Monday: Put up baseboards in the hallway by the shower
Tuesday: Continued to work on the basement -- our pet project. Organized paint supplies and cleaned up trash.
Wednesday: Explored the attic and roof as we cleaned and replaced air conditioner vents
Thursday: Went through the electronics room and threw out ancient keyboards and printers. Supported Sean as he gave his testimony at Hope Faith's worship service, Word on the Street.
Friday: Ate breakfast with clients and then hung out talking and playing cards with whoever stopped by.
It's been a great week! While working at Hope Faith, we've had lots of opportunities to work with some new people. On Tuesday Will and Osyrus helped us in the basement -- they're two high school kids doing community service. Then on Wednesday and Friday we got to hang out a bit with Justin, who is only a year or two older than us. He has done the Hope Faith internship before and fell back into old habits afterward. Now he's back and is getting back on a good path again.
I've continued to get glimpses of the inner city poor culture as the weeks go on. This past Friday, Jodie and I experienced some of the objectification that is commonplace for women here. An older man named Joe sat next to us for some of the morning and was talking with us. Most of what he said was harmless -- he told us about his model airplane collection and his three marriages and reading to his kids when they were young. But scattered throughout the conversation were some subtle and many not-so-subtle markers of just what Joe thought of women. He complimented my long hair and told Jodie and I he was trying to decide who to propose to. He talked a lot about sex, not in a explicit way, but in a way that showed how closely he associated women with making love. The kicker came at the end of the day as we got up to leave. Joe said, "Now remember ladies, the best thing about you is your figures. I mean it now! Watch your figures. We have to many Big Bertha's running around."
Jodie and I prayed with Sean when we got back to Ryan's -- praying off those lies that Joe said and praying that God would heal the anger and bitterness in him. We realized how fortunate we were to have men in our lives who validated us in all our talents and abilities and who would fight for us if we were ever threatened. So many women in the inner city culture have been used and abused by the very men whose role it is to protect and respect them. Just the small taste I had on Friday was enough to help me imagine the insecurity, mistrust, and defensiveness that that kind of treatment would create in the life a woman. It's sucky.
Prayer Request: Praise for men who treat women with respect and honor them before God. Prayers that God would bring healing to the women at Hope Faith and throughout inner city culture who have been shut down and objectified. That they would come alive through the love of Christ and that Jodie, Sean, and I would be sensitive to their hurts and needs as we minister to them.
Thank you all! God bless!
I've continued to get glimpses of the inner city poor culture as the weeks go on. This past Friday, Jodie and I experienced some of the objectification that is commonplace for women here. An older man named Joe sat next to us for some of the morning and was talking with us. Most of what he said was harmless -- he told us about his model airplane collection and his three marriages and reading to his kids when they were young. But scattered throughout the conversation were some subtle and many not-so-subtle markers of just what Joe thought of women. He complimented my long hair and told Jodie and I he was trying to decide who to propose to. He talked a lot about sex, not in a explicit way, but in a way that showed how closely he associated women with making love. The kicker came at the end of the day as we got up to leave. Joe said, "Now remember ladies, the best thing about you is your figures. I mean it now! Watch your figures. We have to many Big Bertha's running around."
Jodie and I prayed with Sean when we got back to Ryan's -- praying off those lies that Joe said and praying that God would heal the anger and bitterness in him. We realized how fortunate we were to have men in our lives who validated us in all our talents and abilities and who would fight for us if we were ever threatened. So many women in the inner city culture have been used and abused by the very men whose role it is to protect and respect them. Just the small taste I had on Friday was enough to help me imagine the insecurity, mistrust, and defensiveness that that kind of treatment would create in the life a woman. It's sucky.
Prayer Request: Praise for men who treat women with respect and honor them before God. Prayers that God would bring healing to the women at Hope Faith and throughout inner city culture who have been shut down and objectified. That they would come alive through the love of Christ and that Jodie, Sean, and I would be sensitive to their hurts and needs as we minister to them.
Thank you all! God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment