The Destruction of Ignorance

I had spent a lot of time struggling with my calling. Not in the sense that I didn’t want to be called by God, but in the sense that I wasn’t sure if I could reconcile the two very distinct lifestyles that I have grown up in. On one hand, my life has been surrounded by wealth, prosperity, and a kind and loving environment. On the other hand, my heart has grown to love those who are surrounded by poverty, despair, oppression, and a suffocating and subjugating environment. I had a difficult time seeing where I fit. I have always been inclined to follow my heart, because I believe that that is where God speaks to me the most clearly. So I grew to be agitated by the decisions and prosperity of the people and area I grew up with. Part of me knew that if I were to pursue a particular track in ministry it would lead me to be a leader to people that I increasingly could not identify with. However, my experiences in my education and in the work that I have pursued over the past couple of years has reconnected me with reality and restored my patience. The conflict still exists, but the feelings of frustration and anger are far less intimately connected with a particular income bracket and are now directed at specific situations and circumstances.
For example, the volunteers that come to us at Motown Mission are all unique but they all share a similar sense of the unknown. Many groups have had people drop out at the last minute out of fear of the city. The ones that do arrive do so for many reasons, but the struggle for me has been to recognize that each person who comes, comes bravely. I have learned to recognize that each individual has had different life experiences and many of those experiences have not been so blessed as mine. So I have grown to see my role in ministry as one that rights the wrongs of a life of privilege. So many people live in blissful ignorance of the struggles that surround them. For me that focus has been primarily on the struggles of the poor and oppressed, but I have learned, from my fiance, that that ignorance can extend to a great number of things, including the environment and rest of God’s creation.
At Motown Mission we focus on the “slow motion Katrina” that is the economic disaster that plagues the city of Detroit. Within that we try to show our volunteers that the people they are serving did not choose this. The city did not collectively decide to become one of the poorest in the nation. What many of the neighborhoods have collectively decided is to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. In my eyes the city is like any other oppressed group of people driven to the brink. It is taking what no one will give it. There are neighborhoods in the city that have decided that they are fed up with the current system that exists, because that system treats them like they don’t exist. So neighborhoods take charge. No grocer will move into the city to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, so the people grow their own. No bank will lend to give them money to buy a vacant house on their street, so the block maintains the yard to keep the crime down. So few people want to help out with the task of, literally, cleaning up the streets that the job becomes impossible to handle, so when people do come out to clean up, local businesses offer discounts and a helping hand. There is so little money available that people can't afford goods or services, so some local business owners will barter the skills that are available.
It is because of all of that that I have loved working for Motown Mission. This job has given me the opportunity, every week, to help right the great wrong of privilege. This job has given me the chance to open peoples eyes, to see the world a little differently, to walk away a little less afraid, and a little more angry for all the right reasons.