While at Montreat Collegiate Conference a few weeks ago I got together on the side of all the other that was happening with some friends that I've had and a few new ones. Our topic of conversation? What now?! People always seem to be "high on Jesus drugs" as Luke (not the gospel, don't worry) put it, when they are at conferences and camps, and then a week after returning home it's back to life as we know it. But what if life as we know it was different? What if it changed? What if the strive to be as Jesus is and do as Jesus teaches us carried over into every day and week of our life? One of the guys sent us an email reminding us this week what we said that we would do in the week following Montreat. Below is my response to them..
I'm glad to have a reminder from you all of what I said that I would do in response to my frustration. I can say that Marie and I went to the "West End" of Louisville last week because we realized that we've never really driven/walked/biked/scooted around it, and to people who live in the east end (where the seminary is) we don't even understand that Louisville actually continues past downtown. Who would have thought?!?! So, we drove around, talked to some people at a thrift store, got some sweet tea. It was awesome. It was good for my soul because it hurt my soul. West Louisville is broken down, there are less and less trees the further west you get, and the houses more and more dilapidated. Why does the city think that it's alright for there to be more liquor stores than supermarkets? I could go on and on, but I guess the big thing I did last week was make myself aware of the West End. What's happening there, ministry and outreach wise, is next on my list. We discovered a few places that do in depth poverty immersion, and so I'm thinking of trying that, and a couple other campus ministers and I talked about doing that with the students, too, as some of them also expressed interest. Awareness. Awareness...
_______________________
So next Saturday Katie, Marie, and I will head to Slidell, Louisiana. We'll be spending the better part of a week in and around Slidell and New Orleans doing whatever work the outreach (http://www.pcoslidell.org/index.html) asks of us. The three of us were sitting around one day talking about how we wished that our school did more mission work, aide, outreach, etc., practicing what we preach day in and day out. We find common voices of complaint about the world and community being a crappy place, but are we doing as much as we could, or are we spending a bit too much time on the couch? After the Presby Mission Conference in October we were jump started into realizing that all three of us feel called to mission in some way, and we were going to act on it. So...to Slidell we go. I was there (and will be there again) last Alternative Spring Break with the campus ministry, and Marie was there over the summer. I thought that I was going to stay and never leave. There is so much to be done where Katrina hit, so much rebuilding of not only people's physical livlihood, but also their emotional and spiritual health. I really want to be a part of the effort that so many from around the world have been supporting. So...off we go...
0 comments:
Post a Comment