I've had two weeks of my own programming now and couldn't be happier.
The nature of my position here gives me the ability to fully grasp and be fairly involved in every area of our ministry here in Houma. Each day i have the oppurtunity to go to our work sites, hang out with the house owners, shoot over to senetors circle and play with fifty urban kids then hang out with high schoolers for the rest of the night. Thats my job. Its incredible. I'm getting paid for this.
One of my favorite parts of the day is going to meet the owners of the houses my teams are working on. Most of these individuals are in very poverty stricken areas and its tough to see sometimes. However, each day I make my way up an old deck or to the front door of a trailer and shake hands with a new home owner. These broken individuals have spoken into my life in areas where college professors have failed. I"m learning so much about true, pure, relationally driven ministry. I feel as though until now all of thoughts and theories about ministry and the way it should be carried about has been just that, thoughts and theories. I've known for a long time that Christ centered ministry should be something that is relationally driven, not through aggressive abrasive words, but through showing unconditional love and people showing a better way through acts of love. the way Jesus did things.
Last week this all made sense to me.
two weeks ago we worked on a woman named Erika's house, she lives in a trailer that until last week had no pluming, was missing one window and was in horrible over all disrepair. When I met Ericka she explained to me that she lived in this 3 room trailer with her six children. Ericka is 28. I spoke with Ericka for about half and hour about her life, where I was from and what we were doing in the area. The next few days my work projects staff Scott brought teams out to her house and continued to help her with her house, it was rough the work was tough and one team commented that they had witnessed a drug deal go down at the house. The last day we were working there I went out to access what had been done and speak with Ericka again, as I said good bye Erika hugged me and I walked away knowing that no matter what happened from there we had given her Christ like love and I felt ok with that. A few days later Scott rushed up to me and told me that Ericka had grabbed him when he was working on the neighbors house and asked if we could give her a ride to church on Sunday and get her kids registered for vacation bible school. It was bone chilling. There was no pressure, there was no alterier motives, there was jsut pure unadulterated love, love for her, love for her community, love for her world. She saw something in that, and I look forward to sitting next to Ericka in church tomorrow.
Another facet of our ministry is our Kids Club. At kids club 50 or so urban 4-12 year olds get together, hear bible stories, sing songs, do crafts and play games outside. I generally selfishly show up only for outside games :). These kids are good for my soul. They are absolutely nuts and generally attention deprived. Long story short, they terrify all of the cute little subburban church groups for the first day but I love them. Last week a little boy fell during a pretty intense game of Mrs. Clocks. As I swept Zentrel up and brought him inside I began to realize that he had stopped crying and was clinging to me as if for dear life. I sat down maintaining my attachment and felt his soft black cheek laying against my shoulder, we stayed like this for about half an hour. It gave me time to think about Zentrel. Zentrel is one of the toughest five year olds I've ever met, and yet here he was off in the corner of the building laying completely vulnerable on my shoulder. then I began to realize, isent this what every one wants? To be able to be completely vulnerable to someone that will give you love. Zentrel come from a weird famil situation, he lives with his mom who works and her boy friend, I dont know how long he's been around and I'm fairly certain his fathers in jail. I began to feel more and more honered to be sitting with this affection starved boy who felt comfortable enought o let his gaurd down and rest for a little bit. I love Zentrel and i'm real scared for him.
Another example of this is Edward, I met Edward on a baseball field he had walked away from kids club during song time because it was boring, so I played ball with him for a while. Edward is about 12 and plays in a league, I told Edward I wanted to go see him play sometime. He was ecstatic but could'ent grasp why i would want to do that. I realized the treasure chest of wealth that i possessed as a kid with a father who rarely ever missed my baseball games even late into high school.
I could write for much longer about the every little interaction that I've been touched by, but that there is a snap shot of what I've been doing in the community. I'm loving it.
Grace and Peace
benjamin
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
bayou la batre
If there is one thing that I have learned during my time thus far about youthworks as an organization, it is the emphasis they put on training and properly equipping their employees for ministry. It is honestly somewhat exhaustive. We went through five days of training in Birmingham as an entire region, then did a prep week with just my team in houma, then went up to bayou la batre to work with the four teams in our area together and do an actual week of programming.
My time in the bayou was incredibly enjoyable. I was working with 15 other youth work staff members as apposed to the regular 3. So essentially we had four site directors, four work projects staff members, four kids club staff members and four program staff members. It was insane and somewhat chaotic, but i feel so much better about successfully completing a youthworks week at my site after doing it with all of them.
We were working with 56 youth from three different churches. On my first day my area director gave me instructions to pick up local kids for kids club. This task seemed nebulous and confusing to me at first, however, I followed instructions and what happened was incredible. I pulled my van and a church bus into a project looking apartment complex whare tons of Vietnamese children were running around. Because Youthworks has been in this area for so long many of these kids expect kids club each year and have either gone before or had siblings who have gone. As soon as I popped out with my Youthworks shirt and name tag we were bombarded by about 15 kids all eagerly awaiting to hop on that bus and head to kids club for the day, it was incredible. Moving on from the apartment complex with about 20 new 6-10 year old friends, we went on to a trailer park equally infested with children, they all also knew about kids club and hopped aboard our bus. All in all I think I picked up around 50 kids that day met with each of their parents most of whom lived in fema trailers.
