There’s a guy that keeps coming to 24-7 regularly in the evening. When he 1st came he unloaded his story on the person staffing that night. Rough story of a life of bad choices & tough brakes & of redempti
on & desire to rise above his past. Some staff members are uncomfortable with him, others not so much. He stops in after work & before bible study to read & meditate, he says. Sometimes if the song hits him in the right way, he stands &just sways to the music with his arms wrapped around himself. Most don’t get to see that side of him. Most see the tall dark ominous man with the face of a thousand tough stories. From the community room where I comfortably situate myself, I’ve seen him cry… & I’ve seen him laugh. Tonight we briefly talk about which translation of the Bible is better & which has the best annotations. Do Itrust him? Trust is not the question on the table. What is our role in nurturing his faith & friendship with God? That’s the only question on the table right now for this the guy. Yeah, a song is making its way in… You can hear him simultaneously crying & worshiping. Yeah, that guy. The one most people fear. 24-7 is a safe place for him too.
October 29, 2008 at 11:32 am (Uncategorized)
October 29, 2008 at 11:26 am (Uncategorized)
Last week as I hosted the Sacred Space of 24-7, the door slowly opened and a tentative face peered in. I beckoned her to come in. She was requesting help for the many repairs that needed to be made on her home.
“What is this place?” was her inquiry.
As I explained to her that the prayer room was for everyone, for herself and all her family and friends, she asked about the cost of using the space. When I told her it was free she turned to me incredulous. You could physically see a sense of ownership come over her as she relaxed and entered further into the room with a new boldness. Her gaze first fell on our wall of God-graffiti near the door. She read each one aloud which sent gooseflesh running up and down my arms. Will I ever get used to what the Presence of God does in this Place? I hope and pray not.
As we toured the room, I explained each station but was struck by her reaction to the place set aside for our outreach to the Villa Heights neighborhood.
“That’s me! That’s my neighborhood. We need so much help. We have a drug house. That needs to be shut down. It’s not safe. The park needs to be cleaned up.”
On and on she went. The needs are so great that one feels so helpless. I felt like taking up hammer and nails and marching up to her house myself, knowing that I could not. Arthritis is taking its toll. If I could I would take these dear, sweet people under my wing and care for each and every one. But the charge given to me has been, “One at a time, Karen. One at a time. Let me love them through you.”
We move on to the “Lost and Found” wall where I help her post the names of her children and her grands. I ask her if I can pray for her. We sit down together under the names of her loved ones and join two sets of hands, one African in descent, the other European, connected by our common bond in the Savior. What beautiful things our God creates through His Son!
She promises that she will return to spend time here. I can only hope that it is true. It is difficult to let these souls placed in my charge for such a short time go back out into a world from which this special place provides small respites of peace and shelter. What a privilege to be a part of the amazing things God is doing to bring healing and wholeness to our city.
October 29, 2008 at 11:24 am (Uncategorized)
Shawn came into the Space today. He was here when I arrived. It didn’t take too long to figure out that he was looking for someone to talk to. He is obviously homeless, unkempt and strung out. After praying together and trying to infuse him with some hope for the future, all I could do was keep the lemonade coming to quench his physical thirst and provide tissues for the tears. I point him to the One who can take his thirst away forever. It’s up to Shawn to take the needed steps out of the darkness. He has been offered life. But sometimes things look so black and bleak it doesn’t seem like there is any way out of the hole. I know. I’ve been there. Sometimes it takes a hand to reach down and yank us out into the light. I pray God provides that person. Glad today that it was me. Thank you, Jesus, for having allowed me to descend into my own personal darkness so that I might understand the reality of Shawn’s pain and despair. Rescue him as only you can. I love this job.
October 29, 2008 at 11:23 am (Uncategorized)
Pray for Haiti
The woman approaches. We share together about the Space, about her church and our apparent homeless man who just so happens to be her husband who simply fell asleep while praying in the peace of the prayer room. Oops! You know that old adage about not judging a book by its cover? I failed this one.
They speak of Haiti, their burden for the wounded island nation which remains under a relentless cloud of suffering and oppression, where our Ben and Alexis have gone to pour out their young lives on behalf of the souls that have been waiting for them there.
We must all pray for God to liberate this place from the darkness which holds it captive and for the workers whom he has sent into this environment of desolation, both physical and spiritual, that they will not be overpowered by what they have been sent to conquer, for our enemy does not let go so easily. His fingers must be pried off one digit at a time, one prayer at a time, one life at a time.
