Community 4:12

Restoration Depends on Incarnation

If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time.  But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.  –Australian Aboriginal Activitst, Lila Watson

 

Since 2003, Community 4:12 has been working in East Aurora with the goal of creating a model of community development and restoration that can be replicated in other communities.  We’ve established programs around educational and housing challenges that many under-resourced neighborhoods face and have replicated some of those in Joliet.  A large part of our strategy has been to mobilize Community Christian Church attenders to come and serve in lower-income communities.  While this has been effective in many instances, it has not created a model that depends on truly coming along side and partnering with the people in the neighborhoods where we work.  And we believe that significant and lasting change absolutely depends on that type of incarnational ministry.  So this year we are launching a new effort in East Aurora to help us better achieve our hope of truly uniting people of different races and cultures and economic backgrounds to restore communities.  I am very excited about the launch of this new East Aurora Restore Team.

 

The East Aurora Restore Team will be made up of 10 - 15 Christ-following families living in the focus neighborhood in East Aurora.  These will be families that have relocated to the neighborhood from more affluent communities, and families that have lived in the neighborhood for years.  This Team will exist to engage deeply and relationally in the neighborhood, to identify community assets and challenges, and to work with people inside and outside the community to tackle those challenges. 

 

In my next post, I will introduce the 5 families that are committed to launching the East Aurora Restore Team.  All of us are people who have intentionally moved to East Aurora to be part of community restoration efforts.  We have been praying for several months that 3 – 5 more families would feel—and respond---to God’s call to join us.   Would you join us in praying for that?  And if you have any sense that God may be tugging at YOUR heart to consider a missional move, or to be part of a focused incarnational ministry team, I invite you to join us for dessert and to hear more about the vision and dreams of this Team.  We will meet at Community Christian Church, Naperville Yellow Box Campus, on Monday evening, February 13^th at 7:00 pm.   Leave a comment, or send me an email at kirstenstrand@communitychristian.org and let me know if you’d like to join us or want more information—no commitment or obligation, just come and learn!

Aurora Churches for Education

I had the opportunity to attend the news conference today announcing funding for a new Early Learning Initiative to help ensure that every child in Aurora has access to pre-school opportunities.  There are currently only 49 "slots" for every 100 three and four year olds in Aurora who are at high risk of not being ready for kindergarten.  And all the research shows that children who enter kindergarten without key skills (social skills, self-control, early literacy & math, and vocabularly) are highly likely to remain academically below grade level and are at very high risk of not completing high school.

"Coincidentally" this news conference happened right before a meeting we had scheduled that included several church leaders and our state representative Linda Chapa Lavia to talk about . . .how churches can get more involved in early childhood education.  The meeting was scheduled months ago.  Tne news conference was announced this week.  So, all of us church leaders showed up at the news conference where we learned about this partnership between the Aurora school districts, the city of Aurora, and  the United Way and area non-profits.  The missing piece?  The local church.  This gave the Church the opportunity to stand up and say, "We care about this issue, too, and we want to be a part of the solution!" 

Our previously planned meeting suddenly grew in attendance as representatives from the City of Aurora and this new SPARK (Strong, Prepared and Ready for Kindergarten) initiative joined us and we began to dream about the role the local church can play in helping to educate the young children in our community.

I can't help but think that God was smiling today as he saw church and state uniting around this huge need in our community! 

My Convenience = Their Oppression

I recently read this book that chronicles the experiences of five Latina immigrant mothers in Oakland, California as they become informed and engaged advocates for their children's education.  It has generated a lot of thought and reflection, but one statement in particular has really stuck with me:  "whites . . . have become so used to speaking for the 'Other' that they are not aware of how their speech silences those who most need to be heard. [There is] deep paternalism underlying many progressive change efforts initiated by whites, where people of color are spoken about, rather than invited to speak as experts of their own experience."

I know and believe in the value and importance of speaking "with" and not just "to" or "for" a community, but if I am really honest, I know this statement is true of me at times.  Not all the time, but there are times when it is easier and more convenient to "speak on their behalf" rather than coordinating challenging work schedules and getting translators when I am involved in meetings and discussions about programs and activities we are doing, or want to do, in the community.

This was a potent reminder that avoiding inconvenience fosters the exact kind of oppression we are working to alleviate.

Choosing a Justice Cause

It has been so long since I've posted . . . hopefully I'll do better in 2012.  In the meantime, this post on Dave Ferguson's blog is too good not to share!

Avoiding Segregation

A few weeks ago we did a message series at church called "Poverty in My Own Backyard" that was based on the book "When Helping Hurts."  One of the messages was titled, "Poverty of Community," and focused on the topic I blogged about recently . . . the idea that unless we have true friends that are different from us racially, culturally, economically, we are "poor" when it comes to community.  A friend just shared this very interesting exercise that she had to do for a college class that demonstrates that quite literally if each of us chose to be near just one person who is different from us, we could end segregation.  Check it out . . . http://www.understandingprejudice.org/segregation/.

