Move To The Ghetto Part 3: Is He Calling Me?

I actually wrote this Monday after David's challenge to pray about moving to Gate City/East Lake but wanted to "review" it before I posted....

How do you know when God is calling you to do something? One of the greatest challenges of being a Christ follower is interpreting His voice and distinguishing it from our dreams and desires for our lives. One thing I KNOW isn't a "dream" of mine is to move to the ghetto. So why has it been on my mind all day? Why have I been thinking about scenarios in which I might move to the hood? Why have I been thinking about pros and cons? Could it be that God is calling me to do something radical?

So, I told Mandi I could never move overseas to be a missionary (stupid) but why couldn't I keep my job, live in the same city, go to the same grocery store, gym, church and have the same friends, live within driving distance of my family and just change my address? I may not be willing to move to a crummy apartment off University Blvd. but I could totally move to the ghetto if I was in the right neighborhood. Yes there are some "bad" people there, but I am certain that there are poor areas of town where the crime rate isn't as high and there are good people that have just fallen on hard times. And I am certain that God would keep me safe.

I've been wanting a garage for a long time and having a fenced in backyard for Roscoe would be awesome but I haven't been willing to move out to Chelsea in order to have those comforts and I know I can't afford a nice "house" anywhere else on 280 without a huge raise or second income. Older homes scare me and I am not the type of person that likes "fix-er uppers." I like NEW...brand new. But if there was an decent, affordable home in a semi-safe neighborhood and I could put up a fence in the backyard I could sooo move to East Lake or Gate City. Maybe that is why I have a big dog now. To keep me safe and intimidate people. (Read "The Guadian by Nicholas Sparks about a big dog protecting his single female owner. I will loan it to you).

These are the things I have been thinking about. I don't mean for it to sound like I'm giving God conditions, but I am saying that these are conditions that would make me feel more comfortable and would probably make me feel more confident that I am following God's calling (if He is in fact calling me to do this).

I don't know if God wants me to do that or not, and I'm not hitting the pavement going to look for a home in the hood right now, BUT I am open to the idea. March 31st I plan to attend the "Local Iniative" meeting to learn more and am excited to hear what Ben DeLoach and his family's plans are for moving to the inner city. Please pray for me, as well as everyone else in our faith family, as they pray over this challenge. If He wants me to go I will go. I just don't know if that is what He is calling me to do!?!?!!

Guatemala!

Dear Friends:

Matthew 28:19 tells us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

For most of my life I added the words “Select Christians” at the beginning of that verse. It was my understanding that some people were “called” to missions. I guess I’m not the only one that thought that because only .05% of Christians actually go into the mission field.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

Now that’s a good verse to cling to, isn’t it? Why is it that we all want the privileges of being a Christian yet we don’twant anything to do with the obligations?

These are the questions posed by my pastor early last year during a series called “Impact” that I have been wrestling with ever since. I knew he was very passionate about missions but for a long time I just wished he would preach about something else. Then one day it finally “clicked.” Later in the year we went through the book of James and two verses really stuck out in James. They are James 1:27 and James 2: 14-17.

In light of those two verses how can I go about my life of comfort and ignore the urgent physical and spiritual needs that surround me? Over a billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day and 26,000 children die from hunger or preventable diseases. There is just no excuse for that.

During the James series and then later in more detail, our pastor challenged us to commit to a “Radical Experiment” for the year 2010 of which I committed to. One of the five aspects to this challenge was to spend 2% of our year in another context spreading the Gospel. By doing this, God will most likely radically transform the way we spend 98% of our year in Birmingham.

As with all of the other aspects of this experiment, we were provided with resources as to how to we can serve in another context. In December our church held a “Global Link” where we could find out about the different mission trips that are available for 2010 either through our church or with a mission organization. I was so overwhelmed but tried to talk to as many people there as possible. That night I researched each country that I thought I might be able to go to (based on when the trip was) and over the next week or so God kept leading me to go to Guatemala with One Way Ministries.

This July 24th through 31st I will go on my first mission trip ever! These are the primary activities that we will most likely be involved in:

1) Tabitha House – a preschool for children who live in the dump. We will be teaching basic lessons, singing songs, playing games, holding children, etc.

(2) City Dump – we will deliver food bags to families, spend time with them and pray with them.

(3) Local churches – we will have the opportunity to do a VBS type event in a couple of churches. We will lead music, teach Bible stories, play games and make crafts.

