Community 4:12

HPFTWBTG

On January 10th, we launched our 10th COMMUNITY Campus . . . the long awaited and prayed for bilingual EAst Auora Campus.  Click here to read about the opening day on Dave Ferguson's blog.  I waited until after the 2nd week to make my public comments, because the first week is all the hype and excitement and inflated numbers due to encouraging and curious visitors.  But it's the second week when the real work begins . . . the tireless but invigorating journey of helping people find their way back to God.  One relationship at a time.  We've dreamed for a long time, 6 years to be exact, about having this campus with weekly services in East Aurora.  A place to invite our friends and neighbors who are are looking for a safe place to explore what it means to be a Christ follower.  But where most of those people are going to find their way back to God is not in those weekly services, but through relationships that develop outside of the services.  Through the conversations that happen over a cup of coffee (or horchata) in the hospitality area or in the living room or kitchens of people's homes during small groups. 

So, while everyone wanted to know how many people showed up that first week, I was much more interested in how many people would come back the second week.  And for our second week, nearly everyone from the community that came the first week came back, as well as a few more new people.  So, while not as many seats were filled for our second week, those that were were filled with people who found something, or someone, that inspired them to come back.  Eventually that someone will be Jesus himself, but for a while, Jesus will take the form of Kathy or Obe or Romas or Carolynn or Lynn or Anna or Isreal or anyone else who has left the friends and comfort of another COMMUNITY campus or church to help make this new campus a safe and welcoming place.  If I'm lucky, Jesus will choose to use me to lead someone to Him.  We will work in the coming weeks to fill more of the seats in our service, but I hope we will work even harder to build relationships with the people God has already brought us.  

2009 Highlights

 
So many C412 memories from 2009.  Here are the first 10 that come to mind (in no particular order) . . .

1. Obe Arellano officially joined the staff at Community Christian Church as the LONG awaited East Aurora Campus Pastor.  Bilingual campus launches on January 10th!
2. Rick Guzman joined the Community 4:12 staff as the director of the new not-for-profit we will be starting to help take our community development work in East Aurora to a whole new level.
3. Maria Lopez joined the Community 4:12 staff after serving as a Parent Mentor for 3 years as my apprentice and as our assistant extraordinaire at the Lighthouse in East Aurora.  We could not run that place or our events without her!!
4. The Parent Mentor program expanded from 4 schools to 6 schools and from 25 Mentors to 40 Mentors.
5. Obe and his wife (and East Aurora Campus Kids City Director), Jack, launched Kids City Tuesdays and StuCo at the Lighthouse, serving 50 - 70 kids each week.
6. Through the kids at Kids City and StuCo, we began to meet parents and families and had 180 people at our Community Thanksgiving Dinner and 220 at our Christmas Las Posadas party---all preparing for the campus launch . . . on January 10th if I didn't mention it.
7. We held the 2nd annual Celebration Generosity offering at Community Christian Church, raising $125,000 for Community 4:12.
8. In partnership with 3 other churches, we sponsored a Feed My Starving Children mobile food-packing event at East Aurora High School.  This allowed over 200 students, who are often the recipients of service, to be the servers . . . providing meals for thousands of meals for children in impoverished countries.
9. In partnership with over 100 churches, schools, businesses, and organizations, we sponsored 3 Christmas Gift Marts (2 in Aurora, 1 in Joliet), collecting 14,000 toys, serving over 3,000 people, mobilizing 1,500 volunteers, and raising over $20,000 for 6 elementary schools.  
10. We truly began to embrace and practice the key principal that will help make community restoration possible . . . partnership.  Only when all segments of society . . . churches, schools, government, businesses, not-for-profits . .  come together will significant impact be made.

And that is my biggest prayer for 2010 . . . that together with many others, we will be part of making a tremendous IMPACT in the lives of under-resourced people and communities locally and globally.

Christmas Hand-up

 The past few weeks have been a bustle of activity as we prepared for 3 Christmas Gift Marts this year . . . one in Joliet and two in East Aurora.  Here's a summary of how things went:

• Over 14,000 toys: 3,600 toys for the Joliet Gift Mart + 10,500 toys for the Aurora Gift Marts = Christmas for thousands of children!
• 1,500 Volunteers:  300 volunteers in Joliet; 1,200 volunteers in Aurora. It took every one of you to pull off these events!
• Over 3,000 People Attended Marts:  750 people attended the Joliet Mart; 1,750 people attended the Aurora Mart at Bardwell and 1,000 at the Aurora Mart at Brady.  Thousands of happy people who experienced the love of Christ this Christmas!
• Over 120 Partnering Organizations:  Churches--Orchard Valley Community Church, Good Shepherd Lutheran, Wheatland Salem United Methodist, Hope Tabernacle, Warehouse and others.  Schools--countless elementary, middle, and high schools sponsored toy drives.  Businesses--Walmart, Starbucks, Caribbou, Crate and Barrell, Coke, Hub Group, and many, many others.  It is this kind of unity that makes God smile!
• $20,074 Raised for Schools:  $4,349 for AO Marshall and Park Elementary Schools in Joliet.  $15,725 for Bardwell, Brady, Rollins, and Beaupre Elementary Schools in East Aurora.  All to support school improvement initiatives that limited school budgets won't support!

