Yes, it is the eighth week of the CHAT internship. More importantly, it is the eighth week of growing in the Church Hill community. I really do not want to go back to live in the West End for school this fall. I wish there is a way to continue to live here. Who knows, maybe God will provide a way for that to happen in the future. I now have an entirely new perspective to take back to those at U of R. I think about all of the intellectual individuals at U of R who study about the inner city and its problems and yet have never visited the inner city a day in their lives. Well, I highly encourage those individuals as well as others to really open their horizons and experience a new culture that is only 20 minutes away!!!! There is so much to learn and it is not enough just to read about it from a book, article or newspaper!!! I have been so blessed to experience a little of what a community should be like. I love that so many people in Church Hill; White and Black; have formed relationships with one another. They go to bible study together, church, dinner, bike riding, walking and just hangin out on the front porch. I love that I can look up and down the street and see children playing outside and riding their bikes. These are the same children who also attend the CHAT program. I love that some of the children decided to start their own dog walking business or car washing service and I helped them make fliers and buy supplies. I love that I can help a woman who was sick in the neighborhood go buy food for her home. I love to hear that a couple of interns randomly passed out watermelon to the community and now a few extra kids are interested in joining CHAT! WOW what God has done!!! He has made a way possible for us to reach out to people around us start relationships from simple interactions such as giving watermelon!!! How awesome is that!!!! Pretty awesome if you can’t tell!!!! God is really setting up a community in Church Hill and I pray it continues to grow and thrive. It gives me hope to see that some of the Whites have realized that there is a Black culture that already exists here in the community and that they are not trying to persuade Blacks to become more like them. I feel that many Blacks and Whites recognize their differences and those that truly desire community are pushing through those differences. East end Fellowship, (Community Church) has provided the opportunity for individuals to be open and honest about their hopes, fears and expectations for one another. Each week, more and more visitors come to check out what East End has to offer. What do they have to offer? The love of God and the desire to build a strong community in the East End!
Lord willing I will be able to live in the Church Hill community or a similar community after college. I really feel as though God is leading me to settle in an inner city and really do his work for the kingdom of heaven. I desire to be among individuals from different racial and economic backgrounds who also have a zeal for God and reshaping the inner city for his glory. I desire to live among people who I can go to the same community church with, have movie night with as well as babysit with. I desire true relationships that go beyond just being neighbors. We can all be brothers and sisters in Christ and we will support, love, correct in love, pray and dine together as ONE. I know my parents and family will miss me, especially if I live away from them. My parents know that God has a special plan for them to reach individuals in Baltimore and so that is where they will stay unless God moves them. I love them all so very much and I we will always be a loving family!!!! I do feel that God wants to lead me to an extended family: a family of believers living communally in a neighborhood. This type of community is definitely difficult since that requires everyone to bond on a deep level and become vulnerable to one another. Nevertheless, this type of community is not impossible and it will take much effort and prayer. My prayer is that a community like this can and will succeed and I will have the honor of being a part of a family!
