Backyard barbecues in the summer!-- Chandy

About a year ago I read the amazing book, "Irresistible Revolution", by Shane Claiborne. At the time I read the book, I had just signed a contract to buy a house in the "suburbs". The more I read the book, which is about living in the community where you serve, the more I began to feel guilty about not buying a house down in the 'hood. I prayed and sought advice from a lot of people. I eventually came to the conclusion that it probably isn't the best idea for a 23 year old single girl to move into the ghetto by herself. On one hand I wondered if I wasn't trusting God enough and I should move down there anyways, on the other hand I knew that I needed to respect the advice of many wise men and women of God who adamantly told me that safety is important. In August of this past year I moved into my house and felt very blessed to be able to afford such a nice home for myself, but it was still bittersweet. I still had an inner battle waging about the fact that I have two empty bedrooms in my house and most of my kids live in homes where 5 or 6 people may be sleeping in the same room. Matters didn't get any better when, in September, I took a trip to St. Louis with the staff and was privileged to sit in a room of about 25 people for an all day conference with Shane Claiborne. I left the conference feeling even more strongly that I needed to live in the hood. But when I returned I realized that there was no way my family, friends or staff at the mission would okay me living in a dangerous area by myself. So I asked God, "why have you put this desire in my heart if it isn't possible?". I have been waiting for some peace in this area for the past few months and just this weekend I came to the answer the Lord has been giving me all along.

He is telling me that at this point in my life He desires for my home to be a SANCTUARY, a calm away from the storm and safehouse for the abused. I will share a couple examples:

The first being this past weekend. One of our RI (Rock Island) girls who is 7 1/2 months pregnant is on the run. While she is pregnant, she has a strong desire to NOT live in the abusive situation she was in, so she has been staying with friends and family all over the city. Because of this, she is classified as a runaway and on Thursday the police came looking for her. On Thursday night she came into RI and had a breakdown. She got extremely upset about the possibility of being sent back to her bad family life. We knew that if DHS heard about it, they would be willing to create other options for her. But it was late on Thursday night and we knew we couldn't get ahold of her caseworker until Friday morning. So we took the trek out to my home in the suburbs and "hid out". She was very distraught, but the farther we got out of the city, the more she began to calm down. For that one night she felt safe and untouchable. She got a warm shower, warm meal and warm bed. She had security for maybe the first time in months.

The other example is a precious little family who I adore. It is a very young mother with 4 kids. She lives in a 200 sq. foot efficiency apartment with all the children and sometimes her addict husband. He is quite abusive at times and it is a very rough environment. I can tell when he is on a binge or in an especially bad mood because she will ask me to take her 2 youngest girls (ages 2 and 4) home with me. By now they each have their own carseat for my car and their own special drawer in my guest room with fresh pj's and toys. It is obvious they don't get bathed very often and so the first thing they always want to do is take a bubble bath. After that they always curl up in the living room and watch Monsters Inc. I have 2 couches for them to stretch out on, but they always choose to snuggle up together in a chair until they fall asleep. (That's what the picture is below).

The Lord has given me peace about my home in this stage of my life. I believe there is a purpose for it now. BUT, I still hope someday that I will marry a man that won't mind living in the ghetto with me. THEN I can move down there and have the things I dream about: dinners with all the neighbors, movie nights on the weekends and backyard barbecues in the summer!




"My God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me,and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence." - 2 Samuel 22:3