If you weren't looking, you might have missed it... The children came first to ask
"what ch'all doin?"
We're having a party. There's going to be food, and music, and pretty soon a bouncy house. Go tell your friends and come back.
On the surface, it looked like a block party... food, music, fun and good company.
Below the surface was the heart through which the party had been planned. It was the heart of Jesus who heals the brokenhearted and redeems the lives of those who walk with Him. When Jesus announced “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” he was saying: God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.
Sunday for the City, a day we designated to pray for cities throughout my denomination's district, which spans five states. In Baltimore, we planned an event to B.L.E.S.S. one city neighborhood.
As we BLESS, we
Befriend
Listen & Learn
Eat Together
Serve another person
Share faith in Jesus
... and the kingdom of God is near
We were in Sandtown-Winchester, the Baltimore City neighborhood that was the center of the unrest that erupted here after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died from a nearly severed spine after being arrested in April. DeWayne Wickham, dean of Morgan State University's School of Global Journalism and Communication, wrote in an article for USA TODAY stating heartbreaking statistics about this neighborhood:
"More than half of the people (ages 16-64) in this area are unemployed. In 2012, 49% of its high school students were "chronically absent," 61% of the population 25 and older lacked a high school degree, and a third of this community's houses were vacant. Even more disturbing, it has more people in Maryland's prison system than any other community in the state. Maryland taxpayers spend nearly $17 million a year to keep 458 people from this Census track in prison, according to a recent Justice Policy Institute report."
This was a day where the kingdom of God came near!
The table was set and food prepared for our guests
A stage for music was set
Prayer walkers went into the neighborhood and invited the people to come
Guests arrived
Food was served
Stories were shared as people talked, listened and learned about each other
Testimonies of God's care and faithfulness were shared
We prayed, and God was certainly near!
As I handed out bottles of water and said, "thank you for coming out today," thankful eyes looked deeply into mine accompanied by the words, no, thank you! These were eyes appreciating that people truly care, eyes that appreciated warm food served with love (instead of food from a dumpster, as one man told me), eyes that may have been seeing a glimpse of God's kingdom for the first time, and eyes that are already part of the kingdom and saw God's love pouring through.
Love and compassion speaks a language all its own.
I am privileged to speak this language and pray that those who received this message on Sunday felt the love of God and the peace that passes all understanding. May they be moved to faith in Jesus, the one who loves unconditionally!
1 comment:
So glad your event was successful and it hopefully sparks further positive change for the community.
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