Can you believe our first full week at CityTeam has already passed? It honestly feels like it's been a month. You know why? BECAUSE WE WAKE UP AT 5:30AM EVERY DAY! That's right. 5:30am, folks. Ready for breakfast by 6am, down in the shelter kitchen.
Typical Day
Since Justin and Dillon have already given you all a good description of what we've been doing, I'll keep it short
* wake up at the buttcrack of dawn ..5:30am
* eat breakfast with the men in the recovery program and the men in the transitional shelter program
* Bible study with the men in the recovery program
* quiet time in the morn with our team
* team meeting
* semi-free time and/or start working with CityTeam
* tutoring in the learning center -- helping the men in the program prepare for their GED or just extra learning stuffs (one of the men in the program jokingly "fired" me because it took me longer to solve a math problem than he did! ha! but he continues to ask me for help, which touches my heart!)
* hang out with the men, playing dominoes with them (A LOT!), etc.
Things I've Been Learning
Ethnic Identity
We've been talking a LOT about race and ethnicity this week, with the other BAyUP teams, so I've really had my eyes opened up about my own ethnic identity as an Asian-American woman. It's been hard for me being the only Asian-American woman at BAyUP. Most of the other teams are primarily white and God is definitely showing me what it means to be a woman of color. We've been teaching the students about white privilege, racism, injustices in our society due to racism, etc. It's been super impactful for some and for some students, really new and hard to understand.
Identity as a Woman
Again, I'm the only other woman in the house besides my team mate Irene. I'm learning a lot about what I can contribute as a woman. I'm getting more and more comfortable being in a house full of men. And I retract my last statement! It's not like a frat house -- because these men are constantly busy working as hard as they can to keep the house clean, working on their AA homework or their Bible study homework, or mostly keeping to themselves in their rooms. But, as I interact with the different men here, hearing their stories about DUIs and getting high and missing their daughters and nieces, I'm beginning to understand myself more as well. It's been a huge blessing to get to know them.
Breaking Hearts
It's only been a week here and I'm already really attached to all the guys in the program. I never knew I would care so much about grown men! I want to see them overcome their addictions, I want to see them enjoy life, I want to see them get excited about seeing their sons or celebrating 4th of July. I will admit -- I'm having a hard time understanding how to transition once we leave at the end of this month. It breaks my heart when I think about the short amount of time that I'm here. The men in the program have such genuine hearts and make the funniest jokes and just being around them shows me God's deep love for them.
Prayer Requests
Personally -- and I ain't gonna lie! -- I've been very emotional this past week. Mostly because I can see how much these men desire to be transformed by God, even though some of them are more or less engaged than others. The community outreach director shared some writings that they wrote about Psalm 51 and it brought tears to my eyes... "forgive me, Father, for how I was angry towards my 2-year-old daughter" or "show me the way, Lord, change me".
* Please pray that I continue to see how God is at work here, that I continue to pray for the men and the program.
* Please pray for my own identity search as I wrestle with what it means to be an Asian-American woman, where I can find my voice and advocate for those who cannot speak up for themselves.
* Praise God for my film night! I taught on juvenile justice and showed the documentary "Juvies" and the students were greatly impacted. Praise God!
* Continue to pray for our team dynamics, for reconciliation and conflict resolution!
* Please pray for the men -- that they will continue to have hope in the Lord to overcome, to press on, to encourage one another and show love for one another.
Visitor's Day is July 12th, from 1pm to 3pm. You are ALL welcomed to come see where we've been living, what we've been doing, etc.
The address is: 722 Washington St., Oakland, CA 94607
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