Here and There, Near and Far
The 45 minute drive from The Park @ Zoar UMC in Hamilton Township to Hyde Park Community UMC in Cincinnati is roughly the length of a few good songs on the radio, a can of Diet Coke, one or two phone conversations, or a bit of quiet time in a hectic day.
Heading toward Awaken The City, the 45 minute drive from The Park @ Zoar UMC to Hyde Park Community UMC is the length of a leap of faith. In faith, our team stepped away from home, family and work to step into a world of homelessness, hunger, and unemployment. We leave our “normal” behind in hopes to be a part of a new “normal” in the city.
The Park @ Zoar UMC and The Plains UMC are serving Week Two of Awaken The City. Our first night begins with worship and The Prayer Tour. Each stop on the tour takes us further into the heart of a city in need. We end the tour at Bellevue Hill Park, circled in prayer. The sound of sirens reminds us why we are here. The sirens end, and in the stillness of sundown, the sound of church bells reminds us that we are loved by a God who lifts us to far greater possibilities than we can imagine or create on our own. God, whose healing presence is all around us, calling us to be a healing presence in a broken world.
And so, our adventure begins…
On Monday we split up into groups. One group visited Wesley Chapel Mission Center, one group visited Stepping Stones, one group went to the Center for Respite Care, and our group visited New Life Furniture. With New Life, we delivered furniture to families living in empty apartments. These were families who were homeless only weeks earlier. Time and time again, we stepped into completely empty apartments carrying dressers, beds, couches, chairs, TV stands, shelves, desks and kitchen tables. At each stop, in under an hour, empty, sterile apartments were transformed into fully furnished comfortable homes. At each stop, in that same hour, we entered into the stories of the families we met. With each stop along the journey, their stories became a part of our own.
Tuesday, our groups served at MEAC (Madisonville Education and Assistance Center), Wesley Chapel Mission Center, and Interfaith Hospitality Network. We set up and hosted a food pantry and clothing closet, painted the new IHN building, worked in the community garden in Over-the-Rhine, and took 36 children swimming in the OTR Community Pool. We were stretched – so obviously out of our comfort zones, so obviously far from home. As morning turned to afternoon, cordial relationships turned to comfortable friendships; neighborhoods far from ours began to feel like home.
A truck load of furniture to be delivered to an apartment three flights up can seem pretty daunting in the humidity of late June. So can a building that needs repainted, a food pantry preparing to greet 50 – 70 families, the health care of someone who has nowhere to live, and an inner city summer program full of 30 or 40 wound up kids ready to hit the pool. But, there is more. In the midst of the heat of the summer city days there is transformation. Transformation in the lives of the people we meet, and transformation in our lives as well.
Tomorrow, our journey continues. Pray we continue to feel the presence of God working in us and through us in everything we do and in everyone we meet. May we continue to be city lights!