Everyday Lives of Love and Justice

A great post on "the justlife" . . .Everyday Lives of Love and Justice. 

Volunteer or Friend?

I've been thinking about the idea of "community" a lot lately.  When I reflect on my life and the various places I've lived and friends that I've had, I can say without a doubt that it wasn't until we moved to East Aurora that I experienced community in more of the way I think God intended.  I have so much further to go, but I've gotten a glimpse of what I think God means by "community."

For most of my life, I lived with, worked with, went to school with, and interacted with people who were for the most part just like me---racially, economically, culturally.  I certainly spent time with people who were "different," but most often it was in the context of volunteering or serving.   But there’s a huge difference between being someone’s volunteer and being someone’s friend . . . being in community with them.  

I've been reading the book, "Friendship at the Margins" by Christopher Heuertz and Christine Pohl, and they really confirm what I've been thinking.  They say, "Mission or ministry with people who are poor or vulnerable often assumes that "our" task is to meet "their" needs . . .A focus on friendshp rearranges our assumptions.  What if the resources they have also meet our needs . . . What if in sharing life together as friends we all move closer to Jesus' heart?"

It's true.  Jesus hung out with… ate with… was friends with… and loved the poor. Jesus knew that we must move to a place where we’re not just serving the poor, but where we love them. That’s why He says (John 15:12)  “My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you.”

As an imitator of Jesus, the Apostle Paul understood this as well. In 1 Corinthians 13 he says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

I'm learning that if we are going to be rich in community, we have to not just serve, but actually have real friendships with people who are materially poor and different from us racially and culturally.  And I can now say from experience, as some of my closest friends are now people that American society would label "poor" and "Mexican," that I am so much "richer" in community than I ever have been.  I am looking forward to a 4th of July celebration that will feature both American BBQ and Mexican rice, beans and tortillas.  I have come to love having coffee every week with Maria . . . not at Starbucks, but in our homes.  I have learned what a luxury it is to have a washer & dryer in my home, and that it is not essential to have everything spotless in order to have company.   And I have been humbled by friends who have quite literally spent their last dollar to help someone in worse shape than they are. 

As the leader of a ministry who mobilizes "volunteers," I am grappling with how Jesus would do my job.  I don't think He'd mobilize volunteers.  I think He would challenge people to relationships and friendships.  But, that's a MUCH bigger ask of people.  I guess the hope is that people might start as volunteers, but then work towards building friendships.  But, how likely are people really to do that?  Am I doing a disservice to both the volunteers and the people they are serving by encouraging this type of relationship?  What can I do to further challenge and stretch people to move beyond just volunteering?  I am so thankful for the new friendships I've built over the past few years, and the richer sense of community that has come from them.  And I want that for every Community 4:12 volunteer.

Introducing Emmanuel House

Homeownership is one of the biggest "hand-ups" you can give to help lift a family out of the cycle of poverty.  Now, thanks to great generosity and our partnership with Bryan House Community Development Corporation, we can begin helping families in East Aurora move towards home-ownership through our new Emmanuel House.

Children of homeowners are:  25% more likely to graduate high school and 116% more likely to graduate college.  Homeowners are 12 times wealthier than renters of same income, age, and race.  Homeowners are 28% more likely to repair or improve their homes; 15% more likely to vote; and homeowners will live in the same community 4 times longer than renters--providing both community & family stability.

The Emmanuel House model allows families to rent an apartment for 18 months.  The rent they pay during that time is reinvested for them so that at the end of their lease, they will have enough money saved for a downpayment on their own home.  We are closing on our first Emmanuel House tomorrow, and it is just the first of 4 multi-unit homes we aim to acquire in East Aurora in the next year that will be used to help families break the cycle of poverty.  Our long-term goal over the next 10 years is to help increase homeownership rates in the highest poverty area of Aurora from 44.1% to 50.1% by moving 150 families into homeownership. 

 

Immigration--the Civil Rights Issue of Today

 
Four years ago my family moved from an upper-middle class, mostly Anglo neighborhood to a low-income, predominantly Hispanic community.  Four years ago, “illegal immigration” was a nameless, faceless issue.   Today, undocumented immigrants are neighbors, friends, and students in the third grade class my husband teaches at a local elementary school.  Enelda, Raul, Jose, and Rosa have made it impossible for me to think of immigration as simply a political and social issue anymore. (Names have been changed)

Enelda is part of a parent mentoring program I lead.  She has lived in America, undocumented, for almost 15 years.  Her children were born and raised here, and she and her husband have worked hard to help them get on a path out of poverty.  She was recently pulled over for driving with a burned out tail-light.  She was arrested on the spot for not having a driver’s license.  She sat in jail for three days and was then released with a court date to come back in three months, at which time she has been told she will most likely be deported back to Mexico.  Enelda & her husband have 3 months to decide whether they will all go back to Mexico, or whether Enelda will leave her children behind to pursue that “better life” for which they have worked so hard.