I cannot imagine children living in a DUMP. That is just mind boggling. I pray that God will prepare me for what I am going to be witnessing first hand. I love children and that is one of the reasons I chose this trip. However, I am not sure how I am going to be able to rest on July 31st knowing that these children that I have just played with, fed, sang with and held in my arms for the past week are sleeping outside on a pile of trash. On July 31st I will go to sleep in my comfortable bed, in my air conditioned home, with my two dogs. My dogs have, by far, better living conditions than these children.

I would like to ask for your prayers over the next few months as I prepare for this trip. When man works, man works but when man prays, God works. Pray that God will prepare my heart. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people our team will come in contact with so that they will be receptive to hearing about Him. Pray for their health. Pray that there will be an end to their starvation. Pray that medical care will be available to them soon and abundantly. Pray that God will use us for His work beyond what we can imagine so that in the end He is the one that gets all the credit and the glory. Lastly, pray that God will transform my life while I am on this trip and there are. As of right now I do not know a single person that is going on this trip and I am completely walking out on faith. I couldn’t be more excited!

As you pray, if you feel the Lord leading you to assist financially for this trip, tax deductible donations can be mailed to One Way (105 Silver Leaf Lane, Alabaster, AL 35007) or made online at www.1wayministries.org, please put “Amanda McCollum – Guatemala” in the memo field. Also, if you think you might want to love on my dogs while I am away please email me at manda2839@aol.com.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and support. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people!

God Bless!

Amanda

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows inthere distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Move To The Ghetto Part 1: First Impression

Yesterday's message from David was well....challenging! He challenged us to ask God if He wants us to move to the inner city in order to spread the gospel in our community. At first I was in shock and thought he had lost his mind. As I watched the first video I saw the project housing that is only 2 blocks from my office. I have had to detour to get to and from work due to the police blocking off the roads and I've seen people get arrested there. Rough looking people are ALWAYS wandering the streets in this area. This is NOT a safe environment to live in.

Jokingly I thought, "well I guess it would be convenient to get to work if I moved to those projects." But told myself that is no place for a young single girl to live. Then I prayed last night and told God that I would move to the ghetto if that was His will and would completely trust that He would keep me safe if He called me to do that. When I woke up I decided that I needed to pray for the people that lived in the housing right there by my office.

When I passed by this morning I saw windows that were open, maybe they were broken, I don't know, but whomever lives in that apartment must have been really cold last night with that window open. I told myself that God probably wouldn't call me to move into an unsafe neighborhood but He could be telling me that I need to pray for the people in these projects and be more considerate when they SLOWLY walk in the middle of the road when I'm trying to drive to work. That's it, God just wants ME to pray, but He'll call other people in the church to move there.

Friends Are Like Elevators....

.....They either bring you up or take you down. I am really thankful for my "radical" friends. I am surrounded by people that don't go out to eat, are buying clothes from the thrift store or aren't even buying any new clothes for the year because they are trying to be more radical. They always say to be careful who your friends are and this weekend I have just been especially encouraged by my friends.

Last night I had dinner with a sweet friend, I guess it was sort of a belated birthday dinner because she brought me a sweet gift: a compact journal and thank you notes for my mission trip this summer. That was so sweet (and I love practical gifts!) I was so encouraged by her when she told me she had asked for practical gifts for Christmas that she could take on her mission trip (which she leaves for in a week). WOW! I was much more selfish in my Christmas wish list! She shared with me that she bought some clothes at the thrift store to wear on her trip and that she planned to leave her clothes behind.

There was a time (not too long ago, in fact) that I would think that was ridiculous. Personally I have never stepped foot in a real thrift store, only consignment shops. Last night, though, I was thinking, "Wow, what a great idea. I'll have to keep that in mind when I start planning for what to pack in July!" 

Going through the Radical Experiment with my friends is such a blessing. Being "cheap" and "frugal" is actually COOL, lol.  I used to buy a new "outfit" every week for the "weekend" and now I can't really think of any reason I would need a new outfit for the weekend because I don't go anywhere but work, church, and the grocery store!

I know as we get older we are generally less prone to care about fashion and being "cool" but the Radical Experiment has really taken a lot of pressure off me to feel like I need to look a certain way or have the right "things." It's nice to know that the people that are most important in my life "get it" when I tell them I'm doing things like cutting off my cable or increasing my tithe.

Do your friends bring you up or take you down?