embarking on a great adventure.

I have just embarked on an exciting adventure in the philips neighborhood of minneapolis, minnesota. God has called me to serve in the inner city amongst the people of phillips this summer. i am truly humbled that God would give me such an endeavor to embark on. it has been such a priviledge to be a part of what God is doing here. i am serving with a christian order called "innerCHANGE" as an intern. innerCHANGE is group of people living out the gospel of christ incarnationally among the poor and marginalized. they can be seen as being missionary, contemplative, and prophetic. they focus on evangelism, community mobilization, church mobilization, and ministry among the profoundly broken. it is a very organic group of people who are living their lives amongst the poor for christ's sake.

this past sunday, i flew into san francisco for orientation. i learned more about the service i'll be doing this summer in minneapolis. i can truly say that it was such a refreshing time being with a group of people who are living out values that i try to live by and see as important. one of my favorite things about innerCHANGE is the real & geniune nature of the way they do ministry. it isnt about "saving" people, but it about the relationships with the people. there is an investment in people's lives, specifically the poor. they see the opportunity to do ministry as "a priviledge", which was a humbling way to see it. we as christians boast in our works for the lord way too often. we go into places to bring jesus there. why are we so naive to think that God isn't already there? also,the people we minister to are humans, which we so often see as a project. we live to check off the box next to their name on our christian to do list. ministry is about relationships with people. it is a life investment, not a two week trip to another city or country. i pray i can live my life incarnationally loving people with a fierce passion from the lord.

also, san francisco is a very neat city. i felt so comfortable and at home there. the people were friendly and organic. there was something about that city that makes me long to be there. the first day, lindsay [my teammate] and i went on our first adventure to this hill that overlooks the city. of course, we decided to climb steep hills where a path didnt exist. but we made it to the top of the hill and looked out onto the city of san francisco. it was so beautiful and i was humbled to stand so high above the city. also, for the past three mornings, we woke up early to explore the city before the orientation activities started. we found a great coffee shop called "philz coffee". i highly reccommend it!

i am so thankful for my teammate, lindsay. she has been such a blessing from the lord already! she is so faithful in internalizing the word of God. i pray i can be as knowledgeable of the word as she is. she is such a beautiful picture of our God. i am so thankful for her friendship. we have made such great memories already. i look forward to see how God uses both of us in each other's lives this summer. pray we will be unified and an encouragement to each other.

But, the entire time i was in san fran, God just showed me new pictures of his beauty. on the second day, we embarked on a prayer walk throughout the city. during that time, God just shouted some profound truth my way. just an fyi: san francisco homes are right by the street. every home has a a steep set of concrete stairs with no grass or yard. there was concrete, gates surrounding the stairs, and often more gray concrete. before the prayer walk, our facilitator quoted oswald chambers saying, "eyes that look are common, but eyes that see are rare". So, we were challenged to not just look at the streets we were walking on, but ask the lord to give us eyes to see the underlying [less obvious] needs of the city. that quote just resonated into my soul and God gave me eyes to see a new kind of beauty and symbol of God's work in san francisco. often we look at all the obvious problems in a community and are blinded to see the ways God is moving. it is easy to dwell on the sufferings of this life, but it is more difficult to hold on to God's truth, which is our only hope. so, as i walked, God's flowers along the street kept grabbing my attention. i noticed that every house had a flower pot in their concrete yard with beautiful flowers just thriving. so, despite all the dirt and ashe, God's beauty was still radiating brightly. despite the concrete, those flowers were beautiful and brought life to the streets of san francisco. this symbol of God's beauty amongst the uglyness reminded me that God is already moving and working in minneapolis. i just needed to ask the lord to show me how he is already working. there are so many problems in this world, but there is hope! God is working. he is moving and changing lives amongst those living in poverty. we must be careful to not dwell on the uglyness, but hold on to God's beauty. i pray i can see God's beauty in minneapolis despite the obvious poverty that is around me.

today, i was able to experience my first day of that beauty i was waiting to see in minneapolis. we flew in early this wednesday morning, slept till noon, then met the rest of our team. we were able to meet a bunch of people today in the neighborhood, as well as those involved in the house church that is connected with the team. i am excited to see the beauty that will emerge from the people here.

pray that my eyes will be able to truly see the needs of the people. i long to be used here. pray that i'll be humbled daily. pray that lindsay & i will be unified in christ. pray that my pride will cease. pray that i will be an encourager to those around me. pray that ill be light.

grace & peace.