A Lasting Impact

I was surprised to hear my name called from across the parking lot of the grocery store.  “Hey, Dr. Sampson!”  I recognized him right away as one of the troubled teens that we had worked with for years at the Samaritan Health Center.  Our nurse team had met with Eric frequently for months, to talk about his weight issues as well as his mood and outlook on life.  He would talk about the “dark thoughts” he would often have, and he would listen to music and draw pictures with dark themes.

Over time, the nurses talked to him about the Lord, telling him that life does not have to be full of darkness.  At first, he was resistant to the counsel that there is light in this world, and that God loves us.  It took months and months of meetings with him and talks with our nurses, but you could see that he was starting to change.  Eventually, at one of the sessions, Eric allowed our staff to pray for him. It seemed like a burden had been lifted from him, and he had grown a big smile.  He wasn’t focused on darkness anymore. That’s the power of the gospel at work.

Since his graduation from high school a few years ago, I had not seen Eric.  Then, all of a sudden, he was standing there in front of me in the parking lot, asking about Samaritan and telling me that he was doing well and was excited to have a job at the grocery store. He wanted me to greet all of the nurses who had befriended him and took the time to care for him.  And even though he is still working on his weight issues, he seemed so content and happy.

That short encounter was priceless; it was great to see the ongoing impact of our clinic on the youth of our community.

– Dr. Don Sampson, Clinical Director, Samaritan Health Center

Can God Use YOU?

Can God use you?

Well, of course He can; there is nothing He can’t do. But, what I mean is: Do you think you are worthy of being used by God? Are you good enough? Skilled enough?

Often, when we are asked to serve the Lord in any way, our kneejerk response might be: “Oh, I can’t do that; I’d just mess up, and that would reflect badly on God.” So you don’t mentor a girl or boy… or teach a Bible lesson … or read with students … or volunteer at a homeless shelter … the list goes on and on.

However, what I believe God wants us to understand is that – because of His unconditional love for us, and because He chooses to use His people as His own hands and feet – all we really have to be is available enough. He can and will empower and equip for the rest. And, often regardless of our skill level, when we (and our insecurities) get out of the way, the result will be a beautiful thing.

I was re-taught this lesson (I need to hear it over and over) recently, in the context of offering my gifts as a musician. After having played drums for more than a decade at Walnut Hill Community Church, I stopped attending that church in 2013 when I moved to Arizona for two years. I didn’t touch a drum set for more than 18 months and, rusty as an old nail, had just started playing again when I found myself back in Connecticut and at Walnut Hill. Suffice it to say that, while I was gone, the technical quality of the musicianship had increased a notch or two, but I had gone the other way.

I wasn’t good enough.

So I didn’t play drums. Not for a long time. But since it had always been a source of such joy, and the place where I could give this God-given gift back to my Creator, I soon began itching to get back behind the drum kit – just in a less technically advanced environment. Because, surely, I would never again be “good enough for the main stage.” I began playing at our church’s smaller campuses, where I wasn’t required to use the technology they used at the main campus.  And, let’s be real: at a smaller church, fewer people would hear me mess up when I undoubtedly would.

But then a remarkable thing happened. People began to tell me that they were blessed by my contribution to the worship set. Just last week, a sweet gentleman who described himself as a long-time musician told me that my playing during the worship time literally moved him to tears. He praised my skill as a drummer.

Tears!? My skill? I am rusty. Rough, even, when a drummer needs to be smooth. I made mistakes … in the very song he said he loved the most. Is it possible, then, that God did something with what happened between the millisecond my sticks hit the drums and cymbals and when the sound hit that man’s ears? Something that transcended “skill” and went straight to “heart”? He could have. He might have.

But the bottom line is that my perfection (whether it was there, or it wasn’t) didn’t matter. Not one bit. Because when you love and serve the Lord – in whatever capacity you are called – and your passion to serve Him compels you, and your heart is in it, He takes your imperfections and makes them useful. Yes, He uses your offering to impact others. You are always good enough for God to use you.

– Lisa Siedlecki, Jericho Director of Communications

What Does It Take to Be a Mentor

by Rev. Horace Hough, Director, Pathways Danbury

For the better part of two decades, the men who serve at Pathways Danbury – the founding ministry of what would become Jericho Partnership – have been dedicated to changing the lives of at-risk youth and impacting the local high school drop-out rate through mentoring.

They’ve been successful because Pathways mentors commit to fostering a long-term relationship with their mentees – so that they can get real, go deep and be authentic.  Leaders in mentoring have discovered that such a relationship is the best way to affect significant change – the sort of change that takes a boy off the city streets and, eventually, puts him in a cap and gown.

At Pathways, that’s exactly what’s happened, as 98% of the boys who have been mentored for four or more years have graduated from high school. A large percentage of those have gone on to higher education while others have transitioned successfully into the marketplace. Mentoring works.

So what does it mean to be a mentor?  And what does it require?

