Dreams From A Shack
This weekend I joined RC's Campus Ministry in our annual Shak-a-thon. This was my second time participating in Shack-a-Thon and I can't even begin to say how thankful I am that I decide to join in on it again this year.
Before I go any further I want to apologize for how scrambled and messy this post will be; I have a lot running through my mind from the weekend and am still trying to process it all.
A bit of a back story:
The summer of 2012 I went on a mission trip it Knoxville TN. While we were there we fed hundreds of homeless people through Lost Sheep Ministries, we helped Angelic Ministries sort clothing and furniture for their homeless(or almost homeless) program, we also worked on a few painting projects. Working with and for the homeless/at risk people there sparked a passion within me that I had no idea was there.
The trip to Knoxville was the reason I decided to study Christian Ministry with a minor in Social Work.
Now to this weekend:
For those who do not know, Shack-a-Thon is a time here on campus where students build their own little wooden shacks to sleep in for the weekend to raise homelessness awareness. On Saturday we always go and volunteer somewhere in the area, last year we went to Micah6 (which is another place that has greatly influenced the path I want to take), but this year we went to Grace Centers of Hope and Hope Warming Center in Pontiac. Both places were wonderful, doing some awesome things, and moving, but the one I want to share about right now is Hope Warming Center. It is kind of funny though because originally we were not even planning on going to the Warming Center at all.
A man named David who worked at and lived at Hope Warming Center impacted a big portion, if not all, of our group. He greeted us at the door and then shortly after he spoke to us a word of encouragement and motivation. He shared how he could tell that our group was one with potential and big hopes and dreams. David inspired us by saying that God put those dreams and ideas in our heart for a reason and that we should never ignore them because Hope Warming Center was just an idea and dream at one point and today it is doing more than they could ever have imagined. David also encouraged us to write down our dreams because when we do we see them in a whole new light. Though I am not nearly as good at the wording of all of this as David was, I hope you can understand the impact he had on many of us.
As of late I have been forgetting why I wanted to do what Knoxville had stirred within my heart. Doing the work we did and hearing David's words was exactly what I needed to do and hear.
Taking David's advice, I have decided to write down characteristics of what my dream is:
An even bigger extension of my dream is to have a farm just barely outside the Flint area where at risk youth can come and learn what it means to work hard, have responsibility, how to work as a team, and feel what it is like to have pride and joy in the things one can do their own hands.
These are my dreams and I hope and pray I will never loose sight of them.
Before I go any further I want to apologize for how scrambled and messy this post will be; I have a lot running through my mind from the weekend and am still trying to process it all.
A bit of a back story:
The summer of 2012 I went on a mission trip it Knoxville TN. While we were there we fed hundreds of homeless people through Lost Sheep Ministries, we helped Angelic Ministries sort clothing and furniture for their homeless(or almost homeless) program, we also worked on a few painting projects. Working with and for the homeless/at risk people there sparked a passion within me that I had no idea was there.
The trip to Knoxville was the reason I decided to study Christian Ministry with a minor in Social Work.
Now to this weekend:
For those who do not know, Shack-a-Thon is a time here on campus where students build their own little wooden shacks to sleep in for the weekend to raise homelessness awareness. On Saturday we always go and volunteer somewhere in the area, last year we went to Micah6 (which is another place that has greatly influenced the path I want to take), but this year we went to Grace Centers of Hope and Hope Warming Center in Pontiac. Both places were wonderful, doing some awesome things, and moving, but the one I want to share about right now is Hope Warming Center. It is kind of funny though because originally we were not even planning on going to the Warming Center at all.
A man named David who worked at and lived at Hope Warming Center impacted a big portion, if not all, of our group. He greeted us at the door and then shortly after he spoke to us a word of encouragement and motivation. He shared how he could tell that our group was one with potential and big hopes and dreams. David inspired us by saying that God put those dreams and ideas in our heart for a reason and that we should never ignore them because Hope Warming Center was just an idea and dream at one point and today it is doing more than they could ever have imagined. David also encouraged us to write down our dreams because when we do we see them in a whole new light. Though I am not nearly as good at the wording of all of this as David was, I hope you can understand the impact he had on many of us.
As of late I have been forgetting why I wanted to do what Knoxville had stirred within my heart. Doing the work we did and hearing David's words was exactly what I needed to do and hear.
Taking David's advice, I have decided to write down characteristics of what my dream is:
- A house or building in Flint
- A safe place for homeless and at risk youth to come hang out, build relationships, learn about Jesus, and feel loved and cared for.
- A place where they can learn skills such as gardening and cooking
- A place where we can have a community garden for people to learn from and be sustained by.
- Eventually I would like to add another house (or more) where women and children could come and stay and be poured into, loved, cared for, and shown a new way of living life.
An even bigger extension of my dream is to have a farm just barely outside the Flint area where at risk youth can come and learn what it means to work hard, have responsibility, how to work as a team, and feel what it is like to have pride and joy in the things one can do their own hands.
These are my dreams and I hope and pray I will never loose sight of them.
Comments
Post a Comment