FreeSpace

We had a wonderful FreeSpace on Saturday! I was so happy that we were able to find the necessary volunteers. I felt particularly blessed by the interactions I had with the people there, and I was pleased to see many of the volunteers engaged in significant conversation with those we came to serve. Toward the end of the afternoon I was at a table with four people with whom I had been playing Monopoly (having taken over from Fred). We ended up in a conversation (not begun by me) about how people saw God's presence in their lives. It was moving to hear those who were poor and struggling affirm with such faith that God was with them, watching over them, and giving them things to be thankful for. As they rose to leave one man said "this was a real blessing to me" and the others nodded. It's this kind of unplanned, deeply human interaction that makes FreeSpace different from other ministries, and I want to thank everyone who made it possible on Saturday. As I said to Rachel and Aaron, we in Peacemeal decided to start FreeSpace before we really had the resouces to do it, but we were sure that being church in a new way would have to mean, for us, to be church in solidarity with the poor - to see in them the face of Christ and seek to know Christ better as we serve them. In the end, of course, the blessing goes both ways.