Love, Family, and the name of Jesus

As this is the first "real" post, I'd like to take a bit of time and explain what we students do at BLOC.  There are 7 of us who live here on one of Cincinnati's worst street corners.  Drug deals go down.  People get beat up.  I've seen more cops in the two years we've been here than I've seen in my entire life.  

To combat this, we live here (and a handful of others who do not live here) and run a "center" where kids can get off the street and just be kids, without having to worry about the real dangers of inner-city life.  We play basketball with them.  We color with them.  We help them with their homework.  We tell them about God, and about Jesus, and occasionally about David or Moses or Adam.  But what we do the most is just be friends to these kids.  We show them Jesus.  We can't force Jesus into their lives.  But what we can do is open doors for Him to enter in.

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Within the past three days, I've listened to two great sermons focused on the role of a Christian living in a non-Christian world.  In one, the goal is not to physically transform hundreds of lives and make them stop drinking, stop smoking, and stop dealing.  In all reality, that is nearly impossible.  Rather, the goal is to show as many people as possible the love of Christ, exemplified in the way we live and the way we talk.  In the other sermon, the name of Jesus becomes known when we mix our names with the names of those who don't know Him.  Through spending time with people who are hurting, Jesus makes Himself known.  

The work we do at BLOC can be frustrating.  I can't count how many times we've told kids to not cuss.  I don't know how many times I've told a kid that smoking is bad for your health, especially for 15 year-olds.  I can't tell you how often we break up fights, only to shake a finger at them and say "Fighting doesn't solve anything."  

Apparently, neither does telling them to stop.

But one thing that has worked is simply spending time with these kids, day in and day out.  By spending time with these kids and showing them we care, a friendship is formed and gaps are bridged between our lives.  This becomes more evident day after day.

So evident is this, in fact, that the other day some of us staff were hanging out on the front porch on a cool evening.  Many people were outside to take advantage of the warm weather.  Soon, a couple of the girls that come to the center came up the steps and joined us.  After a few minutes of just hanging out, one of the staff girls joked about another girl she knew who was giving her a bit of "trouble."  Immediately, one of the girls who comes to the center spoke up:  "Where she live?  Come on, I'll go fight her.  I fight anybody that mess with my family.  And you is my family."  It was a moment of humor, to envision this girl fighting a complete stranger for no good reason.  

But what really stuck was the phrase, "And you is my family."

This is what ministry is about.  Building relationships, bridging gaps, making friends with those who may have none.  Day after day, God's kingdom grows and more people become a part of the family.  

God's family.