my eyes have seen with kingdom eyes.: my eyes can't see

it is officially day 3 of living in minneapolis. the past few days have been very overwhelming. it has been definitely a transition. there hasnt been much normalcy, but i understand that comes with a new city, new people, and a new neighborhood. i am living in a place of poverty where prostitution, drugs, and gangs can be seen daily. But, there are also less obvious things. when i first arrived on wednesday, i was so surprised to see where we were living. the neighborhood really doesnt look that impoverished.

here is our house.

the olson's house. aka the greatest family ever.
but. walking up to a house like this was surprising. i totally expected more "ghetto" conditions. this neighborhood is considered "innercity", but to my eyes all i could see was beauty. but, in that beauty i knew there must be something deeper going on. as i talked with a member of our team, they were explaining the strict guidlines the city of minneapolis puts on home owners. if your yard is trashy or house looks rundown, the city will smack lots of expensive fines on you. so, most home owners keep their houses & yards kept. this seemed so eccentric to me. i am used to the "innercities" of nashville, memphis, st. louis, mobile, and jacksonville. i have served in all of these cities and have lived in two. in all of these cities, you can "see" the poverty from just standing in the middle of the street. the poverty is shouting at you. but, in my neighborhood, the poverty cannot be seen by just looking at the physical aspects of it. you must dig deeper and begin to get to know the people inside these houses to truly see the poverty that my neighborhood is engulfed in. as i have begun to build relationships with some of my neighbors, i am beginning to see the deeper needs that these people have. instead of the physical poverty that im used to seeing, there is a poverty of the spirit, a spiritual poverty. these people are longing for something more to hope in. in the south, jesus is shouted at the corner of every street. but, in minneapolis jesus isnt as "popular", which is probably a good thing. maybe, it is best that these people arent overwhelmed with thoughts of chrisitianity or those "chrisitians" shouting at the corner for people to repent. maybe it allows people to have more of a geniune faith. not to say that christ's name doesnt need to be known. we are called to go and speak of God's truth. but, there is such a lack of geniune commitment to the person of christ. there isnt a fleshing out of the gospel of christ. people dont truly follow christ. there is alot of talk and claiming the label of christian. but how many people do you know that are geniunly seeking to follow their jesus in every aspect of their life. not many, im sure. but. of course God is gracious. we are human and we arent able to reach perfection. but, we are called to have a geniune faith full of grace. i desire this kind of life. hopefully, you do too.

that is one big thing the lord is beginning to show me. so im still praying that he'll give me eyes to see. i feel as if that is going to be my theme for the summer. so pray that ill begin to see the needs of the people. pray that ill build geniune relationships with my neighbors. pray for the somali refugee children i will be tutoring starting monday. i went to the center today for orientation. 100% of these children are muslim. so there is much spiritual warfare there. pray that i can love them well and just be jesus to them.

i think this is all for tonight. oh.. here are a few pictures from yesterday's activities picking strawberries at a neighborhood garden, as well as going to the mexican market to eat, and the sunset on the river.

grace & peace.