Emily Minnick
Mission Year and Me
Hi! My name is Emily Minnick, and I’m from Goshen, Indiana. I graduated from Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio in 2006. I have spent the past two years working as an Access Center Counselor at our local community mental health center in Goshen. Beginning in September, I will be serving with Mission Year in Chicago.
I have had a heart for ministering in inner-city Chicago since my freshman year in college. I first heard about Mission Year last summer when a friend from church was accepted to serve with MY in Chicago in 2007-2008. When I heard about what she was going to be doing (and, then, once she got started, what she was doing), I thought “wow, that sounds exactly like what I have wanted to do.”
So, now it’s my turn! I am so excited to have the opportunity to follow the desires God has laid on my heart and to serve Him in Chicago. I am looking forward to living and ministering with a team of peers who also love God and want to work with Him in the city. I expect this year to be both very challenging and very rewarding; I’m excited to find out what all God wants to do in and through us as we seek to love Him and love those around us in everything we do.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Jesus (Matthew 22:37-40)
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…
Emily Minnick's Blog
The Invisible World / Oct 23, 08:36 AM
I wrote this poem at the end of our time in downtown Chicago this weekend. We spent our time there trying to understand a little more about what it is like to live on the streets as a person who is homeless. We talked to people who are homeless and tried our hand at panhandling for money and train tickets. It is amazing how people's expectations of who you are and what your circumstances are change simply because of where you put yourself and what you do. Case in point: Clay, another Mission Year volunteer, and myself positioned ourselves on a stairway to the subway and asked passers-by if they had 20 cents to spare. We were ignored by many people, strongly lectured by one person (who did give us a dollar), cared for with sympathy by another (who gave us a dollar), and reported to the police by yet another. We migrated from our stairway locale to the sidewalk above, and within half a block, found an Ulta (skin/beauty-care product) store for which I had a coupon for a free bag of sample products. I walked inside the door and was greeted warmly, graciously escorted to the counter (where I received my freebies) and wished a good day as I left. Nothing about me had changed physically - I wore the same clothes & looked the same - and nothing about me had changed inside. Yet, people's perceptions and assumptions about me changed simply because of where I positioned myself. The experience was very eye-opening. Anyway, here's the poem: The Invisible World Today I entered the invisible world - The world in which Jesus still walks on earth In His distressing disguises.* The world people shield their eyes from and try not to see. Yet when one of us who has been recently visible steps into it, Others are at least faced with its reality - Like looking through a haze, at a mirage, in a dream. It's blurry. You still try not to see. But it's there. Those who see me in the invisible world Think I'm crazy Or one of them. Yet when I step back into the hustle-bustle ever-moving, ever-present world, Suddenly I am part of it again. They define me by what I do - ask for money on the the street, on the subway stairs, or present a coupon for free merchandise at Ulta. One scolds, another smiles. They do not see me. They only see what I do. The layers of stories, of what makes me me, of Who makes me me, Don't change. New layers are added, and I am slowly transformed; But in this one day in which I move from visible to invisible and back, Mostly what changes is their perspectives. And that changes my perspective. Angels and demons walk among us, Jesus walks among us, And we fail to see them, Fail to see Him, Because we fix our eyes not on what is unseen, but on what is seen.** And yet, when we step into that invisible world, We find it is what we do there That defines life eternal and hell everlasting.*** Jesus walks among us. Do we see Him? Will we serve Him? *Mother Teresa referred to the poor as "Jesus in His distressing disguise" **2 Corinthians 4:18 ***Matthew 25:31-46Comment [1]
September Update / Oct 1, 03:26 PM
If you would like to read my September update, you can download it (as a Word document) from: http://cid-3278de042fdc8990.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Emily|4s%20Mission%20Year%20Updates/September.doc
Thanks! :)
Hopefully I’ll have a chance to post more (relatively) soon…
La Villita! / Aug 11, 11:39 AM
This will not be a long post, but I just wanted to share that I found out my team assignment today!
I will be living with 4 other people in La Villita, a mostly Mexican-American neighborhood on the south side of Chicago! Yippee! I’m so (underline “so”) excited! I’m pumped about the possibility of getting to continue to use my Spanish in real-life ways! Woohoo!
Okay, that’s it… Just wanted to share. Chicago…La Villita…here I come! :)
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A little (or lot!) more about how I got here... / Aug 4, 02:47 PM
I wanted to share a little more about the details of my journey to involvement with Mission Year…
Even though I was intrigued with the program after my friend (Ashley Pharis) from church got involved last year, until very recently I really wasn’t thinking of personally participating in Mission Year. As of this spring, my plan was to continue working at Oaklawn (our local community mental health center) and to find an apartment with a friend (move out of my parents’ house) sometime this summer.
