Learning My Role

by Chelsea Boyd

As I'm writing this I can't really believe that it's true--there is LESS THAN A MONTH left of the internship. Three (ish) weeks people! The last couple of weeks have been quite a journey, and I'm excited to sort through my thoughts as I tell you guys about it.

I have an amazing group of young women in my "huddle group". I mean, they are amazing. They are all extremely respectful and receptive to the truth of the Word. They want to learn, which I think is the coolest part about them. There have been some lessons I've learned that have been hard, though.

I've grown to have a heavy burden for these girls and for West Dallas. All around them are temptations of life and the world is attractive to them! This is true for any high school student, not just ones from the 'hood. I will say that worldly lifestyles are less secret around here, though, which makes the temptation greater for these students. Many of them are trying to figure out their faith and what Christianity is all about, and I can tell that many of them have one foot in the world and one foot out of the world. The attractiveness of living a selfish life is waving in front of their eyes and they are having to make the hard decision of who they are going to let be the boss of their life: themselves or Jesus. I have seen evidence of this "one foot in, one foot out" thing in so many of the junior interns, and it deeply saddens my heart. Because I know peace! I know the beauty and joy and security and fullness that come with a life lived under Christ, and I desperately want them to. I want them to get that Jesus is better. It sounds so cliché, but he truly is. All of the other things we chase don’t satisfy. I've seen so many others, including myself, have to learn this lesson the hard way; I want them to learn it now and follow them with their whole lives! I've also felt really burdened by sin in general, and how deeply it plagues our lives, our families, and our world. What a jubilant day it will be when Jesus comes back and makes everything new!

While this burden is a good thing, I think I have taken it too far in some cases. If I am ever in a circumstance where a student might think I'm lame, it's really tempting for me to freak out and think that I just made Jesus less attractive to them. I literally said the words one time, "I want them to know Jesus SO badly, and I feel like that won't happen if they don't like me." How ridiculous! I have learned a major lesson through this. Ready? We don't save anyone. We can't! It's the Holy Spirit's work. HE turns hearts toward himself and HE redeems and HE is the one who shows himself to them so that the world is less attractive to them! It's not our burden to bear. Philippians says that it is GOD who works in you to will and to work according to his good purpose. It doesn't say that your amazing senior intern that you had that one summer works in you. HE does. The Holy Spirit is the one who did that work in me and in every other person on the earth who has ever believed in him; how silly to think that I could do the work in these young people! It's my job to be the broken vessel and to carry out the good works he has prepared for me to do and to trust Him with the rest.

 

I'd really appreciate your prayers as we continue with the work this summer. Please pray that myself and the other senior interns will know how to further challenge the students into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Pray that we will love them fervently and with wisdom and peace. Join me in praying that the junior interns' hearts are softened to the truth and that the Lord reveals himself to them in a mighty way, so that they see his goodness and have NO other options but to follow him with all of themselves. Just a side note: these students are SO funny and fun to be around! They crack me up all the time; I wish each of you could make the trip to Mercy Street to meet them. There's no other way I could imagine doing my summer. SO thankful that God put me here.

Confessions of a Senior Intern

By Tim Thomas

History “His-tory”

He was sent on mission from one who is the cause of all creation. He was not accepted but rejected by many and only approved by some. So they charged and processed his death. As they prepared him to be whipped and lashed all I thought was why? How could they do this to the son of the one most high! Lash after lash whip after whip they beat him until blood ran down his spine like a stream. I wondered. I cried. If I could only reach him. Touch him. Heal his wounds. Would the pain go away? Would I be able to heal his wounds? They dragged his ripped up body to a cell and hammered a cross of thorns into his head! He was tortured and forced to carry his own cross! Beaten for moving slow and stoned for his claim to be the Messiah! I thought why? How could they do this to the son of the one most high! If only I could stretch out my hands to help! To ease the pain. To carry the cross! Only if I was there. Upon the mountain top where the sun set there he was crucified! How? Why? Why couldn’t I be the one to help him? Because he did it for me and my sins. He died for our sins. It was an exchange to make our relationship and connect to God the father whole! But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:8-11) As this carved a new beginning in history heaven rejoiced for we were made friends of God! I was craved in history. We were carved in history! He died for us to save us from the wrath of God! This is why I say I am History! I am His-tory!

Father to the Fatherless

by Stephen Painter

Try to imagine growing up fatherless. I can't. It's something that I've taken for granted for almost twenty years. I don't know your story, but I do know that almost every junior intern in the program has never experienced a father. Let me clarify. Many know or have heard of their biological fathers, but I could count on one hand the number I've met who have grown up with one that legitimately cares, protects, provides, and leads them. I see in them a missing piece I've never had to live without. This reality struck me like a knife to the heart today in our huddle group time.

