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We’re not making this up…
I usually enjoy the challenge of painting a word picture of the ins and outs of how God is moving, but this month, I will pass on a letter from a student I work with at Prince Georges Community College. Maybe this email, written to my (quite Caucasian) coworker Bob, will capture the beautiful absurdity of a work of the Holy Spirit…
Dear Bob,
You and the DC Metro team have been on my mind heavy this weekend. I really wanted to come to the bible study Friday, but you would have seen a different me, and I wasn’t ready to expose that.My mother recently separated and the hope was at the end of the school year we would get full custody of my sisters, but financially this isn’t a possibility and the news was pretty hard to stomach. Furthermore my father announced his divorce Friday morning and now my brothers are moving to Baltimore, so Friday could have been better.
Back to you. I am so proud of you. I thanked God so much. I don’t know if you have realized that you hold bible study with gang members, brothers who have served time, and current drug dealers. Additionally, they are black men. I know it must be hard trying to find a way to relate and at the same time find comfort in these men. Being a black male, to this day, a lot of odds are stacked up against them.
For you to have a decent life and for them striving, it could be complicated. But rest assured, you are on the right track. It is okay that you haven’t experienced some of the same things as these men, you wouldn’t want to. But it gives God more power. I am sure that as excited as you may be, nervous is in there too. This causes you to run to God more. Furthermore because of your vastly different background, it forces you not to lean on your understanding because it may be so limited…
I am here for you. I will not hold your hand, only because I have so much faith in you. But if you need to debrief, or have questions I am here. Sitting next to Antoine may help you. He is a drug dealer, but he is loyal. If he patrons your studies you are good in his book. In the event something should ever arise to make you feel uncomfortable, he is your best bet. And he is a little older, turning 26 soon.
Hope this helps,
Alisha
Alisha is one of the corresponding group of women that I (Carrie) have had the privilege of spending my last five Wednesdays with, and one of the strongest women I know. As president of a student club known to gather a rough crowd, she has recently come into her own in recognizing her social position as a God-given calling rather than something to be ashamed of. While the PGCC woman may not have the same struggles as their male counterparts, more than one has dealt with rape and abuse, miscarriage, prostitution, and absentee and incarcerated fathers. Several are pastors’ kids; several are lesbians. The overlapping combinations of these factors make for very complex stories. But every week when we shut the door, I sense that the Lord is doing something profound at this community college in Largo, Maryland. What can we do but plead with the Lord and try to stay out of His way? Would you please join us?
Love, Grace & Peace, Carrie (& Jayson)
Please pray for…
Pray for the 56 students from Radford & the University of Georgia that we have coming next week to do ministry in the city. Pray that they would see God work, that they would hear God’s call and that they would gain a heart for reaching other students in the DC area. Pray for the students, both the men and women, at PGCC that Christ would grab ahold of them and pull them out of lives of defeat and darkness. Pray that we would learn how to bring the Gospel into every campus in DC, every campus is different and they cannot all be approached the same way with this message that does not itself change, but transforms lives! Pray that as Seniors visit our recruiting website they would hear God call them to the Washington, DC area as well – and that they would obey. (You can check it out too at http://JoinUs.DCCru.com)