As for my passion for inner-city ministry…it was pretty much “on hold”.
Somewhere (and I’m not sure exactly when this was) between my freshman year of college and a few months ago, I had come to the conclusion that I would probably serve in the inner-city with my future husband (whoever he may be). A couple of notes here: 1) I think I came to this conclusion partially because a) I knew I didn’t want to be living/ministering in the inner-city alone (I wanted to live and work in community with others) and b) although I knew I wanted to work in the inner-city, I knew I didn’t want to be in a high-profile, leadership position (I just wanted to come alongside someone and help). And 2) It is really frustrating to go through life not living your dreams because you think you have to wait on someone else for them to be possible.
Anyway, as of the beginning (and even middle) of June, Mission Year wasn’t anywhere in my vision.
So, I was going about life, trying to make plans to get an apartment with a friend
….and getting very frustrated. The process felt more like a burden than a joy. I couldn’t get my budget to align with my income in a way that I was satisfied with, and nothing was feeling “right” as far as where we could live (within my budget). Additionally, the apartment community I was most interested in didn’t have any units to show when I was available. It was June, I was getting ready for a three-week vacation from work (to visit family friends overseas), I was at a stand-still, and so I finally just put my budget (and apartment-planning notes) away. I was trusting God to lead through the whole process, but no doors were opening up. I told God that, if this was going to work out, He was going to have to do it.
And I went on vacation.
My family and I spent almost three weeks in Norway during June. My mom’s family had hosted an exchange student from Norway during my mom’s senior year of high school, and we went to visit her (Anne) and her family. Now, many of you reading this are probably thinking “wow, Norway, how cool! I would love to go there!”; however, you must understand that I had lots of reservations about our trip. First of all, I had a sense of guilt. Travel is expensive. My family is not the type that is accustomed to taking lavish vacations, and, frankly, I didn’t (don’t) want that kind of lifestyle. If I was to travel overseas where I wanted to go, it would probably be some “3rd world” country (preferably Spanish-speaking), and I would go as a missionary. Second, I had never met Anne or her family. My mom had these dreams of my sister and me connecting with Anne’s sons (not romantically, I don’t think, just in friendship) and the correspondence between our families continuing into another generation. I didn’t openly seek to squelch mom’s dreams or visions, but, inside my head/heart at least, I had my serious doubts. Actually, I just was hoping that spending all this time (most of my PTO for the year) with a family I didn’t know wouldn’t be too awkward or energy-draining.
So, we went to Norway….
And it was wonderful.
The country is gorgeous. Fjords = Water & Mountains side-by-side…everywhere (or at least a lot of places in the western part of the country). No billboards (except an occasional public service announcement – e.g. “buckle your seat belt”). 50-70 degree (Fahrenheit) weather = perfect for wearing jeans and t-shirts. Wonderful.
And the people? The relationships made the trip. No awkwardness. We had interests in common. We enjoyed the time we spent together. It was fantastic. (Oh, and there has already been some correspondence between the family members of our generation since we have returned…)
I hadn’t realized how much I had needed a vacation. I also hadn’t realized how much I missed learning. And how much my heart yearns for adventure. There was so much to learn: about Anne’s family, the culture, Norwegian history, the language (Norwegian)… And we had lots of adventures: climbing Preikestolen (“Pulpit Rock”); catching starfish and one big (other) fish in crab traps; learning to cook, shell and eat crab; fishing and cleaning fish; helping my dad try to figure out how to navigate through round-abouts on the road (and spending one crazy-long day in the car with my family driving all the way from Bergen to Flekkefjord)…
Our trip to Norway was one amazing gift. Parts of my heart which had been sleeping had a chance to wake up again; it was invigorating!
And then we came home.
And the next day I found a Mission Year newsletter from Ashley Pharis in my mail. And I read it. And I got on the Mission Year website. And I realized: this is what I want to do. A week and a half later, I submitted my application (just in time). A week after that, I had my MY interview. Three days later, I knew I was accepted. And a little over a week after that, I knew I was assigned to Chicago.
A little over a month ago, I hadn’t even considered Mission Year for this year.
A little over a month from now, I’ll be in Chicago with Mission Year for a year.
God is good. He says in His Word: “Delight yourselves in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). I get to live and serve the Lord in inner-city Chicago as part of a team, a community; and I get to come alongside others who have a vision and a plan, and help them with their work. God was working out His plan for me even when I was still thinking that I would be in Goshen during this coming year. I delight in Him…He is so good. His plan is infinitely better than what I had in mind…and I couldn’t be happier.
Praise the Lord.
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