Urban Ministry

Environmental Justice in Detroit

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 09 May 2014 20:23:34 +0000

Kathryn Brill

Environmental Justice in Detroit

Our Christian life is never just about us as individuals—it takes place in a specific context, among specific people. When Jesus calls us to follow him, he means for us to live out our faith within these specific environments. Rather than ignoring what’s going on around us, we need to intentionally bring God’s love to the neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities we inhabit.

Sandra Yu, an ��ñ�� alumna from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is committed to helping bring God’s renewal to the city of Detroit. She works for Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, whose mission is to make Detroit a healthier and more environmentally friendly place to live. She is also a Detroit Revitalization Fellow, joining others to complete projects such as cleaning and restoring city parks.

But Sandra isn’t just dedicated to renewing Detroit in her work life. She also intentionally participates in the life of her neighborhood by hanging out on her front porch and building community with those around her. Sandra is a member of Mack Avenue Community Church as well, which is focused on being a good neighbor in its location.

By joining herself to the community in these ways, Sandra is able to connect the work she does for the whole of Detroit to the individuals she knows personally. And she’s able to live out God’s call to love those around her in specific and tangible ways. Watch the video to learn more about how Sandra is making a difference in Detroit.

For more reading:

-“Making Neighborhoods Whole” by Wayne Gordon and John Perkins

-From the blog: “Wisdom for Graduates: Take Heart, World Changers”

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

��ñ�� alumni

Forsaking the Beach

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:00:00 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Forsaking the Beach

��ñ�� students from across the country, spending their spring break working on the West Side of Chicago rather than relaxing at the beach, got the attention of the Chicago Tribune. An article published on Good Friday, April 2nd, examines the motivations and explores the activities of the 230 students participating in the Chicago Urban Project (CUP).

The volunteers remodeled buildings and helped younger students with their school work. By partnering with a local church and several Christian ministries, ��ñ�� offered participants a variety of opportunities to discover the values of Chicago’s urban neighborhoods.

Discussions are the difference
The students also discussed God’s concern for justice and had the opportunity to ask questions about dealing with injustice. “The real distinctive thing about CUP is the discussions,” said Katelin Bell, a Northwestern University senior.

This unique combination of urban renewal and inner renewal drew ��ñ�� students to a variety of other spring break projects. The City Lights Project in St. Louis also gives college students an introduction to urban ministry. And students from 33 New England schools participated in the Katrina Relief Urban Plunge in New Orleans for the fifth straight year.

Jeff Barneson, an ��ñ�� staff member at Harvard University, said that the combination of work and Bible study presents a unique environment for reflection and transformation. “It’s like setting the table for a long conversation with people about things that matter,” he said. “We could go to the beach for evangelism, but it would not be as effective. This project creates a culture of openness and service, which enables other things to happen.”

A deeper motivation
The Daytona Beach News-Journal also reported on students from ��ñ��’s Greek Ministry at Purdue University who volunteered to help Habitat for Humanity build affordable housing in New Smyrna Beach during spring break. While the reporter describes the students as those who would rather hang drywall than endure hangovers, their motivation goes deeper than just building houses.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to his colleague Timothy (I Tim. 4:8), physical exercise (and its accomplishments) has value but the true renewal is in the transformation that comes from putting our hope in the living God and living for His Kingdom.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

Developing Cultural Fluency

webteam@intervarsity.org — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Developing Cultural Fluency

Volunteering with other ��ñ�� students at the Harbor House ministry in Oakland exposed Wendy Hu-Au to a world much different than the one she experienced growing up in Silicon Valley. Eventually she decided to put her studies on hold at the University of California—Berkeley, join a service and discipleship program called Mission Year, and move to Chicago’s Lawndale Neighborhood for a year.

“Living and working in Lawndale totally changed the way I view God,” she said. “My experience there made me want to do something with my life that would serve God and serve the poor.” When she returned to Berkeley to complete her studies—as a Mass Communications Major and Education Minor—she planned to become a teacher in an urban school.

Serving the poor through campus ministry
But she also considered staff work with ��ñ��. Attending Urbana 03 (the theme was Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be Done) “I realized I could do direct service with the poor or I could help those with the privileges of higher education give up their privilege and serve the poor for the sake of the kingdom.” She decided to join ��ñ�� staff.

