Letter to Santa

December 20, 2006
Dear Santa Claus,

I hope you don’t mind that this is my first letter to you ever. As you probably realize, your relevance in my life was very minimal for the first 19 or so years and at this point I think I’m past the point of hoping you will slide down the chimney. Besides, I could never keep someone straight who is supposed to look like Tim Allen, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jimmy Durante all at the same time. At any rate, ‘tis the season to write you a letter.

First, my wish list. These are the things that I hope you can attend to, Santa. Now I realize that most of them can’t be wrapped and carried in your sleigh, but I have faith that you can work something out. You seem like the resourceful type.
--Financial and prayer partners for the work being done in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. So many people gave so much right after the storm, but this is a long, slow process of recovery and rebuilding and we will need sustained resources for a while. Plus as you know, Santa, being a volunteer ain’t free!
--Peace from crime and violence in New Orleans
--Justice restored to local government
--New affordable and safe homes for thousands of still-displaced residents
--Families to come back and live in those homes
--Bureaucracy-free dealings with FEMA and the Road Home Program
--A healthy and effective school system that provides a just and quality education for all New Orleans children

Now is my gift list. Since it seems you have a tireless workforce and unlimited supply of goodies, here are the things for which I am thankful this season. I’m counting on you to make sure these people get the gifts they deserve.
--The CURE pastors who work tirelessly to serve and shepherd their congregations (many still far-flung), while also repairing their own homes, churches, and lives. I’m so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with these men, who understand the idea of church-led community development and the importance of that being facilitated by indigenous leaders. Santa, please give them extra time to do what they need to do, since many of them are working an additional job besides their pastoring. Please also give them people who will care for their needs and also some rest!
--The warm and generous people who have opened their homes to me and my team. Santa, I know you’ve made a list and checked it twice, but just in case you forgot some I’ll remind you who I’m talking about. Our friends at Desire Street Ministries who have welcomed us into their extended circle of friends. The friends we have made at Redeemer Presbyterian Church who have shared meals, stories, laughs, and wisdom with us. Please grant them a peaceful and joyful holiday season. Please bring some gifts for the kiddies as well as the grown-ups.
--All the people that have come to New Orleans to be a part of the rebuilding of this great city. I have found friends in unexpected places and never thought there would be such a strong community of dedicated people with a heart to see this place restored. I think they would like some rest and relaxation during the holidays and also some good quality time with their friends and families. For the people who have been doing manual labor, I think you could throw in a massage or two, eh?
--The encouragers and supporters who have reached out to me from all over the globe. I couldn’t be here without realizing that my work has more widespread effects than I can see, and these people remind me of that everyday. Please give them a safe and happy holiday season. And a gift-wrapped token of my appreciation. Maybe a fruit basket?
--Of course, baby Jesus. (You know the holiday is about Him, actually, not you Santa. Sorry!) It’s because He left the comforts of heaven, dressed as a baby, to come down to Earth and relate to the joys and pains of human beings that I have the opportunity to relate to the joys and pains of the people in New Orleans. The biggest gift goes to Him since He sees the world and chooses to love, and from that flows grace, peace, joy, faith, and truth. There’s really no gift that would match what Jesus has given so Santa, do whatever He tells you to do!

Thanks Santa!

Yours Truly,


Emily

P.S. You can donate to my support fund by clicking on this link!

going going going

i feel like it's been quite the whirlwind since i returned to new orleans after thanksgiving break. seems i've just been going non-stop. i arrived back in town on a monday afternoon, worked three days that week, and then headed to central mississippi for a retreat with the other Gulf Coast Mission volunteers. this was a good time to get away and find some space away from our usual busy-ness, but anyone who knows me knows that i can't really relax in the middle of nowhere for too long. like i said to my roommate emily, spending time in audubon park is country enough for me. we returned this past sunday afternoon, just in time to watch the amazing race!

this week at work kept me busy too. we are working on identifying properties to pursue in the process of acquiring land to develop new affordable housing. i feel like i am in way over my head but i love it. the workdays are heavy on the administrative side, which the organization-freak in me loves, but i do wish we were out in the community more, making relationships with residents. at this point, though, there are just not that many people in the Upper Ninth Ward. Check out these websites, which show the things that we’re working on: www.cdc5812.org, www.unwca.org, www.curenola.org. on Wednesday night we attended a screening for a new documentary film called "Left Behind" about the public school situation in this city. the film was very interesting, as it pointed to the dismal public education system in New Orleans as one of the factors that contributed to a community at its breaking point, as displayed in the aftermath of Katrina. then, i spent the last few days of this week in bed with a cold L winter is real here in the south! there have been freezing warnings this week and it always shocks me when i step outside that it can get this cold in new orleans. not to mention that when you have volunteers do the electrical wiring for your office space, the central heat might not work. and by might i mean definitely. so add that to the adventures of the week.

looking at my calendar, this coming week is going to be crazy!! i have: a meeting monday night, a meeting tuesday afternoon, a meeting all day thursday. wednesday, i need to find a way to be in two places at once because we have a volunteer group coming and also John Perkins visiting. John Perkins is the founder of the Christian Community Development Association, a model on which Mission Year and Desire Street Ministries are based. Mr. Perkins will be spending the day with the CURE pastors on Wednesday and then speaking to a larger group on Wednesday evening. To top all this off, my mom is coming into town and i get to have dinner with her two nights next week! now, i understand that three meetings in one week might not seem like such a big deal, but most of the events and meetings that we go to for CURE or Desire Street are things that myself and my teammate Emily are planning and organizing. so that's why we're so busy!

i've been going through an advent calendar from my church and it has helped put me in the proper frame of mind for this season. it is a time of anticipation and hope and excitement, as we know what will be borne out of this preparation. as i read the words of zechariah, the father of john the baptist, i was reminded again just how revolutionary is this God of ours: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us--to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." (Luke 1.67-75)

May you find peace and joy in this season of anticipation!

at home in broadmoor

first, it started with the trucks. these big, huge trucks parked right in front of my house. i knew this was a bad sign. you see, i've seen the trucks before...just not in front of my house. i see the trucks all the time, in fact, since living in new orleans right now includes demolition and construction as facts of life. but there they were, right in front of our house. now logic told me that they would be focused on the house next door to mine, which has not yet been gutted. on my block, there are about seven or eight houses. i think there are four on my side of the street. besides our house and the house to the right (occupied by construction workers) the other houses are all empty. directly across from us is a house with a FEMA trailer directly in front. it took me a while to realize but there is no one living in that trailer, or that house. next to that house is a double shotgun that appears to have been gutted, but no one living inside. two houses down from us, we saw some people about a month ago loading up a storage container in front of the house. oooh, action! we tried to meet these people but they were very intent on continuing the process. the house immediately to our left was never gutted. i could stand on our back porch and see the house's back door open with things sort of tumbled out (a stove, clothes, a big wicker basket, etc). we didnt know what was happening with the house. and then, there were the trucks.

