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Bethlehem UCC Mission Trip Worship 9/29/13 Pechakucha 2 "What We Learned"
- 3. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8 (NIV)
- 13. Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:6-9
- 14. As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share. 1 Timothy 6:17-18
Editor's Notes
- Ok, so now you know what we did when we went down there, so lets talk about why we went.We knew going into this trip that we were looking for a different experience, working with a well organized, and effective non profit organization.
- As it says on the front of the bulletin: “Back Bay Mission has been a lasting source of hope and help for thousands of children, adults and families along the Mississippi Gulf Coast since 1922. As one of the oldest and most highly respected organizations within the United Church of Christ and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Back Bay Mission continues its journey of providing innovative solutions and compassionate responses to those suffering at the hands of social injustice and economic hardship. “
- Back Bay has adopted Micah 6:8 as it’s guiding scripture passage.If any organization would have something to say to us about community and faith renewal, it would be Back Bay. Back Bay Mission is a model of resurrection, it survived hurricanes Camille and Katrina and almost closed in the 1970s due to declining funds. Now, it is thriving. This is a place that can speak deeply about the need for resurrection and renewal.
- Even before we left, Back Bay helped educate Bethlehem on the challenges of homelessness. With the aid of Chris-Marlin Warfield and some of our parents and young adults, our youth group played a game which simulated some of the challenges for people to get out of homelessness. They all needed to obtain housing without a job, finding work without having anywhere to live, and would have to cope with random challenges, including having their ID stolen, being thrown in jail for loitering, and having to navigate the challenges of bureaucratic paperwork.
- Needless to say, they didn’t find this to be a fun experience. It wasn’t supposed to be. It was supposed to give a hint of how difficult it is to get out of homelessness. Our game was quite simplified, but it did help illustrate the frustrations of trying to get assistance.
- The stereotypes of the homeless being lazy, unmotivated drug addicts just didn’t hold up. In reality, homelessness is caused by a variety of factors: Loss of Job, Domestic Violence, High Housing Costs, physical or mental Disability, Death of a Family Member, Low Paying Job, Natural Disasters (fires, storms), Catastrophic Illness, Family Break Up, Lack of Transportation, Family Crisis (loss of hours; car break down), and Lack of Affordable Health Care, to name the top few.From: http://www.homelessofhc.org/index.php/get-educated-information-homelessness/causes-of-homelessness
- During our time in Biloxi, working on houses and volunteering in their other programs, we were better able to see how fragile and interdependent our lives really are. It is like a house of cards, with each thing leaning on each other. Remove just one or two pieces, and the whole thing can fall apart. And once it’s fallen apart, it is very hard to put together again.
- The responses to homelessness and poverty also have to be multifaceted and respond to many different factors. The Micah Day Center attempts to address many of these needs. Biloxi MS, by law, does not allow any overnight shelters. So the Day Center provides what it can, including showers, laundry, free clothing, and access to the internet.
- However, some of the most vital services they offer are the most subtle. The people they serve are called guests, to remind them that homelessness is not what defines them, but is a temporary condition. Also, when they answer the phone, they just say hello, instead of “Micah Day Center.” The ability to call a number and leave a message, like at any home, makes it much easier for guests to be hired by employers.
- The first day of volunteering, the staff asked if there was something that we wanted to focus on. We asked to focus on how they excel as a community partner so we could bring back with us. We wanted to know the background details, what made them so effective and respected in the gulf area and in the United Church of Christ. We wanted to peek behind the curtain.
- One of those key secrets was their embrace of Micah 6:8 as a mission, both individually and as an organization.Act justlyLove mercy &Walk humbly With our God. I want to address each of these four points, and I will do it in reverse order
- First everything is done…with our God. The mission of Back Bay, the focus of the volunteers is done walking with God. We serve because God calls us to serve. And, we often don’t determine the pace of the work. Like working in the Mississippi heat, the work will get done, but we can’t push ourselves to do it faster. It takes patience.
- Second, Walking humbly. Especially walking humbly with our God. Today’s reading from Timothy says it best: “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
- “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.”This is true, not just for us as individuals, but us as a society, and as a government. We are called by God to increase assistance to those in need, not reduce it in the selfish interest of tax cuts, or in denying health care to those in need.
- Remember, we are to Love kindness.All of the work that Back Bay Mission does is out of kindness. While walking through Biloxi during our free time, when people found out we were Back Bay volunteers, they would thank us for our generosity and giving our time. Comparing them to other aid agencies, Back Bay has a focus on hospitality over efficiency. Perhaps it’s a function of Southern culture as well, but what sets Back Bay apart from other non profits is their compassion for their guests.
- Another way that Back Bay inspires kindness in others is demonstrated through the work they do on houses. Beyond learning how to paint, caulk, build stairs, and glaze windows we learned a larger importance of doing this work. Beyond helping out the individual home, working on a house often inspirs other neighbors to improve their property as well. This helps to rejuvenate the neighborhood and make the neighborhood more stable. It made the neighborhood a nicer place to be.
- Lastly is for us to Do justly. Doing justice is often a hard thing to see during a week long volunteer project, as justice work takes time. That is a strength that Back Bay has, they have put in the time. They’ve been there since 1922, helping Biloxi recover from two major hurricane disasters in that time. They have become a respected member of the community, as this proclamation of Back Bay Mission Day shows. This is something that Bethlehem has as well, a long standing knowledge and engagement in the community.
- The way that Back Bay uses this presence and history is how they do justice. They serve as a beacon in the community, inspiring and helping to draft legislation at the local and state level. While their day shelter works within the strictures of the law, they are also working to change the laws to open an overnight shelter. So, what can we do here?
- The first thing, as always, is to seek to walk first with God. Keeping God’s guidance to care for those in need firmly in mind, we need to look again at local, state, and federal issues that affect the ability to do God’s work. As this memorial to hurricane Camille shows, we are proud of how we respond to natural disasters. But there are disasters that are more destructive than a hurricane in our community, and our reading from 1Timothy reminds us of that. As Ann Arbor takes in more refugees from Detroit, we must both find more aid to help those in need, and increasingly focus on helping to turn around Detroit, so that people will want to stay.
- We need to recognize that we need to be just as open to being transformed by our experiences while we are at home as when we are far away. We need to go into new situations with the same sense of wonder, the same willingness to learn. Our time in Biloxi gave us time to go on retreat from our normal lives, to do God’s work for a week. But that work doesn’t stop when we get out of the vans and go home. Now that we are home, we need reject laws that take away food assistance, educational opportunities, and health care for those who most need it, in the interest of preserving our senseless and harmful desires for more stuff. We do this, not to be contrary, but because we are called to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, who has given us all things and expects us to do the same for our sisters and brothers.