Singing the song of Spero (I Hope)

This week our partner Pastor Kevin Schutte with the Pathway Community Church shared more about the new Spero Transitional Home for Girls:

When is I hear the word orphan my mind takes me to a far away place with sights, sounds, and language which is much different than my life here in Olathe, KS. It is a place I go to offer service, support and care…

I applaud those who leave their neighborhood to serve and care for orphans in a variety of places throughout the world; indeed a worthy call. When I have volunteered to go over “there” I have the expectation of returning home to my reality and daily rhythms of a safe, predictable life. When I recognize that the orphan is across the street, as I load up on another order of wings and I drop twenty on the latest box office smash, it touches me differently; I can’t leave from this place, this is the place I call home. I can’t behave differently for a few weeks on a mission trip and return to those normal routines. Nope, when I recognize the orphan is right in front of me, then the taste of those wings loses some flavor. I am confronted with choices: ignore it and keep life like it was, offer some occasional help of resources to the less fortunate as I keep a safe distance, or admit that, in some way, I might be, not only part of the solution but part of the problem. My blind eye is no longer shielded because of a confessed ignorance but is blinded because of my own fear, need to control, and belief in an illusion of safety; the safety of thinking that orphans and homeless will not intrude a predictable and ordered world I wish to believe exists.

Pathway is introducing a new ministry that, although small and inevitably flawed, we believe offers hope of a better tomorrow for the orphan in our midst. That hope is being realized with the opening pilot year of The Spero House; Spero sings the song of “I hope”.

The Spero House exists to be a caring community for young adults transitioning out of foster care or homelessness where they will be supported physically, emotionally, and spiritually in reaching their personal goals and developing perseverance, character, and hope on their path to a life of significance. It is our hope to work with them by provide a safe and caring community where their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are nurtured; where support is offered in creating and achieving an individualized personal goal plan in regard to finances, education, employment, and other life skills; where we celebrate and value the uniqueness of each individual.

It is our dream that these life stories with chapters of abuse, abandonment, and despair new stories with chapters of love, care and hope can be written. I hope!

– Pastor Kevin Schutte, Pathway  Community Church

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