Follow Me through the Gap
A kind supporter and friend of our ministry asked me, as we enjoyed a light lunch just last week, if I had seen change for the better in Orange Mound over the past fifteen years.
In reality, the change is slow, but the change in me has been absolutely for the better.
Quite astonishing to most of our supporters and customers is that there is a distinguishable gap between our collective vision for our beloved women in Orange Mound and their own readiness for change. I have often been in conversation with others in similar missions to the poor, who agree and recognize a similar weight in their lived experience. My hope, disappointment, faith, and the raw clarity of reality among the women we work with in Orange Mound daily occupy my prayers, time, and resources. I am passionate, and I love this job.
The gap my peers and I share is not a failure of our love, efforts, or calling. I frequently consider that Jesus Himself faced the same in His three years of ministry in Galilee. He walked among people who saw miracles, heard truth, and still chose their own way. He did not stop loving them or walking with them. Nor do we.
Cheryl daily tells every new customer that “My Cup of Tea brings women out of poverty into a new posture of stability, strength, and hope”.
Measuring that type of success has not been a priority for we are working among many layers of need with our friends here. Accruing stories of crossing women over into stability is qualitative, not quantitative. More importantly and of more consequence, we have been present in their instability.
We have been a constant of encouragement, consistency, mercy, and Truth sharing. Many negative voices repeatedly tell our ladies, “You can’t make it,” as well as “Just get by.” We who are in their favor at My Cup of Tea, never weary of sowing seed of promise and hope, all the while knowing we must continue in prayer to see them bear fruit. We are in the cloud of witnesses with unwavering commitment. The volunteers we call Sisters are the cup holders, advocates, mothers, teachers, friends, and fairy godmothers for all who are willing to invite us in.
Another missionary in Orange Mound, Linda Gilbert, often says, “Walking in each other’s shoes brings mercy and respect.” Walking in their shoes has given us a rare perspective. We are not looking at our ladies from a distance. We are walking in cadence side by side with all. We celebrate their birthdays, we know their children’s names and grades; we know their debts, their bruises, their pregnancies, their firings, their aches, their medications, their unreliable cars, which we have named, and we know their fears. We have been to their houses, and we have advocated for change. “Knowing” is the mission work. There is no judging them; we are grieving with them.
Occasionally, the only request of us is dollars to finish another day. We can easily slip into lament, for many of our deeper offerings are rejected. I believe their financial hardships crack a vulnerable portal called ‘humility.’ She who asks for a loan is really saying, "I may not yet trust you with my soul, but I trust you with my embarrassment, and in truth, my survival." We have walked through many harder doors with them, but debt is the most difficult because it signifies failure to them.
I’m often asked why I chose Orange Mound to begin our ministry for women. Succinctly, I chose to follow Jesus, and He led me to the corner of Carnes and Semmes, where He was already living. He has not paved the street or smoothed the paths, but He has walked every step on the broken sidewalks with us, His kind voice:” Walk this way”, keeps us alert and refreshed, and silences the request for a finish line. That voice is the motivation, not the outcomes of our efforts.
The hardest part of the mission, especially in sharing the Gospel, is helping our ladies move from blaming circumstances or others for the mess they are in. Their part in their disquieting circumstances most often is the result of an immoral choice. We have created a space where confession is safe and not shamed. Jesus did. He did not force repentance but was a safe place where it could and still can be encouragingly received.
I spoke recently to a small group and used the word ‘renaissance ‘in view of Orange Mound. It sounded inspiring, but has resounded in my ear as misinformed ever since. Without homeowners, there is no dedication to repair the brokenness that is still in view on every block. We are committed to assisting in the courageous leap over the gap to own a first home.
The renaissance is slowly happening quietly in the relationships between our disparate cultures. Two of our abused women, victims of domestic violence, came to work bearing their broken hearts and bruises last week, trusting us to pray for them and provide support. Two of our ladies are faithfully paying back loans with each paycheck, in cash.
Another renaissance is evident in the hearts of our volunteers who have stayed when there has been no applause. They have learned the cost of following Jesus includes going into the dark alleys and hard places. They have shown up and they have stayed.
He who summoned us all with “Follow Me" is walking with us. His metrics are not in miles walked; His measurements are not in lives changed, but His recompense is crowns for those who have faithfully kept the pace.