i wanted to ask the demolition-ish looking men which house was gonna go, but i saw another guy come over and so i asked him. he confirmed my suspicions, that it would indeed be the house to our left. the owner of the house has a medical condition and she was too concerned about the mold to just go through and gut it. so she's having it torn down and will re-build. she's living now in kenner (a suburb about 10 miles west of here) and i guess she plans to come back.

so just like that, emily and i watched the house come down. it shook our house and prevented me from taking a nap. it's taking up most of the block with the trucks and crane/claw machine. and where there was once a house, there's a house no more. the years and sweat and money and love that went into turning that house into a home--gone. crazy to think about. i ask that you would pray with me for a greater sense of thankfulness for the homes which i have been blessed to be a part of and also for the homeowners in this city who have had to go through the emotionally draining experience of having to re-start a life.

for more information on my neighborhood, check out this link.
this experience is different because the neighborhood where i work is not the neighborhood where i live. the two neighborhoods are facing some of the same issues since all of new orleans is in storm-recovery mode. but there are some stark differences. more than 60% of the pre-Katrina population of broadmoor is back, while less than 1% of the people from the Desire area are living there now. in my section of the neighborhood, there are mostly construction workers living around us. but the dynamics change from block to block. as one family comes back and rebuilds, it motivates their friends and neighbors to come back and do the same. there are some blocks that look completely rebuilt and then there are some like mine, half abandoned, buildings being torn down. please pray with me that i would learn what it looks like to love my neighbors when they are scattered all over the place.

Broadmoor in the news!

this is an article about Broadmoor, the neighborhood where I live, which had its annual fall fest this past weekend. check it ou!

Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for the One who promised is faithful.

(Hebrews 10.23)

This is a story about a man named Jeremiah. Jeremiah was not a very happy man since the call that God had put on his life put him in an unfavorable position with many people. He felt pretty socially awkward, you see, because he always had bad news to share with the people who lived around him. And it was bad news that God had told him to share. It made Jeremiah sad and mad and frustrated. He regretted the day God gave him life. However, God showed great compassion to Jeremiah. He allowed Jeremiah to complain and whine and cry and never once revoked His call from Jeremiah's life. God showed Jeremiah great faithfulness by reminding Jeremiah of His great promises for the people that He loved (including Jeremiah and his rebellious neighbors).

At one point, God told Jeremiah to share with the people the upcoming destruction of their land. This did not make Jeremiah happy, but he knew what his job was. God was deeply saddened and angered by the disobedience of the people, especially since He had tried to show them the way to real life and true joy but they had chosen other pursuits instead. Jeremiah was being sent to all sorts of nobles and royalty and important people to tell them God's plan for the city. No one really believed Jeremiah or heeded his advice.

In the midst of all this, God told Jeremiah to buy some land in the city. Jeremiah was a little iffy on this but he recognized God's voice when he heard it, and he didn't want to be among his disobedient neighbors, so he did what he was told. Just then, Jeremiah's cousin came to him, offering to sell him some land.

Jeremiah went through with the purchase and felt confident as he heard God reassure him. "Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. Life is going to return to normal. Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land."

Now, just because Jeremiah was an obedient and faithful worker for God did not mean that he always understood why God did what He did. Jeremiah understood that displaying faith often meant acting even in uncertainty. But that didn't stop him from confronting God with this uncertainty.

"Dear God," Jeremiah prayed, "You created earth and sky by Your great power—by merely stretching out Your arm! There is nothing You can't do. You're loyal in Your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands—but You also make children live with the fallout from their parents' sins. Great and powerful God, highest above anything else that is worshipped, determined in purpose and faithful to see Your plans completed, You see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do.

"'You performed signs and wonders in the country of Egypt and continue to do so right into the present, right here in Israel and everywhere else, too. You've made a reputation for yourself that doesn't diminish. You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders—a powerful deliverance!—by merely stretching out your arm. You gave them this land and solemnly promised to their ancestors a bountiful and fertile land. But when they entered the land and took it over, they didn't listen to you. They didn't do what you commanded. They wouldn't listen to a thing you told them. And so you brought this disaster on them.

"Oh, look at the siege ramps already set in place to take the city. Killing and starvation and disease are on our doorstep. The Babylonians are attacking! The Word you spoke is coming to pass! And yet you, God, the Master of the universe, even though it is certain that the city will be turned over to the Babylonians, also told me, Buy the field. Pay for it in cash. And make sure there are witnesses.'"

And God responded to Jeremiah, “Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can't do? No doubt about it, I'm handing this city over to the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll take it. The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me. It isn't as if this were the first time they had provoked me. The people of Israel and Judah have been doing this for a long time—doing what I hate, making me angry by the way they live.

"This city has made me angry from the day they built it, and now I've had my fill. I'm destroying it. I can't stand to look any longer at the wicked lives of the people of Israel and Judah, deliberately making me angry, the whole lot of them—kings and leaders and priests and preachers, in the country and in the city. They've turned their backs on me—won't even look me in the face!—even though I took great pains to teach them how to live. They refused to listen, refused to be taught. Why, they even set up obscene god and goddess statues in the Temple built in my honor—an outrageous desecration! And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech—I can hardly conceive of such evil!—turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.

"But there is also this Message from me, the God of Israel, to this city that is being ravaged by Babylon. Watch for this! I will collect them from all the lands to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I'll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace. They will be my people, I will be their God. I'll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them. What's more, I'll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I'll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they'll not even think of turning away from me.

"Oh how I'll rejoice in them! Oh how I'll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I'll plant them in this country and keep them here! I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate—gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses—and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.”

Jeremiah was feeling very encouraged by what he heard from God. God’s promises never fail and here He was promising to bring His people back to their land and back to their lives. Jeremiah didn’t see it on the horizon and he couldn’t figure out the how of God’s plan, but he chose to trust.

A little while later, God shared more with Jeremiah. “Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own. This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what's going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that's happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.

"But now take another look. I'm going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I'm going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I'll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I'll build everything back as good as new. I'll scrub them clean from the dirt they've done against me. I'll forgive everything they've done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They'll get reports on all the good I'm doing for her. They'll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.

"Yes, you're going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say, "A wasteland. Unlivable. Not even a dog could live here." But the time is coming when you're going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, "Thank God. He's so good! His love never quits," as they bring thank offerings into God's Temple. I'll restore everything that was lost in this land. I'll make everything as good as new. This coming desolation, unfit for even a stray dog, is once again going to become a pasture for shepherds who care for their flocks. You'll see flocks everywhere—in the mountains around the towns of the Shephelah and Negev, all over the territory of Benjamin, around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—flocks under the care of shepherds who keep track of each sheep.' God says so.

