Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Journal: I am NOT a Missionary

I am NOT a missionary. I do not come loaded with an agenda. I do not propose to know what's best for the community I have been appointed to serve. I am partaking in a service experience, where I will be a servant to my new community in Detroit. I am working towards justice, not for charity. I approach this with the understanding that, although I may give my all to this community in a spirit of humility and grace, I can and will still learn more from those I serve than I can ever teach to them.

These are the lessons I have learned and been reminded of today. This is the spirit in which I can hope to approach my service role in Detroit. With the help of my friends and family and the assistance of the support network I am building in Little Rock, combined with an open heart, a listening ear, and a prayerful attitude, I can be a part of great things this summer.
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Thursday, June 9, 2011

A New Adventure Begins

In the coming weeks, this blog will change its tone slightly as it becomes a journal of my experiences at a summer internship in Detroit, Michigan. I will be there as an intern with the General Board of Global Ministry (part of the United Methodist Church), working with Young Leaders Initiative on their summer day camp program for children in the neighborhoods of Detroit. Its a different direction from architecture, but not a new direction for me (see Feb 2010 posting "Stories from the Pine Ridge").

I look forward to living in community with fellow interns, exploring a city I've never seen, and becoming a part of an exciting rejuvenation of a city that has seen so much hardship. My hope is that this experience breathes a fresh breath of life into me that fills me with the energy and excitement to be a productive component of my new community, and that continues to energize me as I head back to my community in Brooklyn in the fall.

Stay tuned for stories from training in Little Rock, Arkansas, musings on my experience of a new city, and the work of Young Leaders Initiative in Detroit.