Rainy Saturday

We’ve started playing Ultimate Frisbee again on Saturdays. However, the weather didn’t cooperate this past Saturday. Instead of playing Frisbee, we let the kids come over to our house and hang out. We didn’t have any plans for the day, but a few of them called asking about Frisbee and we just told them to come on over. Six guys came over and we had a blast.

We played Egyptian Rat Slap, which is a crazy card game that involves lightning quick reflexes and great concentration…not my greatest strengths. However, my wife dominates that game. We also watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop, scrounged up some food for lunch (we had to get creative), and actually played a little Frisbee when the rain stopped. There was so much water and mud on the field that it was a little ridiculous…but it was fun.

We all had so much fun…Elijohn, one of the high school guys, said we should do this every Saturday. Yesterday at the After-School Program some of the guys were still talking about how much fun we had.

One thing I’ve learned at The Rock is that simple things are usually the best. I’ve said this many times before, but I keep saying it because it is so true. We didn’t plan a big youth event or do anything extraordinary. We played cards, ate PB&J and frozen pizza, played a little Frisbee in the rain, and watched a movie. That’s it…yet it was a great day.

Another important fact is that it would have never happened if we didn’t live in the neighborhood. We would have canceled Frisbee and then gone about our day. However, since we live right by the park, we can be flexible and use our home to bless others. Cristian can walk over in the rain and show up sopping wet. I can easily hop in the car and go pick up a few kids that live a few blocks away.

It sounds so simple, yet people have so many fears associated with urban areas and they think they will never have time for themselves if they live near the people to whom they are ministering. There is some truth to that thinking, but I have found that living in the community actually saves time and allows for more spontaneous ministry to take place. I didn’t have to plan a big event for Saturday…we just woke up and made it happen.

I’ll close with a quote. John Perkins, an African-American man who has served in urban communities for most of his life, writes this about living in urban communities where you minister:

“Another way of restoring the stabilizing glue to our urban areas is for committed Christians to live in these communities. The importance of our physical presence in these communities can’t be overstated, whether it means moving to them for the first time, coming back, or just staying put. This principle that we have come to call relocation is what has given Christian community development success as well as undeniable credibility” (75).

Perkins, John. Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development. Grand Rapids:

Baker Publishing Group, 1993.