"Watch for this: The time is coming when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah. When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right. That's when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem will live in safety. The motto for the city will be, "God Has Set Things Right for Us." God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honor.

"If my covenant with day and my covenant with night ever fell apart so that day and night became haphazard and you never knew which was coming and when, then and only then would my covenant with my servant David fall apart and his descendants no longer rule. The same goes for the Levitical priests who serve me. Just as you can't number the stars in the sky nor measure the sand on the seashore, neither will you be able to account for the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who serve me.

"Have you heard the saying that's making the rounds: 'The two families God chose, Israel and Judah, he disowned'? And have you noticed that my people are treated with contempt, with rumors afoot that there's nothing to them anymore? Well, If my covenant with day and night wasn't in working order, if sky and earth weren't functioning the way I set them going, then, but only then, you might think I had disowned the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David, and that I wouldn't set up any of David's descendants over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as it is, I will give them back everything they've lost. The last word is, I will have mercy on them."

Sometimes I feel like Jeremiah, looking out on a land that often seems desolate and destroyed. I see this place and I wonder what good can come out of it. But then I turn and look with faith. Look to the promises that God has made and I feel comforted and reassured. God is calling us to rebuild, to buy land and make this place new. God is moving and using His people to bring restoration to this place. He is a God of restoration and faithful promises.

how could i not post about this?

so, today i had a meeting with mayor c. ray nagin of new orleans. well actually, it wasnt just a one-on-one meeting between little emily and big ray. it was a meeting organized by ACT (All Congregations Together) which is a PICO-modelled group (much like OCO in Oakland). this is a collaboration of faith leaders from throughout the city who have been working together for years and years to bring attention to various issues in the community. i was at the meeting because i and my co-worker emily ling were representing Desire Street/CURE and Carver Desire Baptist Church (the church that Pastor Willis, executive director of CURE, leads). so again, as emily said afterwards, i found myself in a position wondering how in the world did i get here?? we watched the devastation of the storm, the levee breaches, the flood with the rest of the world and stayed glued to the tv over a year ago. and now, here we are, in the mayor's office, pressing him on the issues of housing, health care, crime, education. craziness. God uses the weak to confound the strong, huh?

the work we are trying to undertake is gentrification with justice. because, you see, this city is like a developer's dream right now. all this land, barely any homeowners in sight, and so much that needs to be demolished and rebuilt. so in the land of capitalism and the free market, why not make a profit off of it? well, i'll tell you why not. because there were people who've lived here for generations and they will be shut out of the only homes they know. because profit is not more important than people. because housing with justice will create a better community than the highest-end lifestyle around every corner. i could go on.... so many of the faith communities here are trying to pursue this and it's a tough road to go down, especially since so few have had previous experience. but there are others around the country who have done this stuff and we're just trying to learn from them. each day, as we do seemingly small administrative tasks, i can catch glimpses of the bigger picture.....that afternoon 7 months from now when we're standing behind a ribbon with unrealistically large scissors, opening the door for the first family to move back in to their new home. almost gives me goosebumps. so we keep moving along...determined to not lose hope.

if you want to partner in this work of gentrification with justice and don't know how best to use your talents, please consider donating to my support fund. the money enables me to be here and contribute to the rebuilding of the beautiful Crescent City. click the link on the left that says "donate..." thanks for your prayers and encouragement!!

straight from my journal to your eyes...

so i'm trying to explore prayer in hopes of pursuing a deeper connection with God. you know, i go through ups and downs of the "feeling" of connectedness to God through prayer and i really like the ups. so i'm trying to get back there. living a year like this affords me the opportunity and encouragement to pursue disciplines in a way i may not have taken the effort otherwise.

i'm reading through a book called "50 ways to pray" and one of the exercises i recently went through focused on Mark 10.35-40…

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."

in this passage, James and John come up to tell Jesus "We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." now i would respond to them like--who do you think you are, demanding that God do you a favor? and Jesus could say to them--don't you know who I am, and you're asking Me to fulfill your every wish? they have seen his miracles, heard his parables, even seen him calm a storm with a word. indeed, they must believe he is who he says he is, complete with the power he has shown that he has, otherwise they probably wouldn't have come to him with this statement.

and yet, i do the same thing as them: "Jesus, I want you to do for me whatever I ask you to do. Jesus, do this for me. Jesus, do that.” yet how often do i reflect the reality that he doesn’t owe us anything, any favors. he doesn’t have to do anything for us. how often are my requests drenched in the thankfulness that is due Him? the thankfulness that we even have the chance to come and ask? the thankfulness that he might consider us to be a part of His story on earth, in people’s lives.

and apart from how i think i would have reacted to james and john, what does Jesus actually say? "what do you want me to do for you?" ah yes, He doesn’t have the same selfish, self-righteous, be-served attitude that i so often carry. He is the great server, whose ultimate service has set us free. nothing in Him expresses frustration with our questions--ugh, what do you want now? you just asked me for enough yesterday! i don’t have the patience for that, but God does. he welcomes our questions and requests. he doesn't scoff at the desires of our hearts. he seeks our heart, ambitions, motives in handling our requests. he has guaranteed us a response. he has even promised that anything we ask for in his spirit will come to pass (John 15.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.) amazing!!

the prayer exercise goes on to place the reader in the setting of the story and into the position of answering to Jesus what she wants him to do for her. incredible. with the attitude of a servant, Jesus longs to hear our heart's requests. he knows our need and wants to be close enough to us that we trust Him to meet them. he is not too bothered or self-consumed (like me) to tend to us. in fact, that’s' his greatest joy: tending to His people in mercy and grace to ensure their good and His glory.

He's not like us, but calls us to be like Him.

and another reminder from the prayer book...this one focused on deuteronomy 1.6-8

Back at Horeb, God, our God, spoke to us: "You've stayed long enough at this mountain. On your way now. Get moving. Head for the Amorite hills, wherever people are living in the Arabah, the mountains, the foothills, the Negev, the seashore—the Canaanite country and the Lebanon all the way to the big river, the Euphrates. Look, I've given you this land. Now go in and take it. It's the land God promised to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their children after them."

the thing that stuck with me from this was how the people were on Mt. Sinai and God had to tell them it was time to come down from the mountain. they needed to come down to continue the journey to the promised land. i am so stubborn and i want to cling to the mountain tops. i think in those moments, while in the valleys of life or trudging along the bumpy path, we long to be on the peak, even longing to be back on top of the previous mountain. but truly, coming down from the mountain is the only way forward. do we really expect to leap from peak to peak in our journey of knowing God? i forget that it is a forward trek and not intended to end on each mountain top. thus, coming down is required to move forward.

