Urban Ministry

Urban ministry in American church culture is sometimes portrayed as an optional extra for the Body of Christ, a specialized branch of the church that does something the rest of us don’t really need to worry about.

Although we know that the Church has an obligation to live and proclaim the Gospel to everyone in every place, we see in the whole sum of the scriptures God’s special concern for the poor. From God’s commands to Israel to care for the poor, widowed, orphaned, sojourner and oppressed (see Leviticus 25 ect…) to the Prophets rebuking God’s people for neglecting justice for those same people (Isaiah 58, Amos 5 ect…) and not least in the life and teachings of Jesus (Matt 3, 5, 19, 25 ect…) and the witness of the early church (Acts 2, 4, 10 ect…) we see God cares deeply for the oppressed and poor of the world.

Today the inner city areas of America and specifically Fresno are full of people who although may be looked down upon by society, are enormously precious to God. Jesus shows us in his parable of the good Samaritan that “loving our neighbor” is synonymous with helping those in need. Urban ministry is a concrete response to God’s call for the church to bring the good news of Christ’s Kingdom to the places of need and brokenness.

 “Vocation is where our greatest passion and the world’s greatest need collide”

Those who have heard God’s challenge to put Christ’s love on display to the world have a unique opportunity to serve in Fresno. Our home has been identified as the city with the most neighborhoods of concentrated poverty for a large city in the nation. This could be looked at as a reason to pack up and leave or a challenge to see the Gospel tangibly make it’s way through these neighborhoods, mending broken hearts and re-weaving the social and spiritual fabric of the community.

At The Hub we believe incarnation is an essential element of Urban (or any kind of) ministry. Jesus didn’t just sit in heaven and shoot us some cosmic “forgiveness rays” from his comfortable throne. Jesus “who though he was in the form of God…made himself nothing, taking the from of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) He became one of us to show how much he loved us. We take that example as supreme for how we are supposed to reflect God’s reconciling love to others. Solidarity with the people of the city is a powerful tool to change lives that we have been learning about at the hub.

The Hub’s ten-month internship will teach you and push you to seek the Shalom of Fresno in new and exciting ways, If you feel God’s call to serve the people of your city I don’t think there is a better way to get equipped and discipled into this challenging and exciting mission field.    

  - Erik Foss

Apply your life for one year in Biblical Community, Leadership Development, and Urban Ministry through the Hub or Pink House. Visit www.fiful.org or www.highwaycitycd.com to apply. Applications for the Hub or Pink House 10-month internship are due April 20, 2011. Apply yourself today.

Glimpses of Leadership Development

During my internship at The Hub here in Highway City I have had the privilege of working at the Sierra Mobile Park (SMP) after school program located at the Gloria Aldama Community Center inside the mobile home park. It has been a growing experience and has contributed most to my growth as leader and my calling to ministry in an urban context.

            The program serves 20-30 pre-kinder through middle school-aged students that currently live in the Sierra Mobile home park, most of whom come from first-generation Hispanic families. It is one of many programs in the area whose goal is to help improve the area’s struggling schools. Many of the schools in the area, for example, are Program Improvement (PI) schools, which are Title I funded schools and local educational agencies are not making adequate yearly progress and are receiving corrective action measures from the state.

We are also there to provide some positive adult influence in the lives of the kids. A lot of their parents both work and they are often raised by older siblings. Our after school program is a positive environment where the kids of SMP can come and not only get homework help but also play games, sports and computers and receive a often much needed snack. We try to help them develop as leaders and limit their exposure to some of the harmful elements that can be found in any urban context.

Leadership development is one of the factors of the program that happened without our help or influence. It was a need that was unconsciously brought to our attention by the students themselves. In working with the program I was always concerned with how I should be leading and what I could bring to the program to make it better. If the program needed more resources—whether it be snacks, educational supplies, or volunteers etc—It was Bryan Henry the program’s director, or myself who sought out and provided the solution. We were working from the perspective that we had the best ideas for our program’s development. It wasn’t until our third or so time of running out of snacks that the student’s decided they wanted to help.

After being declined to continue receiving snacks from a snack provider, we had been relying on donations from sponsors/supporters of the program, but those weren’t as reliable. We were also having issues with the kids pocketing extra snacks to take home which caused them to deplete mush faster. So some days we would have nothing to give. When inquiring as to why we were without snacks one day, some of the older middle school aged girls in the program offered their own solution,

“Why don’t some of us go around and ask for donations from the families of SMP?” one of the girls asked.

