My Reflection Paper This is my Reflection Paper I for Metro on my time have written so far here. I thought I'd post it here once, because it describes much of what happened here so.
Sorry an alle nicht Englisch-Sprechenden...
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Reflection Paper
Internship Metro Ministries
Spring Semester 08
The first days after my arrival in New York I had off-time. I arrived on Thursday and the Training started the next Tuesday. In these days the others interns and me did a lot of sightseeing. We knew that we would probably not have so much time in the following weeks. Nevertheless it was a strange feeling for me because I came to work and then I felt like a tourist.
When we started I expected to just get involved slowly. A lot of us, including me, had no idea how Sidewalk Sunday School in particular looks like. But while the 3-days-Hardcore-Training there was no time just to look how it works. It was very challenging and in these days it became clear to me, what we really were going to do here. To be honest, I did not know that we will be so integrated into Sidewalk. When Sidewalk started the first week, I had already to preach. That was really challenging for me. But it was good to directly overcome all uncertainties.
Another demanding theme here is the surrounding we live in. From the beginning I did not feel unsafe here. I became aware of the danger when I walked at one of the first days with another intern on Broadway close to the Bushwick Building. When we turned a corner there were 2 men beating up another guy. We did not know what to do. In our training we were told how to behave, to react and to be careful. I did not have the feeling to be a stranger or to be in obvious danger there. But I know that things can change fast here. One Tuesday suddenly some people threw stones on our truck while we did Sidewalk. Without any warning we were offended and had to react very fast to protect the kids. Even though there is no evident danger I learned that I have to be cautious.
The vision of Metro Ministries is “to see leaders, teachers and pastors raised up out of the streets of the cities worldwide. Then, they in turn will minister to the next generation.” In addition to the vision the mandate explains how to achieve these aims. The first step is to reach the people. We have to go out and give them a chance to hear the gospel. The next step is to win them for Jesus. When they heard the gospel they need to decide to live it and give their life to Jesus. Then we need to disciple them, to teach them how to live with God. They learn with God´s word how to become a disciple of Jesus. When their faith is steadfast we involve them into the Ministry so that they start to pass on what they have received. This is the mandate of Metro. If we do that we will see that those kids we minister to on the streets become leaders, teachers and pastors who reach the next generation. Psalm 78, 6 (NIV): “So the next generation would know them (=God´s commandments), even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.”
One of the keys in this Ministry to get a connection to the kids is visitation. It is important for them to build relationships to us. By visitation everybody gets a personal time with a staff member or intern which is mostly not possible on Sidewalk or Indoor Sunday School. It also places the person who visits into another world, which prevents to alienate from their surroundings. If we do not know where the children live, what problems they have to face or under which conditions they live we cannot respond to their needs. We need to know their world to be able to reach them with what we are preaching. Besides that visitation projects an image for the Ministry. 1. Timothy 3, 7 (NIV): “He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.” The people see us going out every week to the homes of the kids. Even though Metro does not have advertisement signs and announcements it is known to people because of the continuing visitation. Psalm 106, 3 (NIV): “Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.”
My visitation-day is Friday. I visit for Indoor Sunday School which means that I have a site in Brooklyn. Before we went to my site I heard already some stories about this area. There is a street which is called “Death Row” and it seems to be one of the harder areas in Brooklyn. Usually I have enough time to visit all apartments on my site. I love this area. It takes some time to build relationships but the kids are very open. In one of my first weeks I knocked at a door and spoke to the father. Then the child saw me and ran to me. I was not sure if she really wanted to come to me, because we had never seen before. But she ran to me and gave me a big hug. After a few weeks I can see results of the time spend there. We have more kids coming and have such a good time on the bus. That´s why we can build relationships to the kids and give them a personal time on visitation.
The goals of Sidewalk are to preach the gospel in such a way that every passer-by can understand it, to take it to places no one before has taken it to and to reach the whole city for God. You can only reach these goals if you step out of the church-building. If you want a passer-by to hear the gospel, you have to preach where they are. If you want to preach the gospel in parts where it was never preached before you have to go there. I have seen kids sitting on the tarps and parents standing in the back who would probably not yet go to a church. It is much easier to go to Sidewalk than to step into a church. But what happens is the same. The word of god is preached and taught. Luke 14, 23 (NIV): “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.” We need to tell others about Jesus. And if we get out to tell them it is much more likely that they hear us than if we stay inside. Romans 10, 14 (NIV): “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
It is our responsibility to teach this generation about God. Jesus has made a way for everyone. To give everyone a chance to hear about it is our job. They cannot believe if nobody told them. I have experienced the Holy Spirit and know what Jesus did for me. If my parents would not have been a good example to me may be I would not be saved yet. I feel responsible to share it with those whose eyes are not yet opened. I want my life to be a good example so that other people get saved through what they see Jesus doing in me.
