Back in the Saddle Again
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The saddle I speak of is not Gene Autry's, though sleeping out every night where the only law is right might not be too bad either. No, I'm back in the saddle of searching for work. I waved goodbye to Target last Tuesday when my seasonal employment was ending. I realized that my hours weren't going to change from all evenings and weekends, which doesn't work well for me and the apprenticeship. I left in good standing, and now I'm back on the streets of Minneapolis and cyberspace to find another part time job.
My goal in this search is not simply to supplement support coming in from family and friends, but also to find a way to meet people in the neighborhood and start to build friendships of trust.
A few leads:
>Meter reading for gas and electric companys: This would involve driving out to the southern suburbs and running through winter weather and people's yards to collect usage data. I could work 2-3 days a week and make more than I was at Target!
>MasterWorks: This is a business/ministry in the city owned by a Christian guy who tries to employ and offer job training to guys who have a hard time finding steady work. Many of the employees are in a discipleship type group as well, and there are usually a lot of Native guys.
>Desiring God Ministries: This is John Piper's non-profit that distributes his books, videos, and other teaching materials, as well as a resource website. Their offices are located on the edge of Phillips, and they might be looking for part-time media/video editting help.
Please be praying that God leads me to an opportunity that would connect me with the people God wants me to minister to.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:04 PM 0 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
Silence is Golden, Especially if that Silence Reaches My Mind
Thursday, January 11, 2007
I've been looking forward to my team's contemplative spiritual retreat for a long time and it has finally arrived! Today I leave for Pacem In Terris (peace on earth) in St. Francis, MN. I will be away for a four day period of silence, listening, reading, resting, praying, music making, and simply BEING with the Lord in a one room hermitage out in the woods. Sounds like torture to some, and in some ways, at least for the everyday thought patterns in my mind, it will be torture, even unto death. I am praying for a renewing of my mind, and continued transformation of my identity from my false self to who I am in Christ.
I've only done this once before, and that was during my InnerCHANGE internship in San Francisco the summer before last. Those three days at New Comaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur gave me just a taste of the joy and refreshment that come out of setting aside time like this for the Lord only. Until Sunday, I will be unavailable for contact.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 10:31 AM 2 comments
Feliz Navidad and God Jul! A Venezuelan and Swedish Christmas
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
My Christmas Eve and Christmas day turned out to be more fun and family than I could have imagined! The Venezuelan family who lives beneath me invited me over for their Christmas Eve celebration, complete with traditional hallacas and pan de jamon. (The same stuff my family ate every Christmas Eve when we were in Venezuela!) I was warmly greeted by the Quevedo family and their three Mexican friends who joined us for dinner. We had a great time eating and joking around about how weak Venezuelans' tongues were with spicy things compared to Mexicans' (all in Spanish, of course.) It's amazing how quickly my Spanish comes back when I'm immersed in it again! After dinner they opened gifts and we sang a lot of songs together, including a very energetic version of Feliz Navidad!
Christmas Day I was invited to join the Olson family who lives across the alley from me. This is the family of a good friend of mine from Wheaton. They have welcomed me in and become like a home away from home. We stuffed ourselves with traditional Swedish food and generally took a relaxed and lazy approach to the whole day. Christmas night I finished off with another grand meal with another great Wheaton friend in Cottage Grove, a suburb about 30 minutes from Phillips neighborhood.
All in all, though I sorely felt the lack of the other Washam 7 back in Rimrock, WA, God provided families here to make me feel at home.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:08 AM 3 comments
Labels: Christmas, Minneapolis
I'll Be Home For Christmas, If Only In My Dreams
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sad news - because of the work situation and the money situation, I won't be able to travel home to Washington for Christmas. This will be my first Christmas away from home and family.
I will be working at Target on Christmas Eve until 6:30pm or so, then I might catch up with a church I've been visiting (Solomon's Porch) as they go Christmas caroling around Hennepin County Medical Center, the big hospital in downtown Minneapolis. Last year when the group went caroling, some crying nurses ran up and told them to come quickly to one particular room. Inside this room, a man had been comatose and unresponsive for two weeks. When the church group had walked by singing carols, he had awaken from his coma, walked from his bed, and was standing at the door of his room, bawling.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
Christmas day I'll be chilling with the family that lives across the alley from me, Sam Olson and his family. They have a tradition on Christmas day of rounding up as many "homeless" friends (some literally without a house, others simply without a home, like me) to go out to a state park for a bonfire and winter picnic.
I am/will be thinking a lot about my home in Rimrock, WA - the remaining Washam 7 will be gathered around a 12 foot tree in the living room for the first Christmas up at Camp Ghormley. The house will be snowed in with feet and feet of snow all around, surrounded by the Wenatchee National Forest, in the Cascade Mountains....