With that background in mind, it might not seem so unusual to find Wendy working as the team leader for ��ñ��’s largest Black Campus Ministries (BCM) chapter. She joined the Cal-Berkeley BCM chapter two years ago, after working with the multiethnic chapter for three years. Even so, it was not an easy change.

“I was really nervous. I wondered if people would trust me. Would people think that I was trying to be black? Would people think that they can’t relate to me because I’m not black? But it was also very freeing. I knew that if there was any connection to be made, it would have to be through the Holy Spirit. God would have to be the one to connect us.”

Same school but a different campus
As she worked on building trust and developing cultural fluency, Wendy realized that while she was still at the same school, it was a different campus. “Going to Cal as an Asian American woman is so different than going to Cal as a Black student,” she said. “I’m getting to know a whole different side of campus. It’s a different community, different social networks, different clubs that I wasn’t really a part of as a student.”

Wendy started playing basketball with neighborhood kids at Lawndale and continues to play regularly. “I can hold my own,” she said. “Playing ball is an easy way to build bridges with people.” She’s attracted to extreme sports, including rock climbing and skate boarding. And every now and then she’ll break out a few break dancing moves.

Engaging students with communty service
Wendy credits Michael McBride, an ��ñ�� volunteer who is also the pastor of The Way Christian Center in Berkeley, for the recent growth in the BCM chapter. His four step vision of engagement with the student mainstream started with community service, followed by transformation, discipleship and fellowship. Around 70 students are now involved with BCM chapter activities, many of them also providing volunteer service and Christian witness in other campus organizations.

But through it all Wendy continues to adhere to her vision for students, “to show them God’s heart for the poor.” She encourages them to volunteer for urban projects and similar events. She’s worked as an assistant director for BayUP, ��ñ��’s Bay Area Urban Project. In 2008 she and her husband helped lead ��ñ��’s Global Urban Trek to Manila.

“She is a passionate woman about justice,” said Felicia Nibungco, one of her ��ñ�� colleagues. “She is always trying to take things to the next level…in a good way.”

Collin Tomikawa, Wendy’s supervisor, said, “Wendy is a real gift to our team, helping us to think creatively as we look at our campus ministry. She has done her homework on her own ethnic identity, which has been critical to her effectiveness in working with BCM. Wendy has done a great job crossing cultures and being an effective leader in the multi-ethnic context of today’s university.”

Adapting Cultures
Wendy has adapted her communication style to BCM culture. But she also talks to students about her family and her own Chinese and Taiwanese ethnic heritage. “I believe very strongly that it’s not about acting like whatever ethnicity that I’m trying to reach out to,” she said “I need to be myself and be who God made me to be. And as I love who God made me to be, other people are drawn to that. And hopefully they will also love who God made them to be.”

While she has adapted herself culturally, she’s also introducing BCM students to ��ñ�� culture. Last year she took her first group of BCM leaders to chapter camp, which included a week of manuscript Bible study. “Why does everyone have these markers, what’s up with that?” she remembered them asking. This year they all brought their own markers.

Read more about how ��ñ�� welcomes Black freshman and new students to the Cal-Berkeley campus in StudentSoul.org.

You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s work at Cal-Berkeley by following this link.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

Black Campus Ministries

Multiethnic Ministry

Renewal in New Orleans

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

News

Katie Montei

Renewal in New Orleans

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina put 81 percent of New Orleans underwater and caused 1,800 deaths in the region. Recovery has been slow. About 85 percent of the recovery work being done is by faith-based groups. Without volunteer work, from Christians in particular, the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast would be much slower.

��ñ�� chapters in New England have joined together to create the Katrina Relief Urban Project (KRUP) to help clean and rebuild New Orleans. For the past three years ��ñ�� chapters in the Northeast have spent their spring breaks in New Orleans.

The Purpose of KRUP
��ñ�� staff created a threefold purpose for KRUP. It’s first purpose is to walk alongside the people of New Orleans, to help rebuild the lives of families and the health of the community.

The second purpose is to foster community among students who may not naturally befriend each other on campus; the nature of the trip attracts people from various religious and social backgrounds who all have a desire to lend a hand to help others.

The third purpose is to facilitate discussion and reflection about the deep questions of life and to demonstrate the intersection of faith and social justice. The mission has provided an opportunity for students, whether or not they are Christians, to give themselves to a worthy cause.

