Ben Aronin
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Ben Aronin's Blog
A BEEutiful Night / May 9, 11:00 AM
It’s no secret that I’m quite possibly slightly more than mildly obsessed with basketball. I love it all. Playing it, teaching it, watching it, and most definitely going to NBA Playoff games.
When Michael (a mission year alum, and Drew’s friend) came into town he also brought with him a fantastic idea. What if we got tickets to game 5, and brought some people from the neighborhood. My first thought was “Who would get the biggest kick out of going to the game?” Immediately I thought of Joshua. He’s an 11 year old boy that is maybe more obsessed with basketball than I am. I didn’t know what to do with the other ticket. I thought of both Brandon (a fourth grader from my class) or Nolan (the guy who lives behind us). When game time rolled around Nolan had something urgent come up, and so at the last minute I asked Josh who we should take. He decided to call his Father. I was glad to hear that. He could have called any friend, and he called his dad. I was also glad to hear this because I’ve really only met him
On the way there we learned that neither had been to a Hornets game since they came to New Orleans, but Gerald had seen Pistol Pete play when the Jazz still called the Big Easy home. He reminisced about how amazing Pistol played. He said a point guard hasn’t passed the same since.
The Hive was packed, and it was loud. The Hornets rolled a 4 point first quarter lead (I’d just like to mention that Chris Paul already had 7 assists!) and turned it into a 54-39 at halftime.
Josh was having a blast. I felt like a kid myself. I loved every minute and every chant. Jason Kidd was booed every time he touched the ball because of a flagrant foul in game 4. People chanted “Stop the flop” at Dirk every time he shot free throws. Once Chris Paul solidified his first post-season triple double the chants of “MVP! MVP!” rained down like a New Orleanian downpour.
Josh and I spent some time trying to capture some great pictures. It was tough because any little movement from that far away would make our entire picture blurry. It didn’t matter though it was our goal to try to get a picture worth framing from the rafters. Maybe we could catch Chris Paul in the middle of a sweet move, or Peja nailing a jumper. Maybe we could catch Tyson Chandler dunking. Maybe we would get the perfect picture of a last second shot. The night was full of possibilities!
This Place Poem / Apr 14, 09:59 AM
This Place Part 1
10/9/08
This place is harder than I ever could have imagined
This place brings back memories of where I’ve been
This place is covered scars of wounds too deep to show
This place in so many ways is all I’ve ever known
This place is full of roads cracked, broken, and battered
This place is full of kids who never knew they mattered
These kids on this road today don’t know another way
This place is the final destination for a road lined with pain
This place is hopelessness and it always comes alone
Imagine this place is the only thing you ever saw at home.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
This Place Part 2
4/9/08
I will follow you with reckless abandon
I will grab the children by the hands and
Teach them to follow me as I follow you
That is, until their own faith is true
No longer will this place be the ruler of lives
No longer will darkness make us run and hide
This place shall no longer be a shackle on our heart
We will take the first steps though they are the hardest to start
No longer shall people cry themselves to sleep
No longer should past failures be something that we keep
They should be brushed off, then thrown to the fire
For following Christ should be our hearts’ only desire
This place shall no longer be the same place we call home
No longer shall lives be lived out all alone
No one to talk to and no one to teach
No one to touch and no one to reach
We are the hands people, we are the feet
It’s our job to show love to every person we meet
So people of God stand up and take arms
No longer will hopelessness be allowed to do harm
Peace Players / Apr 14, 09:56 AM
Saturday, after several months of corresponding, and several years after first finding out about peace players I was able to attend an open court. This is one of the first open courts in not just this city, but in the entire country.
Peace Players is using basketball to help people improve their lives. In Africa the program is combined with an AIDS awareness and prevention program. In Ireland Protestants and Catholics are put on the same teams, and they learn to interact and play together. In Israel Jews and Muslims are put on the same teams. I really love the idea that when two people who hate each other are put on the same team as kids (10-14 years old) it makes it much tougher to hate those people as adults.
This year they started a domestic program in the city where God placed me, while showing them a hope for a future focus on my neighborhood! Needless to say I’ve spoken several times to the two guys that are running the city, and the more I speak to them about who they are, what they’re doing, what they’re hoping to see, and hear their vision the more excited I get.
In New Orleans basketball will be combined with life skills, positive male role models (mostly coaches), and violence prevention. All of the coaches are going through a program sponsored by the Positive Coaching Alliance. Not only is the program focused on the children attending the program, but it is also focused on improving the leadership potential of the young men running drills.
Please keep this program, and my involvement with it in your prayers. Summer is coming up very quickly, and school gets out. Showing people the Love Christ has for them while playing basketball is one of my life’s greatest passions. Please also pray that I’m able to learn a lot as I stand on the shoulders of giants.
I’m very excited to be involved in any way with this program, and even more excited as I see more of their vision. This last week we brought 6 children from the neighborhood, and already this week three more asked me to get them picked up. I never would have expected to be able to spend time around the children that I’ve built relationships with while getting my eyes opened to new ways to do something I love.
A Childlike Faith / Apr 7, 09:35 AM
There is a young man about 17 or 18 that comes to our open court every week. He comes to hang out with his friends. He comes to play although he’s not very good. At first glance he seems like your average nonathletic person who doesn’t really have a grasp of the rules of basketball. I’m unsure if I’ve ever seen his team win, and I’m unsure that he’s ever really taken his mind off of playing long enough to realize he’s never won.
I realized long ago that he’s very low functioning. My roommates realized that he has trouble with simple games like candy land. Most of what I’ve ever heard him say has been “yeah” or a repeat of whatever someone else has just said that got laughs. I’m not trying to paint a dismal picture of this young man, because he’s also one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet. I get a huge smile and a handshake every time I see him or enter the court. It’s really not because I’m special, but rather it’s just because that’s how he greets everybody. Everybody he knows is his friend.
My whole world was shaken one Friday a couple weeks ago when the person giving the message asked him to pray. “Our Father” he paused. We repeated “Who art in heaven” again we repeated. “hallowed by thy name” This continued, and I found myself being totally shocked and distracted that this young man who can barely function learned how Jesus said to pray, and was able to lead a group of other young men in this prayer. It was simple. It was honest. It was him. About half way through his prayer another young man who is one of the natural leaders of the community switched from copying to saying it with him as he started to hear him struggle. Together these two finished leading the “Our Father” prayer for the rest of the group.
Now high fives aren’t typical here for finished prayer, but when he had finished, and realized he had accomplished this prayer one of his best friends gave him a high five, a half hug and said “way to go!” By the time the half was over this young man had a huge smile on his face. He was given encouragement by everyone (who may or may not have shared in my surprise). I can’t tell you what the message was on that night, but I did have my heart softened. I saw another side to this young man that I sometimes worry about. I saw a childlike faith in action, and I loved the bonding experience everyone shared. I must admit that the next time it was my turn to give a message I made sure to ask him to close us in prayer.
The same prayer. The same reaction. It was beautiful.
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Catching Up / Mar 11, 01:05 PM
I’m not sure how many of you read this blog, or how often you visit my site. February was one of the busiest months I’ve had yet. I didn’t have much time to blog, and didn’t have enough room to write about many stories from the month in my newsletter, so I’m going to try to post several of them here. I’m still striving to become a better blogger. If there is a story I mentioned in my newsletter you want me to blog about please e-mail me at beingbeninthebigeasy@gmail.com. Otherwise check back often. The more comments I get the more often I’ll feel like writing. I miss you all!
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