roots.
We've been in Ohio for 2 weeks. Leaving today to head back to Winona Lake (for
CELS. You should come.) And personally I have been experiencing and learning something that, I think, connects to the idea of discipleship...
Some background for those of you who don't know me too well -- my mom is originally from Worthington, Ohio, so I grew up coming out here as a little girl. My grandma owns a home here that Stacie and I use as our 'home base' when we're in town. As I've gotten older, more and more of my college friends have settled in the Columbus area, and lots of Barnabas & Ambassador time in Columbus have allowed me to become very familiar with the area.
So this week I've been surrounded by friends. I've gotten to talk honestly about work, ministry, relationships, fears, excitement. I've laughed so much. I've had that safe, 'I belong here' feeling. I spent significant time with women, women close to my own age & women older than me, and I soaked that up. At one point I was standing with Kelly Coville and Tammy Nuzum, listening to them talk about speaking truth about relationships to high school students, and I honestly wished that conversation could go on forever--there is such wisdom and grace and experience in those women. I have so many questions I would love to ask them.
On top of that, there's a huge number of students here we know. Really well. Students we get to continue to invest in each time we're here.
I think
Mark said it best.
I have roots here. There are so many people I know and who know me. People who encourage and challenge and refresh me. It's community. It's what we're created for. And that's why it's so hard to leave. It''s hard to walk away from a place where I experience so the beauty of the body of Christ.
There are plenty of people who have the chance to be connected to community like this, and they choose not to. That kills me. Being here reminds me that discipleship and community aren't options--they are energizing, necessary, and life-breathing. Why would you want to pass something up that is so sweet?
(Don't believe me? Work a job where community is difficult because you're in a different place every 24 hours. Bet your tune will change.)
I'm hungry for these things. I'm thankful my job has taught me the necessity of these things. And I'm thankful that the Lord gave me one of the most refreshing weeks I've ever had. I'm asking him for more like this.
Labels: columbus, community, discipleship
discipleship in action
This morning Stacie & I went with 6 students (5 Barnabas alum and one of their disciples) to downtown Columbus to pass out food to homeless people.
Actually, the story starts yesterday -- a bunch of us were hanging out last night and went over to Starbucks to grab some coffee (Carolyn had gift cards and wanted to pay for everyone. So obviously we went.) After we all order, the guy behind the counter starts pulling out food -- muffins, bread, scones -- and asks if we want anything. Apparently once they've had food for a certain amount of time they can't sell it anymore. He said that they usually donate the food but right now they 'don't currently have a donation site' so they were just going to toss it if we didn't want it. So a few of us grab some things, and then it hits Stacie and I literally at the exact same moment and we jumped out of our chairs, "WE'RE GOING TO FEED HOMELESS PEOPLE TOMORROW MORNING! Can we take this stuff!?!' The guy got pretty excited and said sure, and that he'd wrap it up for us. At that point there were like 6 things left on these plates. Sweet. We'd add it to the stuff we bought the next day. Then he comes out from the back a few minutes later with 2 HUGE bags full of all kinds of stuff wrapped up. I mean, at least 60 different things. It was an incredible blessing. We were all so pumped.
So this morning we meet up and head downtown to a soup kitchen/homeless shelter that one of the guys with us volunteers at (and that Barnabas team had been to this summer). We saw some volunteers outside, but that was about it. A couple of us talked to the guy who seemed to be in charge and he said that Monday-Friday there are over a hundred homeless people just all over the street. Too bad for us it's Saturday.
We talked it over, made a couple calls, and headed to another area of downtown where we parked & walked the streets with our Starbucks goodies. The Lord brought us across 4 different homeless people -- we had the chance to have spiritual conversations with 3 of them, really get into sharing the gospel with one. None were super responsive (to be honest, a couple were pretty wasted), but we walked away feeling excited. Excited that we had been obedient to feed 'the least of these' (Matt 25.40) and to share the good news of the gospel (Romans 10.13-15)
This is discipleship in action. Giving students the chance to stretch outside of their comfort zone and be involved in ACTIVE MINISTRY.
Discipleship should develop
character,
biblical understanding, and
ministry skills.
What are you doing with your students? How are you developing their ministry skills?
Labels: columbus, discipleship, homeless, ministry skills, starbucks
