The Beginning

There comes a time in life when change is needed.  Complacency no longer is desirable and what was once admirable now seems average.  Rather than remaining complacent and average, I prayed.  I prayed that God would provide ways for me to serve simply because serving was all I knew.

As a secondary mathematics education major I had to take a course on diversity in the classroom.  We read many books, including Letters to Ms. Em, a book composed of letters written between Ms. Em and a man in jail, Rain.  While reading the book I learned about Rain’s struggles before prison and the radical change in his heart during his time in prison.  One Wednesday during my education class, Ms. Em came to share.  She started to share her life experiences about immigrating from Trinidad to New York City as a young girl, the loss of loved ones, publishing her own book and even opening her own bookstore.  My heart softened as she started to talk to us about Wordsworth, a treatment facility for troubled teenagers where she volunteers.  Every Wednesday night Ms. Em visits young girls from ages 11-18 and shares poetry with them.  She shares Letters to Ms. Em with them and inspires the girls to write about their own troubles.  During her lecture she offered to take students with her to visit the girls.  That Wednesday night I canceled all my plans, met Ms. Em at her bookstore in Delaware and we drove to Philadelphia together to meet the girls.

When we arrived at Wordsworth I was in awe at how much these girls loved Ms. Em.  When she walked through the doors their faces lit up as they proceeded to smother her in hugs.  We sat down in a big circle and shared poetry.  The girls pulled out their journals and just started to read.  They wrote about struggles that no one should ever have to experience, forget girls so young.  I listened to stories of drug addicted parents, rape, homelessness, commercial exploitation, abuse, abandonment and true, genuine pain.  The common thread throughout their poetry was the desire to be loved.  Ms. Em did just that, she whole heartedly loved the girls.  She continuously talked about healing with the girls.  She encouraged the girls to write in order to acknowledge and express how they feel.  Ms. Em never stopped challenging them to then share their writing.  She told them how others can be truly affected by their experiences, how their poetry can help change someone else’s life.  I was in awe as to how much one person can so strongly impact a community of young girls.

It has been about a year since that first Wednesday when I decided to take a step in faith.  I have been visiting the girls with Ms. Em every week since.  I asked God for ways to serve, and he really did answer.  I have been blessed to be mentored by Ms. Em and to grow close with the girls.  There have been so many opportunities to share Christ’s love and grace with the girls each week.  In just one year we have accomplished so much through faith: we held an event where University of Delaware students came to hear the girls poetry, we are in the midst of publishing a book and we are opening a section in Ms. Em’s store to raise money for the girls.  When I asked God to serve he provided me with so much more than I could ever have imagined.  Not only do I get the chance to serve the girls, the girls serve me as I learn from their experiences every week.   I hope as others read this blog about the girls they can be humbled and start seeing the world through God’s eyes.  I pray they can see that everyone has their own story and if we take the time to listen we can be challenged to show unconditional love just as Christ shows us daily.

1 Comment