Preparations, Plans, and Prayer
by Drew Salada

The third week of the internship is in the books, and we're now ready for the high school students that we're working with (the junior interns) to start coming!  It was a busy week to say the least, as all of the senior interns were working hard to prepare the programming for this summer.  Here are some of the details about the stuff that we will be doing with the junior interns throughout the summer.

     Every morning we will have the opportunity to spend time with our "huddle groups" - a couple senior interns plus six to ten junior interns, single-gender - so that we can pray for each other, go over Biblical devotionals, and otherwise just connect and fellowship.

     On Monday afternoons, we will participate in what we call "Super Mondays," where the junior interns lead a Sunday school-type lesson for children in local apartment complexes.  This takes the form of games, music, Bible story skits, Scripture memorization, and small group sessions.  What a great way to reach out further into the community, while also giving the junior interns the leadership responsibility!  I'm so excited to get going with Super Mondays.

      Tuesday afternoons will be field trip days . . . I don't know exactly where we will be going each week, but they will be both fun and informational!  Rumor has it a trip to Texas A&M is in the works (WHOOP).

     Wednesday afternoons will be our service days.  We are partnering with eight (!) different ministries in the West Dallas area to serve and bless them however we can.  Part of the mission of Mercy Street is to equip the young people of West Dallas to lead Biblically.  Such a huge component of Biblical leadership is servanthood.  Wednesday service days actively equip the junior interns to humbly serve and lead in the community, following in the example of Christ.  Mark 10:45 says: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  My prayer is that the junior interns would take this lesson to heart through their service on Wednesdays, giving themselves sacrificially to the ministries they serve with.

     Thursdays are dedicated to theology.  Part of raising up a generation of Biblical leaders is heightening their Biblical theology.  We believe that it is so very important that the junior interns experience this time, for if they serve and lead, but do not understand why they are serving and leading, than how can they consciously glorify God?  How can Christ's name be made known?  Colossians 3:23 makes this absolutely transparent: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."  Our time this summer must be for the Lord, not merely service "just because" - and it is of the utmost importance that the junior interns learn this and connect with God.

     On Fridays, the junior interns do not come to Mercy Street.  It is a short day for the senior interns as well, a time for us to fellowship and spend time with the Lord, make plans for the following week, and meet with our supervisors to pray together.

     Whew.  That's a rough idea of what our weeks will look like.  Long days are ahead to be certain, but I couldn't be more excited.  We will be stretched, we will be worn out, and we will be drained, but in everything we will fix our eyes on Christ and run the good race (Isaiah 41:10 is optimistic).

Until next time, God Bless!

Drumroll…. Introducing the 2014 Senior Interns!

(Not pictured: Laura, Rachel, and Tim)

Drew Salada

My name is Drew Salada, and I am a twenty year-old college student at Texas A&M University.  I was born and raised in Michigan, but I loved Texas so much that I had to come for school!  This summer at Mercy Street, I will specifically be the service coordinator, responsible for overseeing the Wednesday service days at various local non-profits and ministries.  I’m so excited for what God has in store for everyone at Mercy Street, and I’m happy that we’re getting going!

Taylor Hatfield

Hi! I'm Taylor Hatfield, a recent graduate of Texas A&M University - Whoop! I studied Marketing and Non-profit management and am hoping to work with young women in discipleship. I am a born and raised Texan and grew up in The Woodlands. So as I enter into this summer in West Dallas I am super excited to be exposed to the community and lifestyle here, which is quite different from the background I grew up in. I will be the administrative assistant this summer and handling all the grimy behind the scene details which I am actually quite excited about! I also cannot wait to dive into the lives of the families and students here in West Dallas and to be so deeply involved in discipleship and in living life with our students. We are all expectant of the Lord to do the immeasurable this summer and come willing to be used in whatever ways He asks of us!

Chelsea Boyd

Hey! My name is Chelsea Boyd. I'm originally from Oklahoma City. I just graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in education. I also recently got engaged and will be getting married next year. My fiancé is a student at OSU, so I'll be moving to Oklahoma in the fall and teaching 6th grade math in Guthrie, OK. I am so excited to be learning and serving at Mercy Street this summer! I want to learn about loving the people where you live and invest my life this summer in some of the students and families of this community. Stay tuned as we keep this blog updated with stories of God's faithfulness!

