Upgrade

Today was officially 'Coach's' last Sunday at Riverside Bible Study. The Christians who meet there organized a lunch for the entire community after our worship time--to say it was very special sounds small. What a cherished clip in the video reel of memory this will always be.

As various families shared the impact 'Coach' had made in their lives I was most struck by what was not said. More powerful than the anecdotes shared was the fact that all these families were together, in one room, sharing a meal. And that we had nothing to do with it. It seems so short a time ago that this was a community full of suspicion of one another--of gossip and crime--and now it truly is a community. That a handful of women, who a year ago were not really allowed out of their homes were now going door to door assigning side dishes and making public speeches. That some of the same people who told us 18 months ago they didn't need or want any of our "Jesus talk" around here, are now Christian brothers and sisters.

I remember how it was at Riverside when this began. The amazement I felt when crowds of kids and even adults would pour out of doorways as they saw Jonathan's truck roll by. How the 1/8 mile drive to exit the property was always a 45 minute trip, because so many people would stop him. I remember our struggle to define what he did out there....(I wish I could  remember who first summed it up like this:) "He's kind of like the principal of the trailer park. When people don't know how to do something, or they have a problem with someone, they talk to 'Coach' and he settles it."

So true.

And these last months it has been so exciting to see him drive away without being stopped. Not that families don't smile and wave--but now the sense is of companions, equals, friends. It makes me so proud that so many of the 'jobs' he used to do are no longer necessary. A school liaison is no longer needed, as relationships have been built between parents and teachers. Emergency bill payment assistance is no longer due to an inability to decipher the bill paying process. Advocacy for fair treatment is not needed for clients who have found a voice to speak up for themselves. Cleaning and caring for the facility is not only a job community members do, but a job community members organize and assign. Tutors and students have relationships independent of 'Coach's' mentor-ship. Bible class teachers are studying and planning their lessons--and ones I call "baby Christians" are proclaiming their desire to be preachers of the word.

I love Jonathan--but could he accomplish all that? No way.

In that moment as people who were so recently strangers poured sodas for each other, and passed hot tortillias down the table--I was so deeply aware of God's transforming power in people's lives. I was so aware of how relationships open hearts to God's truth. How ripe this field is, and how prepared the workers are who will tend it.

A five year old girl--who has taught us much patience--taught me something else today.
She said, "Coach, I am going to miss you. Who is going to be our Coach?"
Jonathan said, "Well, Haci--I think you will be in charge. You will be somebody's coach."

My mom always says our job  in life is to replace ourselves. I used to think that meant replicate ourselves. But now I understand that it means to trade ourselves in on an upgrade. I know that is what is happening at Riverside.

Doña Gabby, the first to become a Christian from Riverside said it best as our worship time concluded: "We will miss you. When you come back there will be more of us here."
AMEN