Christian Community Development

The CCDA poem:

Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have:
But of the best leaders When their task is done
The people will remark "We have done it ourselves."

relationships.

Motor City Summer Journal Quotes :: Bob Lupton edition

At this moment in American history, poverty is suburbanizing. Gentrification brings wealth back into the city and pushed poor renters into 40-year-old apartment buildings in first-ring suburbs.

Without the participation of the Church in the unstoppable process of gentrification, it will be an unjust process.

Handouts are the kindest way to destroy people.  Why exclude the poor from bargaining? Let's re-tool our charity to develop reciprocal systems.  "There is no loss of dignity in finding a good bargain."

You don't get appreciated for this kind of work. In fact it's often the opposite. Disappointment asks: "What am I doing this for?"  I do it because God loves those who suffer.

A public school in Atlanta:
When my kids enrolled, school average 21% on standardized tests.
12 years later, school average 79% on standardized tests.
How?  investment in school by volunteers and the revival of the PTA.

on poverty and dignity

Here are some interesting thoughts that I'm just kind of putting together right now--

I think one of the major problems that we face in trying to serve the poor (in any context) is cementing a feeling of a lack of dignity.  When I have nothing, it's easy to feel like I am nothing.  And when we give handouts without relationship, I think we contribute to that feeling of indignity.

[Aside: Interesting correlation between the words lack of dignity and indignation:  "the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect" and "anger or scorn aroused by something felt to be unfair, unworthy, or wrong"]. I don't think that needs explanation.

A few weeks ago 11 people from Shippensburg University in PA stayed in our house while they did an "Urban Plunge" in Detroit. Two of their work days they spent cleaning up trash from the street and empty lots in different neighborhoods and boarding up abandoned houses. I wonder what people think when we do things like that.

I was just walking down our street, coming back to our house from church. And I was noticing just how much garbage had accumulated unnoticed under the snow, and how dirty and littered the block looks now that the snow is gone.  I picked up a few things from our front yard as I walked in the door.  But if there was a large group of outsiders that came in for a day and cleaned up the whole block, how would I feel?  I would be grateful, in part, but I would also feel guilty for not taking care of my own neighborhood.  It would feel particularly bad if I saw people picking up trash in my own yard.  I'd feel belittled.  undignified.  I can only imagine what years of that kind of treatment from "rich, powerful" outsiders would do to my perception of myself.

And as I am sitting here thinking of these things, I am reminded of the desire (need) that God has put into every man to be the provider for his family.  It is a strong desire, and there is an equally strong sense of shame that men feel when they are unable to provide for their families.  And I wonder if that doesn't play a large part in why men are so quick to abandon their families in situations of poverty.  In some ways, if I stay to be with the people I love but cannot provide for, I live with a daily reminder of my own shame and failure.  I run, to escape my shame.

This has strayed far from a discussion of poverty.  But I think my desire is strengthening to serve my neighbors in a way that dignifies, that makes them feel loved and valued and valuable, not worthless or used, not the project that makes me feel better about all the good stuff I have.

neighbors

It's a beautiful day in Detroit.  After school I was out on my porch, and noticed my neighbor outside picking up some garbage.  She's doing some house cleaning.  But she has a little trouble getting around at over 80 years old.  So I was able to help her throw away some trash, and we're going to haul the garbage cans out to the curb on garbage day.  Being a good neighbor.  She has lived in the house next to us for 70 years.  Amazing.  I'm really looking forward to learning more of the history of the neighborhood from her.

A few days ago Mike and Jon came home at around 9:30pm and the met one of our other neighbors, a man about our age or a little older.  He sold them a rap CD for $5.  Turns out he's a Christian rap artist.  Or at least he wants to be.

I went to New St. Peters again on Sunday, and it was very nice again.  There is one family in particular that lives just a block away that is very interested in getting to know us, which is exciting.

We have a stove.  But it's still not hooked up.  Now we're just missing one small connector.  But apparently Home Depot didn't have the right size?  Lame.  But when we do have a stove (and our cabinet gets hung so we can actually set up our whole kitchen) we're finally going to be able to have people in for an open house or something of the sort.  I'm really excited about the possibilities!

Here are a few photos of some of the kids that are part of Club 7:37 with the CDC.  I'm co-leading a small group with the 8th grade boys.

Motor City News #4

Hello friends.

 

It turns out this newsletter is a bit more infrequent than monthly. I just read over the last one I sent, and much is new since then!

