Embracing the Rude Awakening
“The transition from what I now nostalgically look back on as the ‘simpler times’—living life around warm, selfless Christian folks—to all of a sudden living, working, and building relationships with delinquent youth who have just come out of the hall [juve] was a bit of a rude awakening,” said graduating senior Frank Park (at left in photo).
As a University of Southern California (USC) December grad, Frank has found himself diving into a completely new life after college. He now works with Advent Group Ministries in San Jose, California, as a residential counselor for youth recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.
“I’ve been here a little less than two months now, and let me tell you, it’s been the most stretching season I’ve ever experienced in my entire life,” said Frank. “Every day, my job includes being insulted from morning till night. I am cursed at and threatened, and I’ve even had my car keys stolen in a poor attempt to steal my car.”
Seeking Community as a Freshman
As he looks back now on his freshman year, Frank remembers coming to college as a new Christian excited to meet people and make new friends. He started attending the USC InterVarsity chapter’s meetings, attended a couple spring break camps at Campus by the Sea, and later became a small group Bible study leader for one semester.
Frank loved the community that he found in InterVarsity and loved the college experience overall. But he had no idea how his life was about to start dramatically changing upon graduation. If God had told him where he’d end up post-college, he probably would have run in the opposite direction.
“I came into college wanting to get a great job that would provide a comfortable life with all the materialistic extras,” said Frank. “The idea of one day living in community with a group of alcohol- and drug-addicted youth never crossed my mind.”
As a freshman and sophomore, Frank planned to go to law school after graduation. But his plans changed his junior year when an old friend passed away from a suspected overdose. This sudden death caused Frank to reevaluate his life and where he was headed.
“Up until my friend’s open casket, I’d never seen a lifeless body before, and it was quite traumatic,” said Frank. “All of a sudden, the saying ‘life is short’ didn’t sound so cliché anymore, and I remember my eyes looking to the cross that hung above the casket—I distinctively felt God nudging me to put my foot on the brakes and make a left, so to speak.”
Taking a Left Turn
That year, Frank decided to spend his spring break attending a weeklong project called the Pasadena Urban Plunge (PUP) with 20 other InterVarsity students from USC. They worked with Harambee Ministries, learned about God’s heart for the poor and the inner city, and studied God’s Word together.
Frank learned so much about God’s love for justice during this one week that he decided to also do a similar project over the summer called the Los Angeles Urban Project (LAUP). These two projects helped Frank understand and ultimately really believe that God loves the inner city and the poor.
“InterVarsity has played an immeasurable role in introducing me to God’s heart for social justice, for the poor, and for serving on campus and beyond campus,” said Frank. “As a result of InterVarsity, I made a commitment to serve in a multicultural setting post-college.”
During his senior year, Frank applied for a position as a residential counselor at Advent Group Ministries and ended up getting the job. Today, Frank credits God for the ways that he transformed his heart from a freshman concerned only about getting a good job to now a graduated senior open to following God’s leading and calling on his life.
“God has transformed my heart in ways that I never would have imagined for myself,” said Frank. “Although I’ve only been here for about two months, God’s been at work—despite all the difficult things about my job, I got to do an inductive Bible study with a couple of the guys already!”
Following Jesus Despite the “Rude Awakening”
Every day, Frank has to endure things that he doesn’t deserve, and often struggles with low self-esteem because of his clients’ attitudes, insults, or constant mocking. But through it all, Frank has learned daily how to see and love these youth as God loves them.
“Despite the daily hardships the staff at Advent Group Ministries experience,” said Frank, “I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say that our pain and difficulties will never compare to the pain most of these young people have already experienced—they have survived so many things, things that were mostly out of their control.”
As Frank and other residential counselors seek to faithfully love and care for these youth, administer medications, and provide counseling, Frank looks for guidance and help from God and is reminded daily that God is in control and is trustworthy, no matter what and where he calls us to.
“I remember coming across an InterVarsity Press book at Urbana called Finding Calcutta, where Mother Teresa shared that if God had revealed to her at an early age how she would spend the rest of her life—serving the poorest of the poor—she would’ve run away from it all,” said Frank. “I’m so glad that God invites us to take one step of faith at a time, and eventually each step becomes into an incredible and unimaginable journey.”