But enough for feeling blue - even if I am the lost ornament from the tree (see picture above for resemblance??). This will be a Christmas like no other, I already know that. My hope is that in this season of the unfamiliar, I will be able to see and hear a new rendition of the story of the incarnation. With a fresh telling ringing in my ears, I hope to take steps to love my small part of the world that God loves so much.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 4:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: Christmas
Christmas Reflection no.1
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Christmas, more than anything else, reminds me every year that this thing I'm in - this movement of people after Jesus, this insitution called Christianity - is for the whole world. I can spend an entire year drawing lines, defining boundaries, treating "non-believers" different from "believers", and shoring up the flying buttresses of Christianity. But the minute December rolls around and I start reading again what the Prophets had to say about the Messiah, and what He actually said, I've got to throw away my boxes and categories and open my arms just a little wider than the year before. God did it so many times that by the time John wrote his gospel, He had His arms around the whole world in love. This is not an argument for universalism, as I hope you can see - this is simply a call to the Church and myself to BE the good news we talk so much about - to obey Christ and fulfull God's promise that His people would be a blessing to all peoples, not just those on "our side."
Posted by Benjamin Washam 10:22 PM 1 comments
Labels: Christmas, General Reflections, Scripture Reflections
Can God Use A Playstation 3?
Sunday, December 10, 2006
It started out like any other Thursday evening - and then I saw her. (No, she wasn't a PlayStation 3. Shame, shame, shame. You'll have to read to the end to figure out who she was.)
First, a little background before I finish the story. Last Thursday, all the feelings of the past three weeks came to a head - feelings of disappointment ("Why am I in Minneapolis again, God?"), ineffectiveness ("Why don't I have any Native friends yet?"), and just general confusion ("How am I supposed to start a house church when I'm still working on the basics of what following Jesus requires of me?"). I finally reached a point of clarity (a.k.a. God graciously gave me a glance in a mirror) enough to realize that my thought patterns weren't only lacking trust - they were plain self-defeating! I was able to thank God for helping me to see and say heck with circumstances - God brought me here for a reason and I better start thinking and acting like I believe it (which I do). Now back to the story.
....Later that day....
It started out like any other Thursday. I was walking down the alley back to the house to change before going to work at Target. Then I saw her: a short, fast-walking bundle of winter coverings headed straight towards me in the alley. I gave a big smile and said hello. The woman stopped and gave me a hearty handshake and we started into a remarkably friendly conversation. This energetic, African American mother was going around the neighborhood trying to raise money for her niece's medical bills. She had partnered with a local church to help finance the medical bills. I at first assumed it was some sort of a scam until 10 minutes into the conversation after she had asked me about my love life and I was asking her to come inside the house and warm up. To make a long story short, I made a friend and told her that I didn't have any money, but that as soon as I did, I would get a hold of her. I really had no idea where the money might come from, I just knew I didn't have any at the time.
Fast forward three hours - I'm at work on the sales floor in Target, instead of in electronics like usual. I happen to walk past the electronics department, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a brand new unopened pricelessly rare PlayStation 3 being RETURNED (unheard of) to Target and locked up in the glass cabinet. I went on my break as quick as quick, pulled out the PS3, and bought it before you could say Saint Nick. The first thought that entered my mind was "God, why did you have me walk by electronics right then? A minute later, and it would have been gone." My second thought was "Gee, I could sell that for some profit on eBay!" My third thought was, "I think God just gave me an opportunity to follow through and help out Rosalyn!" So there it is - I'm selling the PS3 on eBay. Some happy person will get a PS3, and Rosalyn's niece will get all the profit - some money from God, because I think it was a set-up.
You can be praying for me:
That God would open doors for me into relationships in the Native Community;
That a more strategic, more flexible job than Target might develop in the next month before my seasonal contract ends;
That I would have direction regarding an opportunity to take a leadership role with Solomon's Porch, a church I've been attending that wants to help with a free dinner site in my neighborhood near the Native Housing area.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 11:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
Team Photo
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Here is a picture of the Minneapolis InnerCHANGE team at our retreat.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:27 PM 1 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
A New Short
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
A great new short film about who InnerCHANGE is:
Watch Here.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 11:47 PM 0 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
Retreat!!!!!!!!!!! (In the contemplative, not combative sense)
The Minneapolis InnerCHANGE community is getting away this weekend. We will be going to a cabin out in the woods by a lake (which could really be anywhere in Minnesota). We'll be MIA for three days to play, worship, relax, discuss, plan, and for the two new apprentices (myself included), to share our "timelines," a creative visual representation of our life story up to this point, with the rest of the team.
You can be praying that we come together in stronger unity, that we are refreshed, and that we will have clear vision and insight into where God is taking us this next year. You can also pray specifically that as I share my timeline, the team and I would be able to discern what paths God has been leading me down and where He might be taking me in the future.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 9:08 PM 2 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
"Walk in my shoes for a mile or two and you'll see...."
Saturday, November 18, 2006
A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I saw a poster up on the street for the Dakota Commemorative March. It said that many Dakota American Indians would be re-walking the 150 mile stretch where their relatives were force-marched by the US military in 1862 - many of them to their deaths. I felt this would be a great opportunity to literally "walk in their shoes" and spend prolonged time in their company to hear their stories. I didn't know if any other white people would be there, but I decided to go anyway.
