Boots On The Ground

By Lydia Humphries

How I met your Mother, Friends, and Cheers, are all Television shows about a group of people who live, love and learn together. They (as we in the church world like to say), “do life” together.  Mixed with the occasional crude humor, these shows are wildly popular for a reason. They depict something that is attractive to our culture, we desire to have a group of people who know and love us unconditionally, and who will always be there for us. The lyrics for the theme songs state these things plainly. You want to go “Where everybody knows your name” and live in a place where someone says “I’ll be there for you”. We desire to be known and loved, and accepted in a community of people. 

As of the end of September, our team at AYM has added its most recent member, and we have come together remarkably. Our full team is now assembled of six people ranging from ages 23 to 32. Our original homes are spread across the map from places like Indiana, Georgia, Maryland, Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas. We are diverse in many fashions. We like opposing sports teams and types of sports, a wide variety of music and movies, we even have a few different views in politics. It would appear on the outside that people with such varied views, likes, and dislikes would be bound for disaster, but that’s not the case. When people flow in and out of our lives throughout the summer and the year, people like our students, short term teams, or visiting churches, there is one thing that remains. They see something in us, an identifying factor that we all share. 

Admittedly, our youth doesn’t always know what they are seeing. They simply see the way we love each other as brothers and sisters, but they don’t quite get it. They see the friendly banter or the love in the acts of service we provide for one another, but they can’t always identify the reason they desire to be around us more.

Do you know what they’re seeing? It took me a while to label it myself. When they witness authentic community they are seeing Jesus. They see the way we mutually submit to one another, the way we share our joys and our burdens, and the hope is that they want to participate, that they want to be part of something where love and grace abound in a powerful way. They look at our team, but what we hope is that they are actually seeing Jesus. 

As a team we have discussed how humbling it is to have Christ working in us so strongly. We are truly nothing special. What is special, is Christ in us, and His light that draws others to Himself. If it was up to us alone I doubt anyone would take a second glance, but because He shines through us we are able to live in authentic community that calls each other to a higher purpose. We are able to share what a family in Christ looks like with our youth, and hopefully, bring them into our family as well.