 

(Parts One, Two, Three via free convection)

 

I'm writing from a public library in Buffalo, NY, of all places. I'm here for a wedding. Yesterday was my birthday, so coming back to Rochester for a few days is a great birthday present.

 

Not to say that I'm not loving Detroit. I am. But seeing Belinda and other friends will be really nice. My parents are actually away for their anniversary (today! Happy 28th, Mom and Dad!), so I won't be seeing my family.

 

So, Detroit. If you're interested at all in learning some history of Detroit, see if you can find the recent special issue of TIME featuring the motor city. It has some really great articles.

 

Home.
We're all moved in to our new house (didn't happen until the first weekend of October), and almost everything is unpacked except the kitchen. We're waiting for a cabinet to be hung and we'll probably have to put in some shelves to act as a pantry before we have room for everything. We finally had our gas hooked up on Tuesday, after 10 days without heat and hot water. That first hot shower was amazing. We're still without a stove and a dryer, though. We expected to be able to start cooking as soon as the gas was turned on, but it turns out the stove that was given to us was broken. We're in the market for a used stove. The dryer we just have to hook up, which turns out to be a bit complicated. We're missing a few parts. We were trying to dry clothes in our dryer before, not realizing it wasn't electric and wondering why it took all night to dry anything. Ha!

 

Neighbors.
We haven't had many interactions with our neighborhood, aside from meeting the women who live next door and going to church on the corner. But things seem to be actually moving forward despite the difficulty of neighborly interaction during the colder months. God is gracious.

 

One really cool opportunity that God has brought to me through the CDC is to work with Club 7:37 -- they meet weekly with middle and high school students to have fun together and then have a brief spiritual discussion in small groups. Apparently this year is a bit different in how small-group-based it is, which I'm so excited about. I come from an InterVarsity ministry at RIT where I was part of a generation that pushed the focus of the group towards small groups. Now I get to lead a small group of eighth grade boys from my neighborhood. And I have a co-leader who is a high schooler in my neighborhood as well. Club is just such a perfect fit for me to make you of the ministry experience I've had in my new context in Detroit.

 

Work.
I have a job! Two jobs, actually... or three. I've been hired as a substitute teacher for the Leona Group, a charter school system that has 14 schools in the Detroit area. I was hired through Hope of Detroit Academy, and I've been working there every school day for the past two weeks, filling in for the same middle school social studies teacher. It was hard at first to figure out how to manage the classroom. Teaching is easy if students behave! For the first whole week it seemed like every period was a new experiment in classroom management.But God has been answering my prayers for hearts of peace and obedience.

 

I'm also tutoring with KUMON eight hours a week, and through that program I got connected with a student who wanted some private tutoring in geometry. God has provided so abundantly that I've actually had to say no to other people interested in private tutoring so that I actually have time to live!

 

God has blessed all of my roommates with some kind of work, which is really cool to see that in a town with almost 30% unemployment we've all found a bit of work, at least. It does bring up the fact that we're a bunch of (at least partially) college educated white guys. It probably shouldn't be surprising that we can get jobs.

 

Things to pray for:

• Unity and love within our house. We're in the process of trying to develop some kind of house covenant (like a much cooler version of your roommate agreement when you first moved into a dorm), and trying to figure out how and how much to share our income. We've been praying together (at least for a few minutes) almost every day, and that has been super for keeping us connected spiritually to one another.
• A tight bond to develop among the guys in my small group, including my relationship with my coleader.
• Wisdom for our house as we try to introduce ourselves to our neighbors, and the grace of God in finding humble ways to have an impact.

Peace be with you.

 

- m a t t

club

Last week I was asked to co-lead an InterVarsity small group at Wayne State.  It sounded like a really cool oportunity for me to be involved in multi-ethnic ministery and invest in leadership development of IV students.  Wayne State has had a difficult time with the idea of missional small groups, and Mike and Luke are really pushing to see every aspect of their ministry be missional this year.  HAving been a part of seeing missional small groups develop at RIT, I felt well equipped for the challenge.  It was something I new I could do, and probably do well.  I wanted to do it.

I talked to my mom about it, and she thought it was a bad idea to commit to something when so much else was up in the air.  I considered her advice but rejected it.

I decided to actually pray about it.  And as I was praying, God suggested that I really needed to talk to Belinda and listen to whatever she said becuase he was giving her a word.  So I sought her advice.
And she said, "Don't do it," with very compelling reasons.