Late on the evening of November 9th, a friend dropped me off in the small farming town of Mankota in southwestern Minnesota. I cautiously entered the church where the walkers were supposed to be staying. All I saw in the darkened church basement were masses of dark forms strewn all over the floor and couches, and the faint sound of snoring. I quietly laid out my sleeping bag and tried to sleep, unsure of what to expect the next morning!
At 5:00am the lights were flipped on and a booming voice shouted cheerfully for everyone to wake up. The whole floor of the basement started moving. People of every age and size started to rise and prepare to walk for another 20 miles before dinner - from young children to elderly men and women. I tried to follow the crowd and get a feel for what I was supposed to do. At some point someone yelled and everyone ran to the windows - 5 inches of fresh snow lay on the ground and it was still falling fast. "Looks like we'll have to walk in the snow - anyone need an extra pair of socks?" someone said. A makeshift medical station was set up where people's bruised and blistered feet were treated with ointment and moleskine to help the pain. (At the point where I joined them, they had already been walking almost 20 miles a day for three days.) After a quick prayer and song in Dakota and a light breakfast of dried meat, dried fruit, and hard boiled eggs, we began to walk.
The procession was always led by a medicine woman out in front carrying the traditional medicine bag. A few paces behind her were the relatives of the Dakotas that marched in 1862 carrying large decorated staffs to represent their different bands. Behind them came all the rest of the walkers including myself, followed by a long trail of support cars crawling along at walking speed. The lead car had a loudspeaker that played traditional Dakota drum and chant music. The caboose for this crazy, yet somber parade was a heated trailer with restrooms. At each mile post marker on the highway we would stop and pound in a wooden stake with two of the family names of the origional walkers on it. Then we each took turns sprinkling tobacco on it as a way of remembering and honoring their legacy.
By 11:00am, my feet hurt, my calves hurt, my butt hurt, and my back hurt. Then I looked at the 50 year old man marching beside me with a smile on his face and kept going. A man called Bear kept reminding everyone, saying "many of our ancestors didn't have shoes when they marched, and they didn't even get to sleep! Remeber that when your feet start to hurt." Wise words.
A young single mother let me push her daughter's stroller the last 4 miles of the day when the side of the road became muddy and almost impossible to push the stroller through. As I labored to keep up with the rest of the group with my new burden, I was struck by the irony and the beauty of what was happening – it was as if this woman had given me the opportunity to share in her trouble, and in a way, to share in the trouble of her people. I pushed that stroller with all the might and care that I could, as if baby Jesus himself were riding in it.
The local charter school floor was to be our home for the night, and the staff was very welcoming. I ended up having to leave that night to come back to Minneapolis for orientation at my new job, but I later found out that the marchers had been badly harrassed at the school that night by some townspeople, and some of the leaders had to be taken to the police station for protective measures. That made me very, very sad.
All in all, I feel I am a very lucky man to have joined these people in their march of rememberance. I was blessed by their willingness to let me share in their suffering, and to consider me one of their own as we marched. I have experienced in a very small way what it means to be a native in this modern world, and it breaks my heart.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:48 PM 4 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
A Job, Yes, But Is It On The Mark?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
That's right, I got a job at Target! You can find me working part-time in the electronics section, making the most of the Media Studies concentration from my Communication major.
Many people outside of the neighborhood refer to my store as "Tar-ghetto" because it is an older looking store and is located in an area of town on the edge of Phillips Neighborhood with a high percentage of minorities and historically higher crime rates than most other stores. On the other hand, most people who work there and shop there call it "home."
Thank you to all of you who prayed that I would find a job. After I applied at the in-store kiosk, they literally wouldn't let me leave the store without doing two interviews right on the spot, after which they offered me the position! This job is only seasonal, so I don't know if this is where I will be for the long haul this year. Please pray that God would give me wisdom in deciding whether or not to stay here after the holidays, and whether or not I should attempt coming home for Christmas if it means quitting the job. The team I work with at the store is fantastic - pray that God would open up doors of opportunity for the presence of Christ in my life to affect others as I work.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 10:34 PM 1 comments
Labels: Minneapolis
Hail, Alma Mater, let me tell you what the Lord has done
Friday, November 03, 2006
Alma Mater - Nourishing Mother. It was hard for me to understand the meaning of this cryptic Latin phrase until I actually had one, and then the description of "nourishing mother" only scratches the surface on how formative those four years really are.
I have been given a special gift - an invitation by my own Alma Mater, Wheaton College, to come and visit with students and share about InnerCHANGE the order. I'll be on campus Saturday through Wednesday participating at World Christian Fellowship on Sunday night, and meeting one-on-one with students throughout the week. I am excited to hear the stories of what God is doing in students right now, and to be able to encourage them and pray for them.
Please pray that God would be speaking to students and using me to confirm where God has been leading them. I need wisdom and discernment as I talk and pray with people. Also, ask with me that God would raise up workers for his harvest fields, as Jesus described it; even that people would be inspired by this one visit to pursue InnerCHANGE or a similar vocation. I know God does this, because He did it for me a year and a half ago! InnerCHANGE shared at World Christian Fellowship on campus and it changed the course of my life.
It can happen.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 11:48 PM 4 comments
Labels: Wheaton
