Andrew and I moved to upstate New York this summer to take on two new Church and Community Worker positions. We are now living in the near west side of Syracuse and Andrew is working at Syracuse Westside Urban Mission, a ten step walk from our front door. I am working in Utica, NY at the Utica Eastside Mission, a commute of two hours a day. So far, I have listened to these books in the car:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (21 hours)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (18 hours)
Marley and Me (6 hours)
Car Talk (4 hours)
The Appeal (12 hours)
Blood Brothers (12 hours)
During the first two weeks I had not tuned into the audio book scene yet and I found myself trying not to be depressed about the drive and now I look forward to that time each day.
Back to what it is like living and working at our new sites. As Church and Community Workers we are called to live with the community we serve. Andrew’s site had a very nice parsonage for us so we are living in his community. During my 5 years in Baltimore at the Deaf Shalom Zone, we did not serve a geographical area, so I spent those years living downtown. I liked to think of myself as someone who was smart about safety but also not afraid of the city. I had clients and friends that lived in abandoned looking row houses and clients and friends who lived in nice suburban homes. I got to see all sides of the city. When we first drove through our new neighborhood in Syracuse I thought it looked rougher than I had been used to but, like I said, we are called to live in and with the community.
During the first few days of living in the near west side I am sad to say, human to say, privileged to say, afraid to say, I experienced culture shock. One drive through the neighborhood took us past a cop who was choking a young man to get him to spit out the drugs the young man tried to swallow and another young man who was walking his giant pit bull with large free weights hanging from the dog’s side. We have been told there is dog fighting in the neighborhood. One friend told us she walked out of the church next door one night to find a dead body.
In the few months that we have lived in the area I have grown to feel more comfortable. Andrew has met a lot of the individuals living in the neighborhood, our air conditioner did a good job of drowning out the blaring street noise most nights, we have learned how to use our alarm system and not set it off accidentally every day, and our back yard, though in need of gardening, has begun to feel like our own oasis.
Sunday night I needed to go out to the car and bring in the giant bags of dog and cat food I purchased. When I came home from church I put on my black bike shorts, a huge t-shirt and my pink, rubber soled, hippo socks with actual 3D hippo heads on them. Attractive, I know, the glamorous life of a missionary. Andrew and I marched out to get the pet supplies and we lugged them into the house while three cop cars, a fire truck, an ambulance, and an “undercover” police van complete with antennas and computers inside busted the drug house across the street.
This is our new life, and so far, I am really enjoying this new chapter. Andrew and I get the opportunity to meet and learn from people who are vastly different and very similar to us, we get to make connections with local churches and encourage them to comes to the city and help out at our missions, most of all we get to be in mission and ministry with our neighbors in Christ. Some parts of this new life are funny, some scary, most exciting. Stay tuned for more stories from this chapter. Peace.
*pictures shown are random pictures of the neighborhood
No comments:
Post a Comment