To take this responsibility Metro has two different types of Sunday School: Sidewalk and Indoor. For Sidewalk Sunday School there are 17 Units. Each unit has a certain neighborhood in New York and consists of 4 to 6 staff members or interns. I am in Unit 18, we are 3 staff members and 2 interns. 4 days a week we go with a specially modified truck to our projects in Harlem and do each day 3 or 4 sessions of Sidewalk Sunday School. We open the side of the truck and use it as stage, put some tarps on the sidewalk for the kids to sit on and start. We sing songs, play games and teach the kids a lesson from the bible. In the first part we really have fun with the kids and get them excited. When it comes to the lesson we tell them to be quiet. That usually works really well. The lesson consists of 5 different preaching-parts. At first they get an introduction into the theme of the week (like fear, trust or rejection), then we tell them a story from the bible which deals with this topic. After two lessons that demonstrate the theme with an object, we tell a story which summarizes all the points of the lesson und puts it together. Completing the lesson we make an altar call and pray with those who have been touched. The main advantage of doing Sidewalk outdoor is that you can easier reach children. They just come across your way and you can invite them to sit on the tarp.
In contrast to Sidewalk Indoor Sunday School is just once a week on Saturday in 6 to 9 Sessions. The kids get picked up with old School busses and are brought to the Church building. The scheme of Indoor is mostly the same as on Sidewalk. The difference is that it is much bigger. There can be up to 1.000 kids in a Big Class 1 Session. Indoor we have more props, there is a live-band and that makes it very exciting and hype. You can catch the kids´ attention much easier. I think the biggest advantage compared to Sidewalk is that you have much less distraction than outdoor.
But the time with the kids does not start when they arrived at the church. To be on a bus does not only mean to make the way to Sunday School and back. It is an important time you have with the kids. Some of them do not hear at home that someone loves them. I can see this at their reactions. I am just since a few weeks on the bus but they have accepted me so fast. That is because we tell, show and give them things they do not experience the rest of the week. One week a boy was crying in the back of the bus because he had run into trouble by fighting on the bus. He was sitting on the ground and striking around. I sat on a seat close to him and asked him if he wanted to sit next to me. He did not answer or react but then he stood up and sat on my lap. I talked with him about the lesson they had learned this day which was quite fitting to his situation. He calmed down and then wanted to sit with the other boys. I was so glad to see him changed right there. Another day a four year old boy said to me that his uncle would beat him. He said this so easily and as a matter of fact that I was shocked. All I could do right there was giving my time as good as possible to him. We do not always know what they go through at home. That is why we try to make this time special.
To do these different parts of the Ministry with the right attitude it often means to overcome emotions. One of the words that I first heard here from Pastor Bill Wilson was: “Your commitment has to be stronger than your emotions.” This is so true. Sometimes you just have to remember that you decided to go no matter what. It is hard to go on Sidewalk if you have a cold. But if you remember that you decided also to go if it is hard, you can still go. 1. Peter 4, 19 (NIV): “So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
I think one of the things that really changed me here is the radical all-in or all-out attitude. The motto of our semester is “Get F.A.T. or go home”. And this seems to be an important point here. If you are not ready to give all you have, you can go. I heard it so many times since I am here. It bothered me a lot. But I got to understand that it is unavoidable in such a ministry to ask for everything. It sounds harsh but is just the straight way to say what is needed and expected. Everybody knows the verse in Matthew 22, 37(NIV): "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is about giving a 100% percent for good, uncompromising. As we work in a ministry, I think it is about to serve God and others. Ministry is “the act of ministering, or serving to other people”. Matthew 6, 24 (NIV): "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
To minister or to serve is about loving your master. Mark 10, 45 (NIV) describes Jesus as a servant we should take as example for us to: ". For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many"
In the last months I served others in a practical way I can really give all of me for Him I want to live a holy life That is what I learned on another level