The Influence of KRUP
This year 496 students participated over the four weeks that ��ñ�� chapters worked in New Orleans. Since its conception, KRUP has drawn students from every point on the spectrum of faith – from those who have little interest in Christianity, to those who are committed followers of Jesus.

KRUP has not only brought restoration to communities in New Orleans, but it has also helped with the life of ��ñ�� chapters. Tom Brink, the New England Missions Coordinator for ��ñ��, explained that the reason KRUP has been so influential is because it is central to their regional vision “to advance the Kingdom through whole life commitment to Christ.”

Every year more and more students with little faith background are coming. When Brown University first started participating in KRUP most of the students who went were already heavily involved in ��ñ��. This year, of the fifteen students who went, only five were part of the chapter. Oftentimes on-campus events will be designed for either the seeker or the Christian, but KRUP offers opportunity for growth no matter where someone is on their spiritual journey.

Although the chapters do not treat KRUP as a means to an end in order to convert their friends, the nature of the trip and their unabashed Christian outlook has naturally led people to faith. Sarah Cowan Johnson, Area Director in Rhode Island, said, “It’s so different from our models in the past, because we’re not just witnessing with the people there, we’re witnessing to the team we bring along.”

Lives that are Changed
Last year, a student from the University of New Hampshire named Pete, who was not previously involved in ��ñ��, came on the trip. Because of the Lord working in his life during the trip, he made the decision to follow Christ. He came back this year and brought ten of his friends from the Track team. His friend Jay became a Christian during the week and together they stood up in front of the whole team at the end of the trip to invite others into relationship with Christ. Another 6 students stood up to acknowledge that they wanted to take a step forward in their faith.

Tom Brink said, “KRUP is probably the most effective event I’ve seen in helping chapters move from a group that is internally focused, to a group that affects the campus.” Students are searching for ways to affect their campus, their country, and the world; and ��ñ�� chapters in New England have met that desire.

Because of the community that students witness both within neighborhoods in New Orleans, and the group of people that they are working with, they leave the project feeling compelled by the person of Jesus and attracted to the community of believers that they became a part of. ��ñ�� is reaching students by providing an opportunity to aid others in rebuilding their lives, and sharing who Jesus is along the way.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

Chapter Building

Teaching for America

webteam@intervarsity.org — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Teaching for America

It was a watermelon picnic where Katie Rigby connected with ��ñ�� as a new freshman at Wake Forest University. And it was a small group ��ñ�� Bible study that she led as a sophomore that awakened her passion for social justice. After her sophomore year she joined her ��ñ�� staff leaders on a mission trip to New York City. “That’s where I really started learning about peoples’ experiences and what was working and what wasn’t,” she said.

Katie served as the chapter’s service coordinator her senior year. She helped connect chapter members with local service opportunities and organized the spring break service mission. As she prepared to graduate, she knew she was looking for a job that offered more than a paycheck.

“I was looking for something that was social justice oriented, connecting what I had done in college with a real life job, working to eradicate injustices I had seen taking place,” she said. “The mission of Teach For America seemed to fit with what I wanted to do, so I applied.”

ONLY THE BEST
In the tradition of the Peace Corps and Americorps, Teach For America is mobilizing thousands of college graduates to personally invest two years of their lives to help eradicate the educational achievement gap in low income community schools and then, as alumni, commit their lives to expanding educational opportunity. Many ��ñ�� students like Katie have accepted the Teach For America’s challenge.

Founded just 18 years ago, Teach For America recruits top college graduates and professionals of all academic majors and career backgrounds. They teach in urban and rural districts where students are at risk because of systemic inequities. Teach For America is founded on the belief that educational inequity is America’s most serious social justice issue. Not just anyone can be a Teach For America recruit. They must have an average 2.5 GPA plus a record of achievement, leadership, and perseverance.

A little over a year ago Teach For America completed a study of incoming corps members, as their teachers are called. “Nearly 50 percent of the teachers identified themselves as people of faith, and were involved in faith-based organizations or attended a place of worship,” said Brooke Flowers, who now holds the position of Director of Faith Based Outreach. “Of those, 80 percent said that they joined Teach For America specifically because it gave them an opportunity to live out their faith.” She added that almost 100 of the members of that corps class were ��ñ�� alumni.