Noemi Gonzalez

Hello everyone! My name is Noemi Gonzalez and I am from Houston, Texas. I attend the University of Houston and will be a junior in the fall. Go Coogs! I am a Human Development and Family Studies major. I am interning at Mercy Street this summer and am the social media coordinator. I am so happy that God graciously gave me this opportunity and that I am able to serve Him in this way. I am excited to embark on this journey of spiritual growth and serving in the inner city. Hopefully this experience will allow me to see the plans God has for my future.

Brittany Blomstedt

Hey y’all! My name is Brittany Blomstedt. I was born in The Woodlands, TX, but grew up in College Station, TX. I just graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Elementary Education. Starting this August, I will be a 2nd grade teacher at Greens Prairie Elementary School in College Station. I am so thrilled to be at Mercy Street this summer! Here at Mercy Street I will be serving as the Super Monday’s Coordinator. Basically I will be overseeing all 4 of the sites where our outreach children’s ministry will take place. I am so excited to be living in the community of West Dallas this summer as I believe this is a community where the Lord is most definitely at work! I can’t wait to learn from the Mercy Street staff, the other interns, the children, and the families as we dive into life together! I know God has big, big things in store!

Laura Alcantar

Hello! My name is Laura Alcantar and I am a student at El Centro Junior college in Down Town Dallas. I am studying to get my associates in science to later transfer to a four year university and get my bachelors in Biology. I am from West Dallas and this is my third year as an intern at Mercy Street and first as a Senior Intern. I will be a site leader at Lakeview apartments. I am so excited to play a role as a leader this summer for the girls in my community and can't wait to see what The Lord has in store for us!

Susanna Carlson

Hi everyone! My name is Susanna Carlson and I am a junior studying elementary education at Texas A&M University. I am a Dallas native and so excited to be spending my summer here in West Dallas. Specifically within my role as a Sr. Intern, I will be coordinating the Leadership Institute's garage sale (scheduled for August 2nd - mark your calendars!). During this summer I hope to learn more about what urban ministry looks like, lead the Jr. Interns to wholeheartedly pursue Christ, and above all, bring glory to my Lord.  I am looking forward to the coming weeks and cannot wait to see what God has planned!

Rachel Anderson

Hi my name is Rachel Anderson, I am twenty years old and from Northern Ireland where I am completing a theology degree in the Irish Baptist Bible college. This summer I will be a Senior Intern at Mercy Street with the hope to empower and train up young people from the community to become Godly leaders who lovingly serve The Lord in West Dallas. I will also be a site leader at King Bridge, which includes the overseeing of various activities, and programs that will occur in that area.

So far I have learnt a lot in my adventure to Mercy Street. God is using ordinary people to do extraordinary things through simple acts of selfless love. I have been so inspired by the love that Mercy Street has for it's community and to have been given the chance to be apart of their lives has so far been an amazing, refreshing experience. TRULY pumped to see how our wonderful God will use His people, this summer to glorify His name!

Stephen Painter

"You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37b-39 ESV). As a Mercy Street senior intern and, more importantly, an ambassador for Christ, Jesus just gave me, Stephen Painter, my #1  and #2 goals for this summer. Thankfully, by God's grace, I am a 19 year old from Tomball Texas who has been brought up immersed in the Scriptures, given a broken heart to serve God faithfully at the age of 15, given the opportunity to serve God as a Communication major at Texas A&M University, and given the awesome privilege of serving Him here in West Dallas with Mercy Street this summer. Lord willing, my work here will consist of primarily discipling junior interns (high school disciples from the area) and coordinating a summer program for children at Villa Creek Apartments right here at our doorstep. This opportunity is one that I am eternally grateful for and would appreciate prayer over. God's plan is unfolding and I can't thank Him enough for the part He has given us in that! To Him be the glory forever and ever!

Timothy Thomas

Hello! My name is Tim and I am a first year student at CFNI. I am from West Dallas born and raised in the community. This will be my fourth year working with Mercy Street during the summer, but my first year working as a senior intern. I am currently completing my Associate Degree at El Centro while also earning my degree in Inner City Youth Ministry. This summer I am the site coordinator for The Hampton apartment complex. I am super excited to be a leader and to invest in younger adults as Mercy Street has done for me. The Lord is doing great things in our community this summer and  I have front row seats! Until next "Peace on the Middle East!"

