Made in the Image of God

by Stephen Painter

Genesis 1:27-31:

                                         So God created man in his own image,

                                  in the image of God he created him;

                                     male and female he created them.

   And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Peak of San Juan Mountain

   After five days of God considering his creation good (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25), God created something that made it all very good. He created us. He created the first man and the first woman. It doesn't matter that they were black, white, red, or blue. They were made in His image, and they were the piece that made Him consider His creation very good. How is it that God created the heavens, the mountains, the seas, the plants, and the animals, yet only called it very good after creating us? This is the question I pondered this past Wednesday on the peak of a San Juan mountain in the Colorado Rockies.

Mercy Street Interns and Guides

   Fourteen of us from Mercy Street spent the past week in Colorado on an exposure trip for second-year junior interns. This was an Adventure trip through Sky Ranch at Ute Trail. We split up into two groups by gender and rotated half of the week kayaking and half of it backpacking. This was sweet time shared in fellowship together with our Father and each other, and it was filled with challenges ranging from hailstorms to fatigue to being vulnerable with each other. The guys trip consisted of kayaking Sunday afternoon until Tuesday mid-day, then switching with the girls to begin backpacking until Friday evening. In my opinion, the most significant moment was Wednesday morning as I and eight brothers reached the peak of the Powderhorn Trail mountain. Our guides, Ron and Zach, took us to Genesis 1 for a peak day devotional. We discussed the beauty of the mountains before us, then contemplated what God meant when He created us and called creation very good. We discussed what it means to be made in the image of God. Personally, I found that this dialogue created a passion in me to understand more clearly the innate beauty in bearing God's image. Sure, the mountains in Colorado are one heck of a sight to see, but the greatest beauty of creation really lies in us.

Kayaking

   As we begin the final two weeks of the internship, my hope and prayer is that we as senior interns begin to see the beauty of God's image in ourselves, in each other, and in those we are ministering to. Know also that I pray the same for you. Why do we let ourselves be blinded to the beauty of those around us? What do we see when we look at other people? Do we identify people by our memories together, by the things they've done, by what others tell us, or by the fact that they are God's image-bearers? How do we see ourselves? And finally, how does the knowledge that both us and those around us bear the image of God change our worldview?

"The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen." - 2 Tim. 4:22

In Christ,

Stephen

Unbounded Grace
by Noemi Gonzalez

Have you ever been to a place and fallen in love with it? Is there a place that you would feel odd to be away from? West Dallas has become that place for me. I have been here for eight weeks and it feels like I have lived here forever. When I first started this internship I did not feel encouraged by many people. Family members would ask me why I was doing this and why I would volunteer for a position like this. I don’t think they understood that being here with my girls and new friends is payment enough. It is truly amazing how God works in our hearts. A few weeks ago I went back home to Houston and felt a void the whole time I was there. How could I be back in the city I grew up in and not feel at home? I loved that I got to see my family and hang out, but my heart and mind were stuck in West Dallas. I kept thinking about the relationships I was building with my fellow senior interns, but especially my huddle group girls.

This past week was one of the toughest for my group. Rumors and conflict overpowered the usual dynamic of our group. I feel that this week taught me so much about myself, my co-leaders and about my girls as well. In our senior intern meetings we talk about how we need to give grace. This topic troubled me more and more because we seemed to talk about it every week. When does grace become an enabler to lie and disobey?

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

Romans 6:1

My sister and I talked about this verse and its meaning in my predicament. I ended up with my answer: tough love. At some point in our lives someone has showed us tough love. In this case, I believe that as grace is given so should tough love be given. If we, as leaders expect our girls and guys to learn to love the word and to follow Christ, we should not allow them to continue to sin only because we are graceful.

My co-leaders and I recently had a huddle group dinner at my house. We made breakfast for dinner, thinking it would be a great idea to get everyone together to talk about our dilemmas. Everything was going great until a few of the girls complained that the food was not up to par. Honestly, I was hurt. How could people be ungrateful for what they are receiving? It was truly beyond me. As the night progressed so did the tempers and attitudes. The girls were frustrated, but also letting off steam by telling each of us (their leaders) what they did not like about us. We had shown a lot of grace, but we thought it was time to show a little tough love. In my case, I realized tough love goes both ways. As we told them our problems, I heard things about me that were tough to swallow. I knew this experience was going to be hard, and so far it has been in many ways, but I did not imagine that God would use it as an instrument to show His grace to me.

