Community…

I am constantly and continually amazed at the happenings on our downtown corner each week. This morning we pulled up to that corner and it hit me just as it always does what is happening. Each week we have a brand new opportunity for fellowship with people who are ready and willing to hang out with a bunch of suburbanites. It's really strange if you think about it. Robin wrote something this week that explained it so well. 11 months ago? We knew none of these people. In fact, back then, if I would go out for a walk in the afternoon from my office, I would usually avoid them just so I didn't have to deal with the situations that would inevitably arise. You know...got a dollar? Got any change? I'd just as soon avoid the park in those days because I was always confronted with the inevitable. So what was I doing to make a difference for Christ? What was I doing from my nice warm, comfortable home in the United States of Suburbia to really go somewhere and tell people about a love like no other? What was I doing period? Nothing. In fact, I was avoiding the very people that Christ would probably seek out first. The least of those. The poor. The less fortunate. Created in the image of God. Such different circumstances than us, yet so unbelievably just like us. So what was I going to do about it? Well, 11 months later I'm still not sure we can answer that question and that’s probably ok. The beauty of it is that now when I go for a walk on a given afternoon, I go in the direction I avoided just last year. And what a community of individuals we've come to know in just under one short year. It doesn't seem possible that this has been happening for almost a year now. And you know what? I probably shouldn't say this so as to avoid jinxing our weekly outing, but we've not been rained out yet. We even had one of the guys call, give us a weather report of rain all day on Sunday, and ask if we were still coming? Huh? C’mon man. We’ve not missed one yet have we? Now that may not seem like a big deal, but it is amazing to me that not one time in the last year have we been shutout due to weather. We’ve seen blistering heat, arctic cold, blizzards and everything in between. But God has seen fit to allow us to get down there each and every week to fellowship with a community of people that continually amazes me. Now next week we’ll probably have torrential rainstorms, but I don’t think God believes in jinxes. :) And today? No rain. Just great community fellowship.

For instance, today I chatted with a young lady who is going in for surgery tomorrow (Monday) at 11:30. Tumor. Now this young lady was scared. I sat on a wall with her for a bit this afternoon and she was visibly scared. Playing with a plate of food as if she were a child. Pushing her food around and telling me about her situation and all the while, I’m thanking God for placing us in this position. Placing us in the position of sometimes simply being there to listen. Later on before she left, Robin and I prayed with her. The power of that moment is undeniable. The fact that we were blessed to be in a place to pray for this young lady is simply amazing to me.

I stand on that corner sometimes on Sundays and I look across the street at the office building I spend one third of my time in and I wonder if we can do more. Not necessarily from a physical standpoint. That’s important stuff. But from a spiritual standpoint. From an eternal standpoint. I mean, obviously we can do nothing in that regard except offer the window of opportunity. Be there to listen and pray. Offer a Bible to a fellow if the desire is there. I spoke with a friend today who is continuing to read a Bible that he got recently. He’s finished John and Galatians. He’s now reading Matthew. I asked him if that was something he would have been doing maybe a year ago. He looked at me for a minute and shook his head. Now what does that mean? I have no idea. Except that he’s now seeking a little more maybe. And if we can be there to listen occasionally and gently prod some folks in these situations, then you better believe we will. And this in no way diminishes the rash of issues that permeate that park. That corner. It’s almost like walking into a different world sometimes. Crazy. God’s world. Each of them and us created in his image. How amazing is that?!

One thing that I talked about last week with a couple of the guys was the growth that we’ve experienced. One of the fellows that come down on a pretty regular basis was asking how many people help each week. How many people do we bring down? You know what? We never count. Don’t have to. We make sure that the food preparation is taken care of and then we wing it. Every week. And every week we have at least enough people to make it work. If not more. This guy was reminiscing back to the first time we came down and I mentioned that seemed like a lifetime ago. And they were amazed at what it’s grown into. A community. Now the community was always there. Loosely. God just had a way of pulling it together for a couple of hours each Sunday. All we had to do was be available. Be the runners as my friend Bill says. While the park and that corner may have been new to us that day last November, this was where lots of these folks spent lots of their time. Lots and lots. When we showed up, word began to spread. God has a way of doing that. There’s no other way to say it. And now we have some of the most amazing people showing up for community fellowship and I am in awe of the things that are taking place. We are picking friends up at the shelters for group discussions and Bible studies. People that we didn’t know a year ago. Friends that we met on a corner in a park in downtown Omaha. We are attempting to share the love of Christ with our friends in a different type of community setting than I’ve ever been involved in. Yet somehow it works. Again, God has a way of making this work. Just needs vehicles. Runners. Legs. Hands and feet.

And now we are also involved with another community of people who God hooked us up with in a big way. Our Tuesday group at the Vine. A great group of people who seem to be on the very same tracks that we are on. Where will it lead? Who knows? But we’re on for the ride and it has been an amazing journey so far. Best thing we can do? Buckle up because it seems seat belts will be a community necessity for this trip. :)

Peace and have a great and blessed week.

..."it matters to that one"... :)