by Serena Robles – Thursday, February 28, 2013
Imagine this: It's the middle of the semester. Maybe you're all caught up on chapel credit (we go to chapel 3 times a week and are expected to have a certain number of chapel credits met), or maybe there's been one too many exams and you need this hour to nap. Perhaps you're a student looking to go deeper in your faith and/or reach out to your community. That's where LifeGroups come in. LifeGroups are part of NU as a way to earn some chapel credit, but most importantly, they are there to help students engage with each other and dig deeper in their faith.
It is my goal to tell you about Lighthouse.
These people are everywhere. Washington, Seattle, your hometown. They're the people with the ragged and dirty clothes that we often quickly walk past because we don't want to hand out money. They're the people we perceive to have addictions and should be avoided at all costs.
They are the broken and the lost that Jesus sent us to.
One of the LifeGroups I have had the privilege to be a part of (for the past 2 years) and lead is Lighthouse. To put it simply: the goal of Lighthouse is to go into the streets of downtown Seattle and go to the homeless with genuine hearts. Our goal is to love on them intentionally by perhaps buying them coffee from Starbucks or maybe even a meal from McDonald's and talk to them, hear their story, and most importantly share Jesus and pray for them. We do not join any other team, we are a group of students from NU who simply long to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
I wish I could tell you all the experiences I've been blessed to be a part of at Lighthouse, but I'm afraid I might write a novel instead of a short post.
I will admit that Lighthouse does have its good and bad nights. There are nights in which some homeless people don't want anything to do with you and might be plain rude. Yet there are nights in which you're going to meet a soul that wants someone to listen and will allow you to pray for them.
I believe Lighthouse is more than just a LifeGroup to get involved with (side note: EVERYONE should get involved with a LifeGroup at some point). Lighthouse is taking all that we learned about Jesus and who He is and called us to be and applying them to the broken and the lost in our own backyard.
Serena Robles is a Christ-following, book-reading, San Diego grown/Seattle dwelling Psychology major at NU! She’s often found talking to homeless people or dreaming up adventuresome shenanigans. You can peruse her Twitter/Instagram @Serena_Lan.
Posted on Thursday, February 28, 2013 by Serena Robles
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