As I was picking up these kids and visiting with their parents in their fema issued trailers so many thoughts began pouring through my head... whats going to happen to these kids when fema takes away the trailors in a few months? what kind of opportunities will they have? Will they stay in school? statistics say no. History says they will struggle to keep their head above water for the rest of their lives just like their parents and grandparents. Is it possible that these kids could be cycle breakers?
I spent the next several days overseeing work projects that were going on. We had three going on, each varying in the amount of work that needed to be done. I travled around to each of these sites and monitored progress, offered what help I could and spent some time with the families at each. I loved this job. It kept me moving, problem solving and building relationships all day long. The families were incredible to get to know, each had their own story and these stories just made everything so much more real.
I'd like to say that we finished every project, changed every kid at kids clubs life, left the community an excellent place for anyone to live and that every highschooler who worked with us this week now has a clear vision of what it is to be the hands and feet of God and pour out love onto communities like this one. I cant say that. What I can say is that we had a huge impact on about 56 students who saw for possible the first time in their lives what real poverty looks like and what it feels like to love them with actions. I can say that we had an impact on three families specifically who needed help and will continue to get help from the staff at bayou la batre. I can say that about fifty kids got to play four square with people who love them and care about their future, I can say that they saw positive role models and will continue to throughout the summer. It may not seem like much but they are small changes maybe they will lead to a bigger one.
I'm back in Houma now for another prep week, our first highschool group comes in exactly one week.
My time in the bayou was incredibly enjoyable. I was working with 15 other youth work staff members as apposed to the regular 3. So essentially we had four site directors, four work projects staff members, four kids club staff members and four program staff members. It was insane and somewhat chaotic, but i feel so much better about successfully completing a youthworks week at my site after doing it with all of them.
We were working with 56 youth from three different churches. On my first day my area director gave me instructions to pick up local kids for kids club. This task seemed nebulous and confusing to me at first, however, I followed instructions and what happened was incredible. I pulled my van and a church bus into a project looking apartment complex whare tons of Vietnamese children were running around. Because Youthworks has been in this area for so long many of these kids expect kids club each year and have either gone before or had siblings who have gone. As soon as I popped out with my Youthworks shirt and name tag we were bombarded by about 15 kids all eagerly awaiting to hop on that bus and head to kids club for the day, it was incredible. Moving on from the apartment complex with about 20 new 6-10 year old friends, we went on to a trailer park equally infested with children, they all also knew about kids club and hopped aboard our bus. All in all I think I picked up around 50 kids that day met with each of their parents most of whom lived in fema trailers.
As I was picking up these kids and visiting with their parents in their fema issued trailers so many thoughts began pouring through my head... whats going to happen to these kids when fema takes away the trailors in a few months? what kind of opportunities will they have? Will they stay in school? statistics say no. History says they will struggle to keep their head above water for the rest of their lives just like their parents and grandparents. Is it possible that these kids could be cycle breakers?
I spent the next several days overseeing work projects that were going on. We had three going on, each varying in the amount of work that needed to be done. I travled around to each of these sites and monitored progress, offered what help I could and spent some time with the families at each. I loved this job. It kept me moving, problem solving and building relationships all day long. The families were incredible to get to know, each had their own story and these stories just made everything so much more real.
I'd like to say that we finished every project, changed every kid at kids clubs life, left the community an excellent place for anyone to live and that every highschooler who worked with us this week now has a clear vision of what it is to be the hands and feet of God and pour out love onto communities like this one. I cant say that. What I can say is that we had a huge impact on about 56 students who saw for possible the first time in their lives what real poverty looks like and what it feels like to love them with actions. I can say that we had an impact on three families specifically who needed help and will continue to get help from the staff at bayou la batre. I can say that about fifty kids got to play four square with people who love them and care about their future, I can say that they saw positive role models and will continue to throughout the summer. It may not seem like much but they are small changes maybe they will lead to a bigger one.
I'm back in Houma now for another prep week, our first highschool group comes in exactly one week.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
things in the south...
its been three weeks.
three weeks split between Birmingham Alabama, Hoama Louisiana, and Bayou La Batre Alabama. my time in bermingham was pretty much filled with training sessions and team building so I really dident get to experience the culture much until arriving in hoama.
Upon arriving in however, the culture hit me like a brick wall. my staff and I stayed with a lovely family from the church that is hosting our programing during the week. They were happy to put Scott (my work projects staff) and I up in their friends trailer that was in their neighbors frount yard which was actually for sale. good times.
I spent most of the week in Hoama trying to get a feel for the area. After making about a hundred phone calls, meeting with about 9 pastors several government officials, and getting lost every other hour, I felt like I finally had an idea of what I was dealing with.
Hoama is one of the most diverse areas of the south, after Katrina the population went from around 20,000 to about 110,000, the area wasent hit as bad as others and many people moved this way because of that. This obviously created an issue.
