Jesus broke out of the box I put him in.

You may have noticed that I have been posting pictures of some pretty incredibly cute kids on all sorts of social medias over the past few months. A lot of people have been asking what those pictures are all about and I believe it is time for me to share some stories, leading up to today, which was one of the most incredible mornings of my life. 

To give you a little history, my friend Bailey met a family that lives in the Edgehill projects. (The whole story can be read here and here on her blog, because there is no way that I could tell it better than she did on her blog). We started visiting the community to play with the kids, meet their families, and to start building relationships. We had no money, no name, no mission statement, and no idea what we were doing. Our sole purpose was to love on a community that is broken, and to do our part to break some of the racial, economical and social boundaries that separate communities like Edgehill and those like Belmont University across the street.

Kids planting seeds of soft grass in their park

So much has happened since then. We began playing with the kids in the park every saturday, and brought some of our friends along too. After months of getting to know these families, we hosted a back-to-school cookout for the community, where over 100 kids and their families came out to share a meal, play games, and get ready for school with awesome little backpacks and school supplies donated by the Ethos Church congregation. This all started with three or four of us that would regularly go on a Saturday, but this last weekend we had 16 volunteers who gave up their saturday to love on the kids so well. We planted grass, taught the kids about tomatoes, and gave them all a chance to share something that they are grateful for. 

Fast forward to today, September 22nd. 

One of the girls from Edgehill has been coming to Church with bailey for the last few weeks because her parents needed a babysitter. This morning, when Bailey was picking her up, some of the kids that we know well from the area asked if they could come to church too, so they all piled in the car and came along. 

The family of the boys that came is Somalian, and are devout Muslims. We have known this from the day that we met them, and it has always been a debate to us when (if ever) it would be okay to tell them about Jesus and our faith. We didn’t want to be those white rich kids from some church who come in and bring them toys and a bible and make the community hate us. We try to be a light in the community, that is the light of Jesus in us, bringing some hope and love where we could, always praying that God would somehow give us some opportunity to share Jesus with these kids  in a way way that would not offend them or their rich cultural heritage handed down by their families. 

Anyway, back to this morning… 

Ethos Church at Marathon Music Works

We filled up a massive long row of chairs got ready for worship. It was so cool to see the church welcome the kids; smiling at them and introducing themselves while seriously struggling to pronounce their beautiful African names. 

Worship started and some of the kids stayed seated. One of the boys, who is probably the most intelligent, beautiful and kind young man I have ever met, said, “Jordan, I want to see the words on the screen”. I picked him up and continued to sing the song that I knew so well. Suddenly I hear this little voice. I look at the face which is right next to mine. He was grinning from ear to ear, looking straight at the screen and singing the words “oh you bring, hope to the hopeless and light to those in the darkness”. Immediately, I started tearing up. I cannot tell you how beautiful it was. The truth is, I don’t know if I ever really thought that these kids would hear about Jesus. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to have a chance or the courage to tell them, but in that moment, he was singing about Jesus, and he was so happy.

After the sermon, it was time for Communion. I couldn’t stop thinking about what the theological protocol is for teaching young followers of Islam about the Holy Sacrament of Communion. If you have ever been to Ethos Church in Nashville, however, you’ll know that our communion time is a set around community and sharing a meal together, while being thankful for what Jesus did for us on the cross. We sat the kids around a big round table, and got the elements. We told them that we do this because we love God, and we love each other, and this is a symbol of community and love between us and God. We then held up the bread and shared what we are thankful for. “Candy, friends, bread, juice, Jesus-” wait, what? one of our kids said that he was thankful for JESUS. are you kidding me?! Granted, he probably has little idea what he even meant by that, but hearing the name of Jesus come out of his mouth made me so happy, I cannot even explain.

Group nap time at the park

We then bought Subway, went to the park, played games, and had a 3 minute group nap time under a tree. I could never have imagined how important these kids would become to me, and how much more of an impact they could have on my life than I could ever have on theirs. 

I am overwhelmed by how good God is. Even in my weakness, my disbelief and doubt, God can use me. Looking over at all these boys who I had been praying would one day come to church, and hearing them sing to and about Jesus was an unreal experience. God is so good, so alive, and working like crazy.

Please continue to pray for all of these families and our ‘ministry’ of loving the community. Pray that we don’t put God in a box, or hinder the plans that he has for our community that are way beyond what we could ever hope or imagine. 

God is good, friends... God is good.