March Madness

In the newly adopted Virginia Tech Principles of Community, one statement says, “We affirm the value of human diversity because it enriches our lives and the university. We acknowledge and respect our differences while affirming our common humanity.” As a chapter, we decided to carry this out during Spring Break. While many students went south for the sun and to help out in the Gulf Coast, 36 Tech students and I felt called to experience the joys and pains of New York City. We were called out of our comfort zones as our group, a mixture of white and Asian students, stayed in a neighborhood where the residents were black and Latino. God used this time to breakdown a lot of stereotypes that students had about the city, and particularly, the inner city. We were divided up into six groups and were scattered all over the city (Lower East Side Manhattan, Harlem, Upper East, Bronx). Our days were full of activity, from serving dinners at a homeless shelter to helping with after school programs in the poorest district of the country. Here is what one student had to say about her experience:
“One of the many ways in which I was blessed, was to spend a week with brothers and sisters of different races and ethnicities, giving me a broader sense of who God is, and what His kingdom is like. Through walking the streets of the Bronx, serving food to the homeless in the lower east side, and helping to run a homeless shelter in the basement of a church, I was shown a mere glimpse of the brokenness that is present in our world.  Back in the Bronx we talked a great deal about the brokenness in our world between people, people and God, people and our earth, people and life/death, and brokenness within the individual.  This brokenness, created at the fall of man in Eden will one day be restored by God.  He longs to restore this earth, and bring Shalom to this hurting world.  One of the greatest things I learned this week was that my heart is far from the heart God has for the poor and oppressed.  I need to be broken for the hurting, and desire to change the injustice.  This world does not represent the Shalom that God desires.  By turning my head the other way, ignoring the homeless person asking me for money, I am in no way showing him/her a glimpse of God's love.  Omission is just as much an act of apathy as a snide remark.  I learned that I need to fully embrace those who are different from me and not erase who they are and the culture they represent.” 

Here are few excerpts from my journal:
Sunday, March 5th - ...While we were waiting at the subway station for everyone to regroup, I started talking to a man named Al. Al was on crutches and his foot was in a cast. I asked him how this happened. He questioned my sincerity. Then he told me that he tripped and landed on his head in the middle of the night. He couldn't find work because of his foot, and thus, was forced to sit on the streets and ask for money. He never asked my for money. He just wanted to talk. He even asked if I had a place to stay for the night. I hadn't shaved in a couple of weeks and was looking a little unkempt. Al told me that I could fit with the city. I took that as a compliment...
Tuesday, March 7th....That afternoon, we met Jack Roberts at Hope Christian Center. Jack is one of those people that you only meet every once and a while. He's been doing ministry in the Bronx for over 30 years. He owns a house where 20 me live. These men come off the street, and they also come to get help for addictive behaviors. The atmosphere was very peaceful. Jack was busy, but he gave us an hour of conversation. He told us about his 13 children, half were his own, half were adopted. He thinks that the real homeless people are the orphans....
Wednesday, March 8th...Brandon and I had the privilege of eating dinner at the Bowery Mission with Hubert and listening to his story. Originally from Bogota, Columbia, he felt that he had to leave. The streets were dangerous. Drugs were everywhere. People were geting gunned down for no reason. Kids were killing kids. He saved up enough money to fly to Miami where he had relatives. Not long after that, he suffered from overwhelming heartbreak, as he left his girlfriend of four years back in Columbia. This led to depression which led to drug use. Tension in his family caused him to move to Buffalo, NY, where he got involved in a really bad relationship. Then, he fled to NYC where he got involved with drugs again. After four months on the street, he came to the Bowery where he vowed that he was through with drugs and wanted to live for Jesus. You could tell he was serious...


Students working with the Bowery Mission jump in the back of truck to go serve soup to people in the park.






A group shot of everyone that went on the project outside of the building that we stayed in during the week.






This group helped tutor kids by teaming up with the Bronx Connect.





Students share the day's experiences with each other over dinner.





East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx at sunset. This is the block where he stayed.






Our president, Brian Johnson, beside a moving subway train. I just thought this picture looked cool. The subway was our most common mode of transportation.