Community 4:12

Can It Be Spring Yet???

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I grew up in Florida and still have Florida blood that hates it when it is less than 75 degrees outside.   So this bitter cold weather and ice and snow that we've had a fair amount of this winter is getting really old.  I'm tired of wearing 3 pairs of socks everyday and still having cold toes.  I'm tired of wearing so many layers that I feel like a stuffed sausage.  And I'm tired of thinking about all the people who don't have enough heat or blankets or coats to stay warm in weather like this.  I don't often wish I still lived in Florida, but every winter I have at least one bout of thinking "Why the ?!X? did we move to Chicago?"  I'm having that bout.  Want to join my pitty party? 

Urban Church Planting

I am part of a church that is passionate about Church Planting.  I personally am passionate about Christian Community Development.  And one might think that those two things go hand in hand.  And they should.  But, for years, the Church Planters have had their own conferences, their own leaders, their own lingo.  And so have the Christian Community Developers.  And those two "worlds" have not really interacted.

But that is changing, and I am so honored to be a part of what feels like a historic time in the life of modern day Christianity.  For two days, we have the some of the best and the brightest from the Church Planting arena and some of the best and the brightest from the Christian Community Development arena in the same room (so I'm still not really sure why I am in the room) . . . to talk about how we can most effectively plant churches in the urban environment that are equally committed to evangelism and social justice.  Both groups have so much to bring to the conversation. 

Shane Claiborne will join us via conference call today, and I can't wait to hear his perspective on this topic.  Obviously, talk doesn't mean much if it doesn't lead to action, but from the little bit I know about the people gathered around the table these two days, we will walk away from this time with some concrete and ideas and steps for beginning to merge these two arenas so that we can create a single movement that is about reaching cities for Christ in a holistic way.

Open Doors

God seems to continue to open doors, and hasn't closed any yet, to this dream of The Lighthouse in Aurora.  Met two incredible guys yesterday from Cornerstone Knowledge Network.  They've been involved in this kind of venture before and were pretty jazzed about what we are thinking about.  Not sure what might come of a partnership with them, but at the very least we've found two "building geniouses" who could serve as a tremendous resource as we continue to evaluate our options.  I've also been talking with people around the country who are doing similar kinds of things.  There are some awesome things going on in under-resourced communities!  So, I will just keep following the open doors and holding tight to this verse a dear friend sent me this week . . . Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.--Is. 30:2.

A Curiosity

There are numerous things, obviously, that are different about our lives since we moved to East Aurora.  There's one thing specifically, though, that has been a particular curiosity to me lately.  When my boys had "play dates" in Naperville, they were usually planned ahead of time and there was a designated drop off and pick up time.  It does not surprise me that things are much more spontaneous here, but I find it very interesting that parents, whom we have never really met or even spoken with--in part because of language barriers--seem to have no qualms about leaving their children with us for hours and hours.  They'll stay through meals, go places with us, and then when we go to take them home, we discover that there are no parents around, so the "play date" gets extended another couple of hours until finally a relative either shows up at our doorstep or the child will finally reach someone on the phone and we know we can take them home.  Do parents just trust us because Scott is a teacher at Bardwell, or is there just a general greater trust of people, or are they just so warn out from life, that any opportunity to send their kids away for a day or evening is a welcome break?  I know these parents all love and care about their kids, and the kids never seem worried when their parents aren't home when they say they will be, so I'm guessing it is just one of those cultural or economic differences that I don't really understand.  Fortunately, all the kids we've had over are super sweet and a real joy to have around---in fact, I often secretly hope that my kids will pick up on some of their politeness--so it hasn't felt like a burden.  But, I do wonder what we'll do if that happens and it isn't convenient for us to keep the kids longer.  Guess that's when my true heart will come through.

Economic Development Models

Most of the time I feel like my masters degree in clinical psychology and broad liberal arts background have equipped me well enough for the work I do.  But lately I have been wishing I had an MBA or a degree in economic development.

I wrote about my dream of starting The Lighthouse in Aurora.  It has generated some interest and there is even a very remote possibility that we could acquire a building for it.  But all of that talk has raised so many practical questions.  Most of which I feel completely unequipped to answer--or even to know what questions or people to ask to help find the answers!

Do we as a church take on the ownership and operation of a facility like that?  Do we try to find a missional minded developer who partners with us?  Does Community 4:12 own and operate it, or does it become a separate entity?  How do you balance ministry/service with creating a financially self-supporting venture through income generating opportunities or partnerships?  How do you create a business plan for rehabbing a building and developing a thriving community center that brings economic development opportunities to the community?

Can't I just have the dream and let someone else figure out how to make it happen?!

Parent Mentor Program Reproduces!

We've launched our Parent Mentor Program, Parents United in Action, at a second East Aurora School.  We are training 5 moms at Bardwell Elementary to start working as teacher assistants.  Like at Brady, they will work in their assigned classroom for 8 hours/week and then meet as a group for 2 hours/week for training and team building.

Combined with the 9 moms from Brady, this gives us 14 mothers who are actively working to make their schools and community a better place! 

I've said all along that this is my favorite Community 4:12 program, and this gives me 5 reasons to love it even more!

