Meredith Blough
"What are you doing next year?" you ask...
Hello everyone! I am almost half way done with my senior year at Ohio University and a lot of people have been asking this question “What are you doing next year?” the answer: Mission Year. The Lord showed me a little bit about inner city ministry last summer in Chicago and that has really had an impact on me. I have decided to spend next year serving and growing through Mission Year and I am excited to start getting ready :)
Here is my hope for the next year: To serve the Lord, trust Him, and give my all to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE.
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”
~1 Thess. 2:8
I will try to keep you up to date on my life through the next year on this blog.
Thanks for reading!
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Meredith Blough's Blog
thoughts on trash / Nov 14, 04:05 PM
Last Saturday was outreach day as usual for our team in East Garfield Park. The girls went with our friend Judy from church to go to a thrift store. It was great to spend time with her and check out things we could afford on our $60 a month stipend. Ashleigh found candles for $1 and was VERY excited. She then invited our whole team over for early dinner at her house. Her heart and openness to us, after knowing us only a couple months, is amazing to me.
We arrived back at our apartment around 3 and it was a nice day, so we decided to try and do something on our block. There is always trash blowing around our street, so we decided just to clean up our block. Ashleigh and I geared up with gloves and garbage bags and headed out. It is amazing some of the things we found. A lot of the trash was candy wrappers and chip bags, but there was an overwhelming amount of little drug bags and glass bottles. Our block is not known as a huge drug block, so we did not expect to find so many.
So we went on down the street picking up trash while children were playing and neighbors sitting on their stoops enjoying the day. We definitely worked up a sweat and even became a little discouraged as we went down both sides of our block at the massive amounts of trash. When we finished a lot of our neighbors thanked us several times.
We did not want this to be a one time project or to do it for praise from our neighbors. We DO want to enforce that everyone deserves a beautiful place to live. We want to treat our block the best we can to spur on hope. One thing we knew when starting was that there would be trash on our street again the next day. We have decided to commit a couple of days a month to trash pick up because it can seem very overwhelming and after a while, you can lose hope.
To kids, trash can be a toy. I was walking with my neighbor who is 4 years old and he picked up a liquor box and started to open it. It was hard to convince him that there was nothing inside for him and that he should put it down.
During the week, the kids had Veteran’s Day off and spent the day raking leaves and jumping in the pile. When we walked by I heard the sound of scraping grass. Immediately I thought of the safety issues involved in jumping in a pile of leaves and glass. Children should not have to worry about getting cut by glass. They should only worry about playing, having fun, learning, and being loved. I am reminded that we live in a fallen world and that Christ came to bring life and life to the full. We get to be a part of bringing life and love to our block because Christ lives in us.
These things are not new to the people living on our block, but they have become a norm. My prayer is that our block would be inspired to take care of not only the land and houses, but also to love each other better.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.~ Jesus in John 10:10
A day in MY life... / Nov 1, 09:28 PM
God has called me to be here at this particular time, with these particular people for his purposes. (“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14). Here is a look at what I do and the people I come in contact with during the week (tues-fri). Enjoy the ride!
5:57 am-Wake up and wander out into the living room for team devotions. No matter who is working in the morning at Breakthrough, everyone wakes up and joins in for devotions and prayer. Pedro, Jeff, Ashleigh, and Carrie are all pretty pleasant morning people and all wake up before me. We take turns leading devotions with a passage from the Bible and praying before we finish getting ready. We ask God to guide us in our day, to give us wisdom, and for love and patience to give to the people we will see at work.
6:30am-Whoever is working (usually 4 of us) leaves the apartment to walk to the bus stop. It is still pitch black outside, but the skyline is a beautiful site as we stand and wait for the bus. Sometimes we meet new people, sometimes we get splashed by a passing car, and sometimes we are just quiet (rarely). We get off and transfer to another bus, we hope for the “Homey Homan” bus, because it is extra comfy. We pass a man who pretends to be a police officer and likes to tweet his whistle and direct traffic. It makes us laugh every time!
7:00am-3pm-Carrie, Ashleigh and I arrive at the Joshua Center and are greeted by some of the women. I report to the kitchen to make breakfast and the other girls station themselves for a crazy day at the front desk or running around the center.
After breakfast, I usually walk down to the men’s center to get lunch ready. Pedro or Jeff are the one’s sitting at the desk there and they let me in, or make weird faces at me and then let me in It is fun to have them around during the day.
I have made some friends in the kitchen and I enjoy spending time talking to them. Learning about their families, classes they are taking, chatting, or just being silly as we make food for 100 people. I am growing to love them and learn how to be a better friend.
Adventures are always had in the kitchen. I have learned how to make many new dishes, pluck chickens, and make mass quantities of mac n’ cheese.
I am usually back at the Joshua Center to serve lunch, which I enjoy. The ladies tease and ask how I am and are always extremely grateful for the food that we work to make. It is the small conversations with ladies at the center that make my day.