A week in the life

Life here is now measured in pre-Katrina and post-Katrina terms so I thought you might like to catch a glimpse of my post-Katrina life down here in New Orleans. Here is a rough sketch of what this past week was like for me.

I get to work around 8:30ish am with Emily, one of my teammates and we have a brief check-in time with our supervisors, Ben and Pastor Willis. We're reading through Bob Lupton's book "And You Call Yourself a Christian" together and talking about what it really means and looks like to love our neighbors. It's not as easy as it might seem, especially in the complexities of today's urban communities. I really appreciate this opportunity to spend non-logistical/administrative/"work" time with Ben and Pastor Willis since they have different perspectives from which I can learn a lot. Plus, it shows that they are really committed to helping us grow into our work here, instead of it just being a long list of things-to-do. As for what we else we do during the work day: meetings, making contact with groups who want to volunteer, helping Ben and Pastor Willis stay organized, and furthering the vision of helping to make the Upper Ninth Ward a desirable place to live.

On Monday and Tuesday afternoon, we went with Ben up to Baton Rouge to visit Desire Street Academy in its new home. The school was started in 2002 by Desire Street Ministries after the staff realized that after-school tutoring within the current public school system would still leave the students lacking in necessary skills and education to succeed beyond high school. So this school was formed. It had been housed in a large multi-purpose ministry building right in the neighborhood, but the storm changed all that. Last year the school held classes and boarded students at a camp in Florida. This year, it has more permanently relocated to Baton Rouge. It will probably stay here for a while, though there are hopes to bring it back to New Orleans eventually. Since the DSA sports teams are still technically part of the New Orleans sports league, all the home games must be played in New Orleans. So we get to watch the high school basketball games this winter!

On Wednesday night, we were invited to a bar-be-que with a year-long relief team from Campus Crusade for Christ. I have been surprised to meet so many other young people who have committed a year to helping New Orleans rebuild. It is so encouraging to us to see how the efforts to rebuild this city have really been driven by volunteers. And, it’s encouraging to know we'll have another group of young people we could hang out with this year who might be able to understand some of the struggles and frustrations we will face. We hope to spend more time with these friends throughout the year.

Thursday night we got a real sampling of New Orleans cuisine. Leroy Barber, president of Mission Year, was in town for some meetings and wanted to hang out with my team. We found a great restaurant/grocery that served authentic Creole cuisine. On the table for dinner were po-boy sandwiches, etouffe, red beans and rice, and of course jambalaya. (Every time I say that word it still reminds me of George on Seinfeld when he wants his "jam-ba-layyaaaa") That was deeeelicious. Then, to top it off, we had dessert at Creole Creamery. They have some crazy ice cream flavors like sassafras-chicory, lavender-honey, cucumber-dill, Creole-cream cheese. They also have some more normal flavors and I presume this will be a spot that is frequented by my team this year.

We knew we would be hosting our first volunteer team this coming Monday, so on Friday we checked out a house that still needed to be gutted. This house belonged to a family in the Desire Area that had just moved back into the city from Houston the previous week. We ran into them when we were driving around, mapping out the status of the neighborhood. Being in their house was CRAZY! They had just gotten their FEMA trailer (over a year since the storm) and nothing has been done in the house. As we walked in, stepping over carpet and mattresses and TVs still caked in a thin layer of dry mud, I wondered about this family. I wondered about the people who lived here, who called this place home. The woman we met that day driving through the neighborhood, she owns this place. I wondered what those moments during the storm were like for them. I wondered if they had scrambled up to the attic when the water began to flow into their street, their block, their house. The freezer and fridge still sit in the living room where they had undoubtedly floated. I saw a kid’s bike covered in mud and dirt in a back room and wondered about the little person who used to ride it. The water line was still visible on the wall, I even wiped a little of the dirt off the wall with my finger. And now, everything needs to go. The walls, the carpet, the furniture, the TVs, the computer, the fridge. Everything. This house, that used to be a symbol of rest and place to come back to—going to be wiped out down to the framing. It just made me wonder about the memories and moments and lives those walls had seen.

Saturday was the District 7 planning meeting, hosted by ACORN. (Now just for some background about the planning process in New Orleans…Over 80% of the city was flooded during the storm. That's a lot, but it's not every neighborhood. Initially, individual neighborhoods were making recovery and rebuilding plans, hoping to make their section of the city better than before the storm. Then the city decided that instead of just updating the neighborhoods that had been flooded, they wanted a plan for the entire city. Hence, the Unified New Orleans Plan (www.unifiedneworleansplan.org) In the Unified plan, each neighborhood is represented by some planning group. District 7, which includes the upper ninth ward, is being represented by ACORN (www.acorn.org)) So, this was actually the FIRST District 7 UNOP meeting. Yes, that's right, over a year post-Katrina and they're having the first meeting. As I sat in the back of the meeting, I thought about what I had written previously about the spirit of the people in New Orleans. Yes there’s a spirit of wanting to rebuild but its stemming from a frustration and exhaustion from having no answers, getting the run-around, still not having their houses fixed—no place to sleep! People are sick and tired of not being given answers, not given help, not given hope. This is a planning meeting (which is far from the implementation phase), and they were showing boards and notes from all sort of community planning that had been done pre-Katrina. And we’re trying to do all this with neighborhoods that maybe didn’t even talk to each other before the storm. Now they’re supposed to suddenly be united? People want their liiiiiives back. we’re at this planning “vision” meeting and the facilitator is asking them to imagine what they could have in their community by 2010—2010?!?! Some of the people here don’t know where they’ll be sleeping TONIGHT! And years and years and years of crooked New Orleans politics have taught residents not to trust anything that comes from the government. So there’s so many complex layers upon layers. And to be honest, the work that’s been done for the most part is because these people were fed up of waiting for someone ELSE to help them and they just decided to help themselves. They found someone to gut their houses, they harassed the energy company, they stayed all day, everyday on the phone with FEMA. They’re tired of waiting.

But my new friend Paulette reminded me, as we sat in the back listening to the meeting, "I know where my help comes from." Our hope and our help will ultimately not come from the government or politicians. There is a limited amount of resources and the interests of running a city are unfortunately not always dictated by the interests of its most vulnerable citizens. I have been encouraged to remember that God stands by with a heart that breaks for the oppressed and mistreated. God provides a hope that doesn't promise immediate results, but does promise a sovereign force in control. When we have no one else to look to for help, we can still go to the One who has created us all and holds us in the palm of His hands.