So, I listened, somewhat reluctantly, but with resolve.  I trusted that God had something better.

Then Friday I was doing some work at the CDC office, and Mark asked me if anyone had talked to me about how I wanted to volunteer.  No one had, and I was willing to serve in whatever capacity I could be most useful.  Mark asked me to come to a meeting at his house four hours later.  Fortunately I didn't have plans for Friday night.

I don't have time to tell the story fully right now, but here's the short version:

I'm going to be leading a small group of teens from my neighborhood with the CDC, co-leading with a student leader selected by CDC staff.  It's part of a "Club" program that they run with middle and high school students every friday night.  And this year it's going to be more small-group and leadership-developement focused than ever.  Praise God!  This is exactly the kind of thing that I want to be doing, getting involved in the lives of the young people around me who will lead our neighborhood into the future.

instant coffee

Today I had the the best cup of instant coffee I'd ever experienced.

I slept in late (9:30ish), had a leisurely breakfast of cereal and read some more Ezekiel. Then the guys and I had our morning prayer time. Tuesdays we check in about what's been going on in our lives and pray for each other, and it was another encouraging morning. I've been slacking in my journaling disciplines and I think it's contributed to some feelings of spiritual disconnect, so I'm glad to have some support and accountability for that this week.

I walked down the block to the CDC office to use the internet, but just before I crossed Second an older woman sitting out on the steps of an apartment complex invited me in for coffee. I said I was busy but I might stop on the way back.

Well, turns out no one was in the office at CDC (at least no one answered the door), so I walked back three minutes later, and followed Patty up to her third floor apartment. She's a widow and relatively new to the neighborhood (3.5 years) so she feels pretty lonely. It was really nice to just be able to talk with her. Turns out she's a Christian and goes to one of the churches in the neighborhood I haven't been too yet, so I think I might try to go this week. It's "bring a friend Sunday" or something.
This week she's been working on memorizing Psalm 97, and recited the whole thing to me. Impressed. Other things we have in common: both adopted. And she gave up a baby for adoption when she was younger. She was saying her son ended up becoming a police officer in Detroit, and has come to visit her.
One more thing added to the list that makes me want to find my birth mother, for her benefit. I have no real desire to for myself, but I think it would probably be cool for her.

In other news, we settled on a house. We'll be moving to 1675 Pingree two weekends from now, the weekend of the 19th.

overnight camp

Last weekend I got on the CDC bus with 30 kids from the area and three other adults and we went to an overnight camp called Kicking Bear. I don't think any of us knew what we were getting in to. Turns out the camp was basically an archery and shooting range. There were no cabins, which most of the kids were expecting, but there were some people there from other places that were prepared for our arrival and had extra tents that they generously set up for us to use.

Friday was rainy, but it cleared up in time to have a fire and marshmallow fight. 10,000 marshmallows. It did grate against my conscience to throw away so many marshmallows, but it was super fun.

When everyone in the camp was heading to bed and the boys weren't ready to sleep Josh (one of the teens who became a de facto leader because he ended up being the only one his age) came to the rescue. He said, "Alright boys, who wants to go bear hunting!" So we took the excited and scared boys into the woods in the middle of the night. For city kids, it was really a crazy and frightening experience to be in the woods in the dark. We came back to the fire, roasted some leftover marshmallows, and prayed together. It was beautiful.

Saturday they sent us out into the woods to shoot arrows from compound bows at fake animals. It was really pretty super, and they made sure we were very safe. It was great to watch the kids get into archery, and I really enjoyed it myself. I definitely improved my skill with a bow throughout the few hours we were practicing.

At the end they had a raffle, and one of the boys from our group won a ticket for a free brand new bow that's worth about $400. I think he's going to get the money instead of a bow. But how cool is that? Especially since we didn't pay anything for the camp. One of the guys (Steve) who brings his own family to the camp knows Tony, the children's director at CDC, and Steve straight up paid for all of us.

Ray Howell also shared his story with us about his conversion to Christianity and the beginning of Kicking Bear. Cool stuff. You can read a short bio if you're interested.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was getting to spend a bunch of time with Josh. He was one of the teen staff for day camp, so I worked with him all summer. And he just decided to follow Jesus this summer, too. So I'm hoping to be something of a mentor figure in his life, which is both scary and exciting. It's been so awesome to see the way God is transforming his heart and life.