Bryan consented and they came back with a ton of snack foods beaming with excitement for the work they did and the results they helped produce. From there they began meeting together planning other ways of getting snacks and raising money for the program. Some days we have been keeping the program open late so they can hold their brainstorming meetings and also bake some cookies to sell. One day I went in during a meeting and they asked if they could practice a speech with me they had put together that they were going to use to ask for donations. It was very clear and persuasive. I offered some insight but mostly encouraged them and left it up to them create. They were doing great without me. They even mentioned wanting to involve parents in the meetings to include their input on how to improve the program and gather more resources. This came from the same girls who had been rebelling at our attempts to control how the program ran and had been some of the hardest to work with.

Some of the younger kids have also been stepping up to help clean up at the end of the program everyday. From doing dishes to vacuuming to mopping they are also wanting to get more involved in making the program better.

            The most amazing part is seeing these kids take ownership of the program and step up as leaders. It makes the whole experience more genuine when you feel like you have a stake in it. This is leadership development and it wasn’t even our idea. I thought I knew what the program needed in order to be sustained or improve. Maybe those ideas would have been helpful, but then the program would be ours and the kids would continue to have an indifferent point of view. Now no one was trying to steal snacks because they were now theirs, not ours. Kids are fighting over who gets to clean because they want to be leaders in their program too. Once we were able to put a bit of trust into them they responded in this amazing and mature way. I am very proud of them and hope to see this ownership continue and grow!
          Most veterans of community and leadership development and urban ministry, will tell you not to expect to see a great deal of change right off the bat. This is true, real growth in our underprivileged and resource lacking areas takes many years of prayer and dedication. The Hub is in its first year in Highway City and some amazing roots have been planted and it is our prayer that their growth can be sustained as more future Hubbers come and go—or stay.

Elliot Cavale

Apply your life for one year in Biblical Community, Leadership Development, and Urban Ministry through the Hub or Pink House. Visit www.fiful.org or www.highwaycitycd.com to apply. Applications for the Hub or Pink House 10-month internship are due April 20, 2011. Apply yourself today.

Loving Your Neighbor Isn't That Lovely

This evening was "supposed" to be an evening with some friends sharing God's work in our lives, prayer for one another and lifting up the name of Jesus with songs of praise. The evening  started well, sharing stories about our weekend, sharing exciting books that have been recently read, and dining on some homemade bean soup. How could it get any better than this? Church of Acts was happening in our apartment and it was awesome.

It was wonderful and it was only going to get better as the excitement building with anticipation to lift up my God in song!

Unexpected but to no surprise a small complaint from a extra large messenger asked if we could lower the noise above their heads. In respect to our neighbors down below we decided to cut out some instruments and noise in order to keep the peace between our two houses.

Our evening progressed with a time of reflection on the Word and prayers for each other as an alternative to give God praise and our worship.

A couple quite songs wouldn't hurt...right?

We sang one song silently and sang it like a breath of fresh air as a release from our longing desire to sing to our Savior. Then we sang another hoping to continue with songs of praise as we closed our evening.

Just one more song...

One more just to end the night. We sang one more and it was beautiful. It fit right into our understanding of our God who is with us and will meet us where we are.

But it was one song too much for our neighbors down stairs.

"KNOCK, KNOCK" communicated enough that patience had run dry.

As I walked to the door trying to come up with some kind of excuse or apology with the split second I had left before the door fully opened it was already too late.  Slowly the door was open wide and eye contact with a pissed neighbor was locked. Scrambling for words to say he beat me to the punch. (Don't worry I do not mean that literally, just in case you wondering their was no  brawl at Stone Pine this night)

With a cigarette at hand hoping that the nicotine would be enough to keep him calm my neighbor's words with exhaust from his smoke, "Look man, I f!$^=# asked nicely. My baby is trying to sleep. I asked for you guys to f!$^=# be quiet!"

My response, "sorry man."

Well, there was really nothing I could say to fix what happened but if I can be honest there were plenty of words I was fighting with to say. But we decided to end their and relocate our time at another place. I said my good nights and gave hugs as people left to find myself in front of the computer just to share what God put on my heart.

