By: Kate Denson
interVarsity Christian Fellowship
Washington DC Urban Programs Director

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Washington DC Urban Program selects student leaders from around the DC area to spend the summer living and serving among low-income areas of Washington DC. For a mid-project retreat we went to Corhaven for some time of reflection and prayer. We had the privilege of engaging the Corhaven Graveyard in their time there. In the midst of a summer with several high-profile police shootings of black men and racial tension, getting to pray and seek God honestly about some of the roots of racial inequality in our country was really important. It was sobering to realize how unknown many slave history sites are and how little care has been done to preserve the lives of many who literally built our country. Our group is fairly diverse– about 1/3 white, 1/3 black and 1/3 Asian and Hispanic. Each of us connected into the history and legacy of slavery and its impact on our lives today differently. We walked out to the cemetery and were met by a downpour, a sense that God was seeing us and weeping alongside us as we cried and sang spirituals and hymns. As we retreated back inside we continued to pray and seek God for how we might respond. We’re grateful for the opportunity to connect the history present at Corhaven to our daily realities in our communities back in DC.