As the end comes near, I have realized that although I expected to see deep change in them, the experience has also changed me. I can sit here all day and write the things that have changed in me, but to put it simply, I will not leave this internship the same person as when I came in. That’s how I feel God has shown me grace. He put me in a situation that was out of my norm, a little tough love, and showed me that He has so much more to teach me and I love every minute of it.

“Do not be conformed to this world,^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”                                                      Romans 12:2

Visible Fruit

by Drew Salada

It’s amazing the transformation that can occur in an individual’s life in just a couple of months.  The change that I have witnessed in the junior interns has truly been thrust in my face these last few days, and it warms my heart to see the labor of Mercy Street bear visible fruit.  On Wednesday evening at Bible study, the students participated in a role-play exercise to practice defending their faith.  One situation was a friend coming to another friend and accusing them of taking “God stuff” too seriously.  Another was a boss forbidding one of their workers from talking about God.  Regardless of the scenario, one individual had to defend their faith in God as the other took shots at them.  It was so encouraging to see how the junior interns handled the role-playing.  Statements like: “I see everything in my life and know that is has to be because of God,” or “the Bible teaches that…” truly displayed their growth this summer.  They are growing more confident in their faith, and when called upon to defend it, they can!  But this was not an isolated event: evidence of the interns’ growth abounds everywhere I look.  Just this morning, as I met with one of the interns, he prayed that God would give him “the thing” he needs to “excel in the Bible and get in the Word.”  The students are not only growing, but they desire to continue to grow.  I love it!  With just a couple of weeks remaining in the internship, the students are stepping up and stepping out in their faith, and growing into young men and women ready to profess their faith in Christ to everyone they encounter.

Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

“You are the salt, you are the light…”

by Lyeah Soland

What type of role models have you chosen to follow in your life? We all have been impacted by a wide range of people. Some examples have been good and others maybe not so good. As I walked through the door of Mercy Street the words that echoed through my head and heart were “you are the salt, you are the light” coming from a familiar passage in the book of Matthew. That moment really sank in when I realized most of these kids have never grown up or been exposed to a positive influence in their life.  So many people today shy away from the responsibility of being a role model. They don’t want any accountability in their lives; but the fact is people are watching and people are imitating. As a body of believers it is our duty to be imitators of Christ. Godly imitation produces changed lives. Each one of us has been so specifically placed here for a reason and purpose. It’s amazing how much these students soak up on a regular basis from the good to the bad. You are all called to be teachers and doers of the word.  In 2 Timothy 2:20-23 it says, “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels.”  Paul is wisely telling Timothy that in order for a teacher to be effective, he or she must also live by example. We all must heed this instruction if we truly desire to live out the Great Commission. Now in our sinful nature of course we are not perfect and every day we are challenged with being the salt and the light. We are reminded that our Father who has set an example for us and by His model of living has so drastically changed us by the gospel. And because of that we want to so eagerly share what He has done in our own lives. We set our eyes on an example worth following.

Keep it Real

by Laura Alcantar

Building relationships this summer has been one of my key points to nail. I was so determined to build a foundation of trust with my girls that it became a mission more than a heart-desired hope. I soon realized how hard I was pushing to be part of their circle of trust that in the midst of it I was becoming more and more of a stranger to them. As I sat in my home the 29^th day of June just asking the Lord to give me the answer to get closer to my girls I remember coming across Proverbs 12:26 “A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” The answer I anticipated was staring me right in the eye! I evaluated my actions from before and realized I was trying to be something I wasn’t. From that moment forward I vowed to be myself. Authenticity is the number one key to a long lasting friendship. Soon after I changed my game plan I noticed my girls began to open up about hardships, fears, and hopes for the summer. I recently received a call from one of my girls named Tori. She needed guidance for a situation she had no idea how to resolve. I couldn’t be more elated to know that my girls were beginning to really like me for the genuine love I was offering them and not the character I was dressing up as, to be on their good side. This summer has been full of bonding experiences and even though it’s beyond just building life lasting relationships, we all have to start somewhere. Wherever or however we begin, I believe being true to oneself and others will not only build a life lasting friendship, but a strong one too.