After the meeting, we drove around the neighborhood to continue in our mapping efforts and someone stopped us. We were driving slowly and taking notes, really not making any attempts to blend in. The man came over to see what we were doing and when we explained that we were with Desire Street and Pastor Willis, he immediately gave us the scoop on the neighborhood. I realized this was the husband of a woman in the meeting who had shared her own story of trying to get back to the neighborhood. The energy company refused to turn on her power since there were no other customers. But she kept bothering them to turn it on and finally they did. And then, the neighbors returned. This man pointed out to us each of the houses and the status of the residents. This was a real true community before the storm, and it is making steps towards regaining that form. He invited us into their home and showed off the handiwork of a house completely remodeled. It was remodeled by necessity and he had done such a nice job with it. The visit with this man was a taste of that light and hope amidst so much frustration and despair.

There is so much yet to do and I am excited to see how the upcoming weeks and months pan out. Desire Street and CURE are taking on some big projects to fulfill a vision for the neighborhood that had been home to so many. I am reminded of a visit to San Francisco earlier this year, around the time of the 100 year anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake. The image that came to mind was a phoenix, rising from the ash. And I hope and I pray that that will be said of New Orleans in the months and years to come.

One Month Down in the Big Easy

Periodical update #1

Before I came here, the buzzword for preparation was FLEXIBILITY. We heard it in june when we came down for a round of interviews in Mississippi and we heard it many times between then and the beginning of September, when we arrived for training. And I have found that FLEXIBILITY really is critical to maintaining balance and sanity down in the gulf coast these days. It manifests itself in a variety of ways and the effects of the storm show up differently each day. We see it when we drive down the major road near our house and see what used to be a taco bell now turned into a new Orleans seafood fast-food restaurant. We pass by many other fast-food places whose signs either seem trapped in time because of no change since the storm or advertise wages over $10/hour just to attract enough employees to serve customers again. We see progress in construction, or deconstruction in some cases, every day. We drove up to our house last night, coming back from a 5-day training in new mexico and we noticed a new portable storage unit in front of one of our neighbor’s homes.
Life here also looks like long lines at a restaurant and at the bank because, as the hostess at Olive Garden told us, open tables don’t mean available staff. There are staffing shortages everywhere, even while the businesses have to re-open to stay afloat. The 24-hour sign on the Walgreens across the street is not lit up, and the store is only open now from 7am to 9pm. The spray painted symbols which remain on nearly on every house, from when the search teams went through to identify potential hazards or dead bodies. You can hear it in the stories…oh the stories that everyone wants to tell! Flexibility also means that wherever you’re trying to go will probably lack street signs along the way. Having a map doesn’t really help if you don’t know the name of the street you just passed.
Flexibility also shows up when I realize how our jobs will be effected. desire street ministries has been split up between three cities—the school is in baton rouge, the main administrative offices are in destin, florida, and the office where I’m working is located in what used to be a pediatric medical clinic leased by the ministry. The multi-purpose ministry building is up and running, but only the part with the basketball court and not the section with office space. Thus, the renovations of the office that I will share with my teammate Emily are just being finished…over a year since the storm. When I start to get frustrated that the documents I’m trying to fax through just wont seem to connect, a small voice reminds me to be flexible. The fax machine is on a table in a back room, and just a few days ago it was buried under a pile of ladders, tile, light bulbs and other construction materials du jour. Is it hooked up to the phone line? Is the phone line working? Do other people know the fax line number of the new office? We are in the midst of creating the illusion of a fully functioning office, but there are kinks in nearly everything we try to do. My response could be frustration but a small voice reminds me to be flexible. The storm that has thrown a wrench in all our smooth operations is the reason I am here. So I take a deep breath and commit to trying the fax machine again tomorrow.
The recent Saints football game a few Mondays ago nearly brought the city to a standstill—it was like a holiday! It represented so much for the city. It brought so much hope for the city to be revived. It was a transformation of the superdome, which had become a representation of all that was horribly wrong about the aftermath of the storm. It meant national attention for people to see how much has been done, and the fact that we still need more help! It showed that people were willing to invest in this place once again, something that is so needed for the city to become even better than it once was. The spirit of the people here is committed to rebuilding and renewing this beloved city.
My teammate Emily and I are working in the upper ninth ward, a community that used to have about 5,000 residents. Now there are probably only about 50 people living there. The neighborhood is pretty unlivable though. For the most part, it looks like the storm hit last week. There are some trailers scattered here and there, but other than that there are few signs of life. There is at least one house with the outside wall gone where you can see a couch still precariously balanced on the second floor. Many of these houses have not yet been gutted and probably will not be before the city decides to tear them down. There is a bright side in all this, though. For a community that may not have been a healthy and desirable place to live previously, this is a great opportunity. This is a fresh start to redevelop the neighborhood in a way that makes a good place to live again. The city needs its residents to come back, but in neighborhoods like this, there is not much currently to come back to. When I lived in Oakland, there were so many things that my teammates and I observed and lived through that we wished we could change. There was so much of the culture that was ingrained in the rhythm of the place. Even if we made changes in the life of an individual, which I am not discounting, there were so many structural injustices and hindrances that had, over time, developed an iron-grip on the community. But here, all that was wiped away with the storm. It is exciting to think about the changes that can be made in the structure of the community, and in the lives of its residents who will hopefully come back when they see these positive changes beginning. For now, we are still in the planning stages.
As for the house and community where I am living, things look a little different than the upper ninth ward. Broadmoor, my neighborhood, is a part of Uptown, an area just west of the Garden District and French Quarter. Desire Street Ministries is about 5 miles to the east of us, but many things make it feel much farther away. Across the street from our house, there is a FEMA trailer in a yard, though we have never seen anyone go in or out of this property. There is not much other activity on our immediate block and I’m pretty sure that the houses behind and next to us have not yet been gutted. Standing on our back porch, we can still see a pile of clothes and washing machine strewn out the back door. There is a house located kiddie-corner from us where 4 middle-aged guys are living. They are from Kentucky and they came down here earlier this year to take advantage of the construction opportunities.
The Broadmoor neighborhood association is one of the oldest in the country, as opposed to the upper ninth ward community association which CURE and Desire Street had a role in forming recently. Residents of Broadmoor mobilized very soon after the storm, especially since the city initially planned to turn the neighborhood into a giant green space. This area is one that has one of the worst flooding histories in the city, but a drainage plan that has been in effect since the 1990s has proven very effective. Except, of course, when your storm defense systems collapse and are overtopped and your whole city becomes a fishbowl. My teammates and I attended a meeting of the neighborhood association and it was highly organized and well-attended. They announced that night that an initiative to generate private funding for the rebuilding efforts would be announced the following week at the Clinton Global Initiative summit in New York City. No word yet on the pledges that were garnered. It’s exciting to be a part of such an active neighborhood, one that is mixed in nearly every way. I’m excited too to get to know more of the neighbors who are back here, trying to rebuild. As for our house, if you know anything about Mission Year, you would think this place was a palace. Now, if you have “normal” standards, then the place we’re in is just fine. But for me, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. It’s a shotgun house so it’s long with the rooms connected to each other, and no substantial hall way. There are hardwood floors, ceiling fans, and even a DISHWASHER!! We have air conditioning and new furniture and plentiful cabinet space. It’s great.
My teammates and I are getting along well also. I’ve actually been surprised at how quickly the differences between having 4 roommates and 2 have become apparent. We’re still figuring out each others’ habits and quirks and getting into the process of digging out the deeper stuff.

