Extraordinarily Ordinary

Three times in the last month we were called “soldiers” for choosing to live where we have by people from this community and from other parts of town. Normally, I would never write about that because I could be risking that someone would interpret me recognizing it publicly as boasting or agreeing with the statement. It; however, actually touches on a topic that has become more and more concrete this year. The words “extraordinarily ordinary” have been coming to mind as we discuss the work that God is allowing us to become a part of. It usually comes up when we are talking about fundraising, recruiting volunteers or just looking back to trace where we’ve come from. It just seems nothing but ordinary. 

When we started working at Bridge Ministry of Acadiana in 2009 our goal was to work our way out of a job. We hoped that the young men and women we were investing our time and resources into would replace us as the leaders because they were best suited to reach the upcoming youth. That goal hasn’t really changed much. The mission of Engage Acadiana is to engage and develop leaders within the youth of our community by creating a safe and relational environment where they can be introduced to and grow in fellowship with God and each other.

As all missions do, it helps to define our values and the initiatives we choose to take on. Since we’re new to this area we’ve done simple things to get started, things any neighbor needs to do to become a part of their community. We started attending community planning meetings and helping with projects such as a community garden or block party. We cheer for the Northside Vikings whenever we get the chance and help build the Habitat for Humanity homes down the block. Jason teaches at a school in the neighborhood and partners with a high school basketball league by coaching a couple of teams and recruiting church members to work concessions and run the clock. We lock arms with other groups working for Unity by attending family fun days and marches for peace. We don’t get credit for those things. We didn’t think of any of those events or even organize most of them. Because of other people’s leadership we are able to show up and serve and help to further their vision because we have a similar one. And they are ordinary things, nothing extravagant or fancy.

So in the past two years we have spent a lot of time engaging with community leaders. We’ve lived on the Northside of Lafayette for six years. And in that time we have been surrounded by people who are hard at work, being agents of change within their own community. Just to be clear, our moving here was not to come and bring our solutions and demand that our way of doing things be followed. All of us bring our history and worldview with us. We have our strengths and our weaknesses. Reconciliation is the key. That requires seeking to understand each other, becoming interested in knowing and valuing the other person, and being willing to adjust so that you can live in unity together. Our vision is to assist in breaking down racial, social and economic barriers while we share our lives, skills, and resources. Coming from 9 to 5 and then heading home to be with people just like us the rest of our days just didn’t cut it. Becoming neighbors that share in the goodness and the struggles of the area was a must for our family.

I’ll never forget the difference of experiences we had in our first years. This is where Jason and I are a bit different. Jason is automatically able to see through to good in almost anyone and he doesn’t worry much. To be honest, I wouldn’t define myself as naturally brave, no matter where I am. I’ve never enjoyed being alone at night and can’t watch scary things because it haunts me. Those fears are typically ridiculous. It was God’s sense humor that put me in a place that others had deemed unsafe. Because of my history of worry I just replied that “safety is relative” and that anything could happen anywhere. At the beginning, however, Jason couldn’t be gone after dark because “what if?,” and we had to get a dog so that I would stop thinking I heard something, and I didn’t walk to work by myself because I didn’t know how to handle the guy on the corner. It wasn’t my normal and people’s opinions had bled over into my beliefs. I didn’t have any negative personal experiences to draw on in regard to that part of town. All I could go on was what I had heard from others, history I had read on the news or how I felt. Sure, I won’t pretend that everything around me was good. Vacant homes were being broken into, guys were dealing drugs down the block, and I watched from my kitchen table as literal SWAT teams sought a suspect more than once. But does that mean that this little neighborhood was less valuable and void of leaders? Despite feelings of discomfort at times, we just believed differently and we wanted to help the people we knew outside the area, that had so little hope, see differently too. 

It was relationships and time that broke through layers of fear and judgment. 

Working everyday with children and youth that had so much potential and love. Becoming friends with my neighbor who was also pregnant by her choosing to meet me in the morning to head out for walks together and introducing me to people she knew let me see my community from a new perspective. Neighborhood meetings and family days in the park made me a friend and helped me to network with older, wiser neighbors that would teach me what my family had modeled: how to sew, garden, cook, and parent. Maybe we were more alike than it seemed. Sharing tools, lawn mowers, movies, baby clothes and literal cups of sugar helped us break out of the belief that we were supposed to be independent. We can never fully express how incredibly humbling and healing our time in Four Corners was and how indebted we are to those neighbors for accepting that couple that didn’t fit in and didn’t always get it right. They were teaching us what we thought we knew about being neighbors.

When we moved to McComb/Veazey people didn’t fully understand what our fascination with this part of town was and why we would once again invest in a home where there wasn’t a guaranteed financial win. We were told that we chose the “bad part south of Louisiana Ave.” and that "they shoot over there." “Are we considering our children?” To be fair we were aware of the issues. We did research statistics of the area. We learned at the time that the average income was $18,558 and that it was made up of 45.5% renter occupied housing. Racially it is made up of 82.6% minority so we wouldn't exactly blend in. A year before, there was a murder two blocks from the home that we were purchasing. But do you know what else we knew? We knew there was an active Coterie, a planning committee made up of local community members, completing projects on a regular basis that were improving the neighborhood, 8 to 10 brand new Habitat for Humanity homes finished or being built, the church we attend was moved to a new location within the neighborhood, and we had built relationships throughout the Northside that had us more than convinced that leadership was present and that this was a growing community too. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?

We enjoy going to events and seeing people over and over who believe in the good of your community and who are willing to help move it forward. We consider ourselves blessed to be a part of this area and for the ways that it’s made an impact on us, our family and the friends who maybe would have continued to let the perception of others create in them fear and judgement. It’s not always easy. There are still very real problems that cause worry and frustration. Just in 2015 we have had 12 shooting deaths within a mile of our home and some of them we knew. Our schools must improve and employment percentages must grow. Life here will always be a little different because we’re not from here and we will be pushed way beyond what we would typically see as comfortable.

Comfort; however, isn’t what we are chasing.

In Hebrews 11:10 of the bible it describes why Abraham was willing to obey God. It says, “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” We love McComb and Veazey and Monroe and New Jack and Truman and Azalea Park and Fightin’ville and Frooty Town and all the other parts of the Northside of Lafayette that many of the people reading this have probably never heard of, because this is where we live and God loves and is in this part of town as much as he loves and is in the others. “Incarnational ministry,” basically entering into someone else’s reality as much as is actually possible in order to better serve and share the love of God, is an ordinary idea for Christian. I guess you could say that's having "boots on the ground."

If you are interested in financially supporting Engage Acadiana click here to donate under "Community Center".