A Long Road Rewarded by Estefania Alcantar

My name is Estefania Alcantar, I am 23 years old born in Morelia, Michoacán Mexico and raised in West Dallas. I attended Eladio R. Martinez Elementary School, Thomas A. Edison Middle School, L.G. Pinkston High School and Texas A&M University.  

College was one of the most challenging experiences for me. I thought I was ready for college since I was an “A and B” honor roll student all my life and graduated salutatorian from L.G. Pinkston High School in 2009.

Fall 2009 was my first semester at Texas A&M University. I was enrolled in 18 credit hours and enrolled in the Corps of Cadets, senior military program. The Corps advisor advised me to drop one class, so I took her advice and dropped one class. I started my first day of classes with 15 credit hours, no books and no friends. I did not have books because I did not have money to pay for them and none of my high school friends went to Texas A&M University.

My first year in college was one of the worst years in my college career, but it was also one of the best years. I remember calling my Dad crying because I had made my first “F” something I was not used to. He told me to be strong and to not give up. I learned that I had to work really hard if I wanted to reach my goals and if I wanted to serve as a role model for the younger generation.  

I finished my first semester with a 1.727 GPA, something I was very disappointed about. When I came home that winter break I was told to consider leaving A&M and to attend community college in Dallas. Even though this seemed like the best thing to do, I refused because I like to finish what I start.

Mercy Street hooked me up with ScholarShot who helped me pay for books and who provided me with a laptop. Because of the books, laptop and most importantly the support from Mercy Street, ScholarShot, family and friends I finished my second semester with a 3.333 GPA. After my freshman year there was no stopping me.  I made sure that every time I came home I had good news and that I exceeded peoples expectation of me. I always felt pressured because I was the first person in my entire family to attend a four year University and I did not want to disappoint my family, and all those who supported me during this journey of ups and downs.

I will graduate from Texas A&M University on May 10, 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Development and a minor in Business Administration. Before graduation one of the requirements for my degree was to intern for a company doing something in my career field. Mercy Street helped me find an internship with Austin Bridge & Road were I interned with the Human Resource Department.

There was no hope of them offering me a full-time job because they had recently hired someone and there were no openings. I prayed that I would find a full- time job before my internship was over.

In early April, the Human Resource Director told me about a possible position but nothing was set. On April 22, 2014 I was surprised for lunch at Texas Cattle where I was offered a full-time position from Austin Commercial. I accepted the offer and will start full-time May 12, 2014, the Monday after graduation.

I feel EXTREMELY BLESSED that God has never left my side and that he continues to bless me every single day. Every day, I ask God to guide me in the direction he wants me to go even if that is not what I had in mind. I am excited to start this new journey in my life and I ask everyone to continue to keep me in their prayers.   

The Beginnings of a Future Story

Kevin wants to be a policeman, however like most kids he needs to take school a little more seriously.

My nephew Aaron is a police office at Mesquite Police Department and we joined him at the opening of his shift a few Saturdays ago...

Aaron explained what it takes to become a police officer including school and college requirements.

We started by touring through police headquarters, this included observing the 911 department and meeting some of the 911 and dispatch agents.  They explained the technology of the equipment they use to receive calls and how that ultimately ends up at a police car in the city.  They also showed us how they map all the police cars in the city and can track their whereabouts.  Then we toured the locker rooms and showers, weight rooms and police work stations where reports are prepared.  The inside tour concluded with sitting in on the shift debriefing where the shift commander debriefs the police officers on things to be aware of and suspect profiles.  After that we participated in the pre-checks of the police car and equipment.  This included checking lights and sirens, logging onto the in-car computer and set up, and weapon checks.

It was a lot of fun, and both Kevin and I enjoyed it.  

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives growth." 1 Corinthians 3:7

A Redemptive Imagination by Julie Rodgers

We were thrilled to have over 50 mentors at our recent Mentor Enrichment, where Garrett Smith, our Director of Mentoring, encouraged us to have a redemptive imagination regarding how God will move in the lives of our students. He gave a word from the book of Hebrews that challenged us to have hope in Christ even when immediate circumstances seem hopeless, and to anticipate God showing up and surprising us in unexpected ways.

