This past Sunday a group of us walked and prayed around Bolton C. Falby Public School.
I have been enjoying it on my own, by it was an even greater blessing to do so as a group.
I thought about the people of Israel marching around Jericho, but was not praying that the school walls would come crumbling to the ground.
But there are walls that need to come down, spiritual and social and emotional and racial walls.
And not just walls in THEIR hearts, also in OUR hearts.
We were reminded again that “these people” are not a project, that we are not their liberators parachuting in to help or fix them.
They are people with dignity, people deserving of respect, people who need God and Jesus just like we do.
They are our brothers, our sisters, living in a broken world with us, needing God’s forgiveness, God’s hope, God’s help, God’s Son, God’s Spirit – just like us!
This is an opportunity to be blessed together, to grow together, to be empowered together!
One of my prayers was that the Lord would lead us to look for “some worthy person” living in the Falby Court area, someone who is open and receptive to the Lord and His message, someone who can serve as a bridge, a liaison, in the community.
This is what Jesus instructed his disciples to do when they entered a community [Matthew 10:11-16].
I am also praying that we will not have to shake the dust off our feet [Matthew 10:14, i.e. that we are refused and rejected in the community, but hey, it can happen!].
And it is good to remember as well that many of these people – perhaps bruised and broken by religion and churches – may not be interested in more religion and church.
We will need to be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” [Matthew 10:16].
Thankfully this is not about us, not whether we are accepted, or whether we are successful.
Hence the need for prayer.
And more prayer.
And still more prayer.
Are you praying?