Do you have those times when you set out to do something and then the complete unexpected happens?
Have you ever said, "I'll NEVER do (fill in the blank)?" Only to find yourself smack dab in the middle of it?
Well, that person was me. I set out on a journey thinking I was going to be doing one thing, only to find myself doing the complete opposite, and things I said I'd "NEVER" do.
This is me, the summer of my Sophomore Year in college. I'm pictured with my Summer Missions Team and with one of the pastors of the church we were working at in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Shout out to my Vancouver Team and Vancouver Family)
I grew up in a pretty affluent community in South Louisiana. I never really experienced anything "inner-city" unless we drove into New Orleans to pay the token visit when we had out of town visitors. I went to church camp every summer, but had never really experienced a mission trip. I always thought a missionary was someone who lived in another country and usually lived in huts in the jungle, didn't have bathrooms and it was FOR SURE, NOTHING I WOULD EVER DO.
When I was in college, I went to a Christian Student Conference sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention. They gave us a brochure booklet filled with different "Summer Missions" opportunities. Your experience travel, food, lodging was 100% paid for. I read through the different opportunities thinking, "Not me. Not me. Not me either." or more like, "No. No. Never." Then I read one that said, "Come to Beautiful British Columbia and be a part of a praise band that gives outdoor concerts in various parks and places around our city." I was like...."Wait a minute....You want to pay my airfare to go to the Coast of Canada to sing to tourist all summer? Well if this is considered "missions"...maybe I do want in on that."
So...I applied, auditioned, interviewed....and I was accepted into the program and placed. I was psyched. I had never been to Canada. I was going on a missions "vacation" for the entire summer. Little did I know......
Two weeks before I flew out, I received a call from one of our team leaders in Canada. The conversation went something like this.
Christina: "Hey Morgan, we're looking forward to having you with us this summer, but there's been a slight change of plans."
Me: (hesitating) "Ok.....? What's up?"
Christina: "Well, we did not get the right number of people to form the actual praise band, so we're gonna have to change your assignment while you're here."
Me: (in my head....UGH) "So.....what will we be doing instead?"
Christina: "Well, you'll still be able to help lead worship on Sundays at church, but during the week you're going to help teach ESL (English as a Second Language) Classes and be part of a street ministry that ministers to the homeless, drug addicts, and prostitutes in downtown Vancouver."
(Insert Silence..........gulp........mustering up the nerve to sound totally on board and chipper)
Me: "No Problem. I'm totally flexible to do whatever y'all need."
I'm pretty sure I spent the next to weeks either in tears/panic/or dreading it.
I could write an entire blog with every single post being about what God did that summer and the stories of how God moved in a number of ways. I'm sure they will trickle in from time to time. If you know me well, you know I talk about Vancouver ALL of the time. Don't ask me about it unless you're ready to listen :)
To make a really long story short.... That summer CHANGED my life dramatically.
Do you know how many outdoor concerts I gave that summer? None.
Instead, I taught beginning English classes to elderly people from all around the world. I had a lady from Albania, a woman from Japan, and a man from China. When they came in my class they basically knew "Hello/Goodbye." Each week I spent hours with them teaching them English by using bible stories broken down in to short sentences, many charades games, and stick figure drawings. I will never forget them being able to read back to me, stories in English, and know they understood what they were reading. Their first verbal stories were about Jesus.
Each week our group went to the worst part of Vancouver. Downtown Eastside Vancouver is known as the "Drug Central" of North America. Don't believe me? Google it. The crazy part is, there is a huge police station located in the center of it all. It is a much bigger problem than they can handle, so they just try to contain it. You can literally drive/walk down the street and see hundreds of people strung out on the sidewalk, needles all over the ground, and people shooting up as you walk by. It is a totally "in your face" experience. We used to walk the streets at night handing out donuts, coffee, learning peoples names, talking with them and praying with them. God dealt with a lot of my assumptions and presumptions about homelessness through this experience. I really want to tell the story of Joe, but I'm gonna save it for tomorrow....please check back and read it as it breaks the stereotypes about what we THINK we know about people by looking at them.