Living at the Hub has shaken all my preconceived notions of what Jesus said to be the greatest commandments: "loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and "loving your neighbor as yourself." The first part of this commandment aligns our hearts, restores our souls, gives us theology, and the means to put our faith into action. The second part gives God permission to break our hearts in order to earnestly listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, challenges our theology and surrenders our will be done to His Kingdom come.

Outside my balcony at O-223.

The Hub Blog: Where I Serve/ What God is Refining in Me

Erik Foss: 

I am serving at the Stone Pine afterschool program as my agency site. We open our door to the kids from the apartment complex and neighboring area around 3:00 when they get home from school. Many of the kids who participate in our program have parents who aren’t home to help them with homework after school or just don’t have a good safe place to hang out when they get home, that’s why we want to be available at those times. We operate the program between 3:00 and 5:30 Monday through Thursday and kids can come to get one-on-one help with their homework. Fortunately our interaction with the kids and their families isn’t confined to the times we are doing homework.

We believe that the homework program is good for the grades of the children but serves a greater purpose than just that, our program is ultimately about creating relationships with our neighbors in the community. At the Hub we are committed to taking seriously God’s call for us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Creating and sustaining relationships with the people we have decided to live near is step one in living out God’s call to be good neighbors. We have had many great opportunities so far to interact with and serve our neighbors here in Highway City, and we are always seeking God’s direction in how to best embody Christ’s love among the joy and pain of our community.

Right now the after-school program is in the process of making some transitions, with the constant change in residents. We’ve been working to get the word out about our program to families that are new to Stone Pine. We are also planning on moving our headquarters across the street to the Gloria Aldama Community Center in the Sierra Mobile Home Park. At our new location we’ll enjoy better facilities and more room. We’re excited to join our friends who are already working their afterschool program in Sierra Mobile Home Park and we’re excited to continue working for the Shalom of our neighborhood.

Jordan Hogue:

It seems to me like God has some pretty weird plans for people that go through The Hub. It is not a normal day for me if I am not pushed to the edge of my own my comfort and understanding of others. I often feel like I have nothing to offer the people around me but in those times of emptiness is when God really shows up and some words come out of my mouth that I didn’t think I had the courage or capability to say and I find out all to often that God really can speak out of the mouth of a donkey. It is weird that we want to live so close to danger and even weirder that we want to befriend those that are causing it. It is weird that my car was stolen but I was more worried about my family holding it against my neighbors than actually getting my car back. If this is all weirdness then I will pray that God will give me the weirdest life possible because I feel for the first time like I am starting to follow so close to my Rabbi’s footsteps that I am getting dust on my feet.

I have had the refining pleasure of getting to live in community with 6 other awesome men who challenge me to love God and love my neighbor in every way I can. I said refining because living in community is an experience that will quickly show you how selfish you are. I have never before realized that my life is a set of scheduled events. I create these events and pursue them so that I can accomplish my goals of going here, doing this, and reading that but when you open up and start to live life with other people that whole idea gets jacked really fast. At first I was upset saying things like, “Why wont these guys just let me do what I have to do; they keep interfering with my day.” As if I owned the day. The writer Donald Miller said it best when he said that so many people just think they are the star in a movie called “Life” and everyone else is just there as supporting cast, but you can only live in community when you realize that we are all within the same movie of life with equal roles and here to support each other. So now I have started to quit planning and trying to fix my brothers around me to my plans and now started to take part in the richness that is in sharing your possessions, time, and life with other people.

Jesus was not supposed to be at the well in Samaria and I guess culturally we are not supposed to be in Stonepine, but God is not bound by cultural expectations and I refuse to isolate the needy because culturally I am too privileged to be living in this neighborhood. Every day I am hit in the face with situations of poverty that I know breaks Gods heart. What do I do? I make a decision to remind myself that I do not know these people and cannot know anything about them unless I step into their lives and form real relationships. I view my situation here often as the end of religion within me. This is because it is within religion that you work to gain God’s favor by doing things, there is no personality or relationship in it, you do not need to get to know God he is just a means to your end. It is when we throw off religion and say that I have nothing to bring to God but repentance that you start to form a lasting relationship with God that produces incredible fruit. Here in Stonepine there is no set of rules for how we gain our neighbors favor or we don’t want to do things for them so that they will be in debt to us and have to talk to us, but we meet people exactly where they are and accept that they have so much to offer us and all we want is organic and real friendships that lead to fruit in both of our lives. This is the situation I want to be in everyday.