A NATURAL CONNECTION
“This seems a wonderful indicator of how our alumni are moving into challenging places, combining their faith and their education in order to bring about change,” said Scott Bessenecker, ��ñ��’s director of Global Projects. “Teach For America is a secular organization. That they should see 100 ��ñ�� alumni join their organization this last year speaks loudly to the power of our ministry to propel students into places that most people work very hard to avoid, and recognizes the importance of our historic commitments to multi-ethnicity and to urban projects.”

This summer another 65 students with ��ñ�� connections are training with Teach For America and preparing for the start of classes in the fall. Even though Teach For America is not a religious organization, it’s focusing more and more of its outreach towards the faith community and faith-based organizations such as ��ñ��. “We’re looking for outstanding leaders, and we’re finding those leaders in the faith community,” Brooke said.

A recent story in U.S. News and World Report said that Teach For America “has assumed the allure of the Rhodes Scholarship program, in essence becoming the postgraduate program of choice for the elite of America’s top universities.” Thomas Friedman also gave kudos to Teach For America in a New York Times column. The Urban Institute released a study which found that Teach For America teachers are generally more effective teachers than more experienced colleagues and a recent Business Week article also praised the organization for its success.

A PLACE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
As Brooke Flowers talks with ��ñ�� students, and others for whom faith is a priority, she tells them that she grew more in her faith while she taught as a second grade teacher in Atlanta than she would have grown attending divinity school, as she had planned.

“I thought that I had to go to divinity school to grow in my faith but God did not call me there,” she said. “Instead I learned that I could be the hands and feet of God through service in these communities. God revealed himself to me between the hours of seven p.m. and five p.m. every day, in ways that I wouldn’t believe.”

After Katie Rigby was accepted by Teach For America she ended up teaching Earth Science at Eastway Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was not an easy job, but she believed strongly that God wanted her there because the students deserved committed teachers. “If I didn’t have the biblical basis to be there, then I would have been long gone,” she said. “There were some days when that was all I had to hold on to, that first year was pretty rough.”

After her Teach For America service was over Katie joined the teaching staff at KIPP WAYS Academy in Atlanta. KIPP WAYS stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, West Atlanta Young Scholars. The academy is part of a network of charter schools operating in low-income rural and urban communities. She says the school is a good fit for her, just as Teach For America was, doing the kind of work she envisioned when she was an ��ñ�� student learning about God’s passion for justice.

___

Read more: Chad Riley joined Teach for America after graduation from DePauw University in 2005. He was interviewed on ��ñ��’s website for students, StudentSoul.org.

^{Photo: Katie Rigby with students}

News Keywords

Justice

Urban Ministry

Spring Break in Haiti

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:00:00 +0000

News

Spring Break in Haiti

College students spending spring break in the Caribbean often means warm sunny beaches and wild noisy parties. But for nine Greek students from a half dozen U.S. universities, spring break meant helping poor families in a Haitian village get better access to clean drinking water.

Nick Johnson, an ��ñ�� staff member who works with fraternity and sorority students at Georgia State and Emory Universities, first organized the trip last year and returned with another group this year. “Alternative spring breaks are popular now and Greeks are big on community service so it’s an attractive thing to them,” Nick said.

The idea was to give Greek students the opportunity to study Biblical concepts like mercy and justice in a cross cultural environment. In practical terms it meant laying PVC pipelines so that residents of the village of Neply don’t have to go to the community well for water; the water now comes to their homes.

One of the unique things about this trip is that the U.S. fraternity and sorority members worked with a fraternity of Neply residents. Several years ago a student from Florida launched a fraternity in Neply as a unique way of overcoming poverty. Even though the Neply fraternity isn’t connected to a school, it’s based on fraternal concepts such as serving others. “It’s humbling to see them travel to poor villages and hand out rice when they could be recipients themselves,” Nick said.

Helping improve the standard of living in the impoverished village is a worthy goal. But helping college students understand what the Bible teaches about poverty is also an important component of the ��ñ�� experience. The students analyzed four lessons taken from the 18th and 19th chapters of Luke’s Gospel. One student wrote later, “The Bible studies we did every morning were challenging and very relevant to what we were doing in Haiti. We were able to see Jesus speak about issues dealing with the poor as well as see Jesus speaking to rich men like Zacheus who, when they met Jesus, were transformed and gave their possessions to serve the poor.”

