by Alison Sink Revelation 21: 1-3
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home[a] of God is among mortals. He will dwell[b] with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God The first weeks of the summer season are often a whirlwind of making sure that we all know what we’re doing and where we’re going. Seeing in our first groups is exciting, all these smiling faces that are here to learn and grow and serve. As we embark on this summer of service, we are unpacking the ideas of what it means to usher in the Kingdom of God. During my time in different agencies in the Asheville area I have had lots of little moments in which I have seen the creation of the Kingdom in this present day and age. When I think back to some of these experiences, one in particular comes to mind.
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Anna J. Cooper Haywood, A Woman from Raleigh We Should Know In honor of Women’s Month I want to share a story about an amazing woman that I discovered on my way to work one day. I was driving to my office in downtown Raleigh, while stopped at a red light, I noticed a historical marker on the side of the street. It stated: “Anna J. Cooper, educator, orator and early black feminist…” I made a note to myself to look up more information about Anna. To my amazement here is what I discovered!
“If you inquire into the history of the metropolitan area in which you live, you will probably find ample evidence of how the federal, state, and local governments unconstitutionally used housing policy to create or reinforce segregation in ways that still survive.” ― Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Right outside the Raleigh Youth Mission office is Nash Square. It is a green space full of trees nestled in downtown Raleigh.
On January 6, 2021 America watched as a crowd of thousands of people participated in a protest that turned into a riot. That riot included storming the nation’s Capitol building while our elected leaders were still there, working to fulfill their duties to the constitution and to the people that elected them.
Most of us have heard the saying: “Never talk about Religion or Politics…” However, I am learning that if we never talk about religion or politics then we will never get to the root causes of our deepest suffering, and we will fail to be the people we were created by God to be. Now, I don’t mean to imply that religion or politics are the root issues that cause us pain, rather it is the idea that there are “some things” that we should not discuss.
In his book turned motion picture Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson recalls how his grandmother used to tell him all the time, “You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance… You have to get close.” Bryan took this message to heart; his experience in law school interning with a non-profit working with inmates on death row propelled him into a career of advocacy. You have to get close. Though I have lived in Asheville since 2002, I am in my second year as the Mission Immersion Director at AYM. Recently I have been thinking a lot about why groups should come to Asheville for a mission experience. In other words, why AYM? Yes, you may know Asheville is a destination city with lots of great hikes, waterfalls as well as great food & music venues. AYM is located right downtown at First Presbyterian Church, and who doesn’t love getting candy at Mast General?! Over the past dozen years we have established relationships with many non-profit partners who are doing great work in the community.
This summer I have been able to work at many agencies across Memphis. One of my favorites is The Manna House. People in the community can go in the morning to the Manna house and drink coffee, play board games, and maybe take showers or get a new pair of socks. The youth get to connect with people who have lived lives very different than us. Two people I had the pleasure of meeting were Paul and Otis*.
My favorite passage to use during Bible study with my students is Matthew 20: 1-16, The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. To put it simply, this passage compares the Kingdom (or as I like to think of it, Ecosystem) of Heaven to a landowner and his workers. Early in the morning, the landowner hires several daily workers who agree to the usual daily pay. Then the landowner hires more workers at mid-day, and even more towards the end of the day. When it is time to be paid, the full-day workers are disappointed upon realizing that all workers were paid the same amount. The landowner’s response to their distress at the unfair nature of his payment scale is that he did not short the full day workers of the money they were promised and that he is allowed to do what he wishes with his money.
The theme for YMCo this summer is “Worlds Apart”. At the beginning of the week we try to explain this theme by taking the youth on an urban walk around the city of Raleigh. We show the youth the different communities that exist right across the street from each other but are “Worlds Apart”. On one street there is a soup kitchen and on the next there are high priced restaurants. There are bus stops and parking garages. There are homes and there are park benches. This theme was especially impactful for me, a Raleigh native. Though educational and eye opening for the youth–even more for me as I learned about agencies and communities that existed across the street or across town from me that I was now just learning about. “Worlds Apart” couldn’t be more real. I enjoyed learning more about my city, but also felt guilty that parts of the city were so foreign to me.
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