Jesus At Work...

Challenging my Expectations

by Chelsea Boyd

It's the middle of the junior interns' week 3 here at Mercy Street, and our summer is in full swing! As I sit down to give you an update, it all feels a little bit like a blur. I'm excited to sift through things that I'm thinking and feeling through this post. So you might have just gotten aboard the crazy train as I spill my thoughts--welcome aboard!

As I've mentioned before, the leadership institute seeks to do two main things for the junior interns : #1. Pour into them #2. Give them chances/challenge them to pour into their community. So for a broad view of things, the mornings are spent on #1 and the afternoons on #2. Every day the morning program is relatively the same-the students arrive at Mercy Street tired and with very little energy. We will play a few games or do a dance to try (key word try) to get them pumped. We have a morning devotional time in our small groups, which has easily been my favorite part of the day. I lead a huddle group of 8th-9th grade girls with my wee little Irish friend Rachel (she is the best). Let me tell you, we have grown to love these girls so much! Three weeks is long enough to start to understand how they each work individually, what they wonder about, what they struggle with, and how much they really care about digging deeper into who God is. Huddle group time is designed to teach the junior inters a model for spending time with Jesus on their own, so we basically talk through their quiet times with them. It's awesome to witness them respond to scripture with questions and then understanding...I have come to love each of my girls on an individual level and I am excited to see what God teaches them and leads them to and challenges them with over the rest of the summer!

Each day of a week has a set activity for the afternoons. On Monday, the junior interns lead a program called "Super Monday" in 4 government-subsidized apartment complexes in West Dallas. Each site has around 8 junior interns and 2 or 3 senior interns, and we are expecting anywhere from 60-100 kids at the program. It consists of a game, song/dance, memory verse stomp, skit, and Bible story. I love seeing the junior interns taking ownership and loving on the kids while we are in the apartments. I find myself challenged as they exceed my expectations every week-when given the chance to work hard, serve, and love, they rise to the occasion. I wonder--in what other areas may I have too small of an expectation for these students? How can I further challenge them spiritually, socially, emotionally, relationally? I also ask you as you read this--do you underestimate young people based on where they come from or the "attitude" they portray? If so, give them an opportunity and see how they might surprise you, too.

Tuesdays are my personal favorite day. Mercy Street started a church and Pastor Jerry straight brings it with an hour and a half of theology every week. He knows his stuff and I feel so locked in when he's teaching because he is so passionate about it! If I step back for a second, though, and think about what's happening, my heart feels so excited. I’m in a room full of young people who, like all high school students, are having lies thrown at them from all sides in life. Here is a man in front of them telling them the truth. And he's doing it dynamically and interactively and no one is falling asleep! (Usually.) It’s a beautiful thing. I usually pray so hard in these moments that what Pastor Jerry is telling them will sink into their hearts and drown out the lies that they believe. I desperately want them to drink deeply of the truth and know that Jesus is better than the things that the world has to offer. I pray even now that God uses those teaching times to ground them in and excite them about the truth.

Tuesdays are also field trip days. We want to expose the students to areas of Dallas they might not have been before and tell them about ministries and opportunities that exist in the Dallas area. We're trying to build dreams-it's exciting stuff!

There are 13 non-profits in West Dallas. On Wednesdays we split into teams and serve all around the community. The students are at the same site every week. I take 3 of my girls to a ministry called Brother Bill's Helping Hand, and we LOVE it. Brother Bill's started as a food pantry in the 1940's (!!!!), and has developed into an incredible organization with a grocery store, clinic, and various classes to serve the people of West Dallas. My ladies are worker bees, let me tell ya. We have done a variety of tasks, and they work us pretty hard to be honest! My girls have not complained ONCE. They look forward to serving with the awesome people at Brother Bill's every week, and they serve with their whole hearts and a smile on their faces. Yet another time when my expectations have been surpassed by these amazing young people.

Thursdays we have electives at Mercy Street. The students could choose what elective they chose based on their interests, and they get to spend 2 hours learning more about something they are already interested in. The hope is to further their excitement and knowledge about their elective and equip them to further pursue their interest in the future. The electives are: bike shop, business technology, hip-hop, and dance. This is another program in place to help students dream and help them to look into the future of what God might have for them.

Well, there you have it! A layout of a week in Mercy Street's Leadership Institute and all of my thoughts about it. I LOVE what I'm doing this summer. Absolutely love it. I am being challenged spiritually and stretched farther than I've been stretched before. It's really exciting to me! I love the community of people on staff and getting the chance to step into that. I love West Dallas, and my whole heart wants these students to love and serve Jesus with their whole hearts and lead this community into a better future. I feel blessed to be one of the broken vessels that God's choosing to use to get his glory in this community.