My pre-event challenge to the volunteers this year was to use the event as a chance to look for the richness, beauty, and blessing in the people attending the Gift Marts, rather than looking at their physical poverty, which is what we so often focus on.  I really want us all to embrace an idea I heard recently that everyone is rich, and everyone is poor.  We just need to retrain ourselves to look for the wealth, not the poverty. 

My son reminded me of that this year when we were collecting toys for the Gift Marts.  He didn't like how we referred to the children in East Aurora as poor.  These are his friends we were talking about, and he does not see their poverty.  To him they are kids that share life with him, that he has fun with, and that endure the same pre-adolescent challenges that he does.  He knows that many of them do have financial challenges, but that is not how he identifies them or thinks about them.  I am thinking that God probably looks at them more like Erik does, and that's how I want to look at them, too. 

Pre-launch Strategy

We have been working in East Aurora for 6 years now.  We are about to host our 7th annual Christmas Gift Mart.  We are working in some capacity with 8 schools in District 131--doing tutoring, youth mentoring, parent mentoring, art clubs, and community events. We have had office space in the community for over a year where we run Tae Kwon Do two nights/week, Kids City for 1st - 15th graders one night/week, and StuCo for 6th - 12th graders one night/week.  All of this has been laying the groundwork for bringing a bilingual, multi-cultural Community Christian Church campus to the community.  That campus will finally open on January 10, 2010. 

Typically when we launch a campus, we send thousands of postcards to the community, and that has proven to be pretty effective.  We aren't sure that strategy will work as well in this community.  So, we will be sending some postcards to a limited geographic area, but the primary promotional strategy is to sponsor community events in the space where we will hold church.  We have over 100 kids that are part of our Kids City and StuCo programs, but we had not met most of their parents.  So, we invited them all to a Thanksgiving Dinner in November.  We had 180 people that joined us for dinner!  Last night, we hosted a Las Posadas, a Mexican Christmas party.  We had over 200 people that joined us for food, mariachis, pinatas, and fun.  And then on New Year's Eve, we will host two Hispanic bands--one from Texas, one from Chicago--for a big concert to ring in the New Year.  A week later we will launch our campus. 

We have met so many wonderful people through these events and many have inquired about the church we will launch.  It will be very different from anything most of them have experienced.  Will they come?  We'll find out on January 10th or 17th or 24th or maybe not until March or July.  But, I am convinced that this relational approach to preparing for the launch is a perfect strategy for this community.  And it sure is a lot of fun!

Christmas or Heat?

16,000 toys at approximately $10 each.  $160,000 worth of toys.  That's what we need in the next month in order to fully stock our 3 Christmas Gift Marts this year (2 in East Aurora, 1 in Joliet).  If I think about it in that way, I start to panic a bit.  That's a lot of money and a lot of toys . . . almost double what we collected last year.  But, when we debated whether or not we could add a 3rd Mart this year, to nearly double the number of families we could reach, it felt like it was not an option not to.  Every day I see kids and families here in East Aurora who are struggling to pay the gas/utility bill or to put gas in the car or keep their phones turned on.  They aren't starving, but the stress of just day to day survival is exhausting.  And there is no money for "extras."  Or, there probably shouldn't be.  But like all of us, when life gets to be too much, we resort to doing things that make us feel better . . . even if we "shouldn't" spend on the money on fast food or going to a movie or a new toy.  Parents want to provide Christmas for their children.  And they will often put themselves in serious financial jeaopardy to do that.  The Gift Mart provides a way for parents to have the dignity of providing Christmas gifts for their children without sacrificing a month of heat or hot water or paying the rent.  It is a very difficult time, but so many of us are lightyears better off than the families I see every week.  So, it felt selfish and faithless to say that we couldn't help provide Christmas for an additional 800 families.   Thanks to several other churches and businesses and schools, we do hope to stock our Gift Marts this year.  But, then, I was reminded this week that even then, we will only be serving families from 4 of the 12 elementary schools in East Aurora---all of which have poverty rates over 70%.  If you'd like to help provide toys or join us in serving at one of the Gift Marts, go to www.communitychristian.org/giftmart.

