Greetings from the Great Frozen City of Chicago.  My name is Kristy Wallace and I am excited to be joining the Urban Resurrection Team!  I recently completed my Masters of Arts in Urban Studies through Moody Graduate School, and I am anxious to serve the Lord in Miami.

In the process of completing research for my Bachelor of Science degree in Afro-American Studies, I visited Chicago.  That was all I needed to know that this was a city where I wanted to live.  The story of how a young lady on her way to law school became a Bible student is a long one, but the bottom line is that God brought me (along with my best friend Elaina) to Chicago in the Fall of 2005 to study His word and learn to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I came to Chicago with the intention of living and dying here, so you can imagine my surprise when God told me to pack my bags for warmer climate. 

I first met the Urban Resurrection team in 2007 during the Christian Community Development (CCDA) Conference held in St. Louis.  However, it wasn’t until I visited their ministry during the 2008 CCDA Conference that I really considered that God would have me leave Chicago.  It seemed like such a natural fit:  the connection was immediate, relationships weren’t forced, and conversations weren’t shallow. 

For many weeks after visiting Miami, I would think on how God was so clear when He told me to pack my bags for Chicago, but I didn’t feel like God had spoken in that same definitive clear voice when it came to Miami.  I would always say things like, “I’ll go wherever the Lord leads … I’m open to moving wherever God wants to use me … If God opens the door, I’ll walk through …”, but I’m not sure that I really meant it, at least not until God spoke to me clearly and plainly.

He used John 6:22-59 to open my eyes to my own unbelief.  Jesus had just finished feeding the 5000, and the crowd is asking Him to show them a sign to confirm who He is as if feeding 5000 people with five loaves and two fish was not enough.  They told Jesus that Moses fed the Israelites manna from Heaven, so He would have to come with something more impressive to convince them.  When I read that, I was immediately reminded of my own words, “With Chicago, it was so clear, but I don’t feel like God has spoken as clearly with Miami.”  There it was … my own unbelief staring me in the face.  I looked up from my Bible and said out loud, “I’m going to Miami.”

In June, I’ll pack my bags and hit the road, leaving Chicago … next stop Miami!

Posted on March 2nd, 2009 by Erika
Filed under: Community Development, News