Note: The following post comes from our dear friend, Cody Schimelpfenig, of Urban Homeworks, who helps us live our mission and presence in north Minneapolis. We are grateful for the way Cody connects us with other community members – especially the many young adults living and serving as “Urban Neighbors” in the inner-city of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"A doorbell agenda is NOT a strategic plan, a formula, a ministry method. It is a way of life."
by Cody Schimelpfenig*
A few years ago I met some nuns, the Visitation Sisters (or the “Nuns in the ‘Hood” as many call them) in north Minneapolis. And these are NOT your run-of-the-mill nuns. No black dresses or habited heads. And they are by far one of the clearest examples of the incarnation of Jesus Christ that I have yet to experience. They have “lived Jesus” (their words) in a part of north Minneapolis for 21 years. They have fed their hungry neighbors, handed out bus tokens when they had them, provided curbside death-knell prayers to a dying gang member, taught English, taught Spanish, taught music, and taught God’s love.
“..these are NOT your run-of-the-mill nuns. No black dresses or habited heads. And they are by far one of the clearest examples of the incarnation of Jesus Christ that I have yet to experience.”
They are artisans of God’s grace and His manifest mercy and justice. And as you often find with truly gifted artists, they can’t even see their own brilliance. But it is unmistakable. Being around such radiant lovers of the “least of these” always provides yet more inspiring but almost-impossible challenges to how I “live Jesus.” The latest challenge to my overly-scheduled life: doorbell agendas.
"When that doorbell rings, give me the strength to be Jesus."
A doorbell agenda is NOT a strategic plan, a formula, a ministry method. It is a way of life that they model. It is waking up in the morning and humbly kneeling before the Father and saying, “Morning Lord. I have things on my calendar today, things I want to do, things I need to do. But I submit to Your will, and when that doorbell rings and someone is standing outside my door with a need or hurt, give me the strength to be Jesus to them.”
A doorbell agenda really threatens my efficiency and productivity paradigms, my plans, MY agenda. Living Jesus really is a threat to living ME. Thank you, dear Nuns in the ‘Hood, for showing me a better way.
************************************************************************************************************
Cody, Erica, Jonah and Cana
Cody Schimelpfenig is the Community Development Director of Urban Homeworks. He started with Urban Homeworks as a volunteer in the organization’s early years and was an “Urban Neighbor” in the second house Urban Homeworks rehabbed in the late ’90s.. He earned his Masters in Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary. Most of what he knows, however, he learned from the good people who survive and thrive in the urban neighborhoods of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the dusty barrios of Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Cody and his wife, Erica, and their two children, Jonah and Cana, live in the Central neighborhood of south Minneapolis.
0 Comments