Annual Inspiration & Challenge

There are few things that both inspire me and challenge me the way the annual CCDA conference does.  I am here in Cincinnati with some great friends and partners in ministry and the past 24 hours have given me so much to process.  Last night Dr. Soong-Chan Rah challenged the whole principle of relocation---why does it always have to be the "rich, white folks" moving into the "poor, ethnic" communities?  What kind of power dynamic does that set-up? He also challenged those of us that say we are committed to multi-ethnic ministry to make sure we are being mentored by people that are not of the same race/culture.  Dr. Perkins' bible study this morning was packed with wisdom about making  obedience to God our only focus and priority.  "Coach" Wayne Gordon asked us all to consider if God might be regretting calling us to ministry based on our pride or other areas of sin in our lives.  Ouch.  Workshops inspired me to be more intentional about involving youth and the people of our community in creatively advocating for change.  And tonight I got all choked up listening to Jim Wallis talk about the power of synergy and the movements for social change that have resulted from Christ followers banding together to fight for the things that Jesus cares about.  Another great day planned for tomorrow and then on Saturday Obe and I will present a workshop about creating a Micah 6:8 church community that "acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God."

Parents United in Action

Meet the 2009 - 2010 Parent Mentors.  We have 40 of them this year (up from 23 last year), working at 6 different schools in District 131.  For a very small annual stipend of $1,000, these women will serve 10 hours/week at their children's schools as teacher's assistants.   We know from previous years that these women will become school leaders over the next nine months, and their self-confidence will blossom.  Some will be motivated to go back to school to get their GEDs or learn English or computer skills.  And all will be deeply loved and appreciated by the kids and teachers they work with day after day.

Decision: Distraction

I've had many people asking about my decision regarding applying for the School Board since I wrote the last post.  So, here is the letter I shared with my C412 Leader Team that explains my decision:

Thank you all so much for your prayers as I have worked through the decision whether or not to apply for the open School Board position.

I have decided not to apply.

There were many factors and conversations that went into my decision, but one of the most significant was a re-reading of Andy Stanley’s book, “Visioneering.”  Over the past week, I have been reminded of my original calling---to be a voice for the poor within the church and to unite people around a mission of restoring under-resourced communities.  Neither of those things do I believe will be best served by me pursuing a School Board position.  

Stanley has a section about “distraction,” and talks about how the biggest distractions to accomplishing a vision are often the biggest opportunities.  After 2 ½ hours at a Board meeting last night, I am more convinced that the influence/authority gained by being on the Board would not outweigh the distractions (and potential detriment to some of our work).

I know that there will be some who are disappointed with my decision, but I believe our influence and authority must continue to come from our good works in the community, and not from any position I might hold.

So, as Nehemiah might say, “Let’s get back to building the wall!”

Opportunity or Distraction?

I have a big decision I need to make in the next week or so.  I've been wrestling with it for the past two weeks, and am still waiting for God to give me that neon sign telling me what to do.  The group pictured here is the current District 131 Board of Education.  One of the members recently resigned, and so the Board needs to appoint a replacement.  I have been asked by several members of the administration to consider applying for the position.  This opportunity has been presented to me before, and I always felt that it was not the right thing for me to do.  But, for whatever reason, this time, I don't feel at peace about turning away so quickly.  So, I have spent the past couple of weeks praying, talking to principals, district staff, the retiring Board member, community members, and my team trying to discern whether this is an opportunity God is putting before me "at such at time as this," or if it is a tempting distraction that could hinder/impede the work we are doing in the community.  I have come up with a long list of reasons why I should not pursue it, and an equally long list of reasons why I should.  I haven't struggled with a decision this much since we grappled through the whole "do we relocate to East Aurora or not" dilemma.  In the end, God did give me great peace about moving.  But, I didn't have a deadline I was up against, so I had the time to wait for God's direction.  This time, I do have a deadline.  I am praying that God will give me peace about one direction or the other before the deadline.  But, if He doesn't, should the default be to take the risk or not?  I'm going to choose to believe that He will make it clear . . .but I must seek Him and wait.  Neither of which is easy for me to do!  

A Heart for the Community Conference

CCDA is partnering with Community 4:12 to offer a 1/2-day-training based on a new book co-edited by John Fuder and Noel Castellanos entitled A Heart for the Community: New Models for Urban and Suburban Ministry.
 
In the workshops we'll look at the biblical basis for working with the poor, learn about Christian Community Development, and focus on Kingdom-enhancing Partnerships.

September 26, 2009.

9 am to 1 pm.  Click here for more information and go to www.ccda.org to register!