Valentine hearts
stuffed chocolates. Red, pink, and white roses. Romantic Hallmark cards that
say “I love you” in fifty different ways. All this and more are flooding the
entrances to every grocery store across Dallas. Many say this day emphasizes
love, others say it puts unnecessary pressure on love. While others, especially
on Valentine’s Day, are still trying to understand what love truly is. 1 John 3:16 says “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down
his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and
sisters.”
It’s difficult to find this type of selfless love today;
however I met with Annie Roberson of Mercy Street and found that there have
been women living this out every week for the last eight years. Grace Bible church partnered with Mercy
Street eight years ago to meet the need to minister to parents of the children
involved in the mentor program. What began as a ministering opportunity has now
grown into true, loving relationships.
Gale Smith of
Grace Bible Church gathered women from her community to travel over to West
Dallas to meet with the women living in the Lakeview Townhome apartments. They
knocked on doors and asked women to join them for fellowship, food, and a bible
study. It wasn’t long before relationships began to form between the two different
groups of women. “You can teach about loving others that are different from you
all day long. It doesn’t count until you are intentional and go out of your way
to build relationships” said Annie. The women encouraged each other, carried
each other’s burdens, meditated on the word of God, and prayed for each other.
One year later,
they moved the bible study to Mercy Street, opening it up to women beyond
Lakeview apartments. The women are asked to come as they are. Grace Bible
continues to prepare drinks and food to serve the women of West Dallas. They
even provide child care so the women can focus on their time with each other
and with God.
“These women
truly delight in coming over to see us, and we actually love these women.
Dialoguing together, sharing stories, and identifying with each other’s
struggles. When we come together, we are sisters in Christ,” said Annie. “We
have to stretch our reach to meet people of different cultures. God said, ‘Go
and make disciples.’ So, that’s what we’re doing! We seek to model
cross-cultural relationships in order to glorify Christ and the love that He
has for all of His children.”
The group visits
the Dallas Arboretum together in the summer, celebrate birthdays every quarter,
and meet each other’s needs throughout the year. It’s clear these two groups of
women exemplify love in the way God intended. They both are getting out of
their comfort zones, laying down selfish desires, and focusing on the needs of
their sisters in Christ. Annie’s closing thoughts were beautiful: “I’m so
grateful to have a friend like Gale Smith, and grateful for the women of Grace
Bible. We should learn from them… Be intentional, obey God, and don’t always
surround yourself with people that are just like you. Mix it up! Make
disciples.”