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Reflections: Justice Outreach Project 2009 My Justice Outreach Project Experience It was a long drive to Browning, Montana. As the scenes changed out the window and the mix of Backstreet Boys and Norah Jones played through the speakers, I remember thinking about what I would be doing that week. What stories I could tell my friends and family who didn’t understand why I was going to Browning. I was excited to see old friends from CYC events. I was excited to “fix” Browning, make it better. I was expecting to “get er done”, make that dusty reservation town shine. Then drive on out of town, glance back and say, “ya...I helped with that.” What I wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with Browning Montana. I was expecting to see a lost people, in desperate need of my help. I saw myself as some type of angel, that showed up with a group of friends to “fix” the broken town. But really I found that it was I who was misguided. It was my way of looking at the world around me that needed to be scrubbed, and painted. On the outside Browning looks tattered and worn down. But they are rich in community, in compassion, in humility and in pride. They know how to laugh, they know how to pray, they can tell stories that make your heart soar, they sing songs that make you dream. It was not the Browning people who needed my eager hands – ready in newly purchased work gloves. It was I who needed them. Now looking back on that week, I realize that I came to Browning for me. I came to make myself feel good about doing something for others. I came to Browning so I could go back home and tell others about all the good that I had done. All of the buildings I repaired and all the people I helped. And instead of coming home and telling everyone about all the good I did, I came home and told of all the good I saw. All of the blessings that are already bestowed upon Browning, the Lord’s work that was already in action before we even set foot on reservation soil. I told of the pale blue house with chipped paint that gives the homeless a place to stay. I told them about the community college and all the education and hope that comes out of that place. I talked about the hospital, and the elderly care center, about the strong community and the kids who play basketball all night long. I came home and told stories about Henry, the hardware man who could keep you in his store for an hour just telling you a “short” story. I talked about all the amazing food that was prepared for us by the people of Browning, and all the fun we had racing through the streets of Browning on the scavenger hunt the local youth group set up for us. During the Justice Outreach Project we painted, we swept, we raked leaves, we tore down fences. But most of all we listened to the people, we learned from their compassion, and we were humbled by what we witnessed. I found that the Blackfeet people are worthy of our time, of our energy, of our strength in numbers. Sure, we came to serve them, but in the end they served us as well. In the food they prepared, in the songs they sang, in the traditional dances we danced. Most of all we stood as one: the people of the Blackfeet nation, together with the participants of the Justice Outreach Project. We stood side by side, and we walked together in Christ. Together we worked, together we prayed, together we learned. Like I said, I did not expect to fall in love with Browning Mont., but that is just what happened.
Reflections: World Youth Day 2008
“Be careful what you pray for.” “There are not accidents.” “God works in mysterious ways.” These catch phrases come to mind as I begin to process the incredible journey that was World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and consider how this experience will undoubtedly impact my life. The entire visit overwhelmed us by the display of gracious hospitality from everyone we encountered. We were in awe of the warm welcome we received everywhere…a local bus driver took us beyond his route to show us sights of interest! Sydney is a beautiful cosmopolitan city and it was prepared to host WYD ’08 – a study in efficiency, no detail and been overlooked. WYD Pilgrimage By Doug Tooke
Why not do Pagan youth ministry? By Doug Tooke
The word apostle, from the Scripture text which is the Greek "apostolos," literally can be translated "one sent with a message." The root "apo" means “from” and the root "stello" means “to send.” From a Roman army context, an apostolos would be a courier, a forerunner who brings an order from the general. Apostasy, on the other hand, stems from the Greek “apostasis.” Its roots include “apo” meaning “from” or “away” and “stasis” meaning “standing.” Apostasy is traditionally defined as the formal abandonment or renunciation of one's religion or political beliefs. So, standing away from something is supposedly quite a bit different from being sent with something. Or is it? I’ll tell you what; we will get back to that in a minute. Twenty-first century teens get introduced to quite a few gods. In The Godbearing Life (a great book by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster that you should own, especially if you are a parent but more importantly if you are a youth minister), the authors argue, “Adolescents are looking for a soul-shaking, heart-waking, world-changing God to fall in love with; and if they do not find that God in the Christian Church, they will most certainly settle for lesser gods elsewhere…So will we (P. 9).” Yes we will, and yes we have.
Lesser gods seem to bleed their way into pop culture on a regular basis. For some teens, they are the technological medium or media that they can’t “live without.” For some adults, the gods reveal themselves in the form of personal distraction from responsibility towards our kids (namely our jobs) or our spiritual lives (namely our kid’s schedules). The ancient Greeks would probably love that the pagan gods have found their way into post-modern society. I had once thought about the “benefits” I would have if I were a youth minister for the church of Apollo (the Greek sun god). Instead of fundraisers, we could threaten to stop the sunrise if the congregation didn’t pay for our charter bus to the next junior high rally. Oh, the possibilities! Alas, I do not work for Apollo, but for you and the Catholic Church, most importantly, the young Catholic Church. I work for the God that promises salvation, sustenance, and …wait for it…here it comes…suffering. I work for a Church that believes in the God that demands apostleship. See, I told you I would get back to that subject. We are a Church sent with a message. We need couriers with courage. We need energetic forerunners of the Good News. We need apostles. I find it curious the difference in the roots of the aforementioned words. To “stand away” and to “be sent with a message” are different things entirely. Pop culture sometimes fools our young Church into thinking that it is “standing away” or counter-cultural in the clothes they wear and the piercing that they…er…um…have done in awkward locations. Maybe this is against the grain, or anti-establishment. However, most culture-commissioned rebellion is part of an advertising scheme and amateur at best.
You want real revolt? You want to say that you were part of a real flip-upside-down, culture shock agenda? One word…apostle. I am serious. This is not petty rebellion. This is not the renunciation of religion or political beliefs. That would be apostasy. I don’t want the young Church to turn only from pop culture gods and then do nothing. If you think about it, the opposite of renouncing your religion is really refusing to renounce your religion under any circumstances. The Church calls that martyrdom. Is there a purer form of apostleship than that? My hope is that the young Church makes the turn (stands away) and then embraces the commissioning (or sending forth) of a life filled with challenge. This is the soul-shaking, heart-waking, world-changing God we want them to fall in love with. I know, tough sell. That is what makes working in youth ministry all that much more miraculous. Our teens are doing it. The young Church is denying earthly pleasures by choosing to embrace ministry opportunities instead of ultra-demanding extra-curricular activity, usually school-related. Pop culture is selling the same false sense of security, except these youth aren’t necessarily buying it. More and more teens are bending their busy schedules to accommodate Bible study, prayer group, and service opportunities. They are, in effect, being sent and carrying out the message in the face of immense odds. And...they are doing it in ways that are creatively leading our Church.
So, you can keep your fringe benefits, Apollo, as delightful as sun worship and pagan sacrifice may seem. I’ll stick with the faith vision that is honest about hurt and suffering. I will stick with a ministry that continues to promise its young that the journey is a tough one, but the food along the way and the destination make the rewards of this earth seem unfulfilling at best. I’ll stay with Christ…till the end. After all, I was sent (like all of us at our baptism), and I sure hope to deliver, the way the young Church has taught me. See you in the vineyard!
Peace in Christ, |
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