Simply put, a mentor is someone who has a desire to invest of himself … to give the gift of his time, his compassion and his friendship to a boy who may not have such a relationship in his life.

The qualifications are simple:

• Be accessible to your mentee
• Be willing to listen
• Possess warmth, openness and patience
• Allow Christ’s love to flow through you, as an example of a Christ-centered Man of Honor

Responsibilities include:

• Be a friend, advocate, coach and listener to a mentee on personal, school, career and other issues
• Meet with the mentee a minimum of one to two hours per week, for at least two years
• Participate in training and supervisory meetings with Pathways staff
• Participate in special group events and activities

Being a mentor is about showing up, being present, and showing interest in someone who could greatly benefit from such an investment. And loving them as Jesus would. It’s not always easy, but the benefits of being a mentor greatly outweigh the challenges and sacrifices that might become bumps in the road.

Imagine seeing tangible evidence that you’ve helped transform a life. Imagine what it feels like to share your wisdom and experience with someone who faces more challenges than most people could imagine. Imagine seeing a mentee donning a cap and gown and getting a diploma. Imagine what impact that THAT– multiplied by other mentors/mentees – can have on a community.

The Impoverished One

Recently I came across a video that has stuck with me.  It was of an elderly gentleman in an impoverished country who sits on the side of the road with a scale, offering to take peoples weight for a small sum of money.  Recently, his scale had been broken so he was not able to make his living.

In the video, a younger man approaches and asks the gentleman about his situation, perhaps having heard about his broken scale.  The gentleman, so humble in spirit, explained that yes it was true, but that by a miracle of God the scale was working again; it was good to work hard to earn his wages for life’s necessities. The younger man, moved by compassion, then steps on the scale, asking the older man what it would cost to take his weight.  The elderly man gives him a price, but the younger man offers him exponentially more. The man, overwhelmed and humbled, at first refused to take the gift. His reason was thought-provoking.  He simply said, “oh please, don’t make me greedy.” Oh my goodness, what a powerful request.  With all that this gift could bring to him, his main concern was to not become greedy.  What a gut check!

So much of my own internal struggles point to my own greediness.  In relationships, with finances, my physical appearance, time, etc.  But there is such incredible freedom as I think about these areas from a “please don’t make me greedy” perspective.

In relationships: With this perspective, I’m less inclined to be jealous of another’s talents, resources and treasures.  So what if they are skinnier, prettier, have a better home, car, “life,” etc.  Without greed, I can celebrate them and their gifts and be less likely to judge their motives and intentions. Often, it’s easier to look at myself (how unique or special I am) in relation to others, using these things as a measurement. But if I’m not as concerned about them being at the core of how I feel about myself, I can enjoy the relationships as the gifts they are.

With finances: This perspective helps me to be more content.  I have what I need.  Actually, more than I will ever need!  And while we desire to move to a new home in the next year, this perspective helps me to not be so overwhelmed with what that will take or where we will ultimately end up living.  I want to be wise and simple in my request for a place to call home, where friends and family can gather and share life together.

With time: This perspective stops me in my tracks. No more rushing to and fro, wanting only to cram a few more things into the day! I’m reminded of the scripture that says who, by worrying, can add a single hour or even minute to their life?!? So for all the time I spend rushing my kids along, trying to take on multiple tasks at once (rendering them all sub-par), or just downright fretting over how it will get done, it only points to my greediness of how I want my life to appear. Yes, there is a time for all things, I just don’t need to initiate them all simultaneously in an effort to get more done!

I am so grateful for this gentle reminder of where my heart is with the Lord as I consider the greed that so easily infiltrates these areas of my life.  Instead of greedily seeking “more,” I want for my contentment to be found fully in Him.  Everything else is simply icing on the cake.

– by a Jericho staff member

Pastor's Corner: Clive Calver

A Dozen Years On, Departing Pastor Sees Jericho’s “Glorious Result”

Sometimes it’s good to acknowledge the fact that we can be wrong! I well remember arriving in Danbury nearly 12 years ago and meeting up with Bill Beattie to discuss some of the work that was going on with Pathways Danbury. He shared the dreams he had for a future Jericho and explained the ministry that was going on with mentoring teenage guys within the local Danbury community. I famously uttered the words, “This sounds great … but it will never work!”

You see, Bill and I have something in common. He originated on the streets of Philadelphia, and I originated on the streets of London. In other words, we were both city kids. My experience said that mentoring in the way that he was describing it would never work. Bill knew in his heart that it would.

History has certainly proved him to be correct. It’s also proved him right on a number of other things. You have only to look at the ministry on Spring Street, the work going on among the homeless through Good Samaritan Mission, the local churches becoming more socially active, the exciting growth of The Academy providing education for those for whom that would have been such a challenge, the work of the Samaritan Health Center, the way Hopeline, Young Life, Athletes of Christ, Amos House and Bethany Christian Services have each served the community, and then of course Pathways Danbury and Naomi, the mentoring counterpart for girls. It’s incredible to see what God has done.

