December 2007, Vera

Dear Family, 

 

One word: COLD!  As much as I love this time of year, I could do with a warmer climate, but alas, I would not want to change my city.  Chester in the winter is wonderful, full of snow days, lawn ornaments, lights, and general good cheer.  As beautiful as winter is, I really enjoy Christmas--the tree, the lights, the gifts, the hot chocolate, the cookies, Eloise at the Plaza, Charlie Brown, Home Alone, and the list could go on and on for a long time and yet be very incomplete.  It could not be a full list if it were missing just one five-letter name.  The lack of five letters would render any Christmas list useless.  Jesus--He sees what is to come; He loves me in my stupidity; He changes my life daily; and last year, Vera’s heart began to soften. 

 

A year ago she was picked up by the cops twice, suspended from school, and she was known for her anger and ever-ready fists.  A year ago she cut classes, cursed people out, and would have to be restrained by the Chester High School security guards.  A year ago Jesus saw what I could not.  A year ago Jesus knew her change would affect others.  A year ago Jesus was patiently working on her heart and ordering the steps He would have her choose.  

 

Vera calls me her “sister,” and I reciprocate the affection.  She is a teen leader at CELEBRATION! and is involved in other weekly activities.  She helps others and is excited to serve.  The love the Lord has put in her heart overflows onto others.  Just the other day she broke up a fight between two guys at school.  She knew one of them, so she grabbed him, and they took a walk to cool down.  She is a different young lady than she was a year ago. 

 

A lot of her transformation took place this past summer while she worked at Harmony Heart Camp.  Her time spent there grew her in ways that may have been difficult in the city.  She spent six weeks encompassed by nature, love, and John 3:16 and 17.  Those two verses were the theme for camp, and they are the theme for transformed lives.   

 

As we live out the Christmas season, please remember to love others as Jesus loves us.  Look for opportunities to express the presence of Jesus in your life, in struggle and in celebration.  And as always, pray.  Pray for peace, new life, and the guidance of the Spirit in my life and in Vera’s life.  Pray that as she continues to grow in Christ, He will use that to affect her peers.   

 

November 2007, men

Dear Family, 

 

As I stare at the blank computer screen, I wonder what to write.  The idea of having nothing to write about rarely ever overtakes my mind, but today is one of those days.  This morning Chester High School was on lockdown due to a shooting a block away; no students were involved, but that event has consumed my thoughts.  My heart continues to be broken for my friends, neighbors, teens, community, and, most of all, the young men of Chester.  I am truly at a loss for words.  I have no one to blame and no way to fix the problem.   

 

I do, however, have a request for all of you who read this:  PRAY.  Specifically, lift up the young men of Chester, intercede on behalf of these men, cry out to the Lord for an opportunity for these men to see His face and not be able to walk away.  Also, ask the Lord to burden the hearts of those He has called into this ministry; ask that He will give them the courage to do what the rich young ruler could not do and what the disciples did--give it all up and follow Jesus into the city. 

 

Those of you who know me well know that I am a passionate young lady and that my fervor for the city does not exceed my fervor for the Lord.   He has laid this issue on the heart of the Chester staff and I desire for your hearts to be burdened for it as well.  If you are willing, please join me on Wednesday, November 28 for a day of prayer.  Do whatever the Lord leads you to do--pray, fast, meet together, or encourage a young man at your church to seek the Lord and not money--just pray.  This letter may come across as emphatic because my heart truly feels the needs and problems of others.  

 

There is nothing more I can say in regard to this issue except to ask you to pray, become passionate and expect God to move.  My cousin Andy once said, “If you do not pray expecting things to happen, then you do not believe that God is powerful enough to do it.  So, don’t ask.”  I believe God can raise up men in the city; He did it in the Bible and He will do it today. 

 

 

October 2007, gangs or game night

Dear Family, 

 

A couple of weeks ago at CELEBRATION! a young man walked in accompanied by his mother.  Now to many, a teen showing up to youth group with a parent may not seem unusual, but in Chester it is.  I walked over and introduced myself and answered a fairly typical round of questions: What is this? What time is this done? What do you do? How many kids come?  Upon answering, mom was happy and entrusted her child to my care.  My interests were beyond peeked; I wanted to interrogate him as to how his mom heard about CELEBRATION! teen program.  But I did not have to.  All I had to do was ask, “Why did you decide to come?” and out came the story.  “My mom was worried because I was getting involved in a gang, and I was in trouble with the cops, so she told me I had to come.”  Now, luckily for me, he knew a few of our regular guys from school and settled in for game night.  

