Victory is Mine!

Victory is mine,

Victory is mine,

Victory today is mine,

I told Satan,

Get thee behind,

Victory is mine!

Currently riding on the train to go home-home- what better time than to reflect and write down my thoughts? I’m glad to be going home, yet I wish I were still at 760 7^th Street SE. Although my original plan was to write a sort of day-to-day experience of the Little Lights trip, I think it better to simply write down what I’ve taken from these past few days. Just a little forewarning, this is going to be loooong.

Overall, we cleaned (a lot), did envelope-stuffing type of activities for the staff, and helped out with their children’s afterschool programs. Although that may not seem particularly extraordinary, God used this trip to teach our team a little more about His heart for the abandoned, His love & compassion for these great kids. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this trip. This was my first “missions trip”, and I didn’t know what I would experience. Yet, I’m realizing now that God is so great, that He always surpasses whatever we think we will anticipate. Like Joe mentioned in one of our night meeting, this trip was a chance for us to take the blessings we received at Spring Retreat and give back. Filled with Christ’s love, our team was able to joyfully perform the tasks the Little Lights staff assigned us. The whole time, our team was so joyful- who else could have filled us with such joy but Christ?

As we thoroughly cleaned both the Hope House & the units, our team realized that Christ’s love for us is deeper and wider than we can imagine. Honestly yo, the buildings were durrr-tay. We scrubbed, polished, dusted, organized, vacuumed, swept, and wiped things down. What once were dirty tables with months of dirt and food stains stuck on it was scrubbed away clean with kitchen cleaner. As I was scrubbing, wiping, spraying (repeat), I couldn’t help but be reminded of what Lucy shared the night before. We are such sinners, with years and years of sin caked over our hearts, layer after layer, yet Christ still thought it worth it to come and die. What a humbling thought.

The staff was incredibly encouraging. They kept thanking us for coming and working with them. They reminded us that even though our activities may seem mundane to us, it meant that the programs could run more effectively. They all were passionate about sharing the love of Christ and actively practicing compassion upon the Potomac Gardens community. Potomac Gardens is the projects. To be eligible to live in PG, a family of 4 must have an income less than our yearly tuition at UVa. Not many people want to go there, much less minister to them, yet the Little Lights ministry has built a relationship of trust with the residents. Everything they do seems to be completely Christ-centered. A touching and inspiring moment I witnessed was on Wednesday when we went to the playground for Homework Club. Little Robert was in timeout and when it was up, Ms. Nancy talked to Robert. Instead of sending him off to play after reminding him he shouldn’t do it again, She prayed with him, asking for forgiveness. I sat on the opposite end of the table, surprised and touched. I couldn’t help but smile at the two praying, but as I was, Robert opened his eyes and saw me looking at them. Upon concluding the prayer, Robert turned to Ms. Nancy and said, “MS. NANCY, SHE WAS SMILING AT US WHILE WE WERE PRAYING”. To which I replied, “well Robert, that means your eyes weren’t closed!” hehe. Ms. Linda continuously reminds the kids that they are beautiful because they are God’s beloved, no matter what others may call them. The conviction the staff has to dedicate their lives and love for the kids is truly inspiring.

The energetic kids’ love for us floored me. How can they give so much to us when we barely do anything for them? There is lies a glimpse of God’s love for us, as Ms. Mary mentioned. You can only say a few words to them, yet they will come to you with open arms, wanting to know who you are, wanting to play with you. This is the essence of childlike faith. We must trust in God’s completely, giving all we have to follow Him. Those kids, whatever brokenness they may encounter at home, show so much love. They are beautiful.

Prayer is craaaayyyzayyy. I love talking to God! When the team would get together to praise, share, and pray, I knew that the Spirit was moving through us showing us that through Him, we can serve in great and mighty ways, and be blessed beyond compare. On Wednesday, we had a chance to pray for the staff and then the staff prayed for us. What an incredible blessing. I don’t know what it was, but God really moved in all of our hearts. It demonstrated what true fellowship and unity in the body was like. It was also encouraging to hear the other team members share their blessings- to see how God revealed Himself to them in a different way than He revealed Himself to me reminded me once again how much God loves us to individualize our blessings.

Through this trip, I learned so much. I learned more about the love God has for us and how He fills us with it to love others. I learned about the great compassion He has shown us, and how He commands us to love the broken, lonely, and rejected members of society. When we serve others, we are serving Christ (Matthew 25). It’s not about our talents, but our willingness to make ourselves available to Him. After all, we can’t do anything on our own, so why not just surrender fully to God, who will do a great & mighty in us & through us? We are called to be different. Regardless of whatever occupation we hold, we are commanded to love and reach the lost for Christ. My heart was broken for those that break God’s heart and challenged to love those in my community in Charlottesville as I return back to the routine.

Although Potomac Gardens is full of violence, addiction, and brokenness, we know that Christ has already provided the victory. Although we don’t know what the future has for the little kids once they leave the program, we pray with faith that they will not succumb to the temptations that surround. As we did our final prayer walk around the units this morning, we cried (some of us literally. I did of course... -__- ) to God that He would reveal His never-ending love and grace to those in the community, that He would use Little Lights to bring water to the dry land. We must continue to pray- what other better way is there to bring about change?

The poor & needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst.

But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God is Israel, will not forsake them.

I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.

I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,

So that people may see and know, may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Isaiah 41:17-20

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Matthew 25:40