So I had some people that don't know much about the Inner City work, wondering about some of the other people I work and interact with and just information about the church so i figured the easiest thing is just to blog about it. I'm gonna talk about some of the people from the past and then people i just met this year.
The Inner City Church in Mobile was started by the Inner City Church in Nashville, TN. They got the ministry off and running and got most of the support the church needed. Two years ago the Nashville group pulled out their support which caused the church to have to move locations but at the same time they were now under their own governance. The church has no elders yet, but they do have three trustees who take care of financial decisions. They are Plese Evens, Morris Bembry, and Jefferson Moore. Jefferson is one that i interact with the most. His wife is Christina, our secretary. They have two of the cutest twin kids i have ever met. Their names are Jamal and Julia. The minister Chuck "Big Chuck" Griffis has been here since before I ever came on my first spring break trip here in my freshman year. I believe he has been here close to ten years. He is a very passionate man who is perfect for this ministry. Jared Kelly is who me and Rachael work with. Jared is their evangelist. He just started back in January but he is another amazing guy. He's 25 and just so ready and energetic and in love with the work he gets to do for God. When we met him back in March, i was kinda skeptical of how much his heart was in it but he has had such an amazing change and seeing him now, you cannot find a man who loves this as much as him.
There are so many members here who i have gotten close to over the past 4 years. Ms. Mattie and Ms. Gail live across the street from each other and they are some of the sweetest, most beautiful, old ladies you will ever know. They will talk with you all day long. Ms. Matti especially. She may be in her 70's but she acts like she is in her 20's. The Beasley family is another i've gotten to know over the past few years. Charleston, Jacoby and Yasmine are the three youngest and they are amazing people. They are just great to be around. The youngest, Jacoby, is 14 and even he will make you smile every time you see him. No with Yasmine I have to speak about Jeronica. This is the first time I have really got to talk with Jeronica but her and Yasmine are best friends and they are just inseparable. Jeronica is the one that just got baptized. The Cooley Family is one that i have really just gotten to know in the last two weeks. The 5 that are still in mobile are Ben, Tina, Sharron, and Big Tony. Their mother is Mary. The 4 of them take care of their mom and they are just some of the coolest people to know. They are so much fun to be around and talk with. Any conversation ends up with you dying laughing. Then there is Walter. Walter is the laziest kid you will ever meet but you cannot help but love him. He is never sad, or angry, or upset. That man is always all smiles. He's the one that taught us all the potato chip song. Awesome song! And this year we met Nehemiah, Moses and Dee. These three boys live in an area called Birdsville. The are so funny and Nehemiah is especially amazing. He is so interested and so glad to be at church and you can just tell that he has the heart of a servant. All three of these boys are from the ages of 11-13 so i really hope they keep coming. There are so many others here that i could talk about but these are the ones that I'm closest to.
I wanna tell you more about the bible studies we do. Specifically i'm gonna talk about one lady named Catrina. Catrina lives in RV Taylor, one of the housing projects. She was so excited when me and Jared and Rachael came to see her and set up a Bible study with her. She knew some things about the bible but she was still very confused about it and how the old and new testament is set out and such. And well lets just say i've never heard anyone EVER get excited like her when she realized that most of the books of the new testament were letters written by Paul. She thought that was absolutely amazing. But me and Rachael and Jared went out and took this book that Rachael had bough and had color copies of time lines and charts of the the history of the bible. Also thing that showed when prophecies were made about Jesus in the old testament and how they were fulfilled in the new testament. She was just ecstatic. Rachael couldn't make it with me and Jared to the bible last bible study we did with her but she wrote Cristina a note and Cristina was about to cry because she said no one had ever written her a note before. She said she would read it after me and Jared left because she didn't want to cry in front of us. When she did start to cry we asked her what was upsetting her and she said she realized everything she had been taught before we started studying with her was a lie. I'm not sure what i would do if i came to that realization. But she was just so happy that we were studying with her and that things we told her about all were found in the bible and that we would be coming back every week. She said she never realized that people would care about her so much. That is what we do here. That is what the inner city ministry is to us. Its taking the time to show people truth. Starting from the beginning of Jesus' ministry, using the bible to teach and not just what we say, and returning over and over again.
The Inner City Ministry is unlike any other. It is a very raw ministry. It is a very passionate ministry. You can't come here to work, but come here to be. I'm not sure if that makes sense but its like, you wont really understand it unless you come to be a part of the people and culture here. You have to understand that many of the people here have been in jail or been and in some cases still are drug addicts and alcoholics. The people won't always come every Sunday. But you have to keep ministering and going to them. And some might say, that you can't be in or part of the inner city ministry on the week campaigns that people do like our college group does, but i don't think that's true. I think of my friend Matt who came to Mobile for the first time this past March, and he was in the culture. He was a part of it. He built relationships and got involved with people. The ministry is, in some ways, shows me what it is really to be a christian. The people here have nothing but God to depend on. And shouldn't that be us at all times, whether we have money, or jobs, or anything else to lean on? In the end they dont matter because they will pass away and God wont.
If you wanna know more about the inner city just let me know. love yall!!!
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