Hello my friends! Simas/William here!
I’m pumped to finally put some pen to paper and share about my experience jumping into all the crazy and wonderful parts of becoming a Raleigh Fellow. For this post I think I want to just give an outline of all the major aspects of being a Fellow, my experience with them so far, and how I’ve seen God work in them.
The Whited’s
My sweet host family! When arriving back in Raleigh I moved in with the sweetest couple, Jim and Janet Whited. They were both CPAs and are both quite involved with Church of The Apostles. They are a UNC family which is hard, but we have bonded in spite of it. They are so kind to welcome me into their home and let that be my home base as I jump between all the activities I am about to list. I have seen God through the Whited’s in their provision of sustenance in meals, and space to be at rest. They reflect God’s desire to give us space to prepare and be sent out in the world, and they use their resources accordingly, equipping me to be filled up and be engaged with the Holy Spirit throughout my days.
Classes
I thought i was finally done with school?!? Why am I enjoying this?! These are two questions I have thought to myself the past couple weeks. It has been so cool to have classes on Mondays and Fridays. To come into them excited to learn rather than scared of making a bad grade is so refreshing. God has been tugging at my heart especially with David Spickard’s “Just Leadership” class. Hearing about how intertwined justice is with the identity of God, and what that means for us has me so excited to learn ways to be disciples of Jesus that pursue justice daily. I’m so thankful to have teachers willing to share their wealth of knowlege with us on such an array of things; justice, the old testament, spiritual formation/practices, health and wellness, and much more to come!
Roundtable
Its hard to say for sure, but Wednesday nights might just be my favorite time of the week. The chance to all come back from our places of work and gather at Ashley(the fellows director)’s house. We get to catch up and make jokes, as two of the fellows are preparing dinner. We then get to share in a meal prepared by our friends, for our friends. At dinner we get filled up with food and with community. After dinner so far we has been going through and doing everyone’s testimony, which has been such a beautiful experience. Going from being complete strangers with these people, to sharing hard and heavy things about our lives, and how we have seen God in the face of it all, has been life giving. After such a short time I already love these people.
I’m Basically A 6th Grader
Who would have thought that getting placed as a leader for 6th grade boys would be the best thing ever? DEFINITELY not me. It has been so much fun getting to meet the guys at youth group and get to form relationships with them. We have already gone to youth ministry FALL CAMP with them, at which I discovered that by most metrics I might as well be a 6th grade boy. We laughed, yelled, ate too much candy, told ghost stories, and just about everything else 6th graders are into. It was great to be able to walk through some hard things with them during small group time, and I’m so impressed by the way some of these kids opened up. I’m excited to keep leading small group with them this year to hear about where they are at with God, and so I can share about how he has changed my life.
Work?! Commuting?!? Responsibility?!?! Dangerous Chemicals!?!!?
Starting off work at Mid-Atlantic Associates has been so cool. My little Tuesday-Thursday mini work week has been a cool way to dip my toes into the adult world. I have gotten thrown into the middle of things so fast, which is really cool. I have been double checking data from lab results of radon levels at redevelopment sites, learning how to/performing property condition assessments, and going on site visits to write reports, mark off areas with hazardous chemicals and more. This job has been such a cool opportunity to learn things I never thought I would, such as the repair and replacement costs for any and every HVAC unit in existence. I have been learning how to view work as good, and from God. That we are designed to work, and God is present in and cares about the work we do.
Amare The Math Man
On Monday nights we go to Neighbor to Neighbor to mentor and tutor underprivileged kids in Raleigh. It is an amazing organization that has become ingrained in its community, with many programs that uplift and enrich the lives of people facing poverty and systemic barriers to success. My kid is named Amare, and he is a sweet and energetic 3rd grader. I am helping him with math, and he is a competitive guy, so we have battled it out in a math board game which he calls “The Frog Game”, and he’s quite resilient and has beaten me a couple times. He’s getting really good at his subtraction. I’m excited to be a part of is life, and am certain that I will learn just as much from him as he will from me as I hear about his life. I see God in the long term vision and commitment to prosperity that Neighbor to Neighbor has for it’s community is a beautiful representation of Jesus’s longing and commitment to the renewal and thriving of our souls, as well as our communities. ALL of our communities, especially those facing oppression, poverty, and injustices.
Filling In The Gaps
There has been so so so much more going on in the time between all these commitments. Amazing friendships and connections have been formed between the 9 other fellows in our class, Ashley, her husband Sam, the countless Raleigh fellows alumni, staff at Church, teachers, church members, youth group kids, coworkers, and more. We as fellows have been filling our gaps with amazing people and some fun activities. There have been some great times at coffee shops(shoutout SIR WALTER), pickle ball, game nights, family dinners, and more. God has been so present in the big things we have been doing, but I have been so aware of the Holy Spirit and how it has been present and filling in the gaps, keeping me energized and expectant that it will do great things in, to, and through this community.
I Love Raleigh.
See ya next month,
William Simas