I plan to be posting updates periodically, perhaps, when I am feeling extra ambitious, more often than once a month. Thank you all for your prayers and support and birthday phone calls from afar!! If you would still like to contribute financially, you can send a check to Mission Year, 2520 S. Western Avenue, #304, Chicago IL 60608 (indicate Emily Rhodes--Gulf Coast) or donate online through www.missionyear.org/donate. I love you all and look forward to sharing the ups and downs of this year with you. Please do not hesitate to post your comments or questions, or even contact me directly by email (Emily.rhodes@alumni.tufts.edu) to talk more about your life or mine!

On to New Orleans!

A New Adventure Begins…

It has been exactly three weeks since my Mission Year teammates and I parted ways in Oakland. I have been back in Chicagoland with my parents since then and in a matter of days, we’ll be on the road headed towards New Orleans. New Orleans!?!? Honestly, the shocked remarks have come most from people in the Gulf Coast who I have contacted prior to my arrival. The fact is, over a year after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, there is still much to be done. When I visited Mississippi in early June, I realized just how much I didn’t know. We were told that it would take at least 10 years for a full recovery, if not more. The Gulf Coast still needs a lot of help and so I am going!
As we drove along the Gulf Coast highway, through towns like Long Beach, Ocean Springs, and Pass Christian on our way to Gulfport, Mississippi, I could not believe my eyes. Such total destruction, buildings left in rubble, mansions completely flattened. At first I was overwhelmed with thoughts of God’s power, a strong hand that could command the winds and waters to bring such devastation. I questioned my role in responding. I wondered what His reasons were for bringing on this storm. I honestly questioned Him: God, since You brought this on, do You just want it to stay this way?? God met me in these thoughts of sadness and confusion and reminded me that His is a story of continuous hope and redemption. Every instance of destruction comes with an opportunity for rebuilding. From Adam to Noah to Nehemiah to Lazarus to Jesus—God has been bringing life and hope out of desperate situations. Throughout history God’s story has been one of bringing His people back to Him and back to His promise. God is providing us, His people, an opportunity to respond to this disaster in love. We are called to be His hands and feet, and that is the work that I am excited to join in rebuilding the Gulf Coast.
The other important reason why I pursued this opportunity was the chance to live again in community. Now when I explained that to my Oakland teammates, they sort of looked at me like I was crazy. Because I must be! Living in community during Mission Year was difficult and frustrating, yet at the same time the best thing for me. It wasn’t the best in an always-the-most-fun sort of way, but best in a hardest-thing-ever-but-most-growth-producing way. I was brought to a place where I could learn things about myself and my understanding of other people that I never would have seen had I lived again by myself or had I chosen to surround myself with only those people who thought and acted just like me. Throughout this past year, I have grown in understanding and appreciation for God’s vision and heart for unity among His people. I have gained a new perspective on what it means for the Body to really work like a body! I want to be a part of this community because I have seen the beauty of God’s vision and long to continue pursuing it. It won’t be easy and it won’t always be pleasant…but worth it? Definitely.
So the next big question after why is what! What will I be doing in New Orleans? Good question. This opportunity has been arranged through a partnership between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Mission Year. Instead of trying to go down and re-create the wheel in disaster recovery, these two organizations have wisely pursued collaborating with existing groups that already have experience working in the Gulf Coast. My official position is Volunteer Coordinator at Desire Street Ministries/CURE. Since 1990, Desire Street Ministries (DSM) has served the impoverished neighborhood around the Desire Housing Project within New Orleans’ 9th ward with programs that meet the residents’ specific needs. Desire Street Ministries exists to revitalize the community through spiritual and community development. Desire Street Fellowship, part of DSM, is a founding member of a local church association called CURE (Churches United for Revitalization and Evangelism). CURE was formed by local pastors who share a common vision for the church’s responsibility in the community. CURE hopes to promote unity among the churches through corporate movements of prayer, fellowship, evangelism, and partnering for a better community.
The short answer for what I’ll be doing in the Volunteer Coordinator position was given to me by my supervisor, Ben: “The most consistent thing is that everyday is different!” Flexibility seems to be the key word in disaster recovery so I’m sure this will be a big lesson for me all year. Some days I will be contacting churches and other groups to recruit volunteer teams, figuring out the needs in the Upper Ninth Ward community where we’ll be working, and trying to match volunteer skills to resident needs. Some days I will be helping those volunteer teams with the logistics of their visit to New Orleans and taking care of various details that come up. Other days I may be doing more administrative duties in the Desire Street/CURE offices. I will be answering phone calls and helping residents try to locate resources and navigate the confusing bureaucratic systems of public assistance. As Ben put it, there are a lot more questions than answers at this point. To learn more, you can check out the websites for Desire Street Ministries and CURE at www.desirestreet.org and www.desirestreet.org/fellowship/cure.html.
As I mentioned above, doing Mission Year gave me such a wonderful opportunity to see how people can partner together to advance God’s Kingdom of love and hope. Without a doubt, I could not have made it through the year in Oakland without my support team sending their love, prayers, gifts, donations, and encouragement from all over the world. My goal is to raise $3,000 to offset the costs of doing this work and living in New Orleans and it is a privilege to offer you the chance to partner with me in this adventure. The residents of the Gulf Coast still need your prayers, as do my teammates and I as we settle in New Orleans. I am completely aware that not everyone can or wants to spend a year living in the Gulf Coast disaster zone, which is why I invite you to join me in this journey through your prayer and financial support. It is in this way that God calls us each individually to unite to bring the good news of life and grace.

with Love,
Emily


If you are interested in coming down to the Gulf Coast at any point to volunteer, please do not hesitate to let me know!

July 2006--Final Mission Year Newsletter

We have been lauded for choosing to give up and sacrifice this year of our lives to spend in the inner-city. Well truly, I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. At a time in our lives when family wants to know our long-term plans and society wants us to pick a path and stick with it forever, I have been privileged to be given a year not to do something concrete or advance my career path or make any definite plans. Because of gracious and generous support, we were able to spend this time as students of life and love and the kingdom of God. We were challenged to see how the kingdom of God is here and now and advancing in the children playing in the street, the adults dancing on the corner, the bbq’s and loud music and extended family networks.

