Boldness

“Then having such hope, we use much boldness.” (2 Corinthians 3:12 LITV)

Its been hard trying to get some time since I walked through the Red Doors again for the Bowery Mission 2011; in terms of wind-down time, no Wi-Fi access and Bowery living. It makes me glad that I’ve got the opportunity today to sit down at the Central Library, just down from Central Station and rest my very aching bones and feet with some ‘modern conveniences.’ When we arrived at the Bowery after 14 hours of busing, walking, train-riding, walking, subway-ing and more walking, it was with delight that we found the volunteer rooms had undergone transformation. Installed were blinds (nice ones), and painted surfaces with some modern looking and feeling metal bunk beds with extra thick mattresses. Bill, the supervisor who was such a great friend last year, was on duty and couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. It was the beginning of the process for me, opening myself to the wonders anew that God would present here at the Bowery Street Mission.

Of course, our arrival in New York wouldn’t have been complete without Ray’s Pizza…….as a group we trouped back up Prince Street and sat down inside the tiny little ‘to go’ part of the business. 15 people quickly claimed that space as their own.

My heart has been broken anew even as my eyes are opened to the things I missed before, the very humanism of the Bowery and the dynamic flexible intense relationship it invites and demands of us all. The all too real agenda side of some of the members of the community here and how it is dealt with with the disciples of the community…..not in anger but with patience and understanding. It is not the perfect and ideal place, rather it is a place where God walks and is dynamic and fluid and attentive to those who would listen and that specialness is lost on those who refuse to see it.

I miss having Shannon Carey here because I could decompress and unwind with her, discussing those things I’ve seen and the experiences (yes, it has been ONE day) that I have been confronted with. The discussion of the preaching on Monday morning, the first time I’ve ever seen anyone preach with Ali, one of the supervisors of the program there, and just the connection of two men who shared only a cup of coffee had with bringing the Word to the Community. It was as if we had discussed the balance and synergy of the preaching to use---it was that blended and supportive of each other with the power to drive one of the disciples in the program up to surrender the rest of what he was holding back to the community. Sheldon, gentle warrior, got it all. Since that time, Ali has been walking around calling me “Pastor” even after I spend all day yesterday telling him no, I’m just Jim. But there is a boldness about my steps and a big grin on my face. I am indeed 'home.'

Speaking with boldness, expecting without timidity and demanding in earnest that God break me again and again in His wisdom and direction here.

We went to Tromley Park for outreach yesterday with my dear friend Mantell who was a student last year when I was here and now is a supervisor of Outreach for the Bowery this year. It is the first time that a volunteer got to drive the Bowery Outreach truck and I must admit that I kept the experience as true to the original I had last year as I could. Hearing the exclamation “I’m airborne” after we headed back proves that I got it right. There is nothing like New York roads and New York Drivers……and giving the keys to a Michigan boy probably isn’t the best idea they had. :D

This morning I was introduced to Pastor John who was delivering the message at morning chapel since we were off for the day. When we went into chapel, Ali insisted I sit up on the stage with Pastor John and he ‘because you are one of the leaders in this house this morning….’ I was told. When I remarked that I wasn’t, that Joseph was, he laughed and pointed to the chair…..

Tomorrow morning and afternoon, we’re responsible for the Chapel and Thursday morning as well and that will conclude our chapel ‘responsibilities.’ Please keep Joan Bernard in prayer as she shapes and molds her sermon for Wed. Afternoon carefully with prayerful insight and questions. Keep Nellie in prayer as she expressed some need for some time on Thursday’s service to answer God’s call. Keep Jay, Casey and Sarah in prayer as God shapes and leads them this week….they were the first God called to be prayed over by the group at our meeting last night.

When I woke up yesterday morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks……”this is home.”

Oh, not the Bowery Street Mission or even the environs of New York City…..

But living in the intensity of God’s work, being a small part of the larger picture He calls us all to join in as His children, His redeemed and His saved.

This morning, after serving breakfast and helping the Bowery guys clean up, we headed out to a restaurant to have some breakfast before we departed as individual groups to our planned (or in my case unplanned) outings. It was a great time of fellowship.

But then I got the ‘hair-brained’ idea to go with one group down to the Statue of Liberty at Battery Park. After the group was ‘settled’ in, Drew and I spilt from them and headed out……..

From Battery Park to Central Library.

Can someone come help me get back to the Bowery???

I don’t think I can walk anymore………..

God's calling......

“Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The LORD called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother's womb.” (Isaiah 49:1 HCSB)

I can remember last year at this time, tossing and turning in my bed as I pondered the question presented to me, “Why do you have to go to New York to work with the homeless?” I can remember finding the answer to that question behind the Red Bowery Doors in lower Manhattan, near Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty, in the land of the ‘no-eye-contact’ people and cast systems that defy even the logic of their own thinking; Upper East Side, Bronx and so on. I can remember that special someone who helped me stay the course and travel to a place I’d never would've gone on my own. I remember and am humbled by her strength.

Shannon helped God awaken in me a realization of a future where the work wasn’t quite what I had thought and is definitely more extreme and more challenging and more terrifying. By encouraging me to go into that place, far from where I could effectively and quietly escape, she helped God present me with His purpose, His challenge and His mercy. And as much as I’ll miss sharing that teammate feeling with her and will miss the energy that consumed her and all those around her while we worked in the Mission last year, I look forward to the new teammates that are undertaking this adventure to be a part of the work God’s doing in the Manhattan bough of New York City.

I have a charter to do for the University today, a short three hour shift and then its off to collect a donation to support this trip from my Pastor of the church plant I attend on Sunday night . After that, its off to see my children for a few hours since they’ve been gone visiting their mother during their spring break and I’ll not be seeing them for another week as I go off on this mission’s trip and they get an extra week off work because babysitting didn’t come through as expected. Then I’m going to explore the relationship that I left hanging with Vineyard Church by participating in their “Rotating Shelter” for the homeless of Washtenaw. After I get home, I’ll pack the borrowed bag I’m getting and get a few hours sleep before I go to Trinity to ‘catch the bus’ over to WCC to get the rest of the team with Dino and Joseph, the other two drivers and teammates for this journey.

In a little more than twenty-four hours, the Mosaic A2 team will depart the environs of Ann Arbor Michigan for the distant, coastal lands of New York State. Some are old hands; Joseph, the team leader and Dawn, a few others. The majority are ‘newbies’ who bring talents and skills to this year’s team that make it as unique and God-designed as last year’s was.

Keep us in your prayers, both for the trip there and the arrival.

I think I hear the faint call of God beckoning me to those Red Doors.