a man named sue

“So what kind of place is this?” asked Sue.

“This is a church office.” I replied.

“Oh, what kind of church is it?”

“We’re a presbyterian church.”

“Oh, I’m a presbyterian.”

“Really?”

“Well, I haven’t been to church in a very long time.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I guess mainly my lifestyle.”

Sue had stopped into my office looking for a phone to use. After failing to find a ride, declining my offers of something to eat or drink, leaving the office and then returning later to try another number, our conversation began this way.

Sue was very open about the particular lifestyle he felt prevented him from attending church. In many ways he couldn’t help but be open about it since he very literally wore many aspects of his lifestyle for all to see. Sue is a 40-year-old, transvestite, male prostitute who is heavily addicted to Meth. The scars of his addiction stand out almost as much as the fake breasts and women’s clothing.

Sue left home around age 13 to escape an abusive father and has spent the last 27 years living on and off the streets, selling himself not just to fund an addiction but also to survive. “I’m not getting any younger and I know I can’t continue living this way for long,” was the conclusion that Sue shared with me. We then discussed whether what he was doing could really be considered living at all.

I tried to assure Sue that God is not waiting for him to clean his act up before He’ll accept him. We read the story of the Prodigal Sons in Luke 15:11-32 together and I tried to explain to Sue that both sons in the story were lost, the immoral one and the moral one, both the one with the "good" lifestyle and the bad, and yet the Father was eager to embrace both, regardless of lifestyle, and receive them back into loving relationship. With tear in eye, Sue smiled. He understood and appreciated this truth, but confessed he wasn’t ready to return home and was still satisfied by the embrace of those who would use him rather than the One who would love him.

Our conversation then turned to other daily life issues. Struggles with addiction, impending court cases, and estrangement from family and friends. We said our goodbyes, I shook Sue’s hand and invited him to stop by anytime.

“So what kind of place is this?” asked Sue.

“This is a church office.” I replied.

I’m hoping that by the end of our conversation Sue saw it as more than that though. I hope he saw it as place of refuge, safety, and grace. I hope I see Sue again.

goal

I know everyone is waiting for me to put up a new post saying, "Here's the new Scott kid!" This however is not that post because the new Scott kid has not arrived yet, much to Brooke's discomfort.

Last night I was doing some searching and came across the video below which sums up succinctly and creatively what we are striving for with City Presbyterian Church. If any of you were wondering what the goal of planting a new church in Auckland is, here ya go.

sophia's nightly routine

Our nightly routine with Sophia is get bathed, get lotioned, get dressed for bed, read stories, pray, go to sleep. During the getting lotioned and dressed bit of that routine we usually have some music playing in the background. The following video tells the rest of that story. It's a bit long but I figure the grandparents will appreciate it even if the rest of you turn it off halfway through.

The song on the video is one that she loves. When her grandpa visited last year he introduced Sophia to Harry Belafonte and she's now a big fan.

extremely delayed post-stateside reflections

So apparently I forgot once again that I have a blog. I've been meaning to post on here for awhile but have been behind in several actual responsibilities and generally have been just a bit tired, so blogging has been at the bottom of the list.

Anyway, since returning from the States I've been meaning to share some observations/reflections of being back in the U.S. after a year and a half in Auckland.

Funny: The first full day I was in the States I was sitting at a cafe before a meeting trying to do some reading. I say "trying" because I was extremely distracted. Every time I started getting into my book I'd hear someone talk and then look up thinking, "Hey, there's an American in here" only to realise everyone in there was American. This scene repeated itself several times.

Awesome: It was nice to be able to buy some reasonably priced books, CD's, clothing, etc. You really don't appreciate how cheap things in the States are until you spend a significant amount of time elsewhere. I packed my suitcase inside another one on the way there but came home with two extremely full pieces of luggage.

Absurd: Why do so many Americans still drive Hummers? Seriously?

Eye-Opening: While sitting at a different cafe on a different day I suddenly realised how loud Americans on average can tend to be, particularly in public conversations. That's not to say there's never any loud conversation at cafes in Auckland. On average though Kiwi's are much more reserved in their public volume and expressiveness. Realising this really made me think about how I'm perceived here and how much my manner of speaking may have changed already. No answers there, just curious.

Annoying: Having a pocket full of pennies and nickels. These coins are so pointless and such a waste of time. Along with this I'd include $1 bills. Having a $1 coin is so much more sensible and cost-efficient.

There were obviously other thoughts but these are some that stuck out in my memory. Overall my three weeks back in the States was good but I was quite ready to come home see Brooke and Sophia again.