Merritt Harris
mission year '08 for me!
hi, i’m Merritt…
so, next year is a special year. i’m doing Mission Year!
i’ve chosen this in lieu of some sort of college education (for the time being) which is what many of my current friends are going off to do. yes, so i’m out of high school in June … and i’m 19 (figured i’d put my age since others did :P)
so when i couldn’t fall asleep one night agonizing about my uneasiness with a lack of future plans, i got a sort of revelation. the burden was lifted and i knew that next year i had to give myself to others, giving back to the world what Christ has given me.
so i searched and pressed lots of little blue links, from page to page of missions and landed on Mission Year’s cite with a intense electricity pulsing through my veins. i knew this was it.
here it comes, i’m ready to give and learn, for i know little.
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…
Merritt Harris's Blog
"keep on keepin' on!!" / Feb 11, 04:56 PM
Almost everyday these days, I’ve wondered at the actual significance of the work i’m doing this year. What impact could be felt from one boy among millions, for only a year?
Somethings these past few weeks since Christmas have left me doubtful, confused and longing for a further place in my journey. i’ve tried quiet hard to fit in in my church these days; to feel like a significant asset to its body. I’ve been rather disappointed with my efforts and am reminded that it isn’t in my power what fruit my relationship with the church bears.
But God has another plan and i often find that just after i give up on mine! His plan isn’t fancy or glamorous but it’s encouraging and i can have peace in it. Last Sunday was the best Sunday that i’ve had since i’ve been here. by chance (not…) it was the first sunday that i stopped expecting something glorious to happen. First, Val and i are in the choir and if any one knows Black churches they know that the choir has many different outfits, from blue and creme robes to all black outfits, to anything that suits the occasion. Last sunday was African attire due to black History month. My frustration has been that often if it is anything other than blue robes (which we have) someone tells us that they’ll bring us something that matches and they forget. The problem is this, i already stand out quite a bit due to my skin color AND now we really stand out because we don’t match either. to top it off, we don’t know any of the songs so half the time we’re singing “watermelon” or just trying to catch on on the spot. oh yeah, its great fun. i just smile, because at least i can have fun even if everything else is gone wrong :) All of this is normal for any sunday of any month. except for last sunday. A lovely lady who sings alto with val told us she would make us two African scarves. if you know me, you know that i would be doubting this like an idiot through my smile. as God does, we were pleasantly surprised by some lovely scarves that perhaps distract the crowd from our lack of lyrics and lack of melatonin. :) As goofy and trivial as it sounds, this was quite and encouragement to me; i felt remembered and appreciated as a temporary member.
i feel like i could go on for ages about the small encouragements that have smashed through my skepticism this week. including playing percussion with the church band, playing with two neighbor kids, finding three acquaintances that i have been searching for and to top it off, this week has been sunny and warm in comparison to the past weeks.
i am learning to be dedicated to the small gifts God sends my way.
more than anything, i want to feel like a part-of-a-whole in my neighborhood and church. i want to belong. in an odd way, this is my church and my neighborhoods ministry to me!
i really want to jump around and shout for joy when a neighbor makes a suggestion that we hang out or that he comes over! i want to shout for joy when i can talk and fellowship after church! i want to talk a million miles per minute about the work God is doing here and here in my heart.
praise be to God who hears my cry!
pray for;
-diligence in knowing my community around me.
-a ministry of Christs love.
-humility: there is no job below us
enjoy life, merritt harris
ps, i think i found a skateboarding buddy! He lives in my apartment building. Wow, God is funny in His timing . i guess i’ll take skating up again! :)
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O i eat good fruit, but please rest my weary soul! / Dec 12, 12:40 PM
hello all!
its December. and that’s almost as unbelievable as how cold it is.
ok, did anyone warn me of this? i would have maybe tried Atlanta or something…
man!
this is the funny part. if your from Chicago, you know that its actually not cold yet.
when they say that, is it a joke? i beginning to wonder if hell really has flames. or if really it has below zero temperatures and numbing, stinging wind chill.
all of this REALLY doesn’t matter. i have a hope and a peace because good work is happening where God is leading! Here at Breakthrough Urban Ministries, relationships with the guests (the homeless men who come to Breakthrough) are growing and deepening! i am thrilled to say that these men are more than homeless and needy, they are my brothers, and i am theirs. i’ve enjoyed hearing their stories; some have wild background in gangs and murder and major drug trade, others were victims of job loss, and poor relationships. what ever the case my be, everyday i find that i have so much to learn from them and that their hearts, as hidden and covered as they may be, are beautiful and loving.