I’ve been the lucky one…
People thought we were coming here to bless, but we’ve been the ones to receive the blessings. Jesus called us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take in the lonely. We’ve done our share of serving here, but truly we’ve been fed, clothed, and welcomed more than I’ve ever experienced.

I’ve been the lucky one…
To be the recipient of such gracious hospitality
To be allowed to spend a year hanging out with some of the most amazing people in the world
To have so many of my stereotypes and assumptions corrected
To be welcomed as family into homes that are so different from my own

People might look at our neighbors or service sites and say that they are lucky since they were able to benefit from the free assistance we provided.
But truly, I’ve been the lucky one…
To realize how much I’ve been given just by chance of where I was born and the people who raised me
To learn grace and freedom and love in a merciful place where there was never more expected of me than I could give. My ability to love has been exponentially expanded by venturing to love people in ways that most touch them, instead of just ways that are easiest for me.

Truly I’ve been the lucky one…
To serve a God who trusts me with His plans, who longs to lay a path before me and watch me choose obedience and faith, in the face of doubt and tempting alternatives
To be a product of grace and forgiveness, and to have been graciously shown that I needed those just as much as I thought I didn’t when I first arrived
To see God’s face in the drug dealer on the corner and the kindergartner who can’t read


It’s kind of strange for me to think now about how I can best pray for and love my Oakland friends now that I’m leaving. We’ve spent this intense year together…or rather, I’ve spent a year sort of invading their lives. And now we’re moving on, each to the next adventure. We’ll always have this year that we shared in our memories, but now life goes on. For some of my friends here, the adventure may not actually seem like one since it’s really just their normal lives, with them continuing to survive each day with remnants of hope and trust and a vision of God’s love. For my teammates, God has different adventures down the road for each of us. Whether we’re going on to college or jobs, this year has changed and grown us in ways we have yet to see fully manifested. In this isolated moment, this year seems like a big deal. But when I look ahead to the rest of our lives, I’m reminded again just how small I am in the hands of such a HUGE God.

Reflecting on all my prayers throughout this year, God has been entirely faithful. He has brought about tremendous changes in my heart and has brought along people that have touched my life. Praise God for: Keekee, Taranicha, Blossie, Je’da, Khalei, Tracy, Traion, Maliek, Lil Will, Cliff, Mason, Darius, Keisha, Knight, Ametria, Jalen, Dreena, Jen, Jahon, Tina, Pastor Hunter, the Lyons family, Hendrik, Luke, Alice, Dejeanne, Diamond, Ann, Jason Pokorny, Barbara, Cathy & Terry, Marilyn, Cheryl, Gabrielle, Ella, Marcel & Markel, Johnny, Freddy, Mo, Jackie, Levina, Joeybeth, Charlene, Anita, the Mojica family, Stephen, Aixa, Kilomoki, Davion, Tumariay, Melvin, Malik, Desiray, Anta’nae, Barbara, Dulce, Abigail, Merari, Efraim, Daisy, Clara, Ella, Kim, Chelsea, Jessica, Karrie, Heather. The only reason why I was able to be here this year and spend time with such amazing people was because of the support I got from all of you! Praise God for all of your prayers, financial gifts, emails, letters, cards, phone calls, and loving thoughts from afar.

If you are the praying type, please keep these friends and neighbors in your prayers. Please pray that our lives here have pointed our friends to some vision of light, love, and hope—not because we’re from the suburbs but because we’re following Jesus. Please pray that God will continue to grow and cultivate the seeds that have been planted during our time in West Oakland. Please pray for God’s love, protection, mercy, and compassion to cover them and for them to make healthy decisions in the future. I hope that I have succeeded in finding a place in your heart for the people I’ve grown to love and for my neighborhood in West Oakland, California. It is my prayer that God draws me back to this place, if not physically then at least in my mind and heart, in thankfulness and praise of all He’s done and is still doing here. I am so thankful that His work does not rest solely on our shoulders. He was here before we came, has been faithful and diligent even when we were discouraged, and will remain steadfast until the end.

what's next...

for those of you who may be stalking me without my knowledge...the plans for now are that i'm heading to new orleans in early september to spend about a year serving as a volunteer coordinator with the recovery efforts from hurricanes katrina/rita. pretty ironic given my first blog entry nearly a year ago..... hhmmmmm... anyway, that's the plan as it stands now. but really who knows, this plan could change any minute. that's the way God likes to roll...

June 2006

June has been a busy month, with school ending, graduations, and the beginning of summer. KeeKee has been telling us about her 8^th grade graduation since we met her in November. I knew I would never hear the end of it if I, for any reason, missed this special occasion. When her family moved to Richmond in February, and she subsequently missed a month of school, I was concerned that this would jeopardize her chances of graduating. Later, I learned that she and her cousins and brother

who were attending the same middle school were having a hard time with the teachers, and they felt they were being unfairly punished for the misbehavior of a few. Again, I worried that she might not be able to graduate. After working for 8 months in Oakland public schools, I can say that passing any grade is significant, especially as a student gets closer to high school. There are boys in our neighborhood that can’t be older than 13 years old who we see out on the corner most days, during normal school hours. Why aren’t they in school, we wonder. How long has it been since they sat in a classroom? I’ve learned not to take for granted my upbringing and everything around me that fed the notion that education was important and not in the realm of a child’s choice. I’ve learned that my values have actually been a product of an upper middle-class environment and that my assumptions cannot be applied generally to every situation. Life presents many choices and for every person we know, there are so many stories behind that person’s response to their circumstances. With all that said, it was with much joy and pride that I received the news that KeeKee would indeed be graduating on June 7^th. Unfortunately, it turned out that KeeKee’s family only received two tickets to attend the graduation ceremony and in a family with ten kids, I was far down the list. Fortunately, I did get to see KeeKee in the morning of her graduation day so even though I couldn’t see her walk across the stage, I was able to give her a big hug and tell her how proud I was of her. She made quite the beautiful eighth-grade graduate!

KeeKee wasn’t the only graduate this month. I also got to see my kindergartners walk across the stage and accept their “promotion” certificates. It’s difficult to admit, but I’m actually sad to see this school year end. For all the stress and headaches and hair-pulling- frustration of working with these little kids, I will miss seeing them grow and learn (and run around and cause havoc) in the classroom. To be there, next to that little person, and watch that

moment in their eyes when suddenly they could write their name or finally

figured out where to place “G” on the alphabet rug, actually made it all worth the struggles. “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18. 3-5) When I spend time with the kids in my neighborhood, despite all the adverse circumstances around them, I can see the humility, sheer joy and abandon that characterizes the childlike faith about which Jesus spoke. I have learned a new way to trust by watching these children discover the world around them.

