Week 1 - Vacation Bible School in the Bronx, NYC
Week 2 - News Release Basketball Camp in Lorrach, GER
Week 3 - Black Forest Academy (southwestern Germany)
Week 4 - Nice, FR, Southern Europe
Week 5 - Southern Europe, Tokyo
Week 6 - Tokyo, Hong Kong
Week 7 - Los Angeles
Adventure Chronicles - Chapter 1
Water gushes out of the side hydrant opening into the street, pouring over the curb and down the hill with gurgling bubbles mixed in with the giggles and laughter of children splashing nearby. Latino music blares loudly out of open car windows. Sirens wail to their own rhythm in the background. Occasional shouts or the bark of a dog are heard. And more often than not, the tempo of the block goes to the staccato beat of a myriad of basketballs. From the school yard to the park to the courts down the block, basketball rings out as the predominant love of this Bronx neighborhood on Fordham Ave. Perhaps it is for this reason I feel so at home each time I return. Let me rewind a bit first...
Around 1980, a young recently married couple relocated from Minneapolis to the Bronx. The wife was born and raised a farm girl from Illinois with a secret love for the hustle and bustle of the city as she shared her passion for people through her gift in medicine and nursing. The husband, a talented artist and philosopher, sought to continue his education with a master's degree in painting from New York University. Settling on a neighborhood that fit their income and offered some Midwest connections, this couple timed their arrival perfectly so as to become cemented in church history lore as one of the pillar couples of the 40+ year old church called the Bronx Household of Faith.
Co-pastored by Bob Hall and Jack Roberts, BHOF battles on the front lines for souls in their Bronx neighborhood. The church started out as a house church and slowly grew, mainly as families increased in size. Eventually numbers were large enough to outgrow a house so they used an auditorium in the school across the street, all the while hoping and praying for a church building of their own.
While the historical details are important--the legal battles fought, the city zoning struggles, the support raising efforts, and the construction process--as a sojourner who pops in and out of the neighborhood, I will only speak to this: God is good and gives good gifts for in just these most recent years, not only does BHOF have their own place of worship but it also doubles as a school for those who struggle academically and behaviorally and need the extra 1-on-1 attention. This they call Hope Academy and it offers a space for security and growth as young students on the fringe of academic disaster are provided with the tools to stay afloat and succeed inside and outside the classroom, while also having committed teachers pouring into them their worth and value as the creations of the Sovereign God.
Just on the other side of the block from the new building is an older building that has been a restorative base for men for almost as long as the church has been around. Hope Christian Center, directed by Jack Roberts, is a ministry that BHOF heavily invests time, money and energy into as they seek to minister into the lives of the men of the Bronx specifically. Men of all ages who battle with addictions or hardships can come to the doors of Hope Christian Center and find the tools and resources to clean up and get a fresh start on life, while also being fed spiritually within a life-changing environment.
In another area of the Bronx, a more recent ministry of the church has begun. Expect Hope is a ministry focused on outreach to single/expecting mothers faced with various difficulties and decisions. Expect Hope wants to help provide tools and resources for young mothers/mothers-to-be to choose Life every time. Outreach includes providing "essential social services through a holistic approach that addresses the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of each woman". Through mentorship, relationship building, and consistent support and training, expectant mothers can join the program and prepare for their baby's arrival with joy, not fear.
All of these ministries rely on donations and private support to sustain their outreach capabilities. Always looking for new partners in their missions, BHOF would gladly welcome those who feel led to invest in any of their ministries whether it be through time or money. If you would be interested and partnering alongside them at this time, please email: bhof@bhof.org or call 718-367-3001 and specify, if desired, which ministry (BHOF in general, Hope Academy, Hope Center, or Expect Hope) you want to support.
In the summer of 1990, after 10 years and one adopted little boy later, that young couple decided to return to the childhood home of the wife, sadly following the loss of her wonderful parents. This decision coincided with the adoption and birth of their second child, a little baby girl born near the end of October 1990. Health complications arose at birth and the baby was life-flighted from Kingston, NY to Albany, NY much to the trepidation of her birthfamily and new adoptive family. Named Faith by her birthmom, the baby was near death conditions when the doctor retried a medicine and this time it worked. All the while, the BHOF family prayed and prayed for this little girl and her family. Thankfully, she recovered from her critical condition, although caveats were given that she would never be able to function to normal capacity physically, and best case scenario would likely be a lifetime of severe asthma. Nevertheless, she was a calm and content baby traveling with her new parents to the Bronx before going to her new home in Illinois. Loved, held, and prayed over by that BHOF family from the very beginning, the little girl always knew that the people in the church were a part of who she was--forever family within the BHOF circle.
The dribbling of a basketball? Yes, it is music to my ears. But even deeper still, it is this, the foundation of prayer and love in my life, that makes Fordham, Andrews, and University Avenue and the people that occupy the church there feel so much like interwoven family. Because, well, they are family. Miriam Christina FAITH Rutzen. Loved, held and prayed for as an infant by those who continue to pour out their heart and soul into the people around them. Every trip back, I am reminded of the grace and mercy and overwhelming love God shows through his church by way of his people. I encourage you from the bottom of my heart that partnering with them through prayer, finances, and time will be an investment that will bear fruit beyond anything you ever would have imagined.
For photos from my travels, follow me on Facebook and Instagram: mrutzen25
Signing off for now,
M
Ps. Yes, I think the hydrant thing is crazy too, but it is extremely effective on those hot summer days and definitely came in handy this past week during Vacation Bible School!
Pps. No, I never did have asthma...these prayer warriors along with the many others back home and throughout our family played a major role in that, Thank you Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment