It's been a while since i've let you know what i've been up to and that is mostly because it's been kind of hectic over here. In a totally good way. As the school year has gotten underway, so has the outreach to the community at the Kairos Centre. Of course, what comes with that is less time to update the blog and more opportunities to share the love of Christ.
One of things this last month has really taught me is that ministry and outreach into the community is a place where much is put into it without much "instant gratification." This can make persevering very difficult in the sense that we almost feel like what we're doing is not really making a difference. However, it is often the little things that make all the difference. Recently, the other intern and i were talking with some of the girls we spend time with and one of them i was talking with about having to talk in front of people and how i still get nervous because we had to give a presentation in front of people that might possibly fund the girls' outreach. When i told her that we were needing funding her automatic reaction was not one of expectancy as much as of desire; a desire to help. She started giving ideas of fundraisers we could do because the way she sees it, if the money is being raised for them, they should take part in raising it. It may be something that some find a natural reaction, but from these girls, it's a step forward in the direction of a brighter future because they see there are benefits to working towards a goal.
Something i have been struggling with is having spiritual conversations with the young ladies at drop-in. Although i have been having deeper, more personal conversations with them about struggles they face in life, i have yet to have a door open where, once i take a step into a spiritual conversation, they slam the door on my toe. Thankfully, there are several people within the ministry who have been there for some time, some with as much as a decade of experience, who continually encourage me and remind me that the young people we work with have been let down time and time again not only by those older than them, but especially the church. Therefore, they will be reserved and hold back with me, but, given time and exposure to me, they will begin to open up, barriers will diminish, and spiritual conversations will occur. Time is of the essence because, as i was once told while here the first time, "i'm just one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread." We're not perfect, those of us serving in this ministry, but we have a perfect savior, and that gives us a relationship with the God who not only created us, but the entire world we know and live in, as well as that which our finite minds have yet to discover. Our hope is to show those we come in contact with the blessings of being in relationship, in hopes that they will choose Christ as well. With Him there are no limits.
This morning, at our weekly prayer meeting, one of the leaders shared with us about Jeremiah 4:3b, "'Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.'" When he shared this with us, he talked about how the Bible also speaks of preparing the land. We have all been given our allotment of "land" so to speak. For those of us here in Northern Ireland, it is Newcastle, more specifically for me, the young people's hearts, young ladies especially.
God is love. Love is the only agenda. The difficulty with this is that love is often "tough love" because it can sometimes be painful and uncomfortable. You see, today's youth believe that to love is to accept at face value who they are and not desiring to see them change. The problem is, to truly love someone is to accept them where they are, but not accept that that is all they'll ever be. It's being able to see beyond who they are now to who they are capable of being and helping them through that transformation. To love someone isn't to accept them and that be the end of it. True love desires to see a person become the best them that they can be and helps them to do so. Jesus accepted people where they were, met them where they were at. But He never left them the same, they were changed, for good, because Love had entered in.
Let me ask you this, when you enter someones life is Love entering their lives or just another person pointing out their flaws they are already so highly aware of? Love is not just a word, but, more importantly, an action. A life were living is only worth living if we're loving those we encounter.
