STRATEGY: 
My mentor will provide me opportunity to work with many different personalities which will stretch my comfort zone.

My mentor and I will meet once a week wherein I will take notes on what he desires to create for me to do. I will also keep inform him on who I am mentoring and what we cover.

I will copiously prepare and share with my mentor what I plan to state beforehand of what I will be teaching at Our Calling and when allowed at Christ Community Church.

RESOURCES
DTS courses, internship, and various books on how to deal with difficult people.

I will keep  my mentor abreast of my progress toward the goals for this internship. I will brief him weekly on what we have covered and will use him as a resource of how to efficiently pursue and procure those goals.

MEASUREMENTS
The pastor as well as his staff will being examining my interaction with the people and quarterly, I will being asking them to assess my interpersonal communication skills as a competent leader.

I will be giving my mentor my lessons weekly  for his feedback and to determine progress or  what I need to focus on. I intend to be observed and operate at a competent level due to this mentorship.

I will be keeping notes of the final product the I will be delivering in any meeting or gathering that I am leading and will assess whether i pass or fail in performing this discipline.



My Reflections

In preparing weekly messages for the people at the Our Calling Homeless shelter, I found great satisfaction in ministering to the needy. At first I was ignored then when they found that I cared they responded to me positively. 

The difference I noticed between myself and others was that many ministers came with the attitude that they were better and doing the homeless a favor, whereas I came to serve their needs whether it was being a friend, providing a listening ear, a hug, or a shoulder to cry on.  These people came to be near and dear to my heart.

In demonstration of my competency in servant leadership, I am providing the artifact below wherein I assisted the cook in obtaining his vehicle by giving him a substantial amount of money after his resignation due to the fact it is not within guidelines to give monetary gifts to those at the shelter.

In ministering at the shelter I noticed the homeless were only provided water and coffee and a place to sit from 8am to 5pm but no food. Therefore, I used my tithe to provide a meal for them after I ministered to them as well as some treats for those who participated in the Bible study. Now Our Calling has decided to provide meals daily. My lifetime take away from this experience is to discount no one as I actually realized, not theoretically, that everyone has value.

Jesus washed His disciples feet as an example of how I, as his follower, am to wash the walk of His disciples too.

This picture of a statue on Dallas Theological Seminary as a constant reminder to me that I am to be clothed with humility of mind in service to the lowest part of Christ's body.

The Summation of my Experience

I have gained much insight into the lives of the homeless. Many of them are of high intelligence, literate, and well behaved and grateful. This experience has broadened my compassion and I brought my children to assist me in feeding them. I was amazed that unlike the middle and upper class people that I ministered to at church, these people with less resources retained more of the word of God which I found rewarding. I was able to lead over 100 of them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ which caused my spirit to soar. My only regret is that many of them have issues that interfere with them being discipled by the teachings of Christ.

Serving the least of these taught me that there is not much difference between them and myself. I found many of them to have wonderful personalities and know what it actually is to live by faith. I brought my Bible study out of a back class room and began teaching the general population in the atrium, and I would connect by bringing relevant issues to their remembrance such as in their contact with police officers in this current climate where unarmed black males are being shot to death while innocent of any criminal wrong doing. I instructed them that when they encounter police they should recall three "F"s. Don't Fuss! Don't Fight! Don't Flee.  I informed them that nothing positive can be gained by calling an officer out of his name. Secondly, I informed them not to fight with talk about their rights or with their fist which is the fastest way to become a shooting victim. Lastly, I informed them not to flee when an officer tells them to stop they should stop immediately.  

By providing coping skills such as the ones listed above can save their lives.  I continuously rehearsed the plan of eternal salvation and eternal security. A pastor told me that legalism of earning God's love has caused much recidivism among the homeless. The knowledge of God's unconditional love gives hope to the homeless and reduces recidivism. 

Placeholder of artifact of my service to the body of Christ

Ministering at Calling Homeless Shelter

I helped him when he was homeless to buy his car and it brought it by to show me.

Preparing food to serve after preaching at the homeless shelter 

Feeding people from shelter from the food kitchen that I startted at its old location.

YouTube Testimony of my work at shelter by its founder Pastor Wayne