the story.

finding life, a photo by alessa.mary on Flickr.

Someone shared with me recently that they have nothing to share, nothing to offer the world, nothing to hold onto or take pride in.His words spoke louder than what he was saying. What he said was, “I have nothing to share” — but his words revealed that the innermost part of his heart, coupled with the lonely look in his eye, was in reality whispering  “I am nothing”.

But the truth is, everyone has their story to share.

Yours will be radically different from mine, perhaps so dissimilar that it will take a while for me to comprehend, or perhaps I will never comprehend the heights and depths to which your life has brought you.

And your story may also capture in it pieces so akin to mine, so vividly similar, that for brief moments we remain connected in their silent realities.

The beauty of a story, particularly your own, is that it constantly builds and remains undoubtedly intricate — with you as the story-teller highlighting precisely the pieces to leave those to whom you share it with a longing to know more, to understand more completely.

To journey with you a bit further through the gift each one of your words.

Our stories are bigger than we are.

They can travel farther than we can. They can speak louder than us. They bind us to one another while simultaneously breaking the chains that hold us captive.

So tell your story; weave your heart into the hearts of those around you and find freedom from all that has chained you in the overwhelming silence. And when those surrounding you so boldly speak out their own, cherish their story as your own, hold it close, accept it as an irreplaceable and transformative gift, a piece of freedom, a glimpse into beauty.

wordless

Tonight I must write and tell you I am sorry…

I have become wordless.

I often struggle to find the right words to place into moments as they dance past me. Perhaps I have been wounded one too many times by misplaced words. Echoing across the silence or flying high above the noise of the crowd these words originating from the voices of ones whom I love, ones I have only just met, or even scattered and thoughtless words rolling off my own lips.

I like breathing into words, placing them as they ought to be. Not rushed, not destructive but genuine, honest and life-giving.

This is precisely why I love writing letters. And receiving them. There is intentionality, thought and time etched across each page, in a way that daily life may not always grant us time for.

Perhaps this is why I find myself without words as the days rush past and slowly blur into the incomprehensibility of this new life, which I have walked whole-heartedly into.

Perhaps when I stepped onto the plane, took one step further away from my deep loves, I left too many words behind.

Or, perhaps all that I have seen, felt, heard, tasted and felt in this new and overwhelming city has opened up my heart to a new, unspeakable depth inside. Time will tell, in all her silence.

So today I ask forgiveness, for all you who’ve joined me on this journey, but have been left in the dust by my silence.

Tonight, am I who I was 8 weeks ago? No.

Can I explain why? Only in pieces, and absolutely incoherently.

What I do know is that I desperately long, with my whole might to paint you pictures,sing you songs and share my tears of life here, in this place.

May silence remind us of the beauty of our words.

May the words come in the morning, in those moments dancing by.

Informal Settlement?

I know that for myself, even though I have read and studied plenty, it has still been difficult to comprehend the conditions of those living in informal settlements around the world.

If you would like a better picture of the types of places I may be living and serving in, please take a look at this website, which has woven together pictures, sounds and stories from some of the slums around the world in a very vivid and beautiful way. Take a couple minutes to explore through this visual (turn your sound on) storytelling of settlements from around the world:

The Places We Live Link

Harambee

Thursday, Friday and Saturday I volunteered to help cleanup Harambee Preparatory School. Harambee Ministries has extensive programing, including a community garden, pre-school, Prep school, summer camps and internship program.

Along with an array members from 4 community groups from a church called Reality LA, I was able to contribute to the deep-cleaning, carpet replacement, yard clean up and set-up of all the classrooms and spaces, just in time for the beginning of the new school year. Harlen, the school’s new Executive Director talked about how this 3 day clean up has helped in his own transition to Executive Director, and will be a nice welcome for the completely new set of teachers and students who will begin classes shortly.

To give you some history, Harambee Ministries was established over 30 years ago by John Perkins (author of ‘With Justice for All’ – read it) who stepped into the neighbourhood to bring a movement with the aim of raising up young leaders to take ownership in their neighbourhood and bring about radical transformation.

John Perkins bought a house on the corner of, what was then considered, one of the most dangerous streets in the greater LA area, nicknamed ‘blood corner’ because of the frequency of drive-by’s and drug deals gone bad. The house was sandwiched between a crack house and the home of the most notorious drug-dealer in Pasadena. A group of dedicated individuals moved into this house and laid the foundation for the radical changes that have taken place in this 12-block radius.

Through John’s practical application of his theory of Relocation, Reconciliation and Redistribution, the Harambee Prep School was established as a place to grow indigenous (to the neighbourhood) leaders, who in turn will stay in the neighbourhood and bring light and Christ-centered leadership to their peers. What a beautiful picture of a community-based action, which is growing urban leaders to transform their own spaces.

Here is a practical example of the type of movement I will be studying and facilitating in the MATUL program. I am overjoyed to play a part in the legacy of John Perkins, and even more in the reconciling work of Christ in this place.

This is a movement of coming together to push forward, which is precisely what Harambee means in Swahili.

May this movement of transformative urban ministry continue in the depths…