One Year

A year ago Brian and I had never...

been asked by a 4 year old if we were from DFCS when we went to pick her mama up for class.

had a student tell us they couldn't come to class because her neighborhood was in lockdown due to a manhunt for a shooter.

had a student tell us they were sleeping under a bridge.

feared a shooting victim in our city might be one of our students.

realized the murders reported in the news were relatives of our students.

played make believe phone with a toddler and heard them say to their Sesame Street phone, "who got shot?"

worried a student wasn't coming to class because they might be in danger.

prayed it wouldn't rain so our students could walk a mile to class.

fed a student their first meal in over a day so they could concentrate on learning.


A year ago we had never....

helped a homeless man find stable housing.

driven into the projects to bring food, diapers and hope to a family in need.

witnessed a senior citizen learn to read.

belly laughed with Kurdish, Afghani, Burmese and Iranian refugee women who are learning English.

watched an empty nester white mom sacrifice her time and convenience to coach a poor single black mom and cradle her baby so she could study.

experienced the joy of helping a poor, single mom of 4 realize she is going to get her high school diploma.

helped a single mom prepare for a job interview that could help her get out of the club she works at.

tutored a single mom so she can provide a stable home and change the course of her children's life.

felt like we were part of changing the fabric of our city and the legacy of a person's life.


What a difference a year makes.



Brian and Heather Flood are full time missionaries in downtown Savannah. They are the founders and directors of Hope Academy in Savannah, GA. Hope exists to partner with adults in their adult education needs and to help them discover and achieve their life purpose.To learn more about Hope Academy or how you can impact downtown Savannah one life at a time contact Brian Flood at bflood56@outlook.com.

Visit them at www.hopeacademysavannah.com , their  Facebook page or to donate and Share Hope with a Student go to their Go Fund Me page, www.gofundme.com/hopeacademysav .
 
 

Hope is....no strings attached.

Sometimes unpleasant things sneak into my heart and take up residence without me knowing.

I don't know why I'm surprised when I turn the corner and find them there but I am. They are kinda like cockroaches. You don't always see them but if you live in the south you know they aren't ever that far away. You turn on the light in the middle of the night or you open the garage door and suddenly one is scurrying past your foot.

It's always gross and if it happens in front of a guest it is always embarrassing.

Recently I was startled to discover an attitude of pride and expectation had moved in temporarily. Not cool temporary visitors like backpackers in a European hostile. More like cockroaches that need to be stepped on before they breed.

It was bound to happen. By nature what we do in our ministry is complicated. Tangled. Messy. When you spend your days in urban ministry you find yourself in a position to 'do for' people which can be a dangerous place to be.

Dangerous because you can slip into a role of a provider instead of a facilitator. Shift from being a fellow traveler to a tour guide. When that happens it's a short trip to pride and unwarranted expectation. False ownership.

False ownership? I liken it to the opposite of entitlement (when the other person feels they have a right to my help). Or perhaps a near cousin. It's when I believe I have rights and control over what belongs to someone else. It happens when I have helped a person out and they don't do what I think they should with that help. At that moment a pseudo-righteous indignation rises up in me and says, 'Hey! I did that for you and now you aren't holding up your end of the bargain! You're supposed to make better choices  because I did this for you.'

Perhaps that sounds reasonable to you and it is definitely a natural feeling. But at the heart of it resides a lie. The lie says 'I did this for you.' That's where I mess up and it's also when I leave the door open for those disgusting cockroaches to sneak in to my heart.

Jesus said when you do this for the least of these you do it for me. When I make the mistake of 'doing for' someone instead of serving Jesus first then I'm already going down the wrong path. 

I don't help people because they need help.
I don't help people because I can fix them.
I don't help people because I have something they need.

No. What I do is I love Jesus.

I love Jesus when I feed someone.
I love Jesus when I clothe someone.
I love Jesus when I give someone a ride to a job interview.
I love Jesus when I share a meal with someone no one wants to eat with.
I love Jesus when I listen to someone no one wants to listen to.
I love Jesus when I teach someone to read or help someone with their homework.