Living in a Flat World

This week I experienced a taste of what it means to live in a "Flat World," or at least a "Flat Country."  I have found this blog to be a great resource for finding people and places I would ordinarily have no way of knowing about.  But they post a comment or send me an email after reading one of my entries (not sure how they really ever found my blog to begin with, but that's another topic I guess).  Anyway, after reading about my Mountain Moving Prayer # 2, someone pointed me to a place in Phoenix, Arizona that is doing something very similar to "The Lighthouse" I've been dreaming and praying about for Aurora.  Neighborhood Ministries sounds like a very cool place.  Not exactly like what I picture for Aurora, but similar, and serving a very similar population, too.  Maybe I need to take a trip out to Phoenix?  Darn, I'd hate to leave this cold weather here in Chicagoland.

My Injustice Hackles Are Raised!

I was at a meeting last night to begin preparing for another referendum for East Aurora Schools to be placed on the November ballot.  We were all so discouraged in April when the last referendum failed, but for the sake of this school district, we have to get past our cynicism and try again.  We are going to do a lot of things differently, and the tax increase we are shooting for (if the Board of Education approves doing a referendum at all when they vote on Jan. 22nd) is much less than the last time around.

But as urgent as things felt for the last referendum, it feels dire now.  It just makes me so angry that we live in a state that does not have any policies for equalizing the educational opportunities kids in low-income and higher income school districts have.  I know it's not just our state, but we are one of the worst---48th out of 50 actually.

Just thinking about all this has raised my "injustice hackles."  And you don't really want to be around me when those hackles are raised---unless you are fervently committed to helping to right those injustices.  And it just makes me all the more determined to make things like The Lighthouse come to fruition.  The kids in this district need it.  They deserve it.  Without opportunity, there is no hope.  And I don't want to live in a community that has no hope.

2008 Mountain Moving Prayer # 2

My second Mountain Moving Prayer for 2008 is that we would find a venue to create a church and community/cultural center in East Aurora.  This is what I am dreaming about:

The Lighthouse:  Bringing Light to the City of Lights

I dream of opening a Community and Cultural Center in the heart of downtown Aurora that will bring unique economic, educational, personal, and spiritual development opportunities to the citizens of Aurora.  In The Lighthouse you would find such things as:

• A Community Christian Church campus designed uniquely to help Hispanic residents and others who have wandered from the Catholic Church find their way back to a loving God.

• A School for the Arts offering affordable music, art, drama, and dance lessons.

• An Art Gallery that teachers from School District 131 and families could use as a way to expose, educate, and excite students about various forms of art.

• A Gymnasium providing affordable sports lessons and "open gym" activities.

• A Gift Shop that provides a venue for creative and talented residents of the community to sell their hand-crafted jewelry, clothes, and crafts.

• A Banquet Hall & Chapel that provides a safe, affordable venue for families to host weddings, quincearñas, funerals, and other large group gatherings.

• A Bookstore and Coffee Shop that sells affordable English and Spanish books and offers literacy activities for youth and adults such as storytimes, ESL, tutoring, bookclubs.

• A Computer Lab offering basic computer training as well as a place where residents can come to use the internet for research, email, etc.

• A Counseling and Support & Recovery Center providing affordable individual and family counseling and support/recovery groups.

• An Immigration Legal Aid Center providing affordable legal services to immigrants in the community.

• A Business Development & Training Center offering microfinance loans and technical training to budding entrepreneurs in the community.

That is my dream.  My prayer is that if it, or any part of it, is also God's dream, that He will move the mountains necessary to make it happen.

2008 Mountain Moving Prayer # 1

I start every New Year off with some reflection of the past year and some dreaming about what the new year might bring and then I write down 3 - 4 "Mountain Moving Prayers" that I will pray for every day all year long or until they are answered.  Last year 4 out of 4 prayers were answered.  That's very unusual, since the prayers are for things that feel pretty impossible at the beginning of the year.

One of my prayers for this year is that CCC will find a Hispanic Campus Pastor who will lead us in launching a bilingual East Aurora campus.  This is something I've been praying for off and on for at least 2 years, but this year it has made the Mountain Moving list, because I want to believe the time is NOW for this campus to happen.

One of the biggest hurdles we will have with this campus is that this community is comprised primarily of Catholic Hispanics.  And there are some great Catholic Churches here to serve them, which is awesome.  However, there are many, many people who are Catholic by tradition only and are not really practicing their faith for whatever reason.  Since our mission is "Helping People Find Their Way Back to God," those are the people we would seek to reach through this campus.  But, I am not convinced that our current worship style will appeal to the population we want to serve.  I just finished a very enlightening book, "Growing Up Catholic" by Tim Lott.  I can't rave about the writing, but the content was fascinating, and I think could be very helpful as we seek to understand the background that many of our future attenders will come from, and maybe help us create a new worship style that will help them experience God in a new way--without being so far "out there" that they can't get past the different worship style to really find God.

So, I am praying for that perfect Campus Pastor who can lead the way for us to help hundreds of people here in East Aurora who are far from God to find their way back to Him.  Will you pray for that with me?  It's a big mountain to move, so it's going to take a lot of prayer!