In the afternoon, I help to answer phones, lead Bible study, help with supplies, run errands for the ladies, and enjoy wonderful wisdom and laughs with them. When three o’clock hits we are headed out the door, feeling like we have just been in a whirlwind of activity ( the good kind). A sign posted on a tree outside says “ we are all good people” . It’s not completely true, but it is a reminder of God’s love for us no matter what we do.
3pm-We meet up with the guys at the bus stop for the journey home and share stories of our days and what God is teaching us.
3:30-When we get home the after work, the afternoon is spent reading curriculum, having personal devotions, napping, playing with neighbor kids and getting ready for dinner.
Around 6pm-My team makes actual meals for dinner everyday! I haven’t eaten this well since I started college. We work together to make meals and clean up as well.
Nighttime- After dinner around our house is church activities, fun and ridiculousness. Depending on the day, there is Bible study or choir at church. It is really great to connect with people from church during the week in a more informal setting and learn from pastor Cy at Bible study.
When we are all home on work nights, there is football throwing, lots of laughing, playing games and being silly. It is a great stress reliever to laugh together. We also like to discuss our curriculum books or what we are reading in the Bible. God has truly blessed me with an awesome group of believers who challenge each other to grow and love each other.
9:30pm-BEDTIME!!
God willing-Then we start again.
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Humanizing / Oct 19, 09:11 PM
God is doing a great work in my heart. Showing me people whom in the past were only a name or group that I would like to ignore and not think about their problems and giving me a small piece of his huge heart for them. Not only his heart for them where they are, but also his plan of hope and redemption in their lives.
When the homeless, prostitutes, recovering addicts, past-convicts, and poor become more than that. They become friends, neighbors, and coworkers with names and stories that are becoming very dear to our hearts.
We are no longer on the outside, looking in and making judgments on people that are the “other”, but invited into beautiful lives that God has planned since the beginning of time of people that are also created in HIS image.
People are people. The women at the shelter are so wonderful. They are my encouragers and friends. A few have given me the nickname “red” and thoroughly enjoy calling me by it. I love hearing little stories about their lives and what they are going to do that day. They greet us with a smile and “good morning” when we walk in at 7 in the morning. Though days can be very stressful working in the kitchen and at the front desk, it is worth it to see the women at the Joshua Center searching and applying for jobs, finding housing, and learning about Jesus in His word at Bible study. What a privilege for us to be a part!!!
I was thinking about Isaiah 58:5-12. My team and I have chosen this year as a sort of fast from many things. We want to be in solidarity (suffering with) with our neighborhood to better understand and be a part of what God is doing here. Please pray that this year would not only be for our learning, but for God’s justice and mercy to be brought into the dark places.
“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard…”
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Sounds of the city / Sep 24, 08:22 PM
Moving to Chicago has meant getting used to a lot of new things. That includes new sounds, some are wonderful and some are annoying. We wake up early in the morning a lot of times to honking out on the street for no particular reason. During the day there are a lot of sounds including trains, children laughing and playing, cars, the ice cream truck(comes by about 4 times a day), and sometimes fighting. These are the sounds my team has come to know on our block.
There are also the sounds inside of our apartment. We live in fairly close quarters, and I love hearing my teammates get ready in the morning! It makes me feel right at home with our new family. As the day goes on, there is always music, singing, dancing, LOTS of laughing, and sometimes a beautiful silence. We like to all just sit in the same room and read sometimes. I already love my team and it has been great to hear how God has moved in their lives and how he brought us all to Chicago.
God has taught me so much through the every day schedule and in random moments. Every morning my team gathers for devotions at 6am before traveling by bus to Breakthrough Urban Ministries. We are taking turns leading devotions. It is so neat to hear what other people are learning from God’s word and applying it to our day. One scripture that I shared this week was
Hebrews 10:32-39
“Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult, and persecution; at other times you stood (side by side) with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions…But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”
This section of scripture was a good reminder of my identity in Christ and the fact that we ARE those who believe. We may be persecuted, have bad days, or feel run down, but we ARE saved. That is our identity in Christ. I want to look back on my year and even my week and know that I acted in a way that I know that I have better and lasting possessions in heaven and I am willing to give up those things that aren’t as important.
The Joshua Center is where Ashleigh, Carrie, Tanya and I are working Tuesday through Fridays. This first week of volunteering was a whirlwind of learning and chaos. God showed himself to me in a big way through one of the new guests this week. I had the opportunity to talk with her and get her signed in. She was not quite with it and even the ladies at the center stayed away from her. I guess you could call her an outcast of the outcasts. My heart went out to her and I felt lead to sit with her at lunch. I knew there wouldn’t be much conversation, but she is a person and probably desires to have company like everyone else. I was reminded of Jesus sitting with tax collectors, beggars, children, and outcasts. Though I did not have any deep conversation with her or get to offer her any big help, I knew that Jesus would have also sat with her and loved her like crazy.
Thank you for your continued support!
Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus
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