transition

The dancer moved swiftly through the room as the singer belted out the chorus "God is already there..."

I was nearly in tears at one of my final services at Broad Street Ministry witnessing a moving expression of the Spirit.  Under normal circumstances, this would be merely a well done song and dance worship piece.  However, I knew the guy who was singing, I knew where he was coming from and what awaited him in the future.  That's a game changer.  In fact, telling the room of people gathered that "God is already there" is a pretty bold statement.  A lot of pain exists at BSM...
from people on the margins of society,
from people discriminated due to sexual orientation,
from people just struggling to make ends meet,
from people feeling all alone in the city,
from artists just vying to express themselves and make a living,
from recovering addicts,
from wealthy people figuring out what to do with their life.

I've always known this, but in my final weeks I've been hypersensitive to the weight of it all.  Particularly because I know this pain exists in every city, in every place.  And I know the religious landscape often runs away from this pain instead of taking it head on.  I know that MOST people in the situations mentioned above would never think of finding God "already there." Church is the last thing on their mind.  Community is the last thing on their mind.  I will be leaving BSM with a motivation to seek out this pain and move my future ministry setting to response.  I realize the importance of connecting to the community around, drawing in those who would never imagine being invited in to a "church" setting.  May we open our eyes.

I will be traveling to Haiti on Wednesday with a few pastor peer/mentors of mine.  We will be going to connect with organizations feeling pain.  We will be going to love, experience, and learn.  I'm pretty unaware of the weight of things I will experience, yet my motivation to be present in the midst of pain is obvious.  We aren't going to "save" Haiti.  We aren't going to "repair" or "work" for them.  We are going to be present, to be as little a footprint as possible.  We are going to learn stories and tell them; to be advocates for those in the midst of pain.  Besides...

God is already there.

Stay tuned for blog posts from Haiti.  Though I may not have internet access, I'll do my best to post what I jounal about during my time.  There will also be many pictures and stories to share.