HOT CHOCOLATE ANYONE??
Back in the spring of '03, when I was still on staff with YWAM Montana, I decided to go help out the Mission Aventures program in San Francisco. They needed someone to do the worship every morning so myself and another friend went out there and worshipped with the teams that came through and helped out with the other ministries. One of those was "Hot Chocolate Ministry". This was simply making a ton of hot chocolate and going out and serving it to people on the street. This was not only for "homeless" people, though in the tenderloin district of San Francisco, that's 99% of the people you will find out on the streets at night. I fell in love with this ministry because there was no hidden agenda. We just went out there and loved people and hung out with them. They knew that we were Christians, we were up front about that and sometimes they would ask us to pray for them. But getting them saved wasn't the whole point. (Of course it was a hope that they would eventually know him personally.) You can't walk up to a someone who is starving with a swollen belly and tell them Jesus loves them and then walk away without giving them any food! I mean, you
can, but what would it accomplish? The person is still starving to death, right?
It's the same with this ministry. . . it's us going to them. Listening to them, talking with them, giving them hot chocolate and an ear to listen on a cold night surrounded by people strung out on drugs, drunk, and mentally not quite there. People who sleep on the ground in a park every night. People who have a story. They're not out on the streets for a free ride, I can tell you that much. Living on the streets is a hard life and those who do will tell you that right away. A lot of times they preach at us not to make the same choices they did so that we never have to face what they face.
So this is what I've started in Seattle. Every wednesday night at 8pm we go downtown seattle and hang out with the people we find at the park. I don't know the name of the park. We call it "courthouse park" because it's by the court house. ha ;) appropriate - i know.... and I love it. There is no such thing as a "typical night" doing hot choc. ministry, some nights are hard, some are super fun, some are very dramatic. You never know who you'll find and what they'll be strung out on, or what mood they'll be in ....
...but I do find Jesus there every wednesday night. And i know His heart beats for them, just as hard as it does for mine.
.TERRIFY NO MORE.
Psalm 10
"...you hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the opressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more."One week in the DTS a girl named Bethany, who worked with International Justice Mission came to speak to our students. While my team was in Thailand, we met with a guy who worked at the Thailand IJM Office. He told us more about IJM and what they were doing in Thailand. It's an amazing organization. They've been on Dateline at least once that I know of as well.
So i've been reading this book, "Terrify No More". It's written by the president of IJM - Gary A. Haugen. I encourage you all to check out their website and get yourself a copy of this book.
God has been developing within me a passion for those who face injustice. One thing that's stuck with me is something that I've heard a number of times already, and is also said in this book:
"....And quite simply, in the moral universe engineered by a holy God, knowledge carries responsibility." Once we know, we can't just do nothing. Its like knowing that a child is choking, and walking into another room. Sometimes we ignore out of this feeling of helplessness. Sometimes it's fear, or this feeling that the ones desperately in need of justice are too far away; and so we become apathetic. We see so much on T.V and have grown up in a society that breeds an "every man for himself" attitude. We've become desensitized to anything that doesn't directly affect us. Whatever it is, I'm convinced it's upsetting to a God who cares deeply about justice.
Isaiah 1:17 - "...seek justice, rescue the opressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.""....I am convinced that any serious contest with evil requires a painful confrontation with the truth. The greatest and most shameful regrets of history are always about the truth we failed to tell, the evil we failed to name. The greatest enemy in our struggle to stop oppression and injustice is always the insidious etiquette of silence." - GARY A. HAUGEN
the urban internship
Right now I'm staffing the Urban Internship.
....and this is what it's all about: (courtesy of the YWAM Seattle Website):
YWAM Seattle Urban Internship 2006
Dates March 23 – June 11
The YWAM Seattle Urban internship is designed to equip DTS graduates to become active members of an ever-changing world, a world in which missions cannot be defined with a phrase but through a lifestyle of living for Christ and His kingdom.
