As I headed into my week with Be The Neighbor, I knew that I was being picked up by two interns who were working at the Washington, D.C. site, but I didn’t know much about them besides their names. From the moment I met the BTN interns, I felt welcomed and valued. Their instant hospitality was the first sign that I would have an amazing week full of love and learning. Jack and Campbell greeted me with big smiles and waves. They had answers to all of my questions as we drove to the Steinbruck Center (which I realized I’d stayed at before on a HELM trip!), and they checked in about whether I’d had lunch yet. These may seem like simple things, but they meant the world to this weary traveler. Doing two weeks straight of church camp is no joke! I found that it was easy to be in conversation with them. Despite all of my physical and emotional exhaustion, I felt like I was among friends.
Jack and Campbell are some of the youngest BTN interns this summer, but you wouldn’t know that from watching them lead. They’re both wise beyond their years and incredibly compassionate. Jack possesses so much empathy and constantly makes sure that those around him are feeling good and understand any given instructions. He was able to navigate the city with over 40 people in tow, which included getting all 40 of these people on the metro. He did all of this with a positive attitude. He also managed to get up before the crack of dawn to go running each morning! Campbell is a bright spirit with a wildly funny sense of humor. Her joy was what helped me to get up in the morning and to make it through long, hot afternoons. She was an expert communicator and was always able to answer questions from the church groups to the best of her ability (when you have that many people staying in a hostel together, there are a LOT of questions). She faced any challenges that came her way with grace and composure! I was so blessed to work alongside Jack and Campbell–I couldn’t have asked for better people to spend a week in D.C. with.
I was also blessed with the opportunity of working with Rev. Kelsey Cobbs, the site director for the D.C. BTN weeks. Kelsey is an absolute delight to speak with. She checked in with Campbell, Jack and I multiple times each day, whether it was to debrief our time spent at service sites throughout the day or just to chat. She made all the logistical elements of the week seem simple through organization and communication, and provided pastoral support along with this. We got to share our love for music when she played a few songs on the guitar I’ve been traveling with, and I had the opportunity to ask her some questions about ministry as I reflected on a new possibility of pursuing it. I was grateful to be in conversation with her during the week.
One fun evening in D.C. consisted of going to get ice cream with the interns, Kelsey, and Kelsey’s spouse Rev. Colton Lott, who I know from HELM!
Every morning, we had a gathering in the Steinbruck Center. It was led by Jack and Campbell and always began with the same song. This song is called “I Will Sing of Your Love, Love, Love” and is one of the catchiest songs I have ever heard. I love its message of trying to live out God’s love and vision for a peaceful and just world. It’s based on Psalm 89:1 and Psalm 104:33. The refrain at the end of each new verse says:
I will sing of your love, love, love
For as long as I live.
It was easy to get used to the song and I knew almost every word by heart at the end of the week. It might seem redundant to sing the exact same song every morning. But the more we sang it, the more I began to internalize its message of hope for a better world, of a collective mission to treat all people as neighbors. I found myself humming and singing the song as I went about the day and I noticed the youth and adults on the trip singing it repeatedly too. It was wonderful to witness not only how the message of the song got stuck in our heads, but the ways in which we were trying to live out that message throughout the week.
Another message that stuck with me came from the litany that we read before each service day. It was near the end, and I might be paraphrasing here, but it said: “A world where everyone is safe and has what they need to thrive–that world is possible.”
That world is possible. What audacity we have to believe this, right? In a world with over 100 million refugees, a world rife with hunger and war and genocide…to believe in a world in which all of these things are resolved is ambitious to say the least. But I think what we must take from this statement is that it is our duty as Christians to work towards this world. This starts with being neighbors in our communities, with learning about different forms of advocacy and figuring out where we fit best, with having difficult conversations about the ways that we have been ignorant or dismissive in response to issues that do not affect us. It starts with direct action. And each of us has the power to take direct action, no matter how big or small each act is. God dreams of a world where abundant peace is possible, and we must carry out this dream by turning hope into action. I saw God in the actions each young person did this week and it gave me hope for the world the litany spoke of.
Campbell and Jack leading the litany during our morning gathering.
I had the opportunity of volunteering at three different service sites with various church groups over the course of three days. The first was called Bread for the City. This organization provides food, medical care, and legal and social services to low-income communities. They are committed to doing justice in a way that is dignity-affirming; this was seen in the way both customers and volunteers were greeted warmly as soon as they walked through the door and how they were helped to access services they needed. We helped out with some of the food services, with most of the youth helping customers select food items or prepare bags to put food in. I pulled weeds on the building’s rooftop garden, where much of the fresh produce Bread for the City gives out is grown! The love and care that was being put into this garden in order to feed others was amazing to see.
The rooftop garden!
The second site we volunteered at was called Martha’s Table. They are working towards a “truly equitable D.C.”, providing food, physical, and mental health services to all neighbors who need them. We saw several families and their children come through the building to pick up free produce and to chat with their fellow community members. The youth filled bags of food for each customer and I sat with one of the Martha’s Table employees to give out free books and DVDs to those who wanted them. I got to interact with many children who came up to get books, and their joy was infectious. The employees who got us oriented and showed us what to do for volunteering were some of the kindest folks I interacted with all week, and I am in awe of how many lives they’ve touched (and I only witnessed a fraction of the work they do!).
Posing outside Martha’s Table with youth and adult leaders of the Westwind church and Jamal, who helped get us oriented (second from left, in the red shirt).
The final site was called Thrive DC. Thrive’s mission is to end hunger and homelessness. They serve people in crisis, giving out hot meals, showers, laundry, and hygiene supplies. They also provide services for those trying to break free from addiction and services for those who have been victims of crime. We spent most of our time at Thrive filling bags with canned food and cleaning up the common spaces. The Thrive community radiated so much love, even in the short amount of time we spent there. They are always in need of more volunteers– I hope they can reach more and more people as time goes on!
The church that Thrive DC operates out of.
The youth on this trip inspired me with their readiness and kindness at each and every site. The care they have for this earth and its people led me to believe that a world full of safety and security for everyone really is possible. They were wonderfully attentive during keynotes from guest speakers and had constant questions about what they could do to help with issues in their communities and the world at large. They are the definition of what it looks like to be neighbors. I hope they learned that they have immense power, simply by using their voices to speak up for those who are marginalized and doing intentional acts of service each day. I’ll be praying that they never forget this power.
To you, the reader: You have power too. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or where you might be going, you can strive for the peaceful world that is possible, where everyone has what they need to thrive. Being the neighbor goes far beyond a mission trip–it is a duty that is never outgrown, a calling that each of us carries. It is up to you how you will respond to that calling and how you will serve others. All I ask is that you hold love in your heart no matter what. Let’s sing of God’s love, love love, for as long as we live.