Six Month Mission Trip Next Door

This week KB is asking its writers to choose a country we would work in as missionaries for six months.

I wouldn’t have to go very far.

We live in a quaint village along the historical Eire Canal. Three seasons a year, I can walk along the canal, soaking in nature, crew teams, pleasure boaters and lots of shops and restaurants. My teenage daughter can walk home from school and spend a Saturday afternoon at the local Starbucks or the library. It is idyllic.

But not nine miles from us is the crescent of Rochester, New York, a swath of geography across the city, east to west, throbbing with violence, drugs, and poverty. The high school drop out rate is the highest of the largest city school districts in the state: 45.5%. In our town, 98% of students graduate from high school, and most then attend college. Rochester is known as one of the ten smartest cities in the nation because of top colleges, yet its public schools are fraught with problems.

To live in the crescent would be out of my comfort zone. I like knowing my family can go to sleep without bullets flying through the walls, and not having to address the issue of a crack house next door. But the problems of our nation’s cities, like Chicago, Hartford and Rochester, require a radical mission.

There are many churches in the city, including Brighton Presbyterian where my husband and I work and minister. But the problems of neglect, drug abuse and poverty can’t be fixed just by Sunday church attendance or even a weekly Bible study. Something more radical is required: ongoing prayer, mentoring, dedicated outreach and perhaps a live-in situation.

Nearly two years ago, I met a couple who are not only living in the city, they have dedicated two decades to raising other people’s children in a Saturday program called Bethel Express, which they now base at our church. Its focus and mission is on what its leaders call the "S Factor: Spiritual Strength, Social Stability and Scholastic Success." Children can begin the program between the ages of 6 and 12 (but no later) and the volunteer leaders feed and mentor them every Saturday until they graduate from high school. The program has a nearly 100% graduation rate. The adult volunteers love, encourage, and pray for these children for years.

Another couple I know established an inner-city healthcare ministry called His Branches 35 years ago, choosing to live just two blocks from their medical practice. The neighborhood has drug dealers, robberies and the occasional shooting. Eighty percent of HBI clients are at or below the poverty line.

We also know of three families who have made the decision to live in a tough area to make a difference in the neighborhood, and to be part of their church’s efforts to “re-neighbor” broken communities: 441 Ministries.

I do have a dream missionary trip (Ireland; Bible studies in a pub). But for me, the radical mission next door causes me to tremble.

Are You Going to Harvard Square? Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme. by Linda Maynard

…Remember me to the one who lives there

La – la – la – la—la—la—la—la

Oh, excuse me I got caught up in some old tunes.

My apologies to Simon and Garfunkel, for messing with the lyrics  of Scarborough Fair.

Why Harvard Square you ask?

 I was on a short term Missions Trip to the Boston area.

Oh boy, I felt like I jumped off a faith cliff, right into the seat of intellectualism. I remember the terror. Could my heart beat any faster? I was sure there was “Nowhere to Run to…No Where to Hide” (Thank you,Martha and the Vandellas)

Ok, enough with the songs Linda, gather in your thoughts.

One evening, began in the South End of Boston at an A of G Church. The Pastor was going to oversee this outreach. We gathered at his church for a strategic pep talk.

 I gleaned something from him that I have never forgotten.

He said, “Don’t be focused so on bringing these young people to the Lord, that you  miss what God is doing.”

He likened a person’s life and their exposure to the Gospel as being on a continuum, 1 through 10.

 “On one end is #1, representing the person who has never heard about the Lord.

Then going all the way over to #10, where a person receives salvation.

He said “Maybe you are going to bring a person from a 6 to 7. That person has had people and circumstances already happening to bring them closer to a decision.”

“Another could be stuck at a 2 and have some misgivings or fears. You might just bring them up a notch.”

“You could be the one to pray the prayer of salvation.

Trust the Lord”

This lesson changed the dreaded idea I had of evangelism. I thought anything less than 100% was a failure.

We left the church and walked down the street with Pastor Tony.  We stopped for C-rations at an Italian Bakery.

I chose a cannoli.

We sat with the owner.

She was a dear welcoming woman. She kept looking towards the Pastor and in her broken English, kept saying …father this and father that.

While walking away, I asked him about her father.

 He chuckled.“Oh, she’s talking about me. She calls me Father Tony all the time. I tell her that I am not a Catholic Priest. It just doesn’t seem to matter.”

 We continued on our way to Harvard Square, via the subway

We picked a partner to minister with. The plan was one sister would be talking to a person, the other would be praying silently.

The closer we got, the more nervous I became.

On previous days, I blew a shofar in front of City hall, as well as in the Old North Church. That probably would freak someone else out, but those acts came naturally.

This mission was loaded with fright for me.

Some know that I have had a struggled with not feeling smart enough. I didn’t go to college, except for a few courses. I know this is not a logical, but I felt ‘stupid”

Actually, we know from the Bible, words have great power, for good and for bad. I was affected by negative words spoken over me.

We arrived and I wasn’t feeling one bit more confident and said to my partner, “You go first!” She did. Then I said “You did so well, why don’t you do it again?” She obliged and all the while I am thinking “I can pray. I am an intercessor. Keep talking sister! Keep going! I am right there with you”

She didn’t know my struggle but she also was not going to be the only one to approach strangers either.

All and all, I talked to 2 young men and 1 young woman.

One of the first was not interested at all. He was with a group that kind of mocked us.

The second however, moved away from the group and asked questions. Maybe he moved from a 5 to a 6? Only heaven knows.

The girl was sitting, leaning up against a storefront drawing. She just seemed happy to have someone to talk to.

Conclusion:

I didn’t die at Harvard Square.

My intelligence never came into question.

Even today, as I have talked with quite a few strangers, my heart still beats a million beats a minute…but for Jesus, I have determined to jump off the cliffs that He brings me to.

Is anyone ready to jump with me?