I called my mom on my way to my second day of work at The Anchor. I could hear her curiosity seeping through the phone as she asked me about what I did on my first day. I could barely find the words or come up with some sort of explanation of what I experienced so I simply told her what I did…. I spent the morning and some of the afternoon hanging out with homeless folks and learning about their stories–where they were from, how long they’ve been in Wilmington, about their families, etc. Later on in the afternoon, I had the chance to hang out with Philip and his family at the home of Burmese refugees to celebrate the first birthday of their child. That evening, I participated in the missional community, Bridge Night, at Solomon Towers–a public housing facility for the elderly and disabled. I explained to my mom, that on my first day, I had dipped my toes in so many different pools of people that I rarely came in contact with. You see, I’ve grown up in a middle-class, suburban household. I have been blessed with an extremely supportive family, encouraging mentors and friends, a roof over my head, and food always available in the pantry. Sure, I’ve gotten to attend several mission trips and seen poverty and pain. But those things were temporary: daily or weekly events. To be honest, I spend the majority of my time in the library and classrooms of Duke Divinity School–a bubble of a bunch of students studying theology. The hours of my day are dedicated to writing papers, reading hundreds of pages of books and articles, and occasionally hanging out with some fellow seminarians.
The Anchor comes into contact with a diverse group of people every day and their is no judgement based on socio-economic status, the color of their skin, their past, etc. Everyone is viewed as an equal. Everyone is a brother or sister in Christ. So, when I started to think about my “average” day during the year at school in comparison to the lifestyle of The Anchor, I was immediately overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed in the sense of feeling busy or scared of the opportunities in which I was participating, but emotionally overwhelmed. I have observed events, conversations, and friendships over the past 5 days that I have never seen in my 23 years of life as a member of a church. As I sat down next to people that I would never normally talk to on a day to day basis and shared life with them, I had to bite my lip to hold back my emotions. How often do we see the church not only engaging in conversation with but serving alongside of folks that are uniquely different from us? In my personal experience…rarely. I am witnessing more impactful Kingdom work on the streets of Wilmington than I do sitting in the pews on a Sunday morning. So as I chatted with my mom over the phone, I was overcome by tears–many, many tears. I wasn’t sad for the people I was meeting, but I was joyful for the fact that I get to serve at a church that is centered on the mission of the gospel– to make disciples of all nations.