Life at Frontline Silver Spring – The Nwoke’s
Video: Tony, Kristine, and Bria’s Baptism
Come Alive – Day 13
Welcome to Come Alive: 21 Days. These entries are coinciding with our 3 week vision series that we are currently in and we pray they both challenge and encourage you. This post was written by Okey and Leslie Nwoke, two volunteer leaders at Frontline Silver Spring.
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:15-18
We moved to U Street because it was U Street. Anything that was cool and happening was going on there and we wanted to be a part of it. From our first few days we loved the area. Everything we needed was within a few blocks—grocery, restaurants, gyms, metro—and everyone was willing to come to our place to hangout. We call it the “U Street pull.” Being members of Frontline Silver Spring, we had been learning about biblical community and understood that we needed to be intentional about how we interacted with our U St. neighbors. We began to look at our new home with different eyes. We realized that the cool places we frequented had pretty cool people…people who mattered, and who had stories, and who were fashioned by God. So now when we go to Chix or Busboys & Poets, the conversation with the staff is just as important as that crab cake sandwich or those sweet potato cubes. It’s more important. We’ve attended events by our neighborhood association, mentored high school students at Cardozo High School, and recently attended a holiday party hosted by the mayor of DC, all with the goal of plugging into our neighborhood and prayerfully having an opportunity to share Christ with those we meet.
What local establishments do you frequent (coffee shop, barber, cleaners etc.)? How can you be more intentional with the people you interact with in those places?
- Okey and Leslie
To listen to the sermons from this series, please click here.
Testimony: “I have started to see and understand why it’s so important to read God’s Word”
Got this email from one of the girls in our congregation:
“I have always had a hard time reading the Bible and just letting things soak in and allowing God’s Word to transform me. However…I remembered you talking about Psalm 119 and how it can help us to have a love for God’s Word that we didn’t have before. So I figured I would try it out. I started the Psalm 119- 119 days challenge. I have been reading now for almost a month and I have started to see things in God’s Word that I have been struggling with…I have started to see and understand why it’s so important to read God’s word and let it soak in….I mean just reading Psalm 119 I have seen how I can get through it and that’s by living according to God’s Word. I thought that was amazing because I had been praying about so much regarding situations that I feel so weak in. I have even started praying a lot more than I normally do. It’s like every time I open Psalm 119 I see something that I didn’t see the day before. It’s so refreshing! I want to complete the entire 119 days of reading Psalm 119 so I can understand even more. I just wanted to tell you about it and how excited I am about reading God’s Word”
Hopefully that encourages all of us to dig into God’s Word daily!
Q&A with Rachael Jankowsky
Q: Where are you going and what will you be doing?
A: I’m moving to Petit Goave, Haiti in August! I’ll be living there for at least one year and serving as a volunteer through a Christian relief and development group called World Hope International (WHI). I’ll work with the local church there to discover the best next steps as earthquake recovery continues. This includes working with mobile medical clinics, assisting the church in growing and developing the child sponsorship program into a more dynamic community effort, and helping everyone partner in transitioning from relief efforts back to a development focus.
Q: What were the key milestones in the process of deciding to move?
A: I’ve been passionate about building cultural bridges between the U.S. church and the church abroad for years now. While attending AU I got involved with The Gathering and that’s how this whole Haiti thing started! I first visited Haiti in ’08 with a team of students and volunteers. Before that, I had never really heard anything about the country – it was totally off my radar.
I ended up spending that summer in Petit Goave with one of my good friends, Sarah. We lived on our own, learned Creole, and focused on building relationships in a specific neighborhood – Percin. Much of the time was spent teaching English, art, and jewelry-making classes for people in Percin. While we were there getting to know people, God really attached my heart to that community and gave me the desire to go back for a longer stay. One of the biggest milestones was when we did a mural project with the kids in Percin. Sarah and I got an amazing glimpse of how God can reconcile & restore communities – that story will be up on my blog in a couple days…
Since then I’ve been waiting. When graduating college, I wanted to go right away! But the Lord had other plans and asked me to wait. That’s hard – to be fired up about doing something and have the answer to your prayers about it be “No, not right now.” So these past few years have been an exercise in patience and faithfulness while waiting on the Lord.
Q: What is one thing that you’ve learned in the process?
A: One thing…okay, the biggest theme that’s been going on with this whole process is willingness. Isaiah just …jumped at the chance to be sent out as the Lord’s servant. And I think, ‘how often do I react that way to the requests of the Lord?’ In Isaiah 6:8 the Lord asks, Isaiah responds with a willing heart, and BAM! Right away he is chosen and assigned the work! And so, God is looking for His people to have hearts that are willing to do what He asks of us (“Here am I! Send me!”). So, now a question that I ask myself all the time is “am I willing?” Am I willing to move? Am I willing to wait 3 years to go? Am I willing to lean on His wisdom & provision instead of my own? Am I willing to wake up earlier to spend more time with Him? These are important, uncomfortable questions to be asking. But whenever the answer is ‘no,’ then I discover where my heart is not yet submitted to the Lord and can ask Him to do work there.
Q: How can we pray for you as you prepare to leave?
A: Peace and rest as I’m wrapping up everything here in the U.S. – it’s a lot of work! Also, before my departure I’m trying to transition mentally and emotionally in order to arrive ready. Please be praying for that, as I’m not used to a lot of emotions – they’re exhausting. Finally, please pray for spiritual health and focus; to make time every day to draw near to the Lord in prayer & through the Word. My hope is that in these next few weeks I would become more deeply rooted in Christ as I prepare to go.
To contact Rachael:
Email: rachael.jankowsky@gmail.com
Twitter: rjankowsky