I also celebrated the end of school with the 2^nd/3^rd grade bilingual class that I have been helping since January. I worked with these students on their English reading and comprehension. It was amazing to work with these children and to see their persistence and encouragement of one another. And then, to stand there during the end-of-school festivities and listen to the teacher beam with pride at her pupils who could read, write, and speak in two languages and also perform above proficiency levels in math! Recently I participated in a training on multiculturalism with another one of my service sites. The group was comprised of community leaders representing various congregations and schools from all over Oakland. The spirit in the training was one of unity, while at the same time a willingness to explore and understand the strength and significance of our differences. On the morning of the second day of the training I read this verse: His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3.10-11) Now, it’s not saying that, in our stunning intelligence, we make God look good by going to church. Actually, our unity reveals God’s great wisdom in that He broke down any barriers that may divide us through the complete and sufficient work of Jesus. At first, I began thinking of this in light of denominational differences and how divided the Church is today. But then God began opening my eyes to the relevance and applicability of this verse to the very things I was learning during the training. He longs to see all people, regardless of race, culture, or ethnicity, drawn together in love and unity. He longs to see peace among the people He has created. It reassured my spirit to know that although we may put new labels or terms to the practice of defining our differences, the idea of unifying and growing stronger through our unique talents and backgrounds was originated, and will be completed, with God.

During my time in Oakland, I have been the one blessed with seeing God do this work in my little corner of the world. I have seen His children of different color, cultural background, and beliefs grow in knowledge and come together in one heart and spirit to pursue truth and love.

April 2006

I find myself edging towards the end of April and facing another newsletter deadline. The irony is that as I read through my previous newsletters to remind myself how far I’ve come and perhaps gain some inspiration for this month’s installment, I was struck by the fact that almost all of my newsletters reflected thoughts and observations that I’m still having even now. Funny how I wrote that I couldn’t believe we had already been here three weeks for that first newsletter and now I’m looking at only about 3 more months until Mission Year ends. I haven’t come up with anything clever or witty for this month, especially since I’m filled with so much uncertainty right now. So again I write to you seeking your prayers and support, offering you the opportunity to partner with what God is doing here.

Pray for me and my team. As third trimester begins, our relationships are strengthening, yet still changing. I do not want to take these girls for granted, or think that I have any of them fully figured out. Please pray that we will remain open and eager to walk with each other through the struggles and triumphs that are yet to come. I am so grateful that God has placed these girls in my life and I pray that we will continue to grow in love for and unity with each other. A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.(John 13.34-35)

Pray for our last few months as it would be easier for us to throw in the towel since the end is in sight. Mission Year founder Bart Campolo spoke to us a few weeks before we left for spring break and he exhorted us to “kick it in,” as his cross-country running friends would say. He reminded us that most of the people we encounter will remember our time here solely based on how we finished it. If we give up on people too soon we may be missing one of God’s greatest blessings. Especially after trying for seven months to develop relationships with people, it can be discouraging if it seems to be making no progress. Please pray for a spirit of perseverance in the things God is still trying to teach me about grace, freedom, and True love. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.(Galatians 6.9)

Pray for discernment as all of my teammates and I consider what our post-mission year plans will be. I am praying to be free of distractions as I try to balance thoughts about the future with what we are doing currently. I’m experiencing a definite paradox of choice since I could really do anything and am not sure which direction God is calling me towards. Please pray for clarity but also for a heart clearly seeking God and not just an arrow pointing in a direction.

Pray for my neighbors & friends. Keshia, Knight, new baby Jalen, Ametria, Darius, and Mason are considering moving back to Louisiana to be closer to Keshia’s family. Our team has really grown close with this family and we really want to spend more time with them. Levina is another one of our favorite neighbors—we went over to her house about a month ago to have a Saturday night movie party. She has lived in this neighborhood her entire life and she definitely longs to see these streets free of violence and fear. Keekee and Taranicha are of course also at the top of my prayer list. Please keep their whole family in prayer and pray that God would somehow protect and cover them even in the dangerous situations they might find themselves in. Pray that these girls would grow to see how beautiful and unconditionally loved they are in God’s eyes in such a way that would strengthen them as they prepare to face their teenage years. Please also keep Cathy and Gabrielle in your prayers. I see so much passion in Cathy and I pray that God keeps her on track with Him in spite of many temptations. Gabrielle is another friend from church who we love. Please pray for her as she is a single parent raising her 9 year old son, Gabe. Please also keep my friend Jen in your prayers as she undergoes cancer treatments and seeks to regain custody of her two children. Please also pray for a creative way to show our neighbors how much we appreciate and care about them.

Pray for the city of Oakland. There have been approximately 45 murders so far this year, more than double this time last year and almost half as many as all of 2005. The average age of murder victims last year was 31 years old. Since we’ve been here in September, there have been 85 murders. The mayor and city council of Oakland nearly called a state of emergency last month in order to get enough law enforcement agents on the street to keep the crime wave under control. Please pray that the Church would seize this opportunity to truly be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.

Praise God for His wisdom and faithfulness. I have been so encouraged by the prayers that I have seen God answer here, right before my eyes. It is evident to me how He prepared a place for us at our church, our service sites, and within the neighborhood. I am so thankful for Pastor Hunter, the Lyons family (our Church liaisons—and so much more), Jahon Pride (music minister at Mt. Zion), Anita Taylor, Jason Pokorny (Volunteer Coordinator at Highland Hospital), Ms. Haynes (assistant principal at Prescott Elementary School), and all the others who have granted me the opportunity to serve and learn alongside them.

Praise God for the neighbors who have opened their hearts and homes to us. We have been so privileged to get to know the people who have welcomed us into their lives. We are very grateful for them and the ways we have been adopted into this neighborhood.

Praise God for World Impact and others in Oakland trying to make an impact for good. God’s spirit is advancing and moving in our neighborhood, and throughout the city, and lives are being changed. Thank God for Hendrik de Boer, Joeybeth Murphy, and Luke Prince, Josh Harper, Kim Williams, the other Oakland Mission Year teams, and all the others who have a passion to see shalom in Oakland.

Praise God for His provision. Our team has raised about 48% of our support goal, and I am at about 40% (approximately $5,000). I am so grateful to those who have contributed to my ministry already. There are serious financial needs for the work that we are doing and I would ask you to prayerfully consider how you may be able to partner with us in this way.

Praise God for His grace, mercy, love, compassion…and sense of humor. It is such an amazing opportunity to be involved in God’s work. Even when we feel discouraged, I am grateful that God opens my eyes to the little things He has done to bless me each day. I am so thankful for His grace, which allows me the freedom to fail and continue to get up again. I am so thankful for His compassion and tenderness in growing my spirit and teaching me self-forgiveness. I also am really glad God has such a great sense of humor—and that He lets us in on some of what makes Him laugh.

I also thank God for each one of you. Your thoughts, prayers,

and long-distance hugs have truly been felt and appreciated!