Community 4:12

Just don't give up . . .

One of my great joys this year has been leading two Enrichment Groups at Bardwell Elementary School on Mondays ---one for 6 third graders from Brian's class and one for 5 fourth graders from Erik's class.  We have done everything from writing a short story to submit to a Scholastic Book competition to learning about web search engines and internet research to studying endangered animals and historical people, places, and events.   It has been a real thrill for me to watch young minds expand over the year.

To wrap up the year, the kids in both groups really wanted to take an educational field trip somewhere.  Not being an official teacher of the school, getting transportation and approval to take the kids out of the building was a challenge, so I decided to bring the field trip to them instead.  So today, children's author and illustrater, Kevin Luthardt, came and did a two hour workshop for the 11 children I have been working with all year.  He talked about the process of writing a picture book from idea to publishing, and he shared some of his own story of becoming a writer (he even pulled out a big stack of rejection letters that he got before publishing his first book).  He taught the kids how to draw a cartoon elephant and then asked each of them to start a story by using the "story board" process.

All of the kids did a great job, but there are a couple in the group that I see brimming with potential to be writers or artists or both.  I can only pray that they are going to have some strong people in their lives encouraging them them not to give up . . . because sometimes all it takes is a couple of rejection letters or comments and potential never becomes anything more than that.

Uneasiness

Had one of my dreaded moments as a mom yesterday.  I got home from work and my 10 year old said, "Mom, I almost got beat up today."  He then proceeded to tell me about the kickball game he played afterschool and how one of the boys didn't like a play he made and the next thing he knew this boy had pushed him to the ground and was smoothering him.  Then one of Erik's friends came up to that guy and started hitting him to get him off Erik.  Thankfully my husband and some other teachers were around and things were stopped before they got out of control.  The boy that attacked Erik claimed that Erik had pushed him.  There were enough witnesses to refute that claim, but I know my son well enough to know that he might have shown a bit of an attitude or said something in a tone of voice that could have been perceived as confrontational.  Not a big deal most of the time, but to a child prone to anger or aggression, that might be all it takes to provoke a full-fledged attack.  Thankfully he could learn that lesson without serious ramifications, and I pray he learned it well.

But I am feeling really anxious today.  What if this boy, who ended up getting suspended from the after-school program, decides he wants to seek revenge?  I've not really worried about the boys playing with kids in the neighborhood, but today I'm feeling a little more apprehensive about that.  Erik seemed to be okay with it all, but I wonder if he is feeling a little more scared than usual at school today.

I know something like this could have happened in Naperville or anywhere, but there is no denying that some of the kids we see around portray a pretty rough image.  I don't want to feel afraid or uneasy living in our East Aurora home, so I hope this is a temporary feeling.  There are some great kids in the neighborhood, too, and I don't want to get blinded or jaded to that fact.

Field Trip to Springfield

Had a great day traveling with the 4th graders from Bardwell Elementary to Springfield.  The day started before 5:00 am and we didn't return until after 9:00 pm, but the kids were terrific and we saw some great places.  The Lincoln Museum was particularly impressive and interesting.  Hard to identify the wax from the real people in this picture, huh?  I guess the clothing style makes it pretty easy to identify my group from Lincoln's family, but there were some pretty impressive wax figures!

A highlight of the day for me was getting to spend some time with one of the boys from my son Erik's class who is considered a "bully" (he's not in this picture, because he refused to be associated with our group).  He had some pretty shocking things to say about his dream of growing up and recreating a genocide like the Haulocaust to wipe out all races except Puerto Ricans, and about what he was going to do with the several shot glasses he purchased from the gift shop.  But he was also the most interested of all the kids in the group in actually learning something on this trip and had a pretty amazing ability to synthesize information.  He started off the day by telling me he didn't like "white people," which I took as a warning that he was not going to be pleasant to be around.  But, we ended up having a couple of really good conversations, and I saw a softer side to him that I would guess he doesn't reveal very often.  I see two very clear and opposing possible paths for this bright young man who is obviously a leader.  I fear the one he will take is what everyone is predicting; I pray some positive relationships will step into his life and steer it the other way.

Parents United in Action goes to 2 more schools!

Thanks to the generosity of Community attenders during out Celebration Generosity, I have the funding to significantly expand our Parent Mentor program next year.  We will continue at Brady and Bardwell and will take it to two other elementary schools in the same geographic area, Beaupre and Rollins.  I had a wonderful meeting with the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education this week, and it was so encouraging to hear her say they would like to work with us to find a way to take this program to all 12 elementary schools in the district.  For now, though, it was so fun to be able to tell the principals of those two schools that they can have the program at their schools next year if they are interested.  I don't think I've ever heard a quicker, "YES!" before (they knew about the program from hearing the principals at Brady and Bardwell talk about it).  So, thank you Community for providing an opportunity for 30 East Aurora parents to have a life changing experience next year!