The bayous are still filled with crabbers, shrimpers, fishers and their beat up boats. However, most of them have not been able to really do much in that area since katrina, they are also having to compete with foreign competition. Needless to say, the bayou area is incredibly impovrished as most of population is trying to count their losses in the industry and find a new way of life. Most of these people have been doing this since they dropped out of school at 12ish, as did their fathers and their grandfathers ect. This group of people is mostly Caucasian although one corner of shrimpers row (a stretch along th bayou) is African American, they keep to themselves, segregation is not only accepted in Hoama, it is expected.
About five miles down the highway from this shrimping community there is a native Americans population. Although they comprise about 10 percent of the population of Hoama, they are completely ignored by most. I spent a few hours talking to the native American representatives on the city council, whose presence on the coucel at all shows that forward progress is being made and he shed a lot of light on the Native American situation. They have actually made a lot of progress they were not allowed in schools until the 1970s. However, although progress is being made and the native Americans are beginning to be recognized by the government as a sizeable portion of the population of Hoama, there is a spirit of resentment that propogates among the people, they are bitter over previous generations and dont want to intermingle with the rest of Hoama, they want to stay in their corner, persecuted or not. The general attitude is that people are ok with that. 90 percent of Hoama would just as well pretend that the native Americans were not there at all.
Mean while on the other side of town... the influx of people coming into Hoama created projects. There is an area called senators circle whare housing projects have created an urban setting whare there is a lot of gang violence, drugs and abuse. After talking to a pastor in the area who is very involved I found out that nearly every house has a mother whose husband is in jail or on their way to jail. its really rough. the neighborhood has kids everywhare, the majority of these kids have awful family lives and like I said one of their parents is most likely missing or in prison. This area is pretty much totally African American.
As you can see Hoama is incredibly diverse. However, the diversity is entirely segregated. African Americans seem to have accepted a lower positions, in both a socio economical sense and a demographical sense, there is no fight between social classes because of this, but there is deffinient segregation. The three areas I talked about dont talk to each other at all.
I'll write more later about my time with 60 high schoolers in bayou la batre.
i'm picking up a southern drawl... i hate that.
three weeks split between Birmingham Alabama, Hoama Louisiana, and Bayou La Batre Alabama. my time in bermingham was pretty much filled with training sessions and team building so I really dident get to experience the culture much until arriving in hoama.
Upon arriving in however, the culture hit me like a brick wall. my staff and I stayed with a lovely family from the church that is hosting our programing during the week. They were happy to put Scott (my work projects staff) and I up in their friends trailer that was in their neighbors frount yard which was actually for sale. good times.
I spent most of the week in Hoama trying to get a feel for the area. After making about a hundred phone calls, meeting with about 9 pastors several government officials, and getting lost every other hour, I felt like I finally had an idea of what I was dealing with.
Hoama is one of the most diverse areas of the south, after Katrina the population went from around 20,000 to about 110,000, the area wasent hit as bad as others and many people moved this way because of that. This obviously created an issue.
The bayous are still filled with crabbers, shrimpers, fishers and their beat up boats. However, most of them have not been able to really do much in that area since katrina, they are also having to compete with foreign competition. Needless to say, the bayou area is incredibly impovrished as most of population is trying to count their losses in the industry and find a new way of life. Most of these people have been doing this since they dropped out of school at 12ish, as did their fathers and their grandfathers ect. This group of people is mostly Caucasian although one corner of shrimpers row (a stretch along th bayou) is African American, they keep to themselves, segregation is not only accepted in Hoama, it is expected.
About five miles down the highway from this shrimping community there is a native Americans population. Although they comprise about 10 percent of the population of Hoama, they are completely ignored by most. I spent a few hours talking to the native American representatives on the city council, whose presence on the coucel at all shows that forward progress is being made and he shed a lot of light on the Native American situation. They have actually made a lot of progress they were not allowed in schools until the 1970s. However, although progress is being made and the native Americans are beginning to be recognized by the government as a sizeable portion of the population of Hoama, there is a spirit of resentment that propogates among the people, they are bitter over previous generations and dont want to intermingle with the rest of Hoama, they want to stay in their corner, persecuted or not. The general attitude is that people are ok with that. 90 percent of Hoama would just as well pretend that the native Americans were not there at all.
Mean while on the other side of town... the influx of people coming into Hoama created projects. There is an area called senators circle whare housing projects have created an urban setting whare there is a lot of gang violence, drugs and abuse. After talking to a pastor in the area who is very involved I found out that nearly every house has a mother whose husband is in jail or on their way to jail. its really rough. the neighborhood has kids everywhare, the majority of these kids have awful family lives and like I said one of their parents is most likely missing or in prison. This area is pretty much totally African American.
As you can see Hoama is incredibly diverse. However, the diversity is entirely segregated. African Americans seem to have accepted a lower positions, in both a socio economical sense and a demographical sense, there is no fight between social classes because of this, but there is deffinient segregation. The three areas I talked about dont talk to each other at all.
I'll write more later about my time with 60 high schoolers in bayou la batre.
i'm picking up a southern drawl... i hate that.
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