I’ve spent the past few days talking with a friend and learning his story.
its too much for me to handle. i wonder why we think America is safe. i wonder why I’ve never known these things and why the places I’ve grown up are ignorant to the truth of the streets. things are harsh, but its the way of life. this needs to change? O God, what can i do, a mere selfish man!? O God use us in our faults and attempts!
thank you for your prayers, this first trimester has been fruitful and eye opening.
i am very tired and ready to have some time of solitude with my family (unfortunately my sister can not make it for Christmas)
i am going to Idaho, where our cousins live.
pray for rest and new, full energy for our next trimester.
God be with you.
merritt
ps. if you have the desire to comment, i check my email more frequently. please leave me any thoughts or questions or money… haha :D i mean… no… but its Justmerritt@gmail.com . yes yes. :D
october in Chicago. / Oct 16, 03:13 PM
how are you all doing? here are some of the things that i’ve been doing and learning.
i work four days a week at a ministry called Breakthrough in west chicago. its basically a transitional home and homeless shelter all at once. i love it. my job is mostly odd jobs and relational. i hang out with our guests who are all currently homeless. we have classes for training the men to get jobs and we help them get apartments too. (i work in the mens shelter side, though there is a womens ministry called Joshua just down the street)
being here is eye opening, the stereotypes and prejudgments i had about homeless are almost all wrong. these men are brilliant. many of them i would even go to for council. many of them are passionate studiers of the Word. and most of them are far from lazy. people here either messed up somewhere along the line or just have no one to back them up when they fall.
its beautiful how much these friends teach me.
i’m also in a curriculum reading with my housemates, we just finished “Restoring at Risk Communities” by John Perkins. great book. if you are at all interested in Urban Ministries or the likes, i would highly recommend this book.
In general, our whole ministry focuses on relational impact. we aren’t out on the street telling sinners to repent (though, i’m sure God can and has used that method very effectively) but we are getting to know the people, seeking their hearts, and showing them to Christ.
we live in a dangerous part of town, my team is in East Garfield Park, which is west of downtown Chicago. Getting to know our neighbors is also a large part of our ministry here. i have made a couple of friend and the developing relationship is as painful as it is good. it burdens me to see how racism effects even my friendships, not only racism in the black brothers, but in myself. If you’ve only ever lived in a neighborhood that is primarily your race, how can you really know how you act when you’re a minority? i didn’t come in to Mission Year thinking anything about racism, but i’m learning so much about how its long rooted in our history, and it still lurks in the bones of our country. are you willing to say you reconcile before your black brothers, yet never live with them? are you willing to say you’re reconciled but for some reason your church is all white? (this argument goes both ways, because reconciling is a team thing)
anyways, i’m learning more than i imagined learning. its a wonderful thing.
there are many reasons for me to hate it here, but i love it. its where God has put me and its right.
if you can’t tell, i’m so passionate about this! its amazing. and now i see that serving the unprivileged is a life style, not an occasion. i’m only here for a year, but thats not the end of it for me. this is the beginning.
feel free to ask any questions, i’ll reply if i have time to get online. (no computer at home)
thank you all for your prayers, they mean a lot to me.
merritt
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ministry launch. / Jul 29, 01:29 PM
i feel very blessed. i’m doing well with my ministry launch goal. before, i didn’t feel that i was very well prepared or informed on how it would all unfold, but so far God is tugging at peoples hearts and asking them to give to this ministry.
it is so good to know that when i have no control (which is very often) God is faithful to my prayers and requests.
praise Him!
merritt
Comment [5]
chicago! / Jul 15, 10:39 AM
hey there,
well, a few days ago i got my placement for MY 08 09 and its the great city of chicago! this is good news, though it wasn’t my first choice, God has great plans that are unexpected. i will follow His lead whether it be chicago or china. (or right now, washington state)
right now i’m working at a camp in Washington state called camp Ghormley. i just started last week and i’m loving it so far. i am a councilor and i help lead the worship with drums. a big praise is that someone LOANED me a drum set so that i could help them out. it is such a blessing and a praise. but just the fact that i got a job is a praise! its hard to get a job in the middle of summer, but God provided. i basically got the job off of the good reputation of my brother, i didn’t even fully complete the application!
i’ve been learning about true life that comes from knowing Jesus. i’ve been reading in John. its good to hear the simple words of Jesus. its interesting how often, the people He’s talking to just don’t get it. i wonder how many things God is saying right now to me and i’m just not understanding (or maybe i’m choosing not to). and i think that we overcomplicate things.
well, i’d love to meet some of the other chicago team members online.
i hope you all have a wonderful day.
merritt
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