 

This young man could have denied his mother’s request, although I think he may have taken his life into his own hands if he had, but he did not.  He made the best out of the situation he was semi-forced into (I am not sure what his options were, but I assume CELEBRATION! was on the softer side of things).  I often feel forced into situations that I have no control over or have any desire to be in.  There is one thing I can do in these instances; I can have a good attitude.  I can choose to do my best at aiding relationships, solving conflict, loving others and a myriad of other people-related occurrences.  The Lord has truly increased my learning curve, and CELEBRATION! has been my school.  The teens who enter into Frederick Douglass 

Christian School on Monday nights have taught me to show love in all events.  

 

Please pray that the Lord will continue to teach me about life and that He will bring teens to CELEBRATION! who would not usually choose to be there.  Thanks for the love and prayers.  They are always needed. 

 

September 2007, school and moving

Dear Family, 

 

As swimsuits are replaced with school uniforms and lazy summer days become scheduled classes, I have a transition of my own to share.  For the last six months I have been living with two other missionaries, Renee Groff and Rebecca Barr.  We have loved living together and truly made a house into a home.  That home is going to experience a change in occupancy; Rebecca and I are moving in order for Renee to prepare for her upcoming wedding (September 29 is the big day).  Once she is married, her husband Reggie will move in and the newlyweds will continue to man the lighthouse on the corner of Curran and Culhane.   

 

Rebecca and I began to prepare our new home in late June with the help of many work groups.  We have moved all our stuff in, yet most of it is still in boxes.  We have hosted a handful of guests and are excited for our guest room to be filled by family and friends throughout the year.  Our new home is within walking distance from Frederick Douglass Christian School, where Rebecca is the second-grade teacher, and where my office is located.   

 

We painted, sanded, taped, mudded, sanded some more, tore out carpet, and refinished a banister.  This banister is beautiful.  Under about seventy layers of paint there is wood and there are ridges that would have never been seen, had we not removed the paint.  How sad is that?  The exterior of some objects mask the inner and original beauty that they were created to have.  

 

I have been finding time and time again that I forget about my intended purpose.  Most days I need to get rid of all the “paint” I have acquired--pride, false humility, selfishness, discontentment, materialism, and tiredness among others.  I need to shed these layers and receive from the Lord “garments of splendor” (Isaiah 52:1), “robes of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10), “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:3).  Just as the banister needed to be stripped of its gunk, so do I.  Just as the banister needed a fresh coat of varnish and paint, I need to live the purpose Christ has for me - to glorify and worship Him forever in all I do.  

Being clothed in His likeness allows me to do that. 

 

Please pray for Rebecca and me as we unpack, for Renee as she weds, and school as it begins.  This list is not long, but it is of the utmost importance.  Those of you who pray, your prayers are felt and cherished. 

 

August 2007, Amos Lee and camp

Dear Family, 

 

August is by far my favorite month of the year.  With the sunshine and the flip-flops comes summer camp at Harmony Heart.  Camp is a magical place where youth run free from the violence of the city, water balloons rain down from the heavens, and lake monsters tip the canoes of giggling teenage girls.  Now I know there is not really a terrifying creature creeping around Heart Lake causing trouble for the ladies, but alas, it is fun to see a kid squirm and to hear shrieks of excitement coupled with the fear of the unknown.  Canoe, rowboat, and paddleboat are not in the vocabulary of the youth I work with, so the ability to go with a group to camp and see them experience new things is amazing.   

 

Amos Lee (a singer/songwriter) says it best: “There is nothing more powerful than beauty in a wicked world,” and that is the joy of camp.  Daily we are inundated with visions of the “wicked world.”  Just turn on the news or watch someone get cut off on the way to work.  Sin is rampant in the suburbs and in the city.  So giving a child the gift of camp--the gift of beauty, swimming, archery, snakes, fishing, crafts, swinging and, let us not forget, three square meals a day--is creating not only a memory but also a glimpse of the Creator, a peek into the Ultimate Beauty, a chance for a relationship with Jesus. 

