christians are often called the most judgmental people sometimes. Why? Because it is true. I think it is time that we get back to the basics. Each person, including the women I was working with the other day, God made. Each person is part of God's masterpiece. Each person is created by our loving God. When we can think about that with each person that we meet, instead of condemnation and judgement, that is when the world is going to start to change. And not because of us. Because we open up our hearts and allow the God to change our world.
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