serve - tamara lloyd

15th August 2011 by MORE

Hey, my name is Tamara Lloyd. This year for the first time I was given the opportunity to attend S.T.U.M.P (Short Term Urban Mission Project). S.T.U.M.P runs for a week during the school holidays. Throughout the camp people get to live in the building at Street Level and serve the community of Sydney.

On this trip I was challenged to pray as well as to help and support the hurting people in our backyard community of Sydney. On this trip you get to talk, eat and pray for and with the homeless, the mentally unwell, and the people including children living at risk.

On this trip we went on a Street Walk where we got to see sex workers, homeless people and bouncers all in there own environment. I was angered by this. The thing I was most passionate about was the Pimps sitting in their car watching the girls work – it made me want slash their car tyres. I have no idea what it must be like to be controlled like that but it was sickening to even think about it.

I was then challenged when we got back Street Level. Christ calls us to love all people, not just the ones who are easy to love but the pimps in their cars as well as the people in our lives who have personally done wrong to us. This was a BIG challenge for me and I slowly felt my anger and hate go away as I started to pray for them.

The next night some of us Stumpers went out and as I saw the homeless on the street I felt peace and saw Jesus lying next to them. He was keeping them safe, protecting them from this world we live in where people look down on them, when really, we’re all the same in Jesus’ eyes.

I came back from this week realising that everyone deserves love, and we as Christians’ are called to love not to judge in every situation, no matter how bad that person seems. It has given me a new at look on everything I do and has given me more patience in my own life to deal with the little things like that person in your class who is super annoying. I’m not called to avoid her and keep out of her road. I’m called to love her.

Comments

Christine Canty

August 23, 2011 at 7:38pm

Hi Tamara, Great to read about what you have been up to.God is using you in an awesome way. Think of you often and pray that you are having an awesome time at Youth Leadership school. God bless. Chris

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