I grew up in a small town located just outside the Omaha metro area. My father worked as a mechanic in Council Bluffs. I can remember going with him to the shop on Saturday mornings. Excitement would mix with fear as we got closer to Omaha. You see, the quickest way to get to where my father worked, was to take Highway 75 and cross the 480 bridge. That meant that we would drive through the Florence neighborhood. As we turned on that mainstreet that would go through Florence my father would always tell me to lock my doors and face forwards and not to make eye contact with anybody of color, because you never knew when someone had a gun.
It is because of this fear that was instilled in me as a little girl, that I still to this day dread driving through North Omaha. I avoid that part of town at all costs. Because you never know when someone has a gun! And I think our media has only contributed to the issues of gun control and gang fights here in Omaha. Just recently an article was published claiming that Omaha is the deadliest city in the nation for Black people. In the entire nation! (You can read that article here. It has some very interesting statistics about unemployment nationwide and statistics that relate to homicide and gun violence.)
God has been working a lot on my heart and cultivating a desire to serve here in this city that I live. I have always had a heart for missions, but after recent tragedies in the news dealing with deaths and the troubles that are happening in North Omaha, I have come to the realization that the mission field has come to my city. This city that I love!
They are currently partnering with several churches in Omaha to purchase homes in the North Omaha area. And we as a church are participating in this mission.
Beautiful Savior bought a house, as a church, on Meredith Avenue. The house is now vacant, and the work to renovate the house has begun. It will be completely stripped down to studs and then put back together. Once the house in completed, a Christian family will move into the house with the intention of being a beacon of light for that block. They will host block parties, and Bible studies, and build relationships with their neighbors with the intention of changing the cycle of hopelessness/unemployment/violence in that part of the city.
The blocks that already have houses renovated have seen a drop in crime in the immediate area. In addition, they are seeing lives turned around and a revival has begun.
So we have been canvassing the blocks surrounding our house trying to begin to build relationships. I joined a few other members from Beautiful Savior on Saturday morning to handout valentines and flyers for The Bridge church. The Bridge meets on Sunday mornings at North High School, and they along with Abide Network are being very intentional in trying to reach those that live in North Omaha.
It was a pretty humbling experience for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect. My fear began to rise as the first thing they had us do was sign a waiver stating the Bridge was not responsible for anything that happened to us and we were taking this risk by participating. We were instructed to handout our goodie bag full of candy and ask them if there was anything we could pray about. Wow, now my pulse really began to race.
The first couple of houses no one answered, but the next house we went to when we asked what to pray about, we got invited inside. I can’t tell you what happened in that moment, but I stepped inside the kitchen and began to pray. And during that prayer I realized something. This woman that we were praying for, was a fellow sister in Christ. Her life looks very different than mine, but her request was so simple, she wanted an extra measure of grace.
I am excited to continue to partner with the Abide network. I am hoping you decide to join me. Our monthly work day on the house will be the first Saturday of the month starting in March from 9am to 4pm. There will also be opportunities to not only donate your time, but to buy different building materials needs to help complete the renovation on the house.
Beautiful Savior, Beautiful Women 