.
Loving Wholeheartedly.
by
Emily Stanewich
.
 During
the spring of 2016, my love story with Detroit
began. I had just gone on my first Urban Encounter
in the renaissance city and was blown away by how
raw and vulnerable everything and every person
was. When I prayed with total strangers, they
seemed to pour their heart out to me with such
ease and such grace. The people of Detroit I met
on that trip were simply unapologetic and real. I
admired the how eloquent each and every testimony
was that I heard. I was inspired by the genuine
humility of people I had the opportunity to speak
to. No one attempted to hide the suffering both
they and the city had experienced. After that
trip, I felt the Lord place a longing for Detroit
in my heart. My heart’s desire for this city
started off small and convenient, however it would
blossom dramatically over the course of the next
year.
Within my studies of Urban and Regional Planning
at Michigan State University, I have declared an
informal cognate discipline of city
revitalization. I’m fascinated by social science
and the study of people and would love to use what
I learn to help people in urban areas strengthen
their communities and restore the unique beauty of
their cities. Due to Detroit’s close proximity to
East Lansing and significant impact on the
development of urban planning, it became a
prominent case study we have used in most of my
classes. This made my heart swell even greater for
the city. I couldn’t get enough of documentaries,
history books, heck even city almanacs if they
were centered around the City of Detroit.
As fall of 2016 rolled around, the Lord had
developed my desire for Detroit into a call that
would not go unnoticed. During that time I prayed
to the Lord about my desire to serve in Detroit
Summer Outreach (DSO). I asked Him to renew this
desire if it was His will for me to spend my next
summer in Detroit or transform it if He had
another path in mind. I waited earnestly for a
sign and ended up being offered an internship in
the city that I would commute to one day a week. I
was overjoyed at the prospect of spending more
time in Detroit but soon discovered that the tasks
I completed while working in a small Midtown
office did not resemble the service and
interaction with community members I had in mind.
I still craved more of Detroit which led me to
finally apply for DSO.
This summer, I fell head-over-heels in love with
Detroit. You can’t truly fall for something unless
you delve deeper to uncover what’s below the
surface. I needed to discover the good, the bad
and the ugly before I could love the ‘real’
Detroit. I didn’t want a sugarcoated version of
the city and DSO allowed me to dive head first
into the rawness Detroit has to offer. This past
week I had the most eye-opening experience of my
time in DSO. I had the opportunity to assist
Sister Judy pass out lunches around the Eastside
of Detroit which truly humbled me. Through
this eye-opening experience, I watched as my love
story with Detroit had come full-circle in order
to teach me a lesson in humility that I sorely
needed. I came to Detroit to serve and to love but
found that I was served, loved, and taught more
than I was ever capable of giving. The Lord
blessed me with countless meaningful encounters
that striped my empathy down to its core and
taught me what it means to love wholeheartedly.
Through the Lord’s grace, I came to know Detroit
in an intimate way this summer and I look forward
to falling deeper in love with the city and its
people each and every day.
Source:
YouthWorksDetroit.tumbler.com.
Used with permission.
To
learn more about YouthWorks-Detroit
visit their web
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