Our House, Too

Four junior high girls who participate in our after-school program had been practicing during the week: "Hello. Welcome to Sojourners Neighborhood Center. Please sign the register and fill out a name tag." They were preparing to receive guests for the open house celebrating the completion of the center on Sunday, May 20.

Early in the morning on the day before, I was outside hanging the banner announcing the open house when some people waiting in the food distribution line received their invitations. I heard murmurs of excitement and the remark, "I'm going to be there early!"

As the open house began, two young boys I had found in our tree on Saturday were on the porch. "Can children come?" they asked. "We're scared to come in alone. Will you show us around?" Others arrived saying that they lived across the alley or up the street.

For six years we had lived and worked in this Washington, D.C. neighborhood, Southern Columbia Heights, without a place of our own out of which to do our ministry. On Good Friday of 1983, after a nine-month struggle and wait, we purchased this boarded-up house and began to raise the $70,000 we needed to rehabilitate it (see "A New Home," Sojourners, June-July 1983).

It had been a year of raising funds, making decisions, coordinating volunteers, and working on Saturday paint crews to finish up the renovations. Our office and ministries had to move in last August when only three rooms in the building were complete. We had no inside doors, and the water barely ran. Now it was time to celebrate the completion of the work.

Neighbors who have been involved with us through the years came, along with others we had never met. Tenants and neighborhood leaders of the Southern Columbia Heights Tenants Union and Sojourners Housing Ministry, who had attended various meetings in the building during the past months, came to support the open house. They seemed to also feel a sense of accomplishment, and we heard comments such as, "Look how far we've come!" Several women introduced themselves to others and proudly added, "I'm a member of the mothers' nutrition group."

Many of our guests came from among the 300 families that receive free food each month, and they expressed pleasure at being invited to the party. They stayed a long time, eating and visiting with others. Some neighbors who have been very active in the work, like Doris Knight, who helps supervise the food distribution, found themselves quite naturally helping to host the guests and explain the activities.

Children came—some with parents and some alone. Shardy and Garfield, whom I had met in the tree and on the porch, grew quite comfortable and went around reading name tags and introducing themselves. Plans for summer and fall programs that would open the doors of the center to more children made it a relief to finally be able to respond to the children's inquiries for involvement with a "yes," they too would be able to come soon. At one point, 9-year-old Sharron, who has been coming regularly to the after-school program, looked at me and stated, "This is our house, too, isn't it!"

Jim Wallis offered the opening prayer at the service of dedication. Mrs. Mary Glover, a neighbor and close friend, followed, stating, "I am the one who began the prayer and Bible study here. Let us pray." She offered a simple but eloquent prayer overflowing with thankfulness.

Following a Scripture reading and a spontaneous offering of prayers and testimonies, Naomi Scott led our response at the piano with "This little light of mine ... gonna let it shine all over the neighborhood." The enthusiasm began to mount, and the singing and clapping continued for a long while.

As the time approached for the celebration to come to a close, people slowly filtered out. Verbal exchanges reflected that we were glad to have met, and we will be seeing each other around now.

As I was wandering home after we had put the center back in order, I encountered a couple who had been among our guests. The woman, who appears to have had more than her share of life's struggles, talked on and on about her experience that afternoon. I was moved when she added that she was in tears when they played her favorite song, "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross."

The existence of the neighborhood center has proven to be a turning point in our life and work in this neighborhood. The open house helped to further set the spirit of our presence and relationships here. Our direction is clear: to build our resources so that the ministries are adequate and secure, to nurture the spirit and the relationships that are developing, and to allow the people and events of our neighborhood to continue to shape our lives.

Gayle Turner was a member of Sojourners Community and worked with Sojourners neighborhood ministry when this article appeared.