For those DTS graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in the business world, becoming a musician, photo journalist, barista, teacher, doctor, or diving deeper into missions, etc. our goal is to provide them with a healthy learning environment to step out into their interests and discover what it would take to reach their goals. Some students will have a clear vision for their future, and for others their futures might be a bit foggy, and that is OK. While they are in Seattle they will not only benefit from a strong community of believers but also through the teaching and experience of our weekly speakers and YWAM Seattle’s vast network of professionals ranging from computer programmers to social advocates to missionaries in 3rd world countries; we hope that those who are uncertain will be able to feel comfortable researching and stepping toward vocations which they were previously inexperienced in.
Responsibilities:
During the first week we will spend a considerable amount of time defining our personal mission statement and describing core values. These statements will be an important foundation for the internship. The interns will use this foundation to develop a thesis, which will be the main focus of their internship and will subsequently shape their weekly itinerary. Each students weekly schedule will be based around teaching, research and hands on activities that will give them experience in their respective areas of interest (volunteer work at a mission, hospital, school, etc.).
All projects will be presented during the last week of the internship. Each student must be able to clearly communicate how their chosen interest matches up with their personal mission statement, and how they can take steps in the future to accomplish their goals.
In addition to the thesis all interns will be responsible for a weekly blog documenting their recent thoughts and activity. And providing weekly schedules detailing times of research, networking, volunteer work and any other activity that corresponds with their thesis project.
Strength through community:
Through common household chores, open forum discussions, peer evaluations, and times of intercession and worship, all interns and staff are required to take part in our community, to build each other up, counsel and provide a safe environment for individual growth.
Weekly Focuses:
During the Internship we will spend one week focusing on each of the seven arenas of social or cultural influence.
• Healthcare
• Church/Ministry
• Family
• Business
• Music/Arts/Media
• Government
• Education
We will be inviting speakers who are experts in their own respective arena to sit down and discuss with us their story, how they reached their goals and how a Christian can impact the world around them through their profession. The format is not styled in a traditional teaching setting but more of a forum discussion that will take place around meal times.
The goal here is not to create replicas of each speaker but to simply provide storytellers who can assist each intern by sharing personal ideas, triumphs and hardships.
It is our hope that all who are involved in the internship will be able to see God move in their lives and through the lives of others around them. We pray that as a community of believers we can pull together our strengths, weaknesses, talents and resources to become powerful witnesses of Gods creation and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Well
While in Bangkok, we worked with a ministry called "THE WELL". This is a ministry for girls who have come out of prostitution. Prostitution in Thailand is sadly a multi-billion dollar industry and though it is technically illegal, it's so huge that the police seem to just turn their heads instead of dealing with it.
The staff at The Well basically go down to the main strip of bars in Bangkok and pursue relationship with the girls they find there. Sometimes this require paying as if they are "customers" to spend time talking and praying with them. They tell them about Jesus and they let them know that if they want to leave prostitution and have a safe & healthy place to go to, they can join The Well. Many have. I hope many more do.
At The Well the girls recieve biblical education, counselling, and an opportunity to start self-supportive businesses of their own. Many of these girls have children so finding a way other than prostitution to provide for them is extremely necessary. Otherwise, though they despise working in the bars, it becomes quite enticing as it's a sure way to take care of themselves and their children.
These are 2 pictures from the strip of bars in Bangkok. The girls have numbers pinned to their dresses and they aggresively pursue customers to either come into their bars, or take them back to their hotels. The whole experience of merely standing in the midst of this place was quite surreal. There are throngs of white male foreigners everywhere you look, drunk and willing to pay to take a beautiful young thai girl back to his hotel. To say it's disgusting would be an understatement.
We were able to spend time in bible study with the girls, and in worship. We got to know a lot of them and their stories. One, in particular really changed me. I met a girl named Dao. She has 4 children and the saddest story I have ever heard. However, she has become a Christian and God is slowly but surely healing her and giving her a renewed hope for her life. If there is a way for me to eventually be able to financially support her, I hope to do so. We laughed a lot as we tried to communicate with both our limited thai & limited english skills, but somehow we became fast friends and she is someone I deeply care about and will never forget.
This is Dao and one of her sons:
Myself, Dao & Khio (the thai lady who runs The Well) preparing thai barbque
Dao's Children
The girls worshipping @ The Well