 

Jesus is the reason camp is so magical and powerful.  Through the use of the imagination, campers are transported into Bible stories.  A young man feels courageous as he faces the lions alongside Daniel.  A little girl watches from the bulrushes as Pharaoh’s daughter picks up her baby brother, and the Bible is made real.  The truth of Scripture is so powerful that it transforms lives.  Camp is about transforming lives by introducing the beautiful truth of Christ into the lives of kids who regularly see the wicked world.  At camp the world begins to fade, and the power of Truth becomes a way of life. 

 

Please pray that God will work in the hearts of all who attend camp this summer.  We have three different camps--one for kids (8-12), one for teens, and one for families to spend time together away from the city. 

July 2007, Ups and Downs

Dear Family, 

 

WOW!  I have been in Chester for a year!  I cannot believe that this much time has passed so quickly.  I 

also find it hard to believe that in the last year the Lord has been faithful in providing for me, His beautiful 

disaster made attractive by grace, yet still fallen and a mess.  My time in Chester has deepened my love and 

passion for proclaiming Christ to all in the city; it has also lent itself to a ton of fun and memories.  So here 

is a year in review.  There is no special order and not everything is good; this year has its ups and downs, 

yet the call God has placed on my life here in Chester has never wavered. 

 

The Ups and Downs  

 

●  In all my life I never once thought my face would be on money.  Yet, there it is, on the five-dollar 

“Booth Street Buck.”  (This is fake money given to homework-club kids as incentive for good behavior 

which they are then able to spend in our store.) 

  

●  In my first month I was elated to receive a letter from my grandpa, who was not the type of man to write 

often.  Eight months later, he went to stand before the Lord, in a new body, able to run around and worship 

his King with no limitations.  

 

●  Highland House (that is the church plant) baptized three new believers and dedicated two children.  What 

a sight to behold--new Christians following the commands of the Lord! 

 

●  A group of eight-to-twelve-year olds I teach at Highland House memorized John 14:1-7.  Once they 

recited the passage, they received new Bibles, which they carry with them weekly. 

 

●  I was able to click my red Converses in Kansas as I passed the World Impact Candidate Assessment 

Program!  Yeah, I am no longer an intern; I am a Missionary In Training (MIT). 

 

●  On Mother’s Day, my mom called with great news: my name made it onto my favorite snack food.  One 

of my supporters had my name placed on plain M & M’s--they read, “Pray for Candy Gibson.”  

 

●  I am now the queen of field trips.  I chaperone every trip I can--the apple orchard, the King Tut Exhibit, 

third-grade camp, the Please Touch Museum, the zoo, and many other fun sights. 

 

●  I have all of you, those reading this letter and my family, to support me.  Your prayers have been a 

comfort; your letters, an encouragement; and your love, a refreshing reminder of how wonderful the Body 

of Christ is. 

 

Please continue to pray for summer activities, Celebration!, my housemates Rebecca Barr and Renee Groff, 

and Highland House.  Thank you for being a part of Christ’s movement in Chester.    

 

 

June 2007, Loving kids

Dear Family, 

 

Often in the midst of business, we seek a place of peace and rest.  In Chester some children seek out 

peace and rest in the chaos of danger and neglect.  My housemates and I have created a haven on the 

corner of Curran and Culhane--a home for games, laughter, love, and safety.  If we are outside, so is a 

handful of kids; if we are inside, there are knocks on the door.  Our home is theirs, just as God’s love 

is ours to give.   

 

Loving kids is not always easy.  There are days when I want to turn the volume to my CD player up 

and pretend I hear nothing; but the knocking persists, and the door must be answered.  Jesus was all 

about kids.  He said, “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14).  So here we are in 

Chester, remembering the words of Jesus, letting the little children come to Him--to come in and find 

rest, to come in and find peace, to come in and find love.  