As a result of the trip, one student from the University of Georgia made a decision to follow Jesus. Three other students decided they wanted to do more to serve the poor after they graduate from college.

Attendees at the annual North Carolina Greek conference, in Charlotte last year and Greensboro this year, have given more than $4,000 towards the Neply project. Most of the money has gone towards purchase of the PVC pipe that is then installed by the students.

“The idea of connecting American Greek students with this other Greek organization in Haiti sounded like an amazing opportunity,” Nick said. So far it has worked well, for both the residents of Neply and for the Greek students who have discovered that the Bible is still relevant for dealing with the problems of this world.

Project webpage
You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s Haiti Global Project following this link.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

Spring Break 08

webteam@intervarsity.org — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

News

Spring Break 08

While many of their colleagues and friends headed south to warm beaches for spring break, 34 students from five University of Wisconsin (UW) campuses drove to Centrobrook Church in Milwaukee. Centrobrook is a Hispanic church that meets in an old warehouse on Milwaukee’s near south side.

The UW students are participating in one of 18 ��ñ�� urban plunges that are being held in ten cities this month. The plunges not only offer students service opportunities, but also the chance to immerse themselves in an urban culture that is very different from what they are used to. Most of the students are living with a Centrobrook family for the week.

Last Saturday the students delivered food from Centrobrook’s food pantry to families in the neighborhood of the church. Sunday, after a worship service followed by a potluck meal, the students went on a scavenger hunt designed to help them learn more about life in the inner city. The week continued with service projects, such as organizing the shelves at Centrobrook’s food pantry and tutoring students at an after school program, as well as Bible study and worship time.

��ñ��’s Milwaukee Urban Project (MUP) coordinator Jen Vettrus said that this is the ninth year for MUP. “The goal of MUP is to expose students to the biblical call to serve the poor and be champions of justice amidst the issues of the city,” she said. “Because of MUP, students back on campus have reached out to international students, done Bible studies and book studies with African American student organizations, and started Bible studies on social justice.”

It’s not unusual for MUP participants to return in the summer for an internship at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission or to volunteer at the meal program at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church or volunteer at the New Beginnings after-school tutoring program. “Several students have also moved into my urban and racially diverse neighborhood after graduation, and several have taken teaching jobs at city schools follow MUP participation,” Jen said.

In New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cleveland, and other major U.S. cities this month, ��ñ�� students are involved in similar urban projects. The students will return to campus without the sun tan that marks a week at the beach but with something much more valuable, a fresh perspective on God’s message of hope and justice for the people who live in cities.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

A Transforming Call

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0000

News

Katie Montei

A Transforming Call

Elfira felt uneasy about returning home to Indonesia. It had been five years since she was there last, and she thought she had left it behind. She came to the States to pursue a degree in engineering. But during her time here heard a call from God to serve him in another way. She decided to return home in order to help equip and minister with churches in caring for the poor and needy in Indonesia.

Only 11-percent of the population in Indonesia is Christian. Elfira grew up in an environment that is sometimes hostile to Christianity; however, she was exposed to Christian beliefs early in life. Although her father is not a Christian, her mother maintains a quiet belief in Jesus. Elfira and her brothers were sent to Christian schools in hopes that they would encounter God for themselves.

But going to Christian schools did not give Elfira the confident or personal faith in Christ that her mother had anticipated. Elfira was able to recite textbook answers about who God is and tell stories about his activities in the world, but he wasn’t real to her. She explained her attitude by saying, “My identity was so much defined by my academic achievements; yet, the higher my achievements, the more I questioned whether they were all there were to life.”

For many years she prayed to a God that she was not sure existed, hoping that he would reveal himself to her. It was a newly established neighborhood church that finally nurtured and developed her faith; when she was 15 she began taking direction from God for the first time.

When it came time for Elfira to go to college, she made the decision to come to the States to pursue a degree in engineering. She believes it was in God’s leading that her family allowed her to leave Indonesia, because families do not often invest in a daughter’s education. But to her family’s chagrin, it was in leaving Indonesia and experiencing the transforming power of the Holy Spirit during college that Elfira realized that her calling was not engineering, but rather serving the poor in another way.

After a few years involvement in the Indonesian Christian Fellowship (ICF), which is not affiliated with ��ñ��, at Purdue University in Indiana, and deep involvement in a local church, Elfira began to get an ever-clearer calling to full-time ministry.