After we shared a meal and prayed for our students---for a biblical imagination to explode inside us all---we split up into smaller groups to share stories and wrestle together with questions about mentoring. Moving stories of mutual transformation were shared. Stories about families opening their homes, building trust between parents and mentors who work together to help children flourish. There were stories about kids and mentors exploring their gifts together, with one mentor showing us the purse she made with her mentee as they explored her student's passion for fashion. Among all the stories of quiet students beginning to finally open up, with small gestures of gratitude showing growth was occurring in students, a number of stories were along the lines of one shared by a mentor that went something like this: 

I guess what's really impacted me has been entering into a new world that's so far outside of my old bubble. I mean, life has happened to my mentee, and I don't really know what to say or do---I can't fix it---but I can just be there with him when life happens. I feel like it's totally changed me in the process, and I almost can't relate to people from my old bubble anymore because my mentee's world has blown open the small view of the world I used to have. My relationship with him, and my experience at Mercy Street, has changed my relationship with the Lord and made me sensitive to so many challenges that I hadn't previously been exposed to. It's made me so much more dependent on the Lord, and I feel like God led me into my student's life to change me in the process.

The whole room nodded in agreement, with several "Amen" and "Me Too!" words of solidarity thrown in the mix. Everyone walked away feeling encouraged, not because we found all the answers to solve the problems, but because we remembered together that God is at work in the mutually transforming relationships forming in West Dallas.

Blue by Trey Hill

My wife was driving the kids home from school trying to beat the coming ice storm. On the way, she spotted a stray dog in an empty lot near our home. Now there are lot of strays in the neighborhood and this one seemed out of place--it was statelier and obviously once had on a collar by the way the fur lay around the neck. She stopped to get him out of the coming storm. He was a little timid and wouldn’t get in the car; so Graham, my youngest son, walked him home the last ½ mile.

The plan was to keep him one night, find his owner and return him or take him to the SPCA. But “Icemageddon” hit and we were iced in for a few days.

Well, Blue, that’s what I started calling him, is a very handsome and sweet dog. I am not normally a fan of Pit Bulls or Pit mixes, but Blue was part Labrador Retriever. (See, I have always been a Lab guy. But somehow Melissa convinced me to get a Labradoodle when Samson our loveable, giant Lab died a few years back. Then, even worse, my precious daughter Olivia only wanted a teacup Maltipoo for Christmas two years ago. After emphatic “No’s!” for months, I finally broke on Christmas eve day and drove to Cleburne to buy a happy accident between a toy poodle and a Maltese. Single worst decision of my life. But I digress. Suffice it so say, I am a bit embarrassed to have more Poodle in my house than Lab.)

So long story short, Blue was my chance to reclaim my man card. He was block-headed and gun-metal grey. He was a manly dog, and I took a liking to him and he took a liking to me. (And he was part Lab. So between my Labradoodle and my Pitador I had one full Lab again.) When I found out that Blue did not have a microchip and no one had posted “Lost Dog” signs online or in the neighborhood, I kept him.

Why am I telling you all this? Because on Christmas day Blue became my teacher.

Being a stray, Blue liked to wander. On occasion he would bolt out the front door and refuse to come when called. He usually wandered for an hour or so and made his way home. On Christmas day he escaped as we were going to see a movie. After trying to coax him back inside with treats to no avail, we finally had to go. We expected him to be waiting at the front door when we returned. But he wasn’t. Melissa and I took turns driving around the neighborhood looking for him. No luck. He was gone, and I was sad.

At about 11 pm, after we got the kids to bed, Scout the Labradoodle started half-barking by the front door. I went to see why she was barking. When I opened the door there was Blue, bloody, filthy and exhausted. He nearly collapsed when he came in the door. He had been attacked by some neighborhood dogs. Not all dogs play quite as nice as his Poodle-mix house mates. After cleaning him up as best we could that night, I took him to the vet the next day to get him stitched up and thoroughly checked out. He was pretty beat up, but he was going to be fine.

