Things Unseen

First of all, I'm sorry that I've waited so long to blog. 1) Because some of you commented that you would have liked me to blog more often when I was in Nicaragua last year, and 2) because now I have way to much to say for this one post!


This past week has been great and blessed and challenging in a lot of ways. This past weekend was our first in KC and the staff wanted us to see some of the city. On Saturday, after some much needed sleep-in time, we headed to a Christian Indie Craft Fair in Johnson County and then to Loose Park downtown for Frisbee and reading, finishing off the day with We Bought a Zoo from the Red Box.


Sunday morning we attended Beggars Table Church in downtown -- it's a church that doubles as an art gallery!  We were warmly welcomed into the small, young congregation and we worshiped with them in the midst of paintings by Clint Metcalf. It was really a beautiful, refreshing morning. I've put the link to the church and artist on the left.


Then this week we settled even more into our schedules and into each other's company. As the only Dordt student doing the internship, I was expecting it to take a while to be really connected to all the Central students, but I feel like I've know them for much longer than two weeks. I was the only girl at Ryan's house one night and Ryan, the director, asked me if I had hung out with guys a lot. He totally read me on that, cause I was a little unsure of what to do with myself as the only girl there. But then I was able to talk about that with some of the girls, and I'm excited about learning more about just sharing and relating to guys, That's just one example of the kind of community we have -- very honest and challenging and caring.


Besides getting to know the other interns better, I've gotten way more comfortable at Hope Faith this past week. All of the interns were working at Hope Faith this week because the other volunteer site, Kansas City Urban Youth, doesn't begin until Monday. By the end of this week, almost all the interns and staff recognized Jodie, Sean, and I, who had been working there everyday. It's so encouraging to be met with recognition and enthusiasm, even if they only know us as Yahoo 1, Yahoo 2, and Nancy (Sean is Nancy, of course). Some of the work we've done there this week includes arranging furniture in their newest transitional house, washing and oiling the woodwork in that house, organizing donations in the warehouse, working in the new community garden, and serving food in the kitchen. I love working with the other interns and getting to know them better, but my favorite part of Hope Faith is the interaction we have with the clients. On Thursdays we attend their 10 o'clock service called Word on the Street. The talent among the clients and staff is phenomenal! Every week, Mark leads worship -- gospel-style. Ladies are shouting and playing tambourines -- they're sold out for Jesus! This week, one of the men who works in the kitchen got up and did two original raps for us. He was a huge black guy, and it was so cool to hear God's word and truth expressed so poetically and in a way that really connected to the clients there.


Fridays at Hope Faith what Jim, our supervisor, calls our "Ministry Days." We go to morning devotions and then kinda hang out in the fellowship halls, building relationships with clients and being available for prayer. Praise God! He had a lot of work for us to do yesterday! Patsty and Sean spent almost two hours listening to the story of a young man about our age. He told of his broken past -- abuse, drugs, two kids with his girl friend, prison, prescription drug abuse -- and of his current despair. He was really struck by the happiness the Patsy and Sean and wanted what they had. They prayed for him, and then he decided he wanted to pray for himself. It was his first prayer ever, and in he asked God to take his addiction and fix his life. Afterward, he said that he felt as if a weight had been taken from his shoulders. I met him at lunch, and there's no way that I could have guessed the despair he had felt earlier by looking at him then. It was so awesome to see the way God had provided Patsy and Sean to give this man what he had been looking for -- hope and a new start.

I also had an eventful day at Hope Faith Friday. I talked for about an hour with a young woman named Marina, who has beautiful eyes and wild curly hair. She has a very broken past and is living on the streets now. She has some sort of mental illness, but is very sweet and soft-spoken. I sat down next to her and we started talking about God and faith. Marina has a sincere faith in Christ, but there were some parts of her theology that were skewed, and as she talked and talked and talked, I became more and more overwhelmed. How was I supposed to respond to all that hurt and bitterness and truth and falsehood and conviction? Eventually I excused myself and just stood in the bathroom for a while, settling my heart and praying for guidance. I returned to the group and Heidi prayed for me too. One of the Hope Faith staff soon came up and asked me to pray for someone else, which was a blessing -- I was able to pray truth and life and God's love over another woman. But for the rest of the day I was physically drained and a bit preoccupied by what had happened that morning. The conversation and prayer I was a part of, combined with Patsy and Sean's experience really opened my eyes to the reality that Hope Faith is a spiritual battlefield. Brokenness and pain are not hidden there, but neither are love and freedom of Christ. These two realms are in a struggle for the allegiance of the people there, and as warriors of Christ, we must be aware that we are entering that battle. Our King is going to win the battle, but we're still called to fight it! Thank goodness that we're are told never to fight in our own strength! That was another lesson of the day -- sometimes we minister by listening and praying, and we have to let go and trust God to work out the rest.

Once again, there's more to tell you all!! I don't want this blog to just be a play-by-play of my schedule; I want it to be a testimony of the work God is doing and what I'm learning from Him. I hope to blog again in more detail on that soon. 

Thank you once again for your prayers! I continue to receive great encouragement from your notes =) Please pray that God would teach me to follow His lead at Hope Faith, to go clothed in the armor of God, and to trust Him to work out His will there. It's an adventure!

You all are in my prayers as well! Please let me know how I can lift you up before our Father. Blessings on you week!