Faith Matters | Jesus calls us to the ends of the earth. For me, that’s Southeast High School
In the very beginning of the book of Acts, Jesus says to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus is painting a picture of spheres of influence — your neighborhood, your town, that other town that nobody wants to go to, everywhere.
When we first moved to Bradenton, our life was very small. It consisted of the box that is 59th to 75th Street West and Cortez Road and Manatee Avenue. I’ve always found it pretty easy to love and serve the people within that nice, neat box — mostly because most of them were just like me. To this day, I still love this little part of Bradenton. We know most of the restaurant owners and shopkeepers, the principals of the schools, medical professionals at Blake Hospital, etc..
Three years ago our family made the decision to expand our box to include Southeast High School. Southeast is only 4.7 miles from our church, but it might as well be on the other side of the world and everybody knows it’s on the other side of 14th Street. We make our impressions and assumptions about a lot of things based on location. Southeast is a few blocks from our almost defunct DeSoto Mall. It is flanked by lower-income neighborhoods and many blue collar businesses. And I love getting to be there in the midst of it all. What I have experienced is warm welcome, neighborhoods that take pride in hard work, families looking out for one another, and the hidden gem in the middle is the high school itself.
While I wasn’t sure what ministry would look like there, I had no doubt that God called me to this very specific place. At first, I thought that my call there would be with students — mentoring, chaperoning, just being an extra adult to help out when needed. I still get to do some of that occasionally. But my real ministry is with the faculty and administration. These are the folks who go in every day and teach children, many of whom do not have the resources and support that the vast majority of the rest of the high schools in this county have. I have met students at Southeast who work as many hours as they can to help support their families, while taking care of younger siblings, while completing International Baccalaureate Diplomas — the most academically rigorous program in the county. We have extraordinary young people coming out of Southeast High School.
That doesn’t just happen. It’s made possible by teachers like Heather Felton who makes herself accessible to her students on their schedule, even at the sacrifice of her own. Or Janet Sprague, the guidance counselor who still answers parent emails long after the school day because she wants to give her students every chance to succeed. Or the assistant principal, Shelly DeCesare, who is so gifted she could lead any school, anywhere, but who loves Southeast and believes in these students with a fire that burns so bright you can see it the minute you meet her.
What these teachers and administrators have taught me is that mine is a ministry of encouragement. Sometimes that means getting books into classrooms or stocking the nurse’s office with hygiene supplies or sending a card on a particularly trying week or doing whatever I can to say to them, “I see you. I know what a difference you are making in this community. And I’m here to do whatever I can to support you. Keep going!”
Sometimes we only want to see Jerusalem – it’s close, it’s convenient, it’s comfortable. But, Jesus calls us to do and be more. To go to the ends of the earth to reach those He loves. That’s exactly what I see the staff and faculty of Southeast High School doing for their students and it’s a joy to get be a small part of it every now and then!
Faith Matters is written by members of the clerical community in the Bradenton area. Rev. Hope Italiano Lee is the lead pastor at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, www.bigreenchurch.org.