Yesterday late afternoon I had an opportunity to go support Janelle, our first ever Asha’s Refuge college Intern. She attends Rhodes college and works with our preschoolers in our Kindergarten Readiness program as a lead teachers. I first got to know Janelle after she requested an interview in order to add to her research regarding the success of refugee resettlement and their American acclimation processes in Memphis, TN. Our interview meeting went really well. I could tell there was an immediate like mindedness and connection with myself and Janelle and was hopeful to work with her more in the future.

Janelle is in her Senior year and had to deliver a large speech to her class. She chose to talk about the refugee situation in Memphis and how the local churches would be best to be involved to help the difficult situations surrounding successful refugee resettlement. Janelle spoke of this idea of a “Messier Church”. She struggled to put words into the heart of the message she was trying to express, but I am pretty sure I understood her completely. She is actually trying to put together words to something I’ve been trying to put words to for a couple of years now and it excites me that she is feeling it and getting it at such a younger age. (I am not sure you can always put words to what God is doing in your heart.). I know God is working with her and I am excited that He is growing in her passion and such a great love for refugees who are in vulnerable situations. He isn’t only growing her heart for refugees but for the American Church. The Church as a whole.

The Messy Church is a church willing to open itself to people, cultures and experiences that are much different than what they may have become familiar with. They are open to what the Spirit of God may be doing by mixing its members with all different kinds of people, “messy” people. There is so much growing towards God we can each do if we will allow our self to be “uncomfortable” and “outside the box” of what we are accustom to. Often times the very people we think we are going to help, end up helping us. The Messy Church is a church not afraid to be challenged. It’s a church willing to freely open up the grip of its hands and let God lead the way. The Messy Church isn’t so tightly bound that it cannot find room to welcome the ones that don’t look like, talk like or respond like the rest of the church. The Messy Church is flexible but guided by the strong biblical values, principles and truths of Jesus. The Messy Church will openly accept the poor, the disadvantaged, refugees or foreigners and will begin to understand that they CAN learn from someone that is not classified the same way as they are.

I’m not sure what all Janelle has in her heart and mind regarding The Messier Church and its importance for us to have churches willing to be messy in order to make positive and lasting Kingdom kind of impacts, but I like where she’s going with it. It’s exciting to see how God has worked with our volunteers (including myself) to see how we have grown and learned in the messiness of refugee work. We want to continue walking as Jesus did as we serve refugees in our city and sometimes we recognize that it will be have to be messy. Things are not always going to happen as we might expect them to. And we will expect to be blessed by the unexpected with God.