In pursuing how God wanted to use her, Elfira spent a month last summer as part of City Lights, ��ñ��’s Urban Project in St. Louis. Elfira said that during her time in St. Louis, “God spoke to me specifically about my home country, Indonesia, where poverty and injustice prevail. God says that one way to know him is by defending the cause of the poor and the needy; whatever we do not do for them we do not do for him.” Those ideas, taken from Jeremiah 22 and Matthew 25, were impressed upon her during the Urban Project where she worked among inner city children, the elderly, disabled, recent immigrants, and refugees.

Elfira is unsure exactly how God will use her in ministry when she returns to Indonesia, but is clear about her calling to return.

In order to begin clarifying her calling further, she decided to visit Indonesia and speak with churches and mission agencies in the area about opportunities inside and outside of the Church; she does not feel comfortable moving home without a more defined path. Her hope is to then come back to the States and pursue a seminary degree.

But going home, even to visit, still makes her nervous. Her family disapproves of her calling to any kind of ministry, let alone one in which she will give up her career in engineering – she feels pressure from them to continue with engineering.

Although she is still exploring how God will use her specifically, she knows that he wants her to help equip the church in Indonesia. “I have the heart and passion to make a difference through equipping and empowering God’s church – the body of Christ that has been given redemptive mission in the world – to show love, compassion, justice, and mercy in the midst of darkness,” she said. From her days of searching for God, to her time of calling in college and afterwards, Elfira has faithfully been following God and allowing him to transform her into his vessel to be used in his kingdom.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

A punch in the face

webteam@intervarsity.org — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:00:00 +0000

News

Josh Harper

A punch in the face

A few weeks ago I was punched in the face so hard I have no memory of the blow. One moment I remember seeing an angry, drunk, and grieving friend of a homicide victim charging toward me, and the next, I was on the ground spitting out pieces of my teeth. I was confused. My jaw ached. I pushed myself up from the sidewalk and tried to piece together what happened. My skin felt hot from the adrenaline pulsing through my body. There was commotion all around me and all I could think of was, “How can I get out of here?”

A little over three years ago, Marjie and I moved to inner-city Oakland. Both of our lives were marked by experiences with God in an urban context and we pursued God into the city. These last three years we have experienced great joy, incredible community, and the hard reality of life on the other side of the poverty line. Never more than in the last few weeks has that reality really hit home.

While we live in relative comfort with a nice home and all of our needs and many of our wants fulfilled, we have chosen to be a few steps closer to solidarity with the poor around us. On September 23rd, 19-year-old Jesse McKissick was killed in a drive-by shooting three blocks from our house. Jesse was the 103rd victim of homicide in Oakland, and the fifth within a quarter mile of our home this year.

In an effort to show our support and to stand against the senseless violence in our streets, Dan, my Pastor, and I went to a street-side memorial for Jesse. With a slightly suspicious look on their faces, friends and relatives asked us what we were doing there. We said that we were from the church down the street and wanted to pay our respect to the victim and offer support for the family. The family members thanked us for being there.

We lit candles and placed them amidst the numerous liquor bottles and other candles placed in a small semicircle on the sidewalk. Hanging on the wrought iron fence was a board on which people had written messages and posted pictures of the victim and his friends. Others had written messages on white t-shirts which also hung on the fence. Dan and I reflected on the situation as we looked at pictures of Jesse.

One friend of Jesse’s seemed to be taking the loss particularly hard. He was drunk and went between crying and talking loudly about the night that his friend was killed. He then walked out into the street and threw down his empty liquor bottle. The glass shattered and spread out across both lanes. He was yelling and cursing and stopping traffic.

After about five minutes he caught sight of Dan and I, and started running down the sidewalk towards us. He first chased Dan and then turned toward me. I started running but found myself blocked in by a few cars. While running away I turned and tried to say, “We’re just paying respect to your friend.” That’s when he hit me.

I am okay now. My teeth are temporarily fixed. I spent the following day in bed with a severe headache, but was fine after that. I did hurt my knee when I fell on the concrete sidewalk, but it causes only mild discomfort and pain.

