the way of life.

One of our ministry sites is BARM, the Bay Area Rescue Mission, in Richmond, CA. In 2010, Richmond was ranked the 6th most dangerous city in the United States. Within one year there were 56 murders; 18 on a "quiet" year.

We go to an after school program at BARM with kids from 1st to 12th. The kids have free time for about 2 hours where they can play basketball, pool, video games, computers, watch movies, eat snacks, draw, ride bikes, etc. Then there is an hour of homework/tutor time and then another hour of Bible Study. Since I've been going each week, I've been able to develop relationships with some of the girls in the teen program. They are 8th-11th graders mostly. We bonded over Chris Brown music videos.

My girl A is amazing. She's a 9th grade sweetheart who loves her colored jeans. She sings for me and taught me how to appropriately and accurately do the "cat daddy." She also loves that I'm from LA because her favorite R&B boy band is from LA. :) She has a sister, N, who is a year younger who bonded with me over Drake (see, my interests DO come in handy). Both of them are great girls who love the Lord.

2 weeks ago, a girl from their neighborhood got shot and died. She went to their high school and at one point in her life attended the Rescue Mission. She got in the bad crowd in school and ended up dead. The man in charge of the program, Brother Steve (this fly, 50 something, black man), told me that this girl who got murdered acted as a "look out" for her father. Meaning, when her father and family were doing or dealing drugs in the house, they would make her stand by the window looking out for cop cars. The person who shot her did so 'accidentally' because of some complications with a drug deal.

When I heard, I was able to ask A about it later that afternoon. She ever so casually told me that that's just what happens. I watched her ask another kid "Hey, did you hear about Kiki?" as the kid was walking out as though she was asking him if he was going to the football game.

I mean, here's the thing...if any one of my friends got shot and murdered, that would be a traumatic life event. That would be a long time of suffering and grieving and calling on God for support. For A and the other kids who live in this hood, that's the way of life. My heart breaks for them. I feel the Spirit drawing me towards them and quickly making BARM one of my favorite activities here in the bay.

Here's a story/poem A wrote that I thought was just so beautiful.

The Way of Life

I promise you, the world today only cares about the way of life. A 13 year old girl without a parent figure in her life, she ends up pregnant people look at her and say "that's the way of life." A boy has no father in his life so his only solution he chose was gang violence, he dies at 21 from protecting "his red" or "his blue." People walk past his grave and say "that's the way of life." A young mom on her own, baby daddy no where to be found. Dropped out of school her only option for money is selling her body, people drive past and say "that's the way of life." A young boy without a father figure in the middle of north Richmond graduates from high school going to college, people look at him oddly and say "that's different."