As scared as I was in the beginning, by the end of the summer, I knew peoples names and I actually looked forward to going on the street. I had great conversations, prayed with people, laughed a lot and learned a lot. I was also heartbroken at what I witnessed and God gave me a burden for the poor, addicted, and lost people of the city. I will never forget the moments of talking to a prostitute on a street corner, only to be left standing there when a guy in a jaguar pulled up and offered to pay her. She would say she was sorry, wave, and get in the car. I dealt with a lot of anger at the "World" that summer." But I gained a lot of love for those that society deemed as "outcast."
The picture below is of me and Allen the 2nd summer I was there. Yep, I went back on my own the second summer because I LOVED the first one. Allen was one of my favorite guys. He was an older man who had some mental challenges, but the sweetest spirit. He was not homeless, but poor, and he walked around aimlessly many days, riding the bus, and carrying around a lunch box with his favorite "items." One ended up being a picture of the two of us as he would open up the box and show me every week. He even sent me a valentines day present the following year. It is a treasured item that I still have.
I got my first job in youth ministry following my second summer in Vancouver. I spent the next 8 years working in different churches around the south east. I was doing what I felt God was calling me to in those moments, all the while having a deep longing to get back into the inner city missions life. I prayed, longed for, and hoped for the day that would happen again.
Following a difficult season in my life in the summer of 2010, 8 years since I had spent my first summer in Vancouver, I was presented with an opportunity I could not have fathomed. The same pastor you saw in the first picture, invited me to come and live with his family for the summer. He said he knew how much I loved Vancouver and he wanted me to come and enjoy the beauty, the people, the ministry I loved and to be poured into and heal. I had a big yard sale, literally sold almost everything I owned. I took that money along with the donations of some amazing people and was able to spend 2.5 months there. As soon as the plane landed in Vancouver, my eyes filled with years and I felt like I could breath again. I was "Home." The same trip that had terrified me 10 years before, was now the biggest blessing I could have received.
I spent the summer healing, learning who I was again, and having some of the people who know me best (as far as the deepest desires of my heart go)....help me reawaken myself the dream that had seemed so distant for so many years. I was able to help out with the ministry called Open Table where we actually had the attendees sit and they were SERVED a meal at their table. No standing in line. It was my favorite day of the week. It was my favorite day of the week 10 years ago. This time though, we had bible study afterwards, which was awesome to study God's Word together. I was involved at 2 churches that summer and got to know some amazing women, reconnect with life long friends, and finally feel like..."this is it....this is what God created me to do."
This is my bible study group from my last summer there. Isn't the body of Christ amazing and so diverse?
Within a few weeks of being home from Vancouver, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a job. I was living back at home and didn't want to settle this time for anything but what I was passionate about. I met a friend of my mom's who told me about the Old Savannah City Mission and said I should volunteer. He gave me the name of the Volunteer Coordinator...Glenn Paddock.
And here I am today, typing this from a desk at Rescue Atlanta, where I now serve on staff with my husband, Glenn Paddock. :) Every day we serve the poor and homeless of inner city Atlanta, together. We, like the ministry, are trusting God "Everyday for Everything." We pray our finances in daily. We don't always know how we'll buy our next batch of groceries, but just about the time we're down to our last dollar, we'll get a random $50 "thinking of you" check in the mail. Whatever we get, we know is God's, and try to bless those around us. I will probably never me monetarily rich in this lifetime, but I AM rich in joy and spirit, because I KNOW that I'm walking in the calling that God has in my life. I go to bed at night and wake up each day THANKING GOD that HE orchestrated every detail of my life to lead me right where I sit today. He took the girl from an affluent town who said she'd never be a missionary and joined her with a man who also thought he'd never do anything of the sort. Now we are missionaries, living and working in the inner city. If you didn't get to read Glenn's story yesterday you can find it here:Glenn's Story
I sure am glad that God sometimes hijacks MY plans to work out HIS purpose....even if it did take 10 years to understand.
Never give up on the dream God has placed in your heart. He did so for a reason.
Daily....living, breathing, and serving for HIS RENOWN,
Morgan
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