Ashlee and Caleb Starr
Bio
- Served: Atlanta, GA 2005-2006
- Did Mission Year: After College
- Where They Are Now: Atlanta, GA
What made you decide to do Mission Year Married – what was the draw for you?
We were both interested in pursuing ministry in the city. We wanted to be able to do ministry alongside each other as we both began to explore how God would use us. We loved Mission Year’s focus on personal relationships and we knew that being part of a neighborhood where we could live and learn from our neighbors and love those around us was what we were looking for. We were drawn to the flexibility Mission Year provides to volunteer in many different capacities, whether it is an after-school program or a homeless outreach center.
What types of service and outreach were you involved with during your Mission Year?
Ashlee – I volunteered at Central Presbyterian Outreach and Advocacy. We provided a variety of services for the homeless or people who were at-risk to become homeless. I spent my days helping people obtain birth certificates, ID, food, shelter, clothing and variety of other services. We were able to offer one-on-one case management to the guests who came through our doors. Central always emphasized that we were a ministry first and a social service second. This really gave me the opportunity to spend time getting to know the people I was working with and I was able to truly care about their needs.
Caleb – I volunteered half my time at the Georgia Justice Project (GJP), a unlikely mix of lawyers, social workers, and a landscape company working with those accused of crimes and and the other half at an after school program close to our neighborhood.
Neighborhood relationships were the most exciting part of our ministry during Mission Year. We were able to get to know several families during our year that have become like family. It was exciting to see how God could use us together to meet neighbors and how He used us in different ways to develop those relationships even further. Sometimes that meant Caleb taking kids to the park while I stayed and hung out with their mom and sometimes that meant me taking the girls to make cookies while Caleb had the boys in the front yard with a football (we fully supported girls who wanted to play football and boys who wanted to bake cookies J). Through our marriage, we got to be an example of what it means to love someone else and be committed to them no matter what.
How are you different from having lived for a year in the city?
Well, we couldn’t leave after one year. We stayed living in Atlanta (our mission year city) and recently bought a house about a mile from our mission year neighborhood. I feel that we are permanently changing from our experience during Mission Year. We were challenged to think in new ways and challenged to live differently.
How has your Mission Year experience affected your future plans & goals?
If anything I think that Mission Year taught us to hold loosely to “future plans.” We want to live for “right now.” We plan to remain in the city. Our goal is to be committed to the community of people that we are apart of. We want to remain consistent in lives of kids and neighbors and friends who we have grown to love over the last few years. I don’t know what God has for us in the future but I know that whatever we do, we want to pursue how God has called us to serve the poor, to pursue justice, to live simply, and to seek Him wholeheartedly.
How did Mission Year Married enrich your marriage?
We moved to Atlanta after living comfortably in a place that was surrounded by friends and family. We had been married only 9 months when we came to Mission Year and we were excited to have the “adventure” of Mission Year so soon after starting our marriage. We learned to depend on each other and lean on each other because anything that was familiar was at least 10 hours away. We were experiencing something together that no one else (besides our other team members) could understand. We were able to pray together for the hurt that was going on around us and were able to rejoice in the things that God was doing. Through time with our City Director and several marriage retreats, we were able to really focus on strengthening and deepening our marriage. We set priorities for what would be important for us as a couple and for our family in the future.
What did you learn about God during your year?
Ashlee – God is at work…He was at work long before I moved to the city, He is at work now, and He will continue to be at work here long after I am gone. Several times during the year I would get mad at God and get confused and wonder why this world has to be the way it is. I started to learn (and have to continue to learn) that God has a plan beyond what I can comprehend. I just have to keep serving.
I learned that God will equip us to do what He has called us to do and that He truly is capable of far more than I could ever ask or imagine.
Caleb – I got a much fuller picture of the incarnation of Christ-God coming and putting himself in our place, in our struggles. Mission year immerses you in the struggles and the lives of the poor and oppressed. Struggles that I once held at a distance and didn’t understand, became the things that I cared for more than anything.
Can you give some words of wisdom to potential team members?
Step out in faith! Mission Year married is an amazing program that will challenge you in ways you couldn’t have imagined. Living in community with other married couples is a concept that is often seen as crazy and a little scary. We will admit that it’s both those things at times but the opportunity for growth is incredible. Just think, a whole year to devote to serving your community, loving your neighbor and deepening your relationship with your spouse!...what a great package J!
