The Trinity as a Model for Outreach

I bet you all will have seen the “Invisible Child” series in the New York Times. In it, Andrea Elliott compassionately tells the story of Dasani, a homeless child in our city. If you haven’t it’s worth sitting down for a long read. It can be found on the New York Times Website. The link to the article is here.

I have been thinking a lot about Dasani and her family, as I suspect many readers have. Part of what I think is so captivating about the story was the way that this child’s life is both so close, and so far from my own. Perhaps that is some of the nature of New York, we are both remarkably physically close to other people, but often live very separate lives (especially along class lines). As I have reflected on this article not just as a New Yorker, but as a priest, hoping that our outreach programming might someday grow to reach the 22,000 vulnerable NYC homeless children more closely I realized that the relationships in Dasani’s life had the potential to be most transformational. Her relationships at her school give her life structure, and a greater sense of meaning.  Dasani’s teacher, Faith Hester, seems to be what keeps her in school. Ms. Hester provides inspiration and support to Dasani. She manages to create an individual relationship with her student (not an easy thing for an overworked public school teacher!). She challenges Dasani, but she is also understanding. Principal Paula Jones works very hard to keep Dasani a student at her school, even when the family moves from a shelter in Fort Green to an apartment in West Harlem. She works hard to ensure that her school will be a stable presence for Dasani in her life which is so unpredictable. Once the family moves to West Harlem, she works out a way for Dasani and a couple of her siblings to be bused to school so that they can continue to attend. Ms. Jones doesn’t just bend over backwards, she also holds Dasani accountable when she makes a mistake.  And finally school security guard Jamion Andrews jokes with Dasani, and gives her some lightly used clothing to take home to her family.

The power of these human relationships to help, support and change the life of one homeless New York child is something we especially understand as Christians. Our faith is a relational faith. Part of it is our relationships to God, and to each other. Our sense of God as the Holy Trinity is in it’s nature a relational idea. The Trinity is the idea that God is three things: by title Father, Son and Holy Spirit or by role Creator, Redeemer and Guide. And these three things are in relationship with each other, and with us. It is through our relationships with God that we come together on Sundays willing to be in relationship with each other. By being together, being in relationship with one another we see God’s love reflected, and growing in us. The relational aspect of the trinity is a model for our outreach efforts. We need to be in relationships with those in need. I hope too that as our monthly outreach efforts continue to expand we will have the opportunity to enter into meaningful, supportive and deep relationships with vulnerable children around our city the way that Ms. Hester, Ms. Jones and Mr. Andrews have for Dasani.