31 DAYS in the Life of an Urban Missionary

Welcome to 31 Days in the Life of an Urban Missionary. Scroll down to read the first post. I will link daily posts to this page as well.

Day 2: The Scarcity of Weekends

Day 3: All Education is NOT Equal

Day 4: When the Cops Come

Days 5-11: - I was at a conference out of town and forgot my computer! OOPS!

Day 12: No School?!?

Day 13: Got Socks? Give Thanks.

Once upon a time there was a white girl from suburbia with a background in youth ministry in predominantly affluent churches. Her world was completely rocked over the course of several years. This girl now lives in the inner city with her husband as a full time urban missionary loving kids, loving her neighbor, a student of culture and co-director of a non-profit. Every day is a reconciling of where she came from and where she is today. She is seeing, hearing, saying, doing and experiencing things she never imagined. She often feels misunderstood and is passionate about living out and BEING the church right where she lives.

That girl is me and for the next 31 days I'll be sharing stories from my journey.  It is often a Devastating Beauty of sorts. I'll share the joys, the laughter and some of the heart ache. I am not the same woman I was when I moved into this place. It is not a different that is good or bad, but one that reflects the burden that I carry for so many, as well as the freedom of knowing I am not the Savior in the story.

I never planned to live here. I grew up in neighborhoods that were either gated or deemed safe. I never thought I would get used to the sound of gunshots or hearing parents cuss our their kids on a daily basis. I never expected to befriend an older alcoholic man with whom I would sometimes sing old hymns or a hit by Mary Mary. Considering how I grew up, I never imagined eating rice and beans because that is all we had to eat. I never imagined that I would open my back door at any given time and see young men playing basketball because it was a safe place. I never imagined seeing fake semi automatic hand guns carried by boys no older than twelve. I never believed I would download a police scanner app and listen to it on my phone at night instead of reading a book. I never thought I would identify with my neighbors by living below the poverty line myself.

I also never pictured sitting on my front steps, having little girls  four and five years old, crawl all over me while asking me if I loved my husband and if he loved me. I never anticipated the conversations that would surface in our living room from teenagers who just wanted to have someone to talk to and then listen. I never considered there would be a businessman who would observe what we do and offer us a house to create a neighborhood center for the families in our community right across the street. I never dreamed we would baptize nine students in our yard while people gathered to witness their decisions.

I never knew I could have so little and yet feel so rich. 

I never expected to see the face of Jesus in so many different people and in so many different ways.

These are the types of stories I hope to express to you on this journey.

I hope you will join me here.

For more info on our non profit visit: www.helpmedream.org