Love really does change everything.

I’ll be honest, I still haven’t fully arrived from St. Louis. It was a place that captured my heart as I saw that it was a glimpse into the Kingdom here on earth. My first thoughts were, "it’s cold" and "adventure." I was so excited to be there, with the people I arrived with and would meet up with, and be able to share the Lord’s blessing with those I would serve.

I should have known it wouldn’t be that simple.

Shortly after arriving, we put our stuff down and had Gerry welcome us into CityLights. At the end of his welcoming, he said, "Welcome home." Home. A word that became foreign to me as my family continued to move and as I feel like I keep losing mine here in college. How could this become home? How could I possibly live here?

By falling in love with St. Louis.

As we ventured through the city tour, listened to the stories of the people who chose to live in the city…worshipping with them, serving them and with them and loving them… I found home.You see, as I did all these things I found St. Louis no longer merely a place, but a city where my brothers and sisters are living and an unyielding desire to be on this journey with them. A part of me really wanted to stay, and a part of me really wants me to return.

Love changes everything, I’ve seen it. Working at Harambee demonstrated that. Hearing Aaron speak about the children in the neighborhood blew my mind, I was one of them. A child from a broken home clinging to the hope of my mom’s refrain that everything was going to be okay. And as I finally got up the courage to ask Aaron if the love and attention he showered on these kids had done anything for their cross-gender relationships, I held my breath as he said yes. He explained that the young men they work with see their role as a father as a responsibility and a privilege; that the young ladies desire more than their mothers’ experience.

Wow. Young men seeing that the responsibility of being a father does not only mean providing financially, but loving their sons and daughters as they desired to be loved as they grew up. Not only that, but they saw a responsibility in taking care of their children’s mother. To take care of the household, not solely the children.

Young ladies learning as they see Michelle and Anthony (Harambee staff) date and become engaged, that love looks differently than the picture they grew up with.

It was later, as I heard the stories of four of these young men: David, Deoni, Enoch and Tracey, that I couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s goodness in the city. These men shared what they’d been doing before Harambee…gangs, drugs, violence…all the while looking for something different. As I heard the stories, and often hearing "by the grace of God", "I thank God" and "I thank God and Aaron, Chuck, Michelle, Ant…" and ultimately hearing that some of them want to go to college, are engaged and will soon be married or are waiting to see what comes next…

joy.

I felt joy. Joy coupled with hope and a promise of God’s restoration of St. Louis.

Amen.

Sol Eufracio

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