Blessing Bikes

One of the last places in the world you would probably expect to find me is at a gathering of Harley riders.  At least that's what a couple of people told me when they ran into me at Motorcycle Sunday in Phillips Park this morning!  My friend Randy, pastor at Warehouse Church, started this annual event several years ago as an outreach ministry to "bikers," and it just gets bigger every year.  On this chilly morning I was walking around in my very non-leather jacket when Mayor Weisner came up behind me and said, "I don't think we're dressed for the occassion!"  While we were quite out of our comfort zones, we both love Randy's heart for bringing Jesus to everyone, so were excited to be there.  I found myself more than once, though, thanking God that He has equipped us all to minister to different kinds of people.  Let's just say, I don't think I'd be very effective at leading too many of the folks I saw today into a personal relationship with Jesus . . . but Randy has probably led hundreds of them over the years to Christ.  Very cool stuff!   

Kingdom Work

Just got back from a couple of days at the Exponential Conference in Orlando.  This was my first church planting conference, and a couple of us representing community development went to the conference so that we can continue a dialogue we began in January about the need for bringing these two aspects of Kingdom work together.  I got to spend a lot of time with Mary Nelson, founder of the community development corporation, Bethel New Life, in Chicago.  She is retired now, but has 40 years of community development experience that she travels around the country sharing with others.  And what a bounty of wisdom and experience she is!  What a blessing it was to be with her.

We were part of a panel in a social justice workshop.  It was so encouraging to hear person after person say, "This is exactly what has been missing from this conference in the past.  We need more workshops like this!"  That was strong confirmation that the people looking to plant churches today are wanting to be more involved in urban ministry and under-resourced communities.

Got to hear a great talk by Andy Stanley on visioning and it was very cool to see Community's own Eric Bramlett emceeing the event!  Dave and Jon and our NewThing Network have set a model of church reproduction that others are hungry to learn from.  And how kingdom expanding will it be if we can create a model of church reproduction that has community development/social justice as part of its DNA?  I do believe that is the direction God is calling His church.  I can't wait until the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference in Miami in October when some of the church planters will join us.  While both conferences pack close to 3,000 people in a room and feature terrific and inspiring teaching, they are two very different conferences in many ways.  The most obvious on the surface is that I could probably count on one (or maybe two) hands the number of people of color at the Exponential Conference.  I think that is indicative of the kinds of places that this type of church planter has historically focused their efforts (predominantly white, wealthier suburban areas).  And you can probably count on 1 or 2 hands the number of people at CCDA that are focused on planting churches.  But I think that is changing, which is why it is so important for church-planters and community developers to be working together.  The Church needs both in order to truly represent Christ to the world.  I am super excited about the opportunities on the horizon!

And the People Gave . . . Very Generously!

What an amazing weekend at Community!  We collected about $230,000 as part of our Celebration Generosity service to be used for the Jesus Mission in East Aurora, Uganda, Philippines, and Church Planting efforts through our New Thing Network.  The Neighborhood (East Aurora) Team raised over $72,000!  That will allow us to expand our Parent Mentor program, bring on a Leadership Resident for our future East Aurora Campus Pastor, hold 4 large community events, continue to support our tutoring and educational programs and begin some School for the Arts opportunities in the coming year.  A huge thank you to all of you who were part of this amazing celebration of generosity!

Celebration Generosity!

It is going to be a historic weekend at Community.  For the first time ever, every penny that we collect through our weekend offering, at all 9 campuses, will go towards HPFTHWBTG and eradicating poverty in Uganda, the Philippines, East Aurora, and through our NewThing Network.  Our attenders were asked to join one of these four teams several weeks ago, and this weekend they will have an opportunity to support those teams financially.  I have lots of dreams for what we'd like to do in East Aurora through Community 4:12 and the "Neighborhood Team," so I am excited to see what will be possible because of the generosity of Community attenders!

Thanks, Tom!

Thank you so much, Tom, for designing our new Community 4:12 logo and the banner for this blog!  The name Community 4:12 does not have an obvious meaning, so we wanted a logo that similarly makes people think.  There is so much symbolism in this new logo if people want to think that deeply about it.  But for those who don't, it is just cool looking!  You rock, Tom! 

Introducing Serving Jesus Blog!

I'm really excited to introduce a brand-new blog at CCC.  Our Small Groups Director, Eric Metcalf, has created a site so that small groups and others can stay informed about upcoming service opportunities offered through a variety of ministries.  Click here to check it out!