            Studying different characteristics of God in pursuit of learning how to adore and worship Him, I noticed "Abba" on our list of options. As if I'd found gold, I immediately pointed it out and began to ask them about it. The passage provided was Romans 8:15:

For you did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

After noting that this was a call out to God as a dad, one intern asked, "What does that mean to me?" Another intern then recalled a story of his father returning from prison and him asking his father, "Why do I need you?" His mom had been the provider and he wondered what his dad could do that his mom didn't already have under control. At this point, I was able to describe the personal relationship that I've had with my father growing up. I emphasized what he emphasized to me when raising me: faith, wisdom, integrity, love, proper treatment of women, giving, and a servant-heart. Recognizing that every dad is imperfect, whether he's there or not, we were able to convey God as The Father who lovingly created them with inherent worth. Psalms 139:13-14 paint a beautiful picture of this. He is the Father they need. He is the Father to the fatherless.

            Before closing, I'd like to note that being fatherless is not their only obstacle. I point it out because I perceive it to be one of the hardest to overcome. Please be praying that God would use the discipleship of this summer to sanctify and transform the hearts of us (the senior interns), the junior interns especially, and those that we are ministering to. Thank you for your affection and prayer!

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

In Christ,

Stephen

To Change A Life - by Caitlin McCoy

There is something about listening to students share their passion for the Gospel that sparks a flame in my heart. I sat down with the Mercy Street junior and senior summer interns and walked away feeling so encouraged to be a part of the body of Christ. These high school and college students are sacrificing their summer time to pour their hearts into West Dallas; though after hearing their stories, it sounds like West Dallas is also pouring into them.

They began the summer with training ranging from the background of West Dallas, to bible methodology, to how to share their story and God’s story in less than three minutes.  From there, they began spending time with the kiddos of Mercy Street in bible studies, games, and lessons. During one of the bible studies an intern asked a group of young kids to say one thing they know about Jesus; they chuckled at the sweet answer given by one child, “Jesus loves me, and Jesus puts me in time out when I’m being bad.”

After that, every single child in the room wanted to share something about Jesus. “They are all hungry and want to know more about Him. They just want someone to teach them. And I’ll be honest; I came in with a ‘hero complex’ thinking I was going to save these kids. But Jesus is already here, I’m just here to love them and help them understand who He is” said an intern.

One thing I love about this internship program is that they don’t go to their own homes when the day is over. They stay in West Dallas and live in host homes. “Living in a host home has completely changed my heart. It’s really pumped me up for serving the inner-city and has opened my eyes to so much more.”

“After living here, I don’t want to live anywhere else,” said another. “Living out of my comfort zone and living to serve others is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Living in West Dallas has changed my perception of these wonderful people and has shown me that we really aren’t that different from each other.”

Excitement and passion overflowed from each answer they gave to my questions. They didn’t seem exhausted from their work, but refreshed from the love and openness they are receiving from the West Dallas community. I could tell that this wasn’t going to be some fleeting internship that would soon be forgotten after summer passed, but a life changing experience that will prepare them for greater things in their future.

Walking with the kids every day. Living in their community. Understanding their pain and laughing with them in their joys. This is how Jesus lived on earth. He created relationships with His disciples and walked with all peoples. He did not put Himself on a pedestal, separated from His sheep. He lived with them and poured His life into theirs.

As we wrapped up our time together, one young man said, “Twelve weeks is just a glimpse of what it takes to truly understand the spiritual and physical needs of a community. Though, I can still invest in these kids in the time that I have here.”

Train up a child the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6

To read more of Caitlin's work find it here: http://undeservingandflawed.blogspot.com/

True Freedom

by Susanna Carlson

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Since today is a national holiday, I’ll try to keep it short and sweet.

            While at Mercy Street, I have found myself being reminded both of the sheer beauty of the Gospel and the freedom that Christ’s salvation can bring. During Super Mondays, the neighborhood outreach program, the Jr. Interns teach a memory verse. For the past three weeks they have taught 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has past away; behold, the new has come.”

What a beautiful promise! What freedom! Because of our salvation in Christ, our old selves have been crucified, we are new creations. We are slaves to sin no longer, freed through the salvation of the Son. Paul is echoing Jesus’s teaching in John 8:34-36:“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

            Americans like to consider July Fourth and the USA as the “birthplace of freedom” but I think freedom began much earlier. True freedom was born in an empty tomb on a Sunday over 2,000 years ago where Christ Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death once and for all. Praise be to him! We are free indeed.