We're leaving.
Even having just arrived, we are quickly going away. We potentially have only
the rest of summer at Mercy Street. We certainly have only a short life before
we leave to stand before God accountable for our actions. The former is rapidly
approaching and the latter could happen at any moment. With this in mind, I am
ecstatic to tell of the amazing work being done in West Dallas right now.
We are now two weeks into our journey
alongside the junior interns. Coming into the internship, I willingly admit
that I was skeptical of how effectively we could disciple high school students
in only a little over two months time. However, I have been blown away by the
picture of discipleship that has begun to develop between the senior interns
and the junior interns. I find it an interesting dynamic that each of the
junior interns are unique in the spiritual nourishment they need. Some are only
infants in their faith while others are surprisingly mature spiritually. Yet in
the midst of this dynamic, it is obvious that there are significant
relationships developing between many of the senior interns and junior interns.
For example, this last week we began to implement a reward system for junior
interns out of every huddle group that have displayed zeal in their learning,
teaching, and/or serving. These awards are called Troll-phy's because they are
certificates with a troll in the background (clever, right?). Within my own
huddle group, I have found that rewarding the guys for what they have done
right really fosters a stronger relationship between us and inspires in them a
desire for deeper growth. Dunta Gaffney received the reward in my huddle group
for his great questions last week. By encouraging him when he asks good
questions, his curiosity has seemingly skyrocketed, which in turn has created
many an opportunity to disciple him. He is one of many students who have
already proved that they are willing to be discipled and excited to be
transformed by the love of Christ. In light of the Great Commission (Matt.
28:19-20), I am beyond excited about the discipleship I've begun to witness.
This has been evident in many of our activities this past week.
By God's grace,
we have been greatly blessed in our work. Super Monday, which is the junior
interns primary ministry, was a massive success! This really surprised me. I
say this because four of the four apartment sites that we minister to had
absolutely no kids there when we arrived. In other words, it was like we went
to any typical day at a VBS, but no kids were there. Again, by God's grace,
each site was able to adapt by sending people out to gather kids that were in
the area. I truly believe this was a
great opportunity for both us and the junior interns to learn how to adapt to
unexpected situations. Each site was able to pull off games and a skit, and
more importantly, each site was able to establish a great first impression with
those living in the community. Following Super Monday, we were able to rest up
before our upcoming week of adventures.
Truly, the rest
of the week was filled blessings from our Papa. My personal favorite weekly
meeting is the theology session on Tuesday's with Pr. Jerry Wagner from Mercy
Street Church. This past Tuesday, he discussed the communicable character of
God and made it easy to understand in both a simple and enlightening way.
Tuesday's are also our exposure trip days. We visited an urban farm in Bonton,
which is in South Dallas. They are ministering to a community, deemed a food
desert by the USDA, by providing homegrown food. Never before did I expect to
enjoy watching a group of people feeding chickens as much as I did the junior
interns! On Wednesday, we went back to our service organizations. This is our
opportunity to partner with other organizations in West Dallas who are also
here to "do some good in the hood" as Carlton likes to say. This was
the highlight of the week for one of the junior interns in my huddle group. He
has the opportunity to serve by teaching sports to second graders. Already
having a passion for sports himself, this was a perfect fit for him in service.
Thursday was a great conclusion to the week. In the afternoon, the junior
interns go to electives that they selected when signing up for the internship.
These electives consist of business tech, hip hop and rap, dancing, creativity,
and the bike shop. As the senior intern monitoring the bike shop, I can
legitimately say that I look forward to this time every week now. We have the
opportunity to learn the basic mechanics of bicycles from Terell Duncan, a
junior intern that has worked in the bike shop for five years now, and follow
the lesson up with a beautiful bike ride. After electives, we planned out Super
Monday for the next week and finished the day. Entirely satisfied with the
outcome of week number two with the junior interns, the only thing to do is
thank God for blessing His ministry so immensely.
Ministering to
West Dallas is a process. Discipleship is a process. The Holy Spirit convicting
us and sanctifying us is a process. Brittany has wisely observed and noted that
as senior interns, "We are a small part of their process" of growth.
Carlton recently exhorted the senior interns with Ephesians 5:15-16, which
reads:
Look carefully then how you walk, not
as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil.
We are not promised tomorrow, or even the next breath. We're
leaving very soon. Whether Jesus comes back or the time arrives for us to leave
and go elsewhere, time is of the essence. My hope and prayer is that all of us
would have a mind set towards eternity in heaven, and that we would reflect
that in how we live. I pray that for you, me, the people God has placed in our
lives, and those at the ends of the earth. In Jesus' famous high priestly
prayer, he prayed, "I have glorified you on earth, having accomplished the
work that you gave me to do" (John 17:4). Let that be our prayer when our
time is up. Thanks be to God, and to Him be the glory forever!
"The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with
you. Amen." - 2 Timothy 4:22
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