I've spent a year here at Barnabus, learning the ins and outs of the Dwell project. There are many faces I’ve become familiar with, and yet so many new faces are still new. However as I write this today my second to last day, it really dawned on me that I have had the oppportunity to do something to make a positive change in people’s lives, whether small or otherwise. As I was walking down the sidewalk  a group of our guys shouted me over to inquire if this was my last week, which I said yes, and one of them thanked me for all I do and for taking the time to be a human with them. The others nodded in agreement and we had a short heart to heart about how, at the end of the day, no matter who we are, we all have thoughts and emotions, whether we choose to share those with each other or not.

 

So it looks like the word has gotten out and so some ask about my leaving casually, other ask with sadness, other just want to wish me well. I realize more deeply now that I’ll miss this corner of Manchester where I have been watching people from all walks of life, faiths, and nations come together to share a table and look out for one another.

 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Matthew 25:40

 

As I have shared previously when I live in America, I worked at a similar ministry for two years, between 2021 and 2023, and this verse reminded me of how important and dear to His heart are these ones. That we make sure that the people who have met hardship in our communities are the most looked after and taken care of. So much so, that He would identify Himself with them. I believe in the hope to inspire us, who love Jesus, to love them as much as we love Him. In this most recent season of ministry, I have really felt the Lord emphasizing to remember that the Beacon is His house, and when we welcome our guests in, we are simply welcoming Jesus into His own home.  When you see each guest that way, you feel the weight of their circumstances all the more, because even without knowing anything about them or having met them before, you already know you love them because you love Jesus, and you only have to ask, “if this were Jesus, how could I help?” To realize that love can be as simple as being a listening ear, or quiet company, or a serving hand:  Sometimes that may include making sure someone’s sandwich is cut into triangles instead of rectangles. They may have raised it as a disgruntled complaint, but you can hear it is a cry for comfort in something familiar that, to them, resembles love, patience, and consideration of the little things that mean a lot to them.

 

Among many goals that Dwell seeks to achieve, one is to look after people’s spiritual wellbeing, which affects other areas of their life, such as mental health, purpose, and identity. We do this with the Holy Bible and Jesus at the center of it all. We not only get to serve Jesus, we also get to be His hands and feet. We get to act as Jesus serving Jesus. This attitude surpasses just this demographic alone, because anyone of us could be in need tomorrow. This is a sample of what it looks like to look after each other in community. All of us can make wellness checks to our neighbors, to help them when they need help, to share in their traditions when they have nobody else to share those with: to love one another as Christ loved us.

 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35