Raul is a sophomore at our local community college.  A talented artist, musician, and student, he was accepted at several excellent universities.   But, without papers, he is not eligible for financial aid.  So, he lives at home and is working his way through community college.  We all prayed recently that the Dream Act would pass so that Raul could have the opportunity to transfer to a university when he completes his AA this semester.  When Congress killed the Dream Act a few weeks ago, they killed Raul’s dreams of going to college and graduate school.

Jose recently had a friend drive him across the country to one of a couple of states in the nation that allows undocumented immigrants to get a drivers license, because he hated not being able to drive legally and get insurance.  He came to America as a child, and has lived a “secret” life ever since.  As a Christ-follower, he lives with the constant guilt of knowing he is breaking the law by being here.  But, to return to Mexico would be giving up everything and everyone he knows.  So, he prays for a pathway to legal residency while enduring the guilt and shame of knowing he is a “criminal” in the eyes of many.

Rosa was a third grader in my husband’s class last year.  Part way through the year, she started having trouble concentrating and was often teary-eyed.  When Scott approached her, she shared that she was afraid to go home each day because she might find out that her mother had been sent back to Mexico.  Reading and math became irrelevant to her . . . all she could think about was loosing her mom.

I know there are countless Eneldas, Rauls, Joses, and Rosas in my community and around this country.  To many, they are simply illegal immigrants . . . and criminals.  But I just can’t believe that that is how Jesus sees them, or how he wants me to see them. Every day when I look around my neighborhood, I am more convinced that our immigration policies are broken.  Daily I must watch God’s children suffer the consequences for our lack of urgency in addressing this broken system, and I can’t help but think we are not loving our neighbors as Jesus would.

To learn more about the plight of undocumented immigrants, go to http://UnDocumented.tv

Justice for All--Is it worth it?

It was bound to happen.  Questioning whether we made the right decision to move our family from one of the best performing school districts in the state to one of the worst.  In three and ½ years, I have pondered, but not seriously questioned our decision.  This week, I have questioned.  Not regretted, but definitely questioned.

We are blessed that neither of our kids struggles to learn.  In Naperville, they both tested as “gifted.”  There is no “gifted” program in East Aurora, but we hoped the general education would be sufficient if we supplemented with some work at home.  And through elementary school, that was the case.  But now, with a 6^th and 7^th grader, it’s not that simple.  Between the schedule of after-school sports, music, and church activities and the growing desire for cyber and in-person connection with friends, there is little time for much academic “supplementing.”  And after 7 hours at school and the bit of homework they have, it is understandable that they would have little tolerance for extra work that isn’t impacting a grade.

But, in those 7 hours at school they seem to be missing something Scott and I believe is core and essential to a solid liberal arts education---analytical reading and writing.  There is no reading of the classics, no essays, book reports, or critical analysis about what they read.  We believe that critical thinking and learning to formulate thoughts and ideas, both verbally and in writing, is an essential skill.  We have become increasingly concerned that they are not learning that skill at school.  After doing a little digging into what middle school kids in Naperville are doing and having some discussions with the boys’ current teachers, we are now sure they are not getting that . . .at least to the point we believe is necessary.  And that really concerns me.  Concern is Satan’s playground, so he is having a jolly time with me. . . causing worry, questioning, doubt.

We knew we would face challenges when we moved.  And going into this, we believed strongly that we couldn’t just think about our own kids’ education.  We were moving in part to fight for a more just and equitable educational system in general.  But now that our kids are being directly impacted in a noticeable way, the success driven, “upwardly mobile” American mentality is fighting its way back into my thinking.   I find myself questioning whether fighting for “justice for all,” is really worth the risk to my own children's success. 

But what if everyone let the concern for their own children dictate the risks they were willing to take for all of God's children?  I don't think there would be any hope for justice.  And THAT really concerns me.  I'm pretty sure Jesus would say that there are more important lessons for our kids to learn than how to write a critical essay.  I'm not going to be satisfied with the status quo.  Scott and I definitely have some work to do in addressing this concern--for our boys, and for all of the kids here in East Aurora who dream of going to college and being competitive in our American society. But, I guess it is time to really practice what I preach.

"Love your neighbor as you love yourself."  I think that means I need to love my neighbors' children as much as I love my own.  I know working for "justice for all," is the right thing . . .even when it means my kids aren't getting the best.  That doesn't feel good.  But, I guess dying on the cross didn't feel very good either.