 

Please join us in prayer that, as school lets out, we can be available to spend time with kids and create 

beauty in the city, that we can show the love of Christ to others, even when it is hard, and that I will 

see Jesus in all those with whom I come in contact. 

 

 

May 2007, CELEBRATION!

Dear Family,  

 

As spring approached and the snow began to melt, my neighborhood got restless.  This desire for all things 

warm was misplaced, and just as the snow thawed, so did old vendettas.  Within a week’s time there was a 

hostage situation, three people shot by a SWAT team, a man walking down the street firing a gun, and a car 

fire.  I have no words to express the hurt my heart felt that week.  I saw men and women living as if their 

only hope was to repay a wrong done or to be the biggest tough guy on the block.  “Tough Guy” is not an 

appropriate title to be seeking.  Whatever happened to words like leader, student, smart, humble, servant, 

meek, or patient?  

 

I will tell you what has happened to those words in my community.  Although they may not be glorified, they 

are exemplified in a group of teens who hang out together.  Every Monday night at Celebration! these teens 

encourage one another, challenge each other, and act in service toward each other.  Celebration! teens are 

learning that Jesus is the path to peace, the ultimate authority, and the only One whose opinion matters.  They 

struggle and have bad days, but overall they are in love with the God whose values are different from those in 

their neighborhood.  

 

Celebration! has a huge place in my heart, not just because I see what the Lord is doing but also because the 

leadership of this event has been handed over to me.  In a very loose sense I am the “youth pastor.”  I have 

been given the opportunity to serve in this leadership role and am excited to see what God has planned.  I am 

also very nervous because this is a real role.  I have had to create a budget; I will be organizing and 

supervising trips and training young leaders.  Scary!  And yet, I am overwhelmed by the support I have from 

my teammates and the vision the Lord has placed in my heart.  

 

Please know that I did not tell you the serious details of my community for you to worry or to question my 

parents as to why I live here.  I share this with you so you can pray.  Pray for me in this new role with its 

ups and downs, excitement, and adventure.  Pray for the peace that only comes from God and for these teens 

to impact our community for the Kingdom. 

 

 

April 2007, shane, self-portraits and our house

Dear Family,  

 

“Miss Candy, what do you do?”  Shane asked as we watched the five o’clock news. 

 

“Well, I…,” and there it was, the list of my weekly activities including art class, Celebration!, homework 

club, girl’s small group, staff Bible study, my day off, Highland House, and other events.  He was not 

impressed.  He is eight.  I tried to explain that we are starting a church, and with this, he was more 

interested. 

 

“What time do you meet?”  “Sevenish on Fridays,” I replied. 

 

Shane’s nose crinkled.  “That means I should get up at six, right?” 

 

“Wouldn’t you already be awake?  It is at night.”  I was not catching onto his level of commitment. 

“Oh, I thought it was in the morning.” 

 

He is eight years old, and on his own he decided to come to church.  He loves stopping by our home, playing 

games, watching the news, talking, and as I soon found out, he loves to paint.  

 

We talk about school, and as I will use any opportunity to encourage a kid about school, I asked what he 

loves and what he dislikes about it.  He loves to paint, so being an art teacher I asked, “What do you paint?” 

 

“Myself.” 

 

“Self-portraits!  That is great!  Anything else?” 

 

For a moment he glanced away, and then he looked up at me and said, “This house.”  I wanted to know why 

so I asked, and Shane’s next words floored me:  “I want everyone to know about this house.” 

 

We, my house mates and I, have prayed that our home would be a lighthouse on the corner, a beacon of hope 

in a hopeless land.  And here is an eight-year-old who tells his friends he lives here and who is over countless 

times a week because he is loved.  Praise be to our Father who answers the prayers of His children and gives 

us a source of love that is never ending.  

 

Please praise the Lord with me for all that He has done and is continuing to do in Highland Gardens and with 

Highland House.  

March 2007, guerilla graffiti

Dear Family, 

 

The other day I went for a walk and some new graffiti on the block caught my eye.  Due to a tree blocking 

the entire statement, all I saw was the word “peace.”  I got really excited.  I believed for a few moments, that 

a team of guerilla graffiti artists had come into this community that lives in lies and had inscribed an altar 

with the words, “Live in Peace.”  Well, as I moved beyond the tree I saw that this was not true.  “Rest in 

Peace LeeLee” is what it read, but my imagination ran wild full of ‘what ifs’.  Now to all those who truly 

know me, please do not send me bottles of spray paint.  I am not going to head up an inspirationally-based 

urban tagging team (tagging is a term for graffiti).  That is not within the limits of my missionary service.  