I love Jesus. Period.

What happens after that is between Jesus and whomever I have loved in His name.

I don't own that. He does.
 

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

^37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:36-40




Brian and Heather Flood are full time missionaries in downtown Savannah. They are the founders and directors of Hope Academy in Savannah, GA. Hope exists to partner with adults in their adult education needs and to help them discover and achieve their life purpose.To learn more about Hope Academy or how you can impact downtown Savannah one life at a time contact Brian Flood at bflood56@outlook.com.

Visit them on Facebook or at www.hopeacademysavannah.com or to donate and Share Hope with a Student go to their Go Fund Me page, www.gofundme.com/hopeacademysav .

 

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Not Enough

Yesterday was a "not enough" sort of day.

A day when I kept thinking I am not enough. Do you know that feeling? When you feel small or powerless to cross the mountain in front of you?

It's when I hear words like, "Who am I to think I can make a difference?" or "What makes you think you're qualified?"

There are several variations but in the end the message is the same- not enough.

By the end of the day God had rewritten that phrase and opened my eyes to how I was looking in the wrong place.

My perspective was like a camera zoomed in so close to the subject of the picture that everything is blurry.  That's when God loaned me his wide angle lens and I saw something remarkable.

Making a difference in this world. Bringing light into dark places. Sharing hope with the hopeless. Overcoming evil with good. All of these things only require one thing of me. Just one thing.

There is one thing about me that makes me enough. Makes me qualified to make a difference. Transforms me into a light bearer, hope sharer, deliverer of good news.

It is a simple 'yes'.
My 'yes' is enough because He is enough.

Last night God gave me a glimpse into how He uses a simple yes to transform dark into light, despair into hope and overcome evil with good.

I met a man from Pakistan who told me the story of his father and how a simple 'yes' changed his life and the lives of hundreds, thousands of people.

Zoom in with your camera to a time about 30 years ago.

It starts with an American who says, "Yes, I will go to Pakistan and be your hope sharer God." He and a friend share God's hope with a man there who then says "Yes Jesus, you are the Way , the Truth, the Light." The Pakistani returns to his family to share the love he has found but is beaten by his father with an iron rod. No matter what his father does the young man responds in love and truth. Eventually his entire family receives the same hope he found in Jesus. Eventually his father who beat him receives the same truth. The whole family shares the love of Jesus where they are despite opposition. Their children do the same. They each grow up and continue to share the love of Jesus with the people in front of them in the face of persecution. They become evangelists, open bible colleges, skill training centers for women, programs to help children. Just one of the Pakistani man's children (the man I met) starts over 350 house churches in his land and a television station sharing the truth about Isa* with the people of his land. Lives are transformed by light bearers, hope sharers, deliverers of good news. Ordinary people whose only qualification is they say "yes" every day. *Isa is the name for Jesus in their language.

Picture from http://bluechipbulldog.blogspot.com

Zoom out and see what is happening outside of Pakistan 30 or 40 years ago. There's someone, perhaps a Sunday school teacher or a neighbor or a friend, who is sharing the love of Christ with an American boy. The American grows up and says, "Yes, I will go to Pakistan." Zoom out some more and you'll see a group of people praying for him, more believers who send him money so he can go, others who write to him to encourage him in the field. Ordinary people who say ,"Yes, I'll help you go. I'll help you remain. I'll help you when you return." They all say "yes" to the person in front of them. They say yes and their yes makes all the difference. Their yes is why the man I met last night is sharing the transforming love of Christ in a land none of them were able to go to themselves.

It started with a simple yes.

God asks me, "Will you go, Heather?" Will you bring My light, My hope, My goodness to the person standing in front of you? Will you be my partner to transform the world?"

I realize it's not about my qualifications, ability, or talent. It's not about my situation, my job, my family, my friends. It's not about what I can do. It's about Him. His light. His hope. His goodness. His love.

The question is, will I say 'yes' to love and let Him do the rest?

