Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Yet Another Wonderful Weekend
This weekend, Zachary, Aaron, Rachel and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend First RP (Grand Rapids)'s second annual conference on practical theology. For only ten dollars, the conference was quite a steal. Pastor Barry York was the speaker, and he led three excellent sessions on the topic "The War for Poverty". The title, which at first seems to be a mistake (similar to the people who proudly say that they support breast cancer), deliberately uses the word "for" instead of the word "against", in the sense that the church should be reclaiming the ministry to the poor from the government.
We all learned a great deal, and were challenged by Barry's talks. However, most of us don't encounter much poverty on Purdue's campus, and therefore find it difficult to truly apply some of the things that Barry discussed. However, despite the fact that none of our classmates are homeless or starving (in the sense of true poverty), I have found the principles of mercy ministry easy to apply. Barry emphasized meeting people's needs, rather than simply doling out money, and people on campus have plenty of needs. If you look around, someone in your class might need to borrow a pencil or a sheet of paper. In painting class last week, one of my classmates had accidentally purchased tubes of watercolor instead of oils, so I gave him a squirt of my paint. Situations like that are ubiquitous wherever there are people, and as Christians, we should be the first to step up and help.
On Saturday evening after the conference, some of the Grand Rapids people gave us a tour of the city. I was surprised at how beautiful it was. I had biked through part of it on the way to Calvin, but we had taken the non-scenic route to avoid traffic, and had only seen ordinary looking banks and gas stations. (I only remember the bank because that is where we congregated prior to our triumphant parade onto campus). However, downtown Grand Rapids is quite an extraordinary city indeed! The architecture was exceptionally beautiful, and fine dining, one-of-a-kind coffee shops, and luxurious hotels lined the streets. I was impressed by how supportive of the arts the city seemed to be. The art museum was quite impressive, although we were not able to go inside because it had already closed for the day. Peeping in through the windows, we were able to just barely descry magnificent works by Frank Stella.
Another impressive sight to see in Grand Rapids is a magnificent sculpture by Alexander Calder. Large and solid-colored in a vibrant red, it struck me of typical of Calder's work. If I remember correctly what the GR people said, I believe Calder donated the fine structure to the city.
A third point of interest in Grand Rapids is an immense tire swing. Surrounded on every side by government buildings and all the surveillance cameras that come with them, the tire swing is purportedly the safest spot in downtown. Due to its palatial size, we were able to fit six or eight of us on at a time.
We all learned a great deal, and were challenged by Barry's talks. However, most of us don't encounter much poverty on Purdue's campus, and therefore find it difficult to truly apply some of the things that Barry discussed. However, despite the fact that none of our classmates are homeless or starving (in the sense of true poverty), I have found the principles of mercy ministry easy to apply. Barry emphasized meeting people's needs, rather than simply doling out money, and people on campus have plenty of needs. If you look around, someone in your class might need to borrow a pencil or a sheet of paper. In painting class last week, one of my classmates had accidentally purchased tubes of watercolor instead of oils, so I gave him a squirt of my paint. Situations like that are ubiquitous wherever there are people, and as Christians, we should be the first to step up and help.
On Saturday evening after the conference, some of the Grand Rapids people gave us a tour of the city. I was surprised at how beautiful it was. I had biked through part of it on the way to Calvin, but we had taken the non-scenic route to avoid traffic, and had only seen ordinary looking banks and gas stations. (I only remember the bank because that is where we congregated prior to our triumphant parade onto campus). However, downtown Grand Rapids is quite an extraordinary city indeed! The architecture was exceptionally beautiful, and fine dining, one-of-a-kind coffee shops, and luxurious hotels lined the streets. I was impressed by how supportive of the arts the city seemed to be. The art museum was quite impressive, although we were not able to go inside because it had already closed for the day. Peeping in through the windows, we were able to just barely descry magnificent works by Frank Stella.
Another impressive sight to see in Grand Rapids is a magnificent sculpture by Alexander Calder. Large and solid-colored in a vibrant red, it struck me of typical of Calder's work. If I remember correctly what the GR people said, I believe Calder donated the fine structure to the city.
A third point of interest in Grand Rapids is an immense tire swing. Surrounded on every side by government buildings and all the surveillance cameras that come with them, the tire swing is purportedly the safest spot in downtown. Due to its palatial size, we were able to fit six or eight of us on at a time.
~All images have been pirated without permission from Mark Jurries II's Facebook album "Conference Day 2009"~
Jessica 10:07 PM