And YES we live in a trailer park....
Not that there's anything wrong with living here, we are truly blessed to have such a nice home and to have the opportunity to own our home in such a short amount of time. This blessing has come with lots and lots of stretching though. It has been good for both Chris and me.
I have realized that not only are we in one of the poorest parts of our town, the people that live her are some of the most interesting....and unusual people I've encountered so far. They view themselves as stuck. To them there is no hope, no hope of ever having a life any better than what they have now.
Chris and I moved to this neighborhood because we were tired of renting, but weren't ready for a life long commitment of a house mortgage. We know that we are only going to live here for a short time. When driving through the neighborhood one can tell who has our mind set (we are only here for a season and to better our lives) and those that do not. Those that do not....well....we will just say you can tell without much study to their home. It is VERY easy to get caught up in the fact that this neighborhood is messed up and hopelessly headed in a downward spiral. Thankfully there is hope....named Jesus. God has placed us here and each day we drive through it becomes more and more apparent that He has placed us right where we are. I regularly have to remind myself of this.
It's March already!
And YES we live in a trailer park....
Not that there's anything wrong with living here, we are truly blessed to have such a nice home and to have the opportunity to own our home in such a short amount of time. This blessing has come with lots and lots of stretching though. It has been good for both Chris and me.
I have realized that not only are we in one of the poorest parts of our town, the people that live her are some of the most interesting....and unusual people I've encountered so far. They view themselves as stuck. To them there is no hope, no hope of ever having a life any better than what they have now.
Chris and I moved to this neighborhood because we were tired of renting, but weren't ready for a life long commitment of a house mortgage. We know that we are only going to live here for a short time and not for the rest of our lives like some people do.
It is VERY easy to get caught up in the fact that this neighborhood is messed up and hopelessly headed in a downward spiral. When driving through the neighborhood one can tell who has our mind set (we are only here for a season and to better our lives) and those that do not. Those that do not....well....we will just say you can tell without much study to their home. Thankfully there is hope....named Jesus. God has placed us here and each day we drive through it becomes more and more apparent that He has placed us right where we are. I regularly have to remind myself of this.
It's a hard group of people to reach out to, we have learned so far. I personally have learned that Chris and I are, very much, people that like to improve the environment, and our neighborhood is one that likes to maintain or what they try to think is maintaining....when in reality it's falling apart before their very eyes. We have learned that this mentality is a poverty mentality. To do nothing at all is maintaining. Poverty says if the way you know how to fix it doesn't work, then it can't be fixed. I recently came to this revelation when Hays received record amounts of snow a few weeks ago. Our maintenance system, I'm not really sure what to call it because, well I guess I'll stop and explain. Ok, so when we first moved here we had an actual hired and payed maintenance man that lived and worked in our neighborhood. Now they've decided to out source this job to a company. When we got all the snow they were supposed to plow our streets, well after being snowed in for 3 1/2 days I decided to call and see why we weren't getting our streets plowed. Now keep in mind we are talking 18" of snow on the ground, and I drive a G-6. I talked to our manager and she said our neighborhood plow was broken down and stuck in Salina, KS. Yes, stuck in Salina, Kansas....90 miles away. Why our plow was an hour and half away I have no idea. Oh and our manager said that we were going to have to wait a week before it would be back. I though about asking her if she had talked to the City, but if she had the streets would probably be plowed. My next call was to the city, and guess what? The streets were plowed the NEXT DAY!! What I learned from this was that our manager is probably stuck in this poverty mentality, which would be why our streets and neighborhood is the way it is. What I can do now is either sit back and nit pick at what she is or isn't doing or I can offer her a solution. I would have to say the first one is what I have been doing up to this point, but it was because I honestly couldn't understand how someone could be that clueless to the world around them. I now understand that she's not only clueless. She had no idea, and probably no way of getting one because of the way she was raised. Yes, that sounds condemning, but isn’t that what the world is? Putting you in a place of constant failure with now hope of ever amounting to anything.
My goal now is first and foremost to pray for her, but also find common ground to hopefully share the gospel with her. At this point I have no clue how to do it in a way that she will accept it.
As far as life at our house things are going well. I'm still working at the local Christian radio station and for the lady that goes to our church; and Chris still works at Hess Services as a CNC programer. I'm amazed to watch God continue to use us. I will confess that every ounce of me wants to be in China, and it breaks my heart every time someone asks me when we will go next. I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt we are exactly where God wants us. I also know that my burning desire for China is no accident either. God continues to show me new ways this calling can be met. We recently have had the honor of befriending a Chinese student. Well actually he's not the student his girl friend is. I guess I may as well tell you his story.
The Story of Li:
Li comes from a very rich family in China and he was enjoying life. He had studied graduated from college, but decided to live the life of a partier. His girl friend did not like this life so several months ago she broke up with him and came to Hays to go to Fort Hays State University. Sounds like a movie right? Li is here on a tourist visa but is here to prove to his girlfriend that he knows how to work and is willing to do whatever it takes to win her back. Cue Americans. About a month ago we had a special speaker at our church and dad was at the hotel to pick him up. Outside the hotel was a very confused and lost Chinaman. Dad being the nice helpful American asked Li if he could help him. Li asked if he could get a ride to F-H-S-U. Then dad called me and gave me his contact information. (this was a Saturday). He's now been to church every week since he's been here AND he works every afternoon at the church. He says his relationship with his girlfriend is on the mend (of corse not in those words). We have not met his girlfriend yet, but we can tell he still has very strong feelings and we can only pray she has some of the same feelings as well. We have known Li for about a month now and it is amazing to see how he has fit into our family. God really knows how to work things out for his glory, just when we all needed a little breath of fresh air he sends a young man from China. Li plays the clarinet just like my little sister does so Li has gladly taught Amanda some very helpful tips, just when she was about to throw in the towel on band too. I had just been going through a rough spot wondering why I wasn't in China....little did I know God would bring China to me. Li has opened my eyes again to the huge Chinese student population at FHSU that is largely unreached. What amazes me most is how well Li speaks English and how much he has taught us about his culture. I'm looking forward to watching the relationship to grow and God only knows where it will lead.
To Be Continued
