Today was quite an incredible day; one I will not likely forget for a long time. It was fairly simple in general, but it left me pondering many thoughts that I hope will motivate me toward action sometime in my future.
I'll start at the beginning. Last weekend I took Kirstin, my sister, to the airport so she could visit her boyfriend who had just graduated from Infantry school in the Army. On Monday, she called me and told me she was missing her camera. As I went to check my car for it, I felt peace as I asked for the Lord's guidance, "Please help me find it in your will." I did not find it, so she called the airport who reported a lost camera. She found out it was hers (maybe it was indeed good for her to have a uniquely-colored purple camera), but we did not have time to pick it up until Saturday.
A few days into the week, however, I remembered that I desperately needed gas after the trip to the airport. "Let's take the bus," I thought as I also considered the $10 trip to the airport for a lost camera. This is just one of the many incredible ways God works....I waited until last night to ask my sister, who surprisingly agreed fairly quickly. "Okay," I thought, "Here we go."
I looked up routes online and discovered that it would indeed be possible and for far cheaper than the anticipated $10. As I looked at the routes, I noticed that for part of the trip, we would take the Light Rail (train), which also went to the Mall of America. "Would you want to go," I asked Kirstin as we travelled to the bus station.
"Yes!" she responded. She proceeded to call our cousin, Sydney, who also agreed this would be a great idea.
It was going to work out perfectly. We were going to get on the bus, take the light rail to the airport, pick up the camera, meet Sydney at the mall, and then have her drive us home.
Curveball #1. Kirstin informed me that Mike and Carrie (our 2nd cousins) invited us over for dinner at their home in South Minneapolis.
Solution #1. We decided we were going to still go to the airport first, then go to Mike and Carrie, and then make our way over to the mall.
We were "right on time" to catch the bus. The bus ride itself was fine. I had riden a city bus a couple times before, so it was really nothing new. However, every time I ride a city bus, I am reminded of the world outside the protected Christian circles in which I find myself. I am reminded of the culture that is so different, yet so much the same. As we drove along Snelling, I noticed a church's sign (please do not judge this church because we certaintly have similar assumptions) that read "Join us Sundays at 9:30." Imagine this from someone who does not know what church is, who has never been there before. My first question would be "In the morning or at night?" It reminds me of how many assumptions we make as Christians who have grown up in the church. We all know that church services are Sunday mornings. We know how to dress, how to act, and what to expect when we go in the front door.
I looked around me. There were people for obvious walks of life that I could only imagine. I saw a lady get on who worked at Target and saw the routine in her posture. I saw a mother with her child who looked different than me but acted very similar. I noticed a lady pull a chord. "Stop requested," sounded the speaker. "What does that mean?" I thought as the bus kept going. Here I was in the middle of a different culture, one that may not know what to expect when going to church, but a culture that knew to pull a chord to get off at the next bus stop; a culture that knew what time to expect the bus to reach their stop; and a culture that knew how to dress, how to act, and what to expect when getting on the bus. In the middle of all my thoughts was this questions, "What do I do?"
"How can I as a Christian in the middle of middle class Christian culture show these people the love of Christ?" Does anyone take the time to share the love of Christ with these people? I don't know, but what would this world look like if Christians started to take the city bus even though they could drive? What would happen if we left our comfort zone to become a part of a different group of people who desperately need Christ? It almost seems that Christ would ride the city bus if he were here today. What makes me think this? Well, when he was on earth, he walked through Samaria, a place feared by the Jews; a place you "just didn't go." I know I viewed the city bus that way and sometimes, honestly, still do.
Anyway, moving on. So Kirstin and I got on the city bus and travelled to the light rail train. We got to the airport and found the office that held her camera locked. "Oh no," we thought. As we were waiting after asking for the office worker to be paged, an African American man came by. He looked frustrated as he saw the locked door. He very excitedly explained to us that his bag had gotten switched with someone elses and he needed his bag back. We waited with each other and he continued to tell us about his situation. We called again and were told to go to the ticket counter.
"I don't know where the ticket counter is," Kirstin said.
"Oh, the ticket counter? I know that," the man said as he got his bag ready to go, "I just came from there. This is my third trip!" he said, obviously perterbed.
As we walked and talked, we discovered he was from New Orleans.
"I love that place," my sister said as she eventually was able to tell him about our mission's trip down there a couple years ago. I heard the interest in his voice as he asked questions about our trip.
We eventually got the camera (Praise the Lord!) and I was left praying for a man I had just met as he felt comfortable enough with us to claim us as his cousins when the airport attendant addressed us. Wow, God. Wow.
Curveball #2. As we were waiting for the camera, we called Carrie to find out what time they were having dinner. We discovered it was at 7:30. This wouldn't have been such a big deal except we had already told Sydney we were going to meet her at 8, which obviously was not going to happen. To add to the matter, Sydney was still at work.
Solution #2. Kirstin texted Sydney and told her to call her when she got off work. Then we would work out another solution.
So, Kirstin and I got on the light rail. As Kirstin talked on the phone to Sydney, I noticed a person sitting adjacent to me on the bus (my math friends would appreciate that...). This person looked like a woman, had a purse like a woman, but this person sure did not sound like a woman. I immediately knew this person must have had a sex change. "She" was putting bandaids in her purse when she caught my eye.
"You've got to be prepared," she said. She then proceeded to tell me about her life story, how she had gotten AIDS and moved to Minnesota.
Kirstin left with a compliment on her hair, and I was left to marvel again at what a different culture I had been missing out on.
We got off the light rail and continued our conversation. I could not help but feel for this woman who obviously needed Jesus. I wanted to share the gospel with her but knew that yelling across a train would only be effective if Christ was asking me too, which I don't necessarily think he was. My heart was indeed open to the thought, which is where the beginning of this post comes in. I do not know if God has visions and plans of me sharing the gospel on public transportation someday, but I am amazed at the world outside and frequently forget what it's truly like.
There are people, so many people who are lost. There are people who need Jesus. Who is going to bring the gospel to them but us? Are they going to come to our churches? The chances of them coming to our churches are the chances of us riding their city buses (and I don't mean that sarcastically).
After this day, a crazy adventure on public transportation and a day filled with love and dinner with family, I am left to wonder how God is going to work. In fact, however, he is already working and I just need to pray that he would align my heart with his and open my eyes to the plans he has for me today, plans to prosper me, but more importantly, plans that are meant to advance HIS kingdom. After all, that is why we are here, for him.
~Jeremiah 29:11,
Romans 10:14-15
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
