A Family in Crisis

I stopped by a mentee's house today to pick him up, and I noticed right away that I was stepping into some kind of dramatic situation. I entered right into the midst of a family in crisis. I was able to engage for a while, and by the end of this evening things had quieted down a bit. Still, today was a reminder to me that my mentees in Homewood experience tremendous pressure in life. Poverty can be very difficult when it must be endured over the course of an extended period of time. Pain runs deep, and struggles develop along the journey through life. One of the things that I am most thankful for is the opportunity that God has given me to be able to speak into the lives of so many young people who are growing up in the midst of urban poverty. I have worked hard to develop deep, meaningful relationships over a long period of time, and I have earned the right to be heard and be present when things break down in my neighborhood. The relational model of mentoring is in stark contrast to the programs that are intended to help people in my neighborhood but are still disconnected relationally from the community. When programs are devoid of relationships, then they are just cold programs. Many ideas have come and gone in Homewood since I've been working here over the past six years, but the relationships remain a consistent force to be reckoned with. I've seen so much life change happen in the midst of long term relationships, because, as Christians, when we really know people then we are much more effective at being able to help them. After spending some time with my mentee tonight, I dropped him off right in an area where prostitutes and drug dealers were out in full effect thinking that me driving on their turf must have signified that I was interested in their services. But, of course, I wasn't. God had me right where he wanted me to be, helping my friend and his family out. There's no place I would have rather been than to have God work through me to accomplish his purposes.