Just from one little acorn, a mighty oak can grow. And, oh, how that has happened in Danbury! Was it through just one man? Of course it wasn’t. It was through so many people, so many churches, all those volunteers — and at the heart of it some people who committed their lives to seeing God do the impossible. The Jericho Partnership has been the glorious result.

One of my great disappointments about leaving this area is going to be the danger of losing touch with one of the most exciting Christian ministries in the U.S. today.

After more than 11 years as Senior Pastor at Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Rev. Dr. Clive Calver is moving on, relocating to North Carolina and going back to global ministry work through World Relief and other organizations.

Art by Bryn: "It's What We're About"

Filling nearly an entire wall, the painting is one of the first things you see when you enter the Good Samaritan Center.  First, it catches your eye. Then, when you look a little more closely, it captures your heart… and the heart of what takes place every day at the homeless shelter.

The stunning painting, by New Milford artist Bryn Gillette, was dedicated last week at a gathering at the shelter, which is run by Good Samaritan Mission, a Jericho Partner Ministry. Those who use the shelter, as well as men who live in transitional housing at the mission, were a vast majority of the audience. The image, showing a man knelling over a needy traveler and pouring out healing and love, was held up as a beautiful depiction of GMS’s mission.

“Sometimes, people come into the shelter, and they don’t necessarily know you and what you do… so what better example could we have than this painting?” said Mark Grasso, GSM’s director. “This painting sums up what we’re about. As Christian believers, we believe that everyone is our neighbor. We’re not supposed to decide who our neighbor is. We’re not supposed to decide for whom we have compassion.  So this painting sums that up, and it also gives people something to remember us by.”

Bryn shared the inspiration for his creation, which he painted several weeks earlier during a day of worship at the Center.

“I feel deeply humbled and not worthy of special recognition for a painting,” he said. “It’s truly my joy. When the spirit touches me, as He will touch each one of us uniquely, this is what I do. I see images… So this is my sweet spot, to come and really soak in the Spirit of what this place means and what the Lord is doing here, and capture that in an image.”

Bryn said that Hal Robbins, the shelter’s manager, “did an incredible job cultivating a day-long environment of worship, prayer, and teaching that provided fertile soil for the painting to naturally grow.  In the few hours I spent painting live in their space, I was surrounded by participants, teachers, testimonies, and worship, all centered around the essence of being a true and self-sacrificing neighbor to those in need.

“I was so thrilled to allow my act of painting to be a physical manifestation of that very posture, and I based the imagery around Jesus’ classic parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10. The image started with the image of “Zion” in the top left, and the descent into the brokenness of life and human choices from those passing by an “enemy and foreigner” in need.

Bryn continued, “I tried to emphasize the humanity and physical presence of need that was lovingly confronted by the unlikely generous Samaritan.  As the tale reads left to right, the descending road continues to the village where the victim was housed and provided for at the inn.  The colors and sense of light around the figures are meant to convey the collapsing space between our physical actions and the spiritual Kingdom, brought near by our choices to love the Lord with our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves.

“May this image pull that same Spirit from heaven to earth, standing as a permanent testament at the Good Samaritan; praying without words: ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'”

An Unexpected Lessson of Faith

Sometimes, God shows Himself in unexpected ways … even in a roll of the “word dice.”

At least, that’s how it was with Ashley Evans, a volunteer Reading Buddy at South Street School, on a recent morning. Coming off a stressful day – when everything seemed to be going wrong and the issues were piling up at home – Ashley was playing a word game with her student.

She shared what happened next in a note to Jericho President Carrie L. Amos:

“While playing games with *Jennifer (a third-grader) making sentences out of random words, this sentence came to me and just made a huge impact for me, and the stress I was dealing with,” Ashley wrote.

The sentence she crafted: LET LOVE BE OUR WORK.

“It was just a silly game where you shake the dice up and try and make sentences out of the words,” Ashley explained later. “With each roll the die, “love” kept appearing, and when it was my turn to make the sentence that is when I came up with ‘let love be our work.’ I just really feel like if we make it our work to share our love and the Lord’s love with those around us – and not just work – that is the most important thing we can do.”

Ashley’s note touched Carrie, too. She responded to Ashley’s email with these words: “I’ve reflected on this email for several days – it touched my spirit in such an incredible way. You see, you’ve demonstrated to me the essence of our faith: emptying ourselves of everything that may deter us from serving and allowing Him to fill us with His love so that we can share that same love with others. Thank you for giving yourself away to these kids and for showing up – even when it isn’t easy. Your sweet disposition and servant’s heart is appreciated and is making a difference in the lives of the kids we serve.”

“I love the chance that I get to serve and share love and kindness with these kids by reading with them each week,’ Ashley said, “I hope to make this part of my everyday life.”