For those of you who know me well, or maybe through Facebook, Chicago, and anything "inner-city" is my passion. God has just put this huge burden for the city on my heart. It's a difficult one. One that sometimes feels as if it is too overwhelming, unfeasible (ohhh. big word. like it?)- to bring the Gospel to the whole city.
You might think, "Oh did you make it out of the hood? And you wanna go back and help make it better?" Nooottttt necessarily. I didn't grow up in THE HOOD. But I did grow up in areas where there were some elements of danger. Where I live now is not as bad as where I grew up, but there are some areas within 5 minutes of driving that are known for gang-violence and drug locations. I think it's a mix of where I grew up, where those close to me grew up and went to school (my family), and hearing stories from the families that attend the school my mom works at. There is so much hurt and heart break in the city, guys. How can you NOT be burdened by it?!
On Facebook, I follow NBC 5 news. For those of you not from Chicago, it's one of our biggest news channels. It's a cool way to stay in touch with what's happening since I don't actually watch the news.. BUT, it's also almost always disheartening. It is usually something about ANOTHER person getting shot in the south side, or Logan Square/Humboldt Park, or even as recent as in my back yard, the HIP. It's news stories like that that encourage me and push me to continue working and shining a light in the my and our beautiful city of Chicago- ESPECIALLY when the victim is a teen.
A couple weeks ago, a really cool ministry called By The Hand came to one of my classes here at Moody. To open up, they showed a video about their ministry and what they do. The statistics on there.. I had to try with everything I had not to walk out of the auditorium and not start bawling.
All you have to do to see the need and hurt in this city is google "shootings in Chicago". Instantly, you'll get the number of people that have been shot and killed in the matter of hours. It's horrifying, really. On a tuesday morning not too long ago, it was 3 on a monday night. And one of them was a 3 year old baby! My niece is about to turn 3! I cannot imagine losing her.
Ohkay. Sorry about the rant. I don't want this to be a debbie downer.
Now, What do we do to fix this?
Honestly, I don't have a simple 3 step process to heal all of Chicago. I wish I did.
But! I just want to encourage those of you who are Christians, in Chicago:
KEEP GOING.
Nehemiah 4:10 says, "In Judah it was said,[d] “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall." then 17, "Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other." then down to verse 19 (idk what's going on with this weird upper type...) "9 And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
I just find those verses really encouraging. It may feel like the burden I am carrying is too much. I can't do it by myself. But in reality, I'm not by myself. Not only do I have the Lord, but he has provided me with some great teammates to come along side of me and help me on this mission. "Our God will fight for us."