But what if a group of like-minded believers got together and created beautiful truth in the chaos of lies?  

What would that community of Christians look like?  What activities outside of architectural enhancement 

would these believers be involved in?  These are the questions that have been milling around in my mind for a 

couple of weeks now.  

 

I would like to believe that I am a part of a creative team that is putting forth truth in the whirlwind of lies.  

World Impact Chester is showing the love of Christ to those around us.  We are being used by God to build 

His church in a neighborhood that has been told that they are worthless.  We are proclaiming, “You are 

fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) on the corner where drugs and gunshots have often silenced 

truth.  Graffiti on walls is not the medium God has chosen.  “The Lord has inscribed you on the palms of His 

hands” (Isaiah 49:16) is the message that will last longer than spray paint ever could.  We desire for the 

names of our neighbors to be inscribed on His palm, not on the side of their old home.  

 

“Rest in Peace LeeLee” screams to me as I walk past the home on which it is painted.  It is an urban 

headstone.  Freshly painted words of love after a young man’s life was taken, the graffiti is a permanent way 

to commemorate his death.  I have been watching my neighbors buy into a lie (“you are only what you do”), 

a lie straight from the lips of a serpent.  I hear the whisper and I see the ramifications of this lie lived out as 

truth, gunshots, drug deals, pre-marital sex, and high school dropouts.  The list could continue, or it could 

end.  Please pray with me that as the Lord shines His truth into the streets, our home will be a place of 

inscription, not graffiti.  

 

 

February 2007, Candy and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day

Dear Family,

Have you ever read the children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 

Day?  As a kid, it was one of my favorites, and now as a grown-up, I am more sympathetic to 

Alexander’s situation than ever before.  Recently I had an Alexander kind of day, and I felt like crud.  I 

hate feeling worthless.  Nothing was going right; the shoes had the wrong color strips, the copier went 

crazy, and my cereal was priceless (all from the book).  In Candy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, 

Very Bad Day, my hair would not obey, I stepped in mud (in the cute shoes), someone said something 

mean to me, and I could not be on time to save my life (I like being on time).  Please do not see this list 

as a complaint, a rant against being a missionary, or a plea to receive pity--that is not what this is.  In 

my story, unlike the original, there is redemption.  At the end of the night, my railroad pajamas did not 

fall in the sink, I was given a gift so beautiful that I had to share it.  So share I will. 

It was a Monday, and on Mondays I teach an art class.  I love this class.  This is my favorite thing to 

do.  I enjoy setting up the classroom, gathering the supplies, and seeing my kids.  Mondays make my 

week, but this particular Monday was different.  It was a bad day.  I was late and pressed for time.  I 

had been crying, so my eyes were puffy, my make-up was running, and I had a class in ten minutes. 

There is something about the first class and a new project that I have discovered--it does not always go 

as smoothly as I think it should, and knowing this has led to many adjustments.  My first class came in, 

obeying all three of the art room rules: 1) Come in quietly; 2) Do not touch anything on the table until 

you are told; 3) HAVE FUN.  They entered silently, with hands to themselves and smiles on their 

faces.  It was beautiful.  I was not in the mood to be the heavy hand, so the room was buzzing with 

great music to relieve tension and provide a backdrop for working children.  The class was amazing. 

They followed their instructions, sharing the glue.  I did not know how this was happening on this day 

of all days; but here it was, a well-oiled machine of cooperation and obedience.  As the kids were 

creating, one of my little girls came up to me and motioned me down to her level (yes, a first grader is 

shorter than I am), so I knelt down.  Then, she kissed me on the cheek and said, “Miss Candy, I love 

you.”  Now normally this would be nice and sweet; but on this Monday, it was the Lord reminding me 

why I do this. 

