Immersion-Day 4

I thought I would take a moment to begin todays blog with sharing briefly what this two week immersion is and why I am here.

At Wesley Theological Seminary, where I go to school, part of the ministry requirement for an MDiv degree is that you take an Intercultural Immersion.  It is definitely more of an experience than a class setting and you get to choose from a variety of different locations.  Some chose India, South Dakota, South Africa (next year) or Israel (this past summer) among others.  I chose to immerse myself in a homeless culture.  This particular immersion is "Hidden Culture in Suburbia".  So I will be learning about the homeless culture in the route 1 corridor in Alexandria which is close to Mount Vernon and DC.  I will be actively involved in serving the homeless in many ways.  We will worship together, have fellowship and share meals.  I will also be learning about government programs that are working in the area but most importantly what the churches are doing in the area to be in ministry with the homeless.  I picked this immersion because of the rapidly growing homeless community in my area so I can learn and hopefully bring back some tools to help assist us (the church) be in ministry with them in the Smyrna, Clayton, Kenton communities.

With that being said, allow me to share a little about our day...

We started with breakfast at "Elsie's Magic Skillet", which reminded me a little of "The Railroad Cafe" in Delmar DE outside of Salisbury where I grew up.  We met with the local pastors in the area who provide a rotating shelter for some of the homeless population.  There were 3 Episcopal Priests, 1 Prebyterian Minister, and 1 Methodist minister in attendance with us.  (sounds like it could be a joke, huh?)  It was really great to see different denominations working together for people.

We went back to Rising Hope Church for prayer service and it was an absolutely powerful time of worship together.  There was about 25 people and the message that was shared by two people in our group was one of forgiveness.  A homeless gentleman in the congregation shared about how it took him many years to forgive his dad for the way he treated his mom.  Everyone was in tears at the overwhelming passion and truth of this man's story.  We went to lunch with this added blessings in our hearts and had fellowship arounhd the table as we ate our lunch together.  We continued at Rising Hope helping in the clothing closet which is open each Wednesday.  People can come in and have up to 20 articles of clothing.  On the other side of the basement is the food pantry.  People have to make an appointment in advance, but they can come in each week and gather a can of food off of each shelf (there are about twenty shelves) and a cold food item of their choice.  One of my brothers' that I am here with shared about a family with little kids coming into the food pantry and it broke his heart.  It was the little boy's birthday so they let him pick out a cake mix so his mom could make it later. (not everyone who is homeless does not have access to a kitchen...some live in hotels or efficiencies).

Not only do my boys get a birthday cake on their birthday but they get a present or two (too much from grandparents mmhhmm) and this little boy got a cake mix?  I am fighting back the tears just thinking and thanking God for how blessed we are.  Sometimes I just forget or take so many things for granted.  We are not allowed to give a gift or in any way show favortitism to anyone because news travels way too fast in the homeless community and it may cause severe problems so there was nothing we could do extra but that little boy thought it was awesome just to get the cake mix.

We came back to Wesley UMC just a block away and sat around the table and shared with one another how our day went and a lot of emotion was shared.  It was a very moving day!

Wesley UMC had a meet and greet for us tonight in which we were able to meet with several members of the congregation.  I had the pleasure of meeting a mother and daughter who are actively involved in the life of the church and it was fantastic to hear about their passion for the church, the community, and their family.  I am also asking prayers for their family because her husband will be deployed soon.

We unpacked some more of our day as we wound down and I am looking forward for what God has in store for us during our busy day tomorrow.  I will talk to you all then...

Esperanza!!
Pastor Scot