Ministry in the Margins of Society

Yesterday was a long day full of urban ministry. I started my day off with a Palm Sunday worship service at North Way East End. It was incredible to worship God with a diverse group of people from different parts of the city of Pittsburgh. Our church is a missional church. We gather together in community on Sunday mornings to worship Jesus so that we can be strengthened and equipped to go out into the world to fulfill our roles in God's mission. My part in God's mission started right after the worship service. I had an impromptu counseling session in my office with a member of our church who is navigating through the pain of unemployment and homelessness. He is having a bitter experience with the streets of East Liberty after losing a job that he had held down for 17 years. Our church loves him and has welcomed him into our community. I prayed with him and encouraged him, and he encouraged me with the resilience and passion that he brings to our church community.

After heading home from the church ministry center, I decided to take my dog for a walk in Homewood. I love to walk around my neighborhood because it's a great way to meet people and also keep up with the relationships that I've built over the years. A woman who works the corner next to the BBQ restaurant where we live stopped me to talk to me and give me an update on how she's doing. It was probably 30 degrees outside. It was cold and overcast, and she was walking around in bare feet and a t-shirt. An addiction to drugs has taken over her life, but as I talked with her I could tell that somehow she still clings to hope that things are going to get better. My wife and I have reached out to her several times. She knows that we care about her. I'm praying for her. No person is too far gone to be transformed by the profound love of Jesus Christ.

While I was eating lunch back at my house, two guys who live on the next block over stopped by for a visit. I was thankful to be able to share my table with them. They've been in my house many times. They always feel welcome with us. We talked about how life is going. Even though they are only teenagers, they have both spent significant amounts of time locked up over the past two years. They've been in and out of several different schools that don't really know what to do with them. Yet, when I see them I see them as children of God. I believe that God has good plans for them. I tell them that often. They aren't use to hearing those types of things from the adults in their lives. Most of the adults tell them how bad they are and what's wrong with them. I see their promise, not their faults. That's because God has broken my heart for the young people in my neighborhood, and as a follower of Jesus I've been called to stand in the gap for these young people. It brings me great joy, and these interactions transform my heart on a daily basis.

I dropped them off at their houses, and then spent the rest of my day with three more mentees that I've been spending time with just about every week for the past seven years. We all look forward to Sunday afternoons. I had to chase them down all over town since it's spring break and they're staying with different friends and relatives. Still, the patience paid off and we had a great time together. Our formal mentoring relationships that were made seven years ago have turned into true friendships. They are all 18 years old now, and they're on track to graduate from high school even though it seems like the whole world is stacked against them. I'm proud of the men that God is shaping them to be, and I tell them that often. God has given me the great privilege of walking with them through many ups and downs in life. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

Pastoral ministry in the city involves building relationships with people in powerful and powerless places. Jesus calls us to people living in the margins of society, and it's there that we find God's grace in its greatest proportions. I pray that God continues the break my heart for what breaks his. I am thankful for every day that God gives me breathe and allows me to experience life in the stream of his mission to redeem the world.