Although the day seemed rough, the Lord was there, and He sent a bright and talented first grader to 

remind me that I am loved, even on the bad days.  So let us pray together that God reminds us that we 

are loved and that Chester seeks His face.  Please lift me up as I continue to learn that life in the city is 

glorious and that the Father is pleased when His children listen.  Thank you for reading.  There is much 

love in these words for you from me. 

January 2007, movies and boys

Dear Family, 

The day after Thanksgiving our church plant, Highland House, put together a family movie night. 

Families were invited to bring a snack and watch Chronicles of Narnia on the big screen.  Hearing 

people laugh at the mythical creatures, watching them cry as Aslan was slain, and seeing joy in there 

eyes as he conquered death were fantastic.  However, there were two young boys, one five- and one six- 

year-old, who would not quiet down.  They were up and moving around the entire film.  They both 

knew what they were supposed to be doing, but alas, they never quite got it.  At one point, I was in the 

kitchen refilling the water, and the kids entered from the living room.  I asked them what they were 

doing, and they promptly responded, “We are sitting quietly and watching the movie.”  I thought to 

myself, “Oh, how often do I say this to the Lord?” 

I often find myself saying that I am doing what the Lord has directed me to do, because I know what is 

expected of me.  My two little guys knew what they should have been doing, and they knew what to say 

to avoid trouble; but the fact was neither of them was doing what was asked.  Do you ever feel this 

way?  Do you know what must be said to keep others appeased, and yet do something else?  Well, I 

know that I am guilty of this, just as the kids were.  I have been studying the book of James, and I think 

about the things it says.  In James 2:17, it mentions, “Faith without works is dead.”  In my words, lip 

service without action is six-feet-under.  I want to make a new year’s resolution: to faithfully do what I 

say I am going to and not walk into the other room and say what is expected, but rather stay where I am 

supposed to be and do what is expected. 

As this year begins, please pray that I will stick to my resolution.  I need to pray for my neighbors and 

youth in my community and ask the Lord to make Rebecca’s, Renee’s, and my home a lighthouse on the 

corner.  We desire that all who pass by will see the love of Christ and desire to be a part of the beautiful 

Church that is rising up.  I love you all and can feel the prayers of the Father’s children. 

   

December 2006, the Nazareth/Chester paradox

Dear Family,

The weather has turned from beautiful dancing leaves to gracefully descending snow, and we all know what snow means, Christmas!  I am so excited to be here for this holiday season, the cookies, the songs, the wrapping paper, the tree, and the celebration of the King.  I get goose bumps just thinking about it.  I have also been thinking about Jesus’ birth in the chaos of an urban area; what would that look like today?  Where would He be from?  Instead of Jesus of Nazareth could He be Jesus from Chester?  In processing a contemporary birth of our Savior I wrote this; She walked the halls of school

Belly bulging from under her hoodie

They are beginning to take notice

Tiny fingers of the Messiah form within her womb

Two legs, ten toes, the Prince of Peace kicks

As the temple is passed

He is about His Father’s business,

A foreshadowing of what is to come

Where will this Creator be born?

What living water will bathe Him tonight?

The cloth around His perfect being is borrowed

Crying in His Salvation Army crib

Rent not paid, 

The Angels sing,

“Rejoice, Rejoice, Praise to the Lord

The Savior is born in the ghetto,

Follow the gunshots, seek the sirens

His street light will not be burnt out tonight”

In John 1:46, Nathanael asks Phillip if anything good can come from Nazareth.  That is how people feel about Chester.  Can anything good come out of Chester?  And the answer is yes.  This ghetto is being filled with new life, in October a mother came to the Lord at Highland House. She is the beginning.  She has ideas for the church; she is excited to raise the child she is carrying in the ways of the Lord.  God has blessed our staff, allowing us to be “in” on His plan for the city.  Praise Jesus, the Child from the slums, the Sacrifice for my sins, He is at work in Chester.

Please Pray with Highland House that Lord continues His work in Chester.  Pray for homework club every Tuesday, so many children come, and so few helpers have time to lend a hand.  Pray for the Chester/Upland school district, the rumor is that come January the doors of the public schools will be closing.  And please praise our King who entered the world 2000 years ago for constant love and grace to us, sinful and undeserving people.