Dave and Joy Feldner are Woodland Hills local missionaries, and serve with Here's Life Inner City (HLIC). The following story is from their recenttrip to New York City, where they led a missions project for college students. The Feldners, along with college students from around the country,spent this summer serving inner city churches and ministries, who work together with the poor in New York City, for Jesus' sake.
Last night I sat in a church in Brooklyn. This particular neighborhood in Brooklyn is home to 2-3 violent adolescent deaths each week. Last week a13-yr-old boy was killed over a cell phone. His story never showed up on the news out here because it's hardly news.
Last night I sat in a church and waited with our college students, a handful of pastors and civic leaders, and some former gang members. I wore agreen checked shirt. I was careful not to wear red or blue something I don't usually think about. But we were waiting for members of two notorious street gangs to show up: The Bloods, and their arch rivals, The Crips. A cease fire had been called, and red and blue were their colors.
A week ago, I served with some of our college students from the HLIC summer missions project at "Power Up Faith Ministries", passing out over 1,400 fliers to residents and business owners in the community. We prayed, prepared, and advertised for this "Cease Fire" event. At the cease fire, a former gang member stood up and shared about his experiences and how leaving the gang and starting to follow Jesus has revolutionized his life. He now owns a local business, and he announced that anyone interested in leaving a gang and starting to live life on the straight and narrow can come talk to him about getting hired.
Did gang members show up? Some did. Was this neighborhood free from violence for the evening? I don't think so. But what a privilege it was to be sitting this small, dimly lit church, without air conditioning, and watch God's people step out in faith and invite Jesus, the Prince of Peace, totransform their neighborhood. Maybe at next year's Cease Fire event another former gang member will stand up and share how they left a gang and started to follow Jesus, as a result.
Tomorrow is the final day of our HLIC "Summer in the City" missions project. We'll pack up and head back to home-sweet-home, Minnesota. We'll saygood-bye to a great group of students, and pray for them as they go home to live out God's heart for the poor in their own communities. We'll pray for our new friends here in NYC, who fearlessly bring the Good News of Jesus to their neighborhoods, where fear so often reigns.
And the next time I wear my green checked shirt, I'll think about how I don't have to think about what color I'm wearing in my neighborhood back home and pray for those who do.