October 29, 2008 at 11:21 am (Uncategorized)
She shares with me on this day how she is up against a battle with the powers that be who stand in the way of her providing transitional housing that will assist the homeless in getting back on their feet. The facility that she is working on is not ‘up to code.’
Is a cardboard box up to code? A park bench? Under the buttresses of a bridge? Ah, but our city fathers have determined that these are too good for society’s outcasts. Human beings.
I am infuriated over a news story last night that spoke of how we can rid our city of the homeless. Wouldn’t Jesus be proud (sarcasm intended)? How many of those powers that be personages who lead our ‘fine’ city attend their antiseptic churches each Sunday and listen to the words of the Savior and yet for the sake of appearances seek to cast off our own ‘least of these?’ Just sweep them away with the messes that their living makes. They make our city look less pretty. Let’s just pretend that the pain and suffering of broken lives is not there. And that will make us all feel better. After all, then we will not have to do anything about it. Just ignore it, and maybe it will all go away. Heaven help us.
Bless you, sister Faida. God smiles on you and your work. May he work his magnificent power on your behalf
October 29, 2008 at 11:19 am (Uncategorized)
Insanely busy day yesterday with all the God-traffic coming into the prayer room. Very satisfying. Saw some old friends and made some new ones. A young woman from the AA group took the tour and spent some time in a couple of the stations. She is hungering for God and what he has for her. It’s good to see a real live human face representing what goes on here nightly. I will no longer grumble. Eating a slice of humble pie. Tried to read my Bible but found my thoughts running all over the place. Skimming Acts 13-16, I couldn’t help but be struck by feeling as if I have stepped into the very pages before me. The stories of those who have gone before me are my story. Way cool.
October 29, 2008 at 11:15 am (Uncategorized)
October 29, 2008 at 11:13 am (Uncategorized)
CULTURE: Interesting day. 24-7 sacred space hosted the pentecostal intercessors. Well, actually hosting them includes hosting their culture too. And it was thick with culture. Early in the day they pretty much scared away most of the post-moderns on the other side of the wall stopping in for some down time with God. I myself had some uncomfortable moments with em, but pushed past it to see the gems in the thick of it all. Ya know, moving past the cultural distractions to see through to the heart of the messages. It’s interesting to see oneself & one’s city through the eyes of another culture. Today I saw some gleaming true perspectives communicated, & some glaring erroneous ones. Also gleaned some interesting things about the strengths & inherent weaknesses in only being with those most like ourselves. There have been many detailed scientific studies about how familial inbreeding often creates deformities that grow more pronounced with each new inbreeding partnership. I find that to be true in Christian culture as well. And the less connected one tribe is with other decidedly & diversely different tribes, the less likely they are to be influenced by the wider counsel of God, & the less likely they are to escape spiritual, doctrinal, & cultural deformities. As a result, that particular spiritual culture can easily & often does become less & less assessable to the ordinary Jane’s & Joes it was originally meant to help mentor & feed. The other side of the coin is a penchant to reject a vastly different spiritual culture simply because it is so much unlike our own. It is often worth it to wade through the mannerisms, style, & language barriers to apprehend the truths at the center. If we don’t, we could easily end up providing fewer & fewer on-ramps for our own tribe’s janes & joes to fully mature, to go deeper, & learn to dance comfortably out on the spiritual egdes God may wish to take them to. The main goal is Christ formed in his people. The sub-strategy is to follow where the Lord is taking your crew, stay with the focus & mandates given to your tribe, but also to be intentional about actively pursuing Godly influence from other tribes; & most importantly to maintain assessable on-ramps for ordinary janes & joes to participate, understand, & be able to practically assimilate the truths purported. The fewer the on-ramps, the greater the likelihood of deformity. The fewer the godly ecclesiastical influences, the greater the likelihood of deformity. The greater the language & spiritual-culture barriers, the fewer those able to hear & understand…The more the seed is sown… the more falls by the wayside amoung all except for the few already in the tribe.
By the wayside is no place for the truths of God.
October 29, 2008 at 11:11 am (Uncategorized)
Good day at church. Edge of my seat listening. Afterwords, time spent with 24-7 leaders. Late afternoon time spent searching for pumpkins with my kid. Fun letting him pick out the best ones from among hundreds. He looked like Charlie Brown in the pumpkin patch. Great time carving in the funny faces, scooping out the slime, & putting in candles. Spent part of the night at 24-7 getting it ready for a group of skateboarders that came into town just to hit 24-7 & get some God-time in the sacred space. Setting up the communal confessional for them was a blast. They are gonna have a great time praying into the evening. Was glad I got to pray with them too.
