Thursday, August 21, 2014

Not Simply a Fair-Weather Friend

I'd like to share an amazing story written by two of our staff this summer.  I greatly appreciate their honesty and passion:

The times I expect outdoor things have always been the times it ends up raining. For the first few weeks, including training, the rain pushed us off the streets and into the subway for Hands of Hope-- a homeless ministry that takes us out to meet, talk with, and pray with our neighbors here. It started to feel like "rain" and "Hands of Hope" were intentionally scheduled together, and by the third week of the summer I found myself asking The Lord to bring on the rain and push us into the subway again. I had been talking with the same woman every week. My friends were there! Why would I want to go anywhere else?

On a day when one of those symbolic storm clouds you see in movies had been following me all day, the sky was finally completely clear for Hands of Hope. I had gotten hard news and my heartfelt heavy, like it really was a rainy day and there we were in the sun, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. All I wanted was some real rain so I could feel at home on my bench in the subway. I wanted the sit in the comfort of consistency. But there was the sun. I sat outside on the edge of a bench next to the Logan Square Fountain, with eyes on my group, swelling with unexpected joy as I watched them lock eyes with men and women, shake their hands, hand them bagged lunches, and engage with them just as they had with me all week.

I still felt like the rain cloud of my day was over my head. Through the thick of the storm in my head, I heard the woman on the bench next to me yell, “You! You're here! I had such a bad day and you found me!" Rochelle. My subway comfort. My rainy day consistency. The only person I wanted to see. She had decided to sit by the fountain instead of in the Subway and she sat with me. She sat and I heard all about her doctors who don't communicate well and the streets of Philadelphia and public transportation and the YouTube video her class at the women's center is putting up soon. As I eventually moved toward leaving I looked at Rochelle and I said, "Hey, you know, I had a bad day today. I needed a friend."

And she said, "Oh, I know, I could tell the second I saw your face. Come give me a hug. It's going to be okay."

                                       

It seemed as if the rain always came about when I was getting ready to engage the homeless through Hands of Hope. I had engaged with all types of people in Suburban Station, but I constantly longed to develop a deeper relationship with one of my new friends.

During my second week of hosting, I thought my opportunity to meet and greet my Logan Square brothers and sisters would not come. My youth group’s van broke down that week, the schedule flipped, and I had a site visit during the new Hands of Hope time. Fortunately, I was able to make it towards the tail end of this outreach experience, sitting on the grass as my group wrapped up a conversation with two men.

That is when I met Keith.

The group I was hosting introduced me to the two gentlemen. One of the men, Keith, reached out and shook my hand, and we spent only five minutes exchanging where our hearts rested for Philadelphia and the people there. I said my goodbyes to Keith and his friend and knew that I missed my opportunity to build a deeper relationship with one of the Parkways residents.

The following week, Hands of Hope went on as normal with my new group. We shook hands with those who laid on benches and the grass and exchanged bagged lunches for a warm conversation and prayer. I took a second to float through the park, being sure that my group was engrossed in this new experience. While walking along through cardboard boxes set up as beds, someone tapped me on the shoulder and stretched out their arms for a hug.

It was Keith.

“Keith! No way! You remember me?”

“Of course, Alexis. I wanted to see how you were doing and wanted to know if you had a new group.”

Keith sought me out. I did not have to seek for him, and the weeks after went just the same. Keith found me, whether it was in the Parkway at Logan Square or at one of our other ministry sites, like Chosen 300. He was the relationship that I sought to have, but it did not come to be until I stopped seeking and waited.

                                     


Whenever I go out looking to meet the "homeless" or the "wanderers", I am instead met. I aim to grasp brokenness and am greeted there by good news. It is as if my schedule is not planned by CSM and is not based on dinner times or ministry partners or weather patterns but on carefully planned divine appointments. Our creator is intentional. We are confronted daily here with new heartbreaks and scary, scary pictures of what it looks like to be wandering or homeless or without the things we're used to and it is here where we see God's face more clearly.

In the thick of it, I know my savior more because He is calling out to us in Philadelphia. I meet with Him and I find myself locking eyes with a Friend, a Comforter, and a rainy day consistency. My heart gets heavy seeing where the people of Philadelphia are wandering to, but every single day I learn more about God's heart for this place and I say, "You! You're here! I had such a bad day and you found me!" or “I wanted to see how you were doing...” He knows this hurt and I am drawn into his embrace.

My prayer for Philadelphia is that when our hearts are heavy for our neighbors, we seek to look this Friend in the eye and to sit with Him, and if we cannot find our Friend, we keep going and continue to walk in His path. He looks for this. He waits for it. He is not simply a fair-weather friend, but a careful planner who knows this pain and loves it all gleefully and does not skip out on time with us, even in the rain.

─ Olivia C. and Alexis W.-W.





Thursday, June 12, 2014

Seven Reasons for Three

Today marks 3 years since I packed my suitcase half with clothes and half with bedding, grabbed my guitar, and headed back down to Philly for another summer of adventure, not knowing that it would take me all the way until today.  I think people knowing me growing up might be surprised to find me here in Philly, but even- especially?- among the brokenness, I am in love with this city that has become my home.

I'm actually a little surprised to find me here, too.

So what do I love about Philly?  What keeps me here, celebrating instead of mourning 3 years today?

The first is the incredible community of friends I have met here.  What wonderful people you all are- dedicated, hard-working, graceful, and above all, loving.  I have shared so many wonderful times with you, and I hope to continue to do so.  Community is a wonderfully sustaining thing.

The second is the active on behalf of the many.  There is such an active community of Christians and non-Christians alike in Philly.  If I were more prideful, I would say that you make me know that I'm not alone in the work I do.  Instead, I want to say that I feel blessed to be able to join in the great work that has been going on for many years and that I pray will continue to go on for many more.  You are all so full of wisdom that I know my opportunity to glean from you will not dry out soon.

The third is my family- being from this region has been such a blessing, to be able to make my own life but to still remain connected to my family has sustained me as well.  They support me, check up on me, take interest in my life, and have fun with me at holidays, get-togethers, and any old random day.

The fourth is opportunity.  Necessity is the mother of invention, and there is a lot of need in Philly.  I don't know where my life will take me- I didn't think I'd even be here!  But I know that there is much to do, and much that excites me.

The fifth is food.  Let's be real.  Philly becomes more of a foody city with each day and I LOVE it.  That includes urban farms, CSAs, hole-in-the-walls, food trucks turned restaurants, co-ops, whatever that creation was I made for dinner last night, my backyard container vegetable garden, and more.

The sixth is the city itself.  It changes every second.  I drive the same route every day, but there is always something new to see or notice.  Some new graffiti, some new building development, sometimes less graffiti, sometimes less development.  If you've ever driven with me you know how distracted I can get by observing what's going on around outside the car- I love watching the city grow and change.  Which leads me to:

The seventh, which can at times be annoying, is the lack of privacy.  There's a lot of people in a small place here and especially in the summer, people take to their porches and stoops.  But that means that there are that many more neighbors that you see that much more frequently.  My block becomes alive again each summer, and it is such a blessing to catch up more frequently with neighbors, play with the kids, and look out for each other.  Plus, it's fun to watch the city live their life outside- friends greet each other at bus stops, neighbors watch other neighbor's kids, people go on bike rides or runs together, strangers help each other with engagements behind the art museum (it happened!), and people take to decorating their stoops or taking care of their front-yard gardens.

I think the most popular plant of choice in Philly is the knock out rose bush.  And everywhere you go you see these flowers uniting and beautifying Philly with their blooms.