A few days later Marjie and I heard a loud crash in front of our house at about 8:30p.m. Charging out the front door I saw that a car had slammed into my truck which was parked in front of Marjie’s car; both vehicles were totalled! I also saw the driver of the car running down the sidewalk away from our house. It turns out the driver was drunk and had been in an altercation with some neighbors across the street before driving straight on into our cars. He got away and both of our cars were rendered useless.

I wish I could say that everything is fine, and I’ve worked through all of this—that I have forgiven both of these guys and am at peace with the situation. The truth is I am still angry. I find myself indulging in fantasies involving getting out the door a little sooner and being equipped with a baseball bat. I have no desire to move away from Oakland, nor am I fearful in my day to day life.

But my heart has grown hard. I find that I lack compassion. I see the issues and troubles that plague our city and community and I don’t care like I used to. As time goes on I am getting in touch with what I am feeling (this usually takes me a while). I have become more and more aware of the condition of my heart. But Jesus is good. I am working this out. Please remember me in your prayers as I press into God in this situation.

___

Josh Harper is ��ñ��’s regional director of urban ministries in Oakland, California. Many staff live in circumstances that are sacrificial and challenging. You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s urban outreach in the San Francisco/Oakland area by following this link.

News Keywords

Urban Ministry

��ñ�� Students Return to St. Louis

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:00:00 +0000

News

��ñ�� Students Return to St. Louis

Last December ��ñ�� hosted 22,000 people in St. Louis from across the country and around the globe for the Urbana Student Missions Convention. The scope was global and the plenary speakers, music, and workshops of Urbana 06 all aimed at transforming lives, leading to careers of service around the world in response to God’s calling.

In March the focus was on St. Louis neighborhoods, as ��ñ��’s CityLights ministry hosted 221 students and staff from across the country in St. Louis for the annual spring plunge. Once again lives were being transformed, but this time through 6,000 hours of community service contributed to local ministries that serve the disadvantaged, as well as through mentoring, multi-cultural worship, Bible study, and in-home visits.

CityLights is directed by Gerry and Sharie Chappeau and is now in its 14th year. Urban plunges were also experienced by ��ñ�� students in cities such as New Orleans, Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York this spring.

Quality mentoring relationships and not just service opportunities are the key to the success of CityLights, Gerry reported. So while students worked in feeding programs, inner-city alternative schools, refugee resettlement ministries, job skills training, and similar outreaches, they also had meals together with local professionals who apply their Christian values to their professional callings and lifestyle choices.

“Students were taught God’s purposes and challenged to review their own,” Gerry added. “They met refugees and ‘urban poor’ whose stories are devastating and surreal and yet in many of them there was joy, vibrant faith, genuine warmth and hospitality.”

The most important message conveyed during the urban plunges is that only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is there true hope for the inner city; out of the radical depths of God’s grace comes racial reconciliation, lifestyles of justice and mercy, and careers dedicated toward service to others.

“I feel that the truth of the Gospel was put into action in ways I never expected,” commented Brett, a student at the University of Northern Iowa. “I encountered a new Gospel on a new level which I had never seen.”

“I was able to serve others, learn how to love like Jesus, live in mercy, pray for the city, eat good food, and meet great people,” commented Sherene, a student from the University of Houston.

Ashley, a student at the State University of New York, Geneseo, commented, “This week was one of the most amazing weeks of my life.”

“My original goals were to help others,” commented Emilee, of the University of Evansville. “I did not expect my heart to be transformed as it did.”

One group of students built a wheelchair access ramp for an elderly widow who had not been able to leave her home in years without specialized assistance. When the ramp was finished, they wheeled her into her backyard for a tear-filled celebration with balloons and cake. A group that had rehabbed the home of another widow, returned to St. Louis later so that they could celebrate her birthday with her.

“The students saw the city, served the city, embraced the city, and many began to fall in love with the city,” Gerry reported. “What is so humbling is that God seems to bless in inordinate ways when we pursue His heart for the least. We have honestly never been involved with anything in our lives seemingly more impactful on students, than in simply leading them in the fresh footprints of Jesus as He walks in the alleys and byways of our broken communities and cares for those He finds there.”

Campus staff who work with these students reported that after the urban plunge there was a noticeable increase in involvement in evangelism, cross-cultural relationships, community and campus outreach, and Scripture study.

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��ñ���� Students Return to St. Louis

��ñ���� Students Return to St. Louis

��ñ�� Students Return to St. Louis

��ñ�� Students Return to St. Louis