Praying for our city with women from the Thomasville Square
neighborhood in downtown Savannah.
 Photo Credit: Rebecca Flood

18 He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” Luke 13: 18-21

 

Brian and Heather said yes to loving people the way Jesus does
and seek to bring Hope to those standing in front of them.
 

Brian and Heather Flood are the directors of Hope Academy, a non-profit ministry in downtown Savannah.
 
Hope is a place for anyone 18 and older to find a path to something more. We help low income adults who did not complete their high school diploma with academic assessments, a high school diploma or a GED path, tutoring, career assessments and mentoring.

To learn how you can help as a volunteer or financial supporter contact Brian at bflood56@outlook.com

 

Literally Speaking: Ahab is to Moby Dick as Life is to Me

So I have another idea for some themed essays called "Literally Speaking" that will use some of my favorite literature to talk about...well, me. Me and life. Me and God. Me and meaningful stuff I'm sure. So this is the first one and it was originally posted on a Christian writer's blog called "Baaaaa- Bleats from God's sheep." The link for the whole thing can be found here...http://www.baaaaa.com. I would love it if you left a comment there or here but no obligation.***This site no longer exists but was a wonderful experience for me as a person trying to improve as a writer. I am forever grateful to my editor there, Catherine Fruisen (a.k.a. Violet Lemay)

Sometimes in life I feel like the Great White Whale being pursued relentlessly by Ahab. Tangled by ropes with harpoons piercing my side I plow through the ocean of life trying to take down my enemy and survive.

 

                Dramatic, I know. True?  Somewhat, not completely but that’s how I feel.  I’m exiting one of these literary inspired seasons right now. They usually start the same way.  A sudden increase in pesky gnat like annoyances and responsibilities I can’t hand off to someone else.  Not major problems, just a swarm of regular life tasks that must be dealt with all at once.  This is typically accompanied by a large number of people who need my help to accomplish their goals or fix their problems.  Then, when I’m not looking because I’m so busy with my ‘to do’ list, I hear, “Whale Ho!” and a harpoon pierces my hide.

 

                Harpoons take me by surprise either because of their mass or because of their tragic nature. They knock the wind out of me and this is usually when I can get into trouble. Like Melville’s whale I have a natural tendency to believe I have to take car life’s cares and tragedies on my own. That is my biggest mistake. I might as well post an “Open Season on Whales” sign.

 

                This is where the analogy falls apart. The reality is that I am not a lone beast out in the world being hunted by an evil maniacal hunter bent on my destruction with no recourse but to lash out and fight to survive or die trying.  The truth is I am not alone.  I am not responsible for taking out my enemy or deflecting the harpoons of life on my own.  I am much more than an animal that wanders through life on instinct but I sometimes live as if I believe this. 

 

I try to be my own source of life and strength.  It might seem to work for a little while but it doesn’t take long to find myself depleted like a branch cut off from a vine.  The flower blooms for a time but without the source of life that flows through the vine I soon wither and fade.

 

Jesus said he could do nothing apart from his father (John 5:19).  Nothing.  Author of Life.  Bright and Morning Star. Conqueror of Death. And he said he can do nothing if he is apart from the Father.  So why is it I live as if I can do what he couldn’t?  Somewhere along the way I forget what I know is true.

 

 "I am the true vine … remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:1, 4-6

 

And then it happens.  I hear His voice.  I’m nudged.  Reminded.  Maybe even knocked in the head really hard.  He gets my attention and I remember that life separated from him is more than lonely it is unnecessarily lifeless.  But when I surrender my mind, my will to him and say, “I give you everything. Even my inability to know how to live as the branch connected to you,” I receive a fresh flow of his life giving Spirit. I am no longer the whale thrashing in the sea but I am surrounded by an ocean of Peace. The whaling boats are on the surface but I am surrounded by him.

 

Now I find myself entering a season marked more by dependence and surrender than independence and striving.  Chances are at some point I will find myself being pursued again. Maybe next time it won’t take so many harpoons to remind me to dive deeper into his sea of life.

Too read the whole essay go to http://baaaaa.com/2012/10/16/ahab-is-to-moby-dick-as-life-is-to-me/