I felt like screaming at him for his foolish, wandering ways. I mean didn’t he realize how good he has it at our house—two meals a day, warm spot to sleep next to my bed, plenty of love. Then it hit me.

I am Blue.

I have been adopted into an eternal family, literally plucked out by my Heavenly Father.  I have been given “all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3) and promised an eternal inheritance sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13,14) I am completely safe when I am abiding in Jesus. Yet, I am prone to wander too. 

It makes no sense, but I try and find happiness and fulfilment in things other than Jesus. For me, it is the praise of man (which is fickle and fleeting) and sometimes the pursuit of ease and comfort (which ensures you are not considering the interests of others ahead of your own and acts as an antiseptic to real life). I always end up wearied and beaten in the end.

If you are anything like me, you are like Blue too. Your wanderings may be different but you wander from time to time. My prayer this year is that I will know more deeply the love of my Father and that all his promises are true. I pray my heart will wander less and abide more. I pray:

“O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.”

(Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)

Pursuing Oneness in Christ by Trey Hill

Recently we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.   Almost five years later, in 1968, as Dr. King preached at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, he uttered these now-famous words, “We must face the sad fact that 11 o’clock on Sunday morning… is the most segregated hour in America.” So here were are some 45 years later, and though great progress has been made regarding racial equality, the church remains a racially and economically divided institution. Dr. King’s statement rings as true today as when he said it. The question is, does it really matter? I mean, what is wrong with a segregated church?  Isn’t that really just a “social” issue? Here are a few verses from John 17, Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, that I think begin to give answer to that question. “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given me, for they are yours. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me that they may be one, even as We are one (John 17:9-11)” “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” (John 17:20-23). This prayer is part of a larger block of the book of John where Jesus is preparing His disciples for His death and departure. Here Christ prays that His people (that is, you and I and all Christians today), would be one like He and the Father are one. The result of that oneness provides both proof to the world that Jesus is who He said He was and glory to God. However, it seems like the contemporary church has pursued a path of sameness rather than oneness.  Sameness seeks out only those who look like them and those who like the same things. Oneness pursues and celebrates unity in diversity.  The model of that kind of oneness is rooted in the Godhead. The beautiful mystery of the Trinity is in view here as Jesus prays that God’s people would be perfectly unified, like Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even though there are distinctions in the Persons of the Trinity. (We are not Modalists who believe God just “appears” in different forms.)  It is that kind of unity that we are called to display to the world, in all our differences, in order for God to be most magnified. Unfortunately, too often we put our preference in the place of preeminence. We argue for a particular worship style or dress code rather than allowing Christ to be the head of the Church and creating a place that folks from “every tribe tongue and nation” feel loved and welcomed. It is only by having the mind of Christ and the power of the Spirit that one can “do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit but rather in humility consider others more important than yourself.” (Phil. 2:3) If we are considering others interests as more significant than our own, then the things that tend to divide us no longer will because we are setting aside our preferences for something far greater—the unity God calls us to. When we do this, Christ is being made preeminent in all things (Col. 1:18). This type of unity is a visual testimony to the reality of God’s love. Unity, according to Jesus, has a powerful apologetic impact on the world—an impact far beyond words. When the world sees God’s people operating in unity, then they “may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.” (v. 23) We know upon Christ’s return that we will be joined in worship with a throng of people who reflect the beautiful tapestry of color and culture that God has created. Perhaps we should begin practicing now so that our witness to the world is authenticated by what they see—a church united across racial and economic lines—and not just what they hear. The “Jim Crow” laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in 1954. “Separate but equal” was untenable in the eyes of the law. A separate but equal church is surely untenable in the eyes of God. Not only is it a sad fact that the church remains divided, it is contrary to God’s design. As long as the church remains divided along racial and economic lines our prophetic witness to the world is weakened and the apologetic nature the church is supposed to pronounce is muted. Dr. King wrote in Letter from Birmingham Jail: So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent—and often even vocal—sanction of things as they are. In light of recent events in the news highlighting the racial divide in our country, the world desperately needs the church to recapture her prophetic voice by “breaking down the walls of hostility” (Eph. 2:14) that divide us so that the average community is not consoled by the church’s silence but startled by her Spirit-led, God-glorifying unity. It is time for us to speak boldly—in word and deed.