The Bridge: Doing the Impossible Thing

A story of our calling to reach the LGBT in Hillcrest.....

Many of you have heard me say that I feel called to build a bridge to the lost in the LGBTQ community. You also probably know that Esther and I moved to Hillcrest to do this very thing. But you may not know why the bridge became a large symbol in my calling to reach the lost and how this relates to Hillcrest, so I thought I’d share the story.

It was in the beginning of 2011 where I came to the place of surrendering the final thing I was holding onto in my life, my career. I was working at Trader Joe’s and felt the Lord call me to quit because I wasn’t living my value system. I was working 3 jobs and highly focused on paying off my debts (not a bad thing in of itself, but I don’t believe neglecting community or calling is worth that). So, I was thinking about quitting, knowing I would be leaving my summer job and a measure of security. Basically, I was considering leaving to finally search out what God wanted me to do with my life. I remember thinking, here is my life God where do you want me to go? Do I start an LGBTQ group at my church, pursue a Master’s in Biology to teach, join Intervarsity staff, start a medical professional school, or go to seminary? I remember taking several months to pray about what I was going to do long term for Jesus. So, I took a jump. I quit my TJ s job and said I wouldn’t be coming back to UCSD for the following school year to TA. Instead, I started pressing in to IV staff applications and exploring how I was going to seek Jesus’ Kingdom as a first priority (Mathew 6:33). Through a kaleidoscope of different choices, I ended up being led to go back to the campus to see people reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That period of time trying to figure out how I would give my life to Jesus for the long term was a slow decision making process and in it is where God spoke to me through a dream. This dream has begun to resound even now in this next chapter after the campus.

One night, I dreamt I was standing on a bridge surrounded by people in trader Joe’s uniforms. I remember thinking how strange this was because I hadn’t worked at Trader Joe’s for several months at this point. I didn’t have any idea what this would mean later and how this bridge would tie in to reality so I just filed this away as a strange dream. Later that summer, as I was looking for work I would be reminded of this dream and see the Living God interacting with me again.

It was the end of summer in 2011 and I was accepted as a provisional employee with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, but I would need to fundraise around $18000 to even get my first pay check and be formally accepted as a staff worker. Even more, my bank account was nearing empty. I needed a job, and I needed a job fast. So, I thought maybe Trader Joe’s would take me back. I was turned down at my old store but I found another one in the area on University. I didn’t realize this one was in Hillcrest but the employee on the phone got me excited about the potential of a job at the store. I told him I was an employee in the past and although they weren’t hiring, he told me they are always look for quality applicants. I filled out an application and headed out to turn in my application there that same day. So, I am driving down into the area and I realize the store was actually in Hillcrest. As I pull into the parking lot and find the store, I see this bridge right behind the store and it looks exactly like the bridge in my dream. I was immediately ecstatic and thinking I have a job coming pretty quick (as a side note, this was a time in my life where the Lord was speaking to me through prophetic dreams and so I was extra enthusiastic and excited). Naturally, one of the first things I do is check out this bridge.

On the bridge I noticed many quirks about it including one quote that has especially inspired me. On the bridge are so many different quotes from eastern and western philosophers, from social justice heroes like Martin Luther King and Eleanor Roosevelt, and even definitions of the word, bridge. It has been Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote that has struck me and challenged me. It reads, “You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.” At that time, I thought there was a certain depth to that quote but I had no faculty to understand it, so I just left that bridge to go turn my application in. I was still full of excitement because I thought I was getting a job certain that God was in this and gonna make it happen. Furthermore, I believed and believe still it would be a great way to interact with people from Hillcrest and build relationships with them in hopes to share the gospel. Yet, God never gave me that job there. I turned in an application then and followed up every week for about 2 months and I even turned in an application 2 years later when my wife and I moved into the area for the first time. I just recently received a letter from them saying they are choosing to pursue other candidates. I believe God is telling me something more than the bridge is meant to mark a stream of financial provision at one of my favorite stores.

 

God has used this bridge as a point of encouragement for me. He has encouraged me both through providing an apartment right next to this bridge in Hillcrest and also through how I perceive He is speaking to Esther and I through the symbolism and Roosevelt quote on the Bridge.

When Esther and I were looking and praying for our first place we were still deciding if we were going to live and do ministry in Hillcrest in our first year of marriage. What we received back were confirmations from the Lord that He wanted us in Hillcrest. Although there are several I just want to share a couple here. First, we have seen financial provision in our new place. Our current landlord gave us 9 days in our new place for free and even brought our deposit down a couple hundred dollars. We really like our new place which also has several things we prayed for like storage, key appliances, and parking. Second, we see the Lord connecting us to neighbors who we believe He wants us to be in relationship with to share His love.

The Lord has also used the bridge to speak into this journey of building a bridge to the LGBTQ community. The Eleanor Roosevelt quote has been challenging and encouraging me to do the thing I think I cannot do. I think that “thing” is the impossible task of reaching LGBTQ identifying people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The task of inviting people into community with Jesus and His followers is no small thing (just ask the leaders of the once flourishing and now obsolete Exodus International. Once, the biggest ministry of the Body of Christ who were reaching out to those in the LGBTQ community and training the church). What I am coming to see is that the formidability of this task is multi-faceted. Here are some of the barriers and audacious goals of ours:

1. I see that we need a large amount of people to build this bridge to the LGBTQ people.
2. We need to not compromise the truth of homosexuality as sin.
3. We need to offer the LGBTQ community the same opportunity to follow Jesus imperfectly, just like every other believer or seeker.
4. People in the community are going to have to encounter Jesus in order to leave their community, which perhaps is the first place they ever have felt they belonged.
5. The church is dividing over the issue and fairly ineffective at this point at sharing the full gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom.

If ever there was an impossible task, it could be reaching out to the LGBTQ people and seeing them lay down their lives here for better lives with Jesus. If you don’t see how formidable and seemingly impossible this task is, then I would say, do your research. If you do see how formidable this task is, then take heart. Jesus said, “…with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mathew 19:26)   and he was challenging His disciples doubt about the inability to see the salvation of the rich.

God has called Esther and I to do the thing we think we cannot do. We actually could never do this without Jesus, Holy Spirit, Abba and also the Body. He has called us to fully yield and rely on Him and that is what we are seeking to continually do. With the help of God’s leadership, guidance, power, and His people we are going to do the impossible. God-willing, we are going to build this bridge.