Nov 05 2008
A Young Politico in the Making?
Tonight a most remarkable thing happened in our house… Let me preface what I write with the following. I am generally not politically expressive… I generally don’t make a big deal about elections, who I will vote for, etc. I do have strong views on politics, economics, policy, etc… In college, I immensely enjoyed following and studying the subject. The systems, cause and effect relationships, etc. (Lots of etc’s here) really fascinated me. I loved reading Machiavelli, Mill, Jefferson, etc. But there came a point in my life the God’s kingdom became more riveting than the world’s governments and while God works through governments and such and those who are involved in it, I have become disillusioned with government’s ability to cause much change in the world. It is the heart of people that is the problem… not systems… God is in control and only He can change the heart of man such that any real change can occur. Government can only check the effects of our fallen hearts… (if you want to debate man’s inherent condition or my view of politics… we can in the comments…) You have to pick your battles and I chose to change hearts not the result of hearts… Still, I vote on important occasions like today’s and follow politics, policy, etc., especially with and eye towards how it relates to God’s Kingdom, trying to figure out how He is moving in the world through it.
Anyway… enough of my philosophy… the remarkable thing happened when we were watching the election coverage… For some reason, my boys were really captured by this particular election. I don’t know why. T-8 had some real issues with Sen. Obama as only a eight year old could… He had heard some things that he did not agree with (I swear I had nothing to do with it) and so he felt it his duty to cheer on Sen. McCain. It was amazing watching him. It was almost like watching a baskeball game. Whenever McCain won a state he would cheer vigorously throughout the house. Whenevern Obama wont a state, he would remind me that there was still hope… He was so into it. When it was declared Sen. Obama was the next president… it was just too much for him. He burst into tears… the kind reserved for when he is most dissappointed… It was truly remarkable… He was unconsolable for the next 20 minutes… I’d never seen anything like it… I’m sure some of us felt the same way… others of us felt the opposite in the heights of emotions… but to see it played out raw in a 8 year old was incredible. It did us good to console him with a reminder of our trust in the system, the values we all agree in as Americans and in the God who is over all… Still… I hope he remembers this night… I hope he never forgets that his passions DO matter and what he cares about is important and yet God is over all.
Seven or eight years ago, Mark Norton and Mark Peterson saw this need and initiated what became an annual event – the Used Item Sale for international students at UTA. While it has changed much over the years in its implementation and its specifics, the essence has not changed. We collect furniture, and other household items from church members and allow students to buy them for incredibly low prices. (There is a good reason why we sell it rather than give it away… If you are interested, we can discuss in the comment section)
The students love it. This year, Ron Bunyard, working with a team of young adults from 121 church made it happen with items from many different churches including Fielder Road, Grace Community, 1st Baptist Euless, Grace Lutheran, University Catholic Center, etc. It was probably was the most organized sale to date as students all felt like winners after they were there. In addition, Ron instituted a program where people could sign up for what they could not find there. He would then turn over the request card of a particular student to a church or small group and that group essentially adopts that student in terms of getting the things he or she needs. It was really awesome to see the students smiles and words of appreciation. It was equally rewarding to see the volunteers (from the many churches) help deliver furniture and see how important it is to have this sale given the students’ need. Praise the Lord for the convergence in what He is doing in people’s lives.
The CareAVan started around 9 years ago when former UTA Professor Mark Peterson with fellow Grace Community Church Member, Mark Norton approached the international office to find out what the greatest need of the students are when they first arrive. Arlington doesn’t have a public transportation system and the nearest market is more than a mile away and so one clear need was for transportation to and from a place to buy stuff. Thus began the CareAVan. Every Fall, for six evenings, volunteers from many churches come and provide rides for new students to Walmart to allow them to shop for the basic things they will need in their new apartments and dorms. It has become one of the Big Howdy events ISI has helped to stage at UTA.
The CareAVan in 2008 has already run 3 nights with over 100 people served. Today(Tuesday), I had the privilege of helping out. When I arrived with my car, I as amazed at the number of people assembled in front of the University Center. We later found out there were over 100 students on this day alone. All of them were ready to shop. Kyle, the the leader of the Salvation Army church’s ministry partners, seemed to know several of the students by name as several of them were “repeat customers.” Obviously they were touched by what was going on. Raquel, the team leader for the CareAVAn took down names (to make sure we don’t forget any students on the return) and by the grace of God we were able to transport the students with a rag-tag fleet of church vans, a Salvation Army mini-bus, Suburbans, pickups, mini-vans and regular cars from UTA to the “Super” Walmart. Good conversation and friendship were made along the way. Interestingly, the Walmart is across the street from the new Cowboy Stadium under construction in Arlington. (The oohs and aahs..)
Once at Walmart, many of us were able to help students navigate throughout the store. It was fun helping students translate (from American English to English) what different products were. One student came up to me to ask me where they could find a “pepper.” Apparently, the peppers at Walmart were too big and were not “real” peppers. It was fun. One real image that stood out in my mind was Kyle and his sister in law Maggie walking around, helping student find things, trying to learn the students’ native language and learning the very difficult-to-remember names of the many Indian students that were there. They are real naturals and you could really see Christ working through the Spirit in them. It was a real reminder to me what this is all about and how much fun it can be.
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