He is good looking. Coffee-colored skin, heavy-lidded sultry
brown eyes. You know the look – a sleepy-eyed gaze that leads you to assume he
has recently been satisfied, or is under the influence of opiates. It is likely
that both of these scenarios are coexisting. Did I mention he smells like a
dream? A warm, gingerbread one. The long scar running along his chiseled left
cheekbone, and the size of his hands quickly remind me that things could get
rough at any minute.
I had a chance encounter with Julio when I first came to
Philadelphia back in December to set up this summer’s ministry for Adventures
Youth. After our meeting in the park I prayed a lot for him. For deliverance
from the smoke screens I discerned in his life (power, money, sex, addiction);
bondages with which many us struggle. I also prayed that when I returned to
support my staff team living in Philadelphia for the summer, I would perhaps
run into him again. I mean, he did ask me to pray for him once we sorted out
the business that he was not in fact the pastor I thought I was meeting on the
corner, and I alas, was not a prostitute but a missionary. I want to tell him that sometimes I still pray for him, as well as a few other things.
Philadelphia back in December to set up this summer’s ministry for Adventures
Youth. After our meeting in the park I prayed a lot for him. For deliverance
from the smoke screens I discerned in his life (power, money, sex, addiction);
bondages with which many us struggle. I also prayed that when I returned to
support my staff team living in Philadelphia for the summer, I would perhaps
run into him again. I mean, he did ask me to pray for him once we sorted out
the business that he was not in fact the pastor I thought I was meeting on the
corner, and I alas, was not a prostitute but a missionary. I want to tell him that sometimes I still pray for him, as well as a few other things.
As dangerous as it sounds to encounter him again, I really
hope I will (safely enough) so I can tell him I have not forgotten about him, nor
the grace, mercy and protection I believe the Lord exercised over me the day I
willingly hopped into his Escalade. I want to tell him how I see God moving in
his neighborhood.
hope I will (safely enough) so I can tell him I have not forgotten about him, nor
the grace, mercy and protection I believe the Lord exercised over me the day I
willingly hopped into his Escalade. I want to tell him how I see God moving in
his neighborhood.
My staff and I are living a block off Kensington Avenue, his
territory and a darker place. We are safe in the fortress of the first
Salvation Army established in the U.S. Monday – Friday my staff facilitate Adventure Camp (VBS), Sports
Outreach and Service Projects in his neighborhood. I want to tell him how our
teenage participants lives’ are being changed on the hour from the stories they
hear four year-olds telling. Tales of being on the streets until 2am,
witnessing things no child should.
territory and a darker place. We are safe in the fortress of the first
Salvation Army established in the U.S. Monday – Friday my staff facilitate Adventure Camp (VBS), Sports
Outreach and Service Projects in his neighborhood. I want to tell him how our
teenage participants lives’ are being changed on the hour from the stories they
hear four year-olds telling. Tales of being on the streets until 2am,
witnessing things no child should.
I want to tell him that not only the lives of the children
we minister to are being changed, they are softening before our eyes, but that
the teens coming to serve here for the summer are softening their hearts as
well and learning to love unconditionally, like we are called to do. ‘Time-out’
and scoldings are a joke. Welcome to the jungle, this is survival of the
fittest. Kids as young as five are already well engrained with this method. Day
one and two were overwhelming for the teens that have not had exposure to
working with inner-city youth. Example, day one registration: the sanctuary was
filling up with 5 – 10 year-olds who appeared to have just consumed the entire
shipment from the Red Bull truck parked on the street. I’m pretty sure some of
them were levitating as they flew through the sanctuary throwing bibles in
the air and pushing over row after row of chairs as well as mercilessly banging on the expensive sound equipment on the stage. The only positive thought I could draw at the moment was,
‘Well, at least they won’t have to teach abstinence education at the high
school our participants came from’.
we minister to are being changed, they are softening before our eyes, but that
the teens coming to serve here for the summer are softening their hearts as
well and learning to love unconditionally, like we are called to do. ‘Time-out’
and scoldings are a joke. Welcome to the jungle, this is survival of the
fittest. Kids as young as five are already well engrained with this method. Day
one and two were overwhelming for the teens that have not had exposure to
working with inner-city youth. Example, day one registration: the sanctuary was
filling up with 5 – 10 year-olds who appeared to have just consumed the entire
shipment from the Red Bull truck parked on the street. I’m pretty sure some of
them were levitating as they flew through the sanctuary throwing bibles in
the air and pushing over row after row of chairs as well as mercilessly banging on the expensive sound equipment on the stage. The only positive thought I could draw at the moment was,
‘Well, at least they won’t have to teach abstinence education at the high
school our participants came from’.
In 48 hours we have moved from scenes like this to snapshots of
our teens giving endless piggy back rides, telling stories to the youth while
they calmly sit in their laps, and encouraging them during story telling and
craft time. The power of the Holy Spirit is not slight. The immense
amounts of energy, patience and willingness I have seen our participants and my
staff exude this week are proof that when we ask for supernatural patience, energy and love – God will deliver. I have been thinking about the hearts that are changing in a short span of time this week. I pray that whether or not I encounter Julio on this go around that his heart is changing as well.
our teens giving endless piggy back rides, telling stories to the youth while
they calmly sit in their laps, and encouraging them during story telling and
craft time. The power of the Holy Spirit is not slight. The immense
amounts of energy, patience and willingness I have seen our participants and my
staff exude this week are proof that when we ask for supernatural patience, energy and love – God will deliver. I have been thinking about the hearts that are changing in a short span of time this week. I pray that whether or not I encounter Julio on this go around that his heart is changing as well.
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