Learning to be for Him, not them

by Brittany Blomstedt

 

I am wrapping up one of my most challenging weeks at Mercy Street thus far. Here’s the background: Last Monday was an extremely hard day for everyone. For whatever reason, the Jr. Interns were pretty out of control, lots of negative attitudes and disrespect, lots of sleeping, complaining, cell phone using, dress code breaking, etc. As a staff, we found ourselves exhausted and frustrated by the end of the day. After taking some time to process with one another and pray, we decided we needed to give grace, while also re-emphasizing our policies. We agreed as a staff that we must be more consistent in discipline in order to better love our students. The next day, my co-leaders and I had a conversation with our small group reminding them of our expectations for them and encouraging them to step up as leaders. I talked about how much I believed in them, and told them that we would be cracking down harder on all of the policies in order to help them grow as leaders. We explained to our students that one way to love them is to not let them stay as they are, and that that was our motivation in enforcing the discipline expectations. Thinking all was well, and that everyone was on the same page, we went on with our day.

Just a few hours later, as Carlton spoke to the students, I noticed one of my girls on her phone. My first thought: No, please no. Maybe I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it this time. Knowing it would be a fight, I wrestled back in forth in my mind Do I say something? Do I let it go? What is grace, what is truth? Is the fight worth it? After praying and thinking for a minute, I knew I had to say something. It would not be love to tell my girls I was going enforce discipline, not letting them stay as they are, and then passively continue to let things slide so that I didn’t have to be disliked. After all, that would have been all about me- my desire for things to be easy, my desire to be accepted, and so on. So, as our policy goes, I decided I needed to give this student a warning. That one simple warning totally changed my relationship with most of my girls for the next several days. Frustrated by the discipline, my girls began to reject my high fives, move seats when I sat next to them, lie to and about me, sleep during small group… the list goes on. And, as you can imagine, as each day went by, I began to grow more and more weary. I felt totally lost and confused, really unsure of how to reconnect with and love on them.

As I spent time with the Lord each day, begging Him to mend our relationships, all I could really hear Him saying were two things: “Are you working to please men, or Me?” and “Don’t stop.” At first I didn’t take this conviction too seriously, I simply pegged His first question as a cliché scripture, and decided “Don’t stop” was an annoying command, (In my mind, it didn’t include what steps to actually take, so it was therefore a pointless conviction!) But as the week went on and I really began to examine my heart, I realized the power of Galations 1:10: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” I began to realize that trying to win the favor of man and the favor of God could not happen at the same time- I had to choose one. I began to confess my desire to win approval from my girls, and began to pray hard that I would serve each day at Mercy Street to please and honor the Lord instead. I realized I had to stop basing my peace on what happened with my girls each day, and instead that I must find all of my peace in the truth of Jesus’ perfect love, perfect power, perfect grace, and perfect sovereignty.

Over the past couple of days, I have had to send 2 of my girls home for the week, I have been ignored at times and given much attitude in some situations. I have also laughed a lot, and had a few really cool, unexpected conversations with girls that I never could have planned myself. Just today I had the opportunity to talk to one of my girls for over an hour about trusting God and trusting people. In that conversation she admitted that she has put up walls against me and the other Senior Interns, knowing that we are just temporarily here for the summer. She admitted to riding us off early on, knowing we were leaving. It hurt my heart to hear that, because I get it… temporary relationships are hard, and can be really hurtful. But because of her honesty, we were able to talk about God’s sovereignty, and that He has us together this summer for a purpose that we can’t claim to know or understand. I was able to walk her through what it looks like to learn to trust people because you trust God. What started as a hard, heated discussion turned into a beautiful, revealing, humbling and challenging conversation for both of us.

The relational challenges I have faced this week have taught me this: The Lord is my Rock. He is the only thing that will never change. Some days my girls will like me, some days they won’t. Some days they’ll get it, some days they will totally miss it. Some days we will laugh together, some days 1 or all of us will cry, and some days we might not connect or talk at all. But through all of those things, all the changing circumstances, emotions, challenges….my mission here at Mercy Street, and for the rest of my life, never changes. Love God, love people… and don’t stop.

We have 3 weeks left with the Jr. Interns, and I, along with the rest of my team, desperately need your prayer! Please pray that that we would stay the course well. Pray for energy and creativity. Pray that as we have conversations and begin to go deeper with the Jr. Interns, we would speak with wisdom, truth, and grace. Pray for the Jr. Interns- that they would deeply desire to know God more intimately, that they would ask good questions, that walls would be broken down. God is working here. Hearts are stirring, chains are being broken. I deeply believe in God’s work here in West Dallas, and I am excited to continue sharing with you over the next few weeks! Thanks so much for your support and prayer!