urbanfocus: the blog

What is your Samaria?

2016-11-18T11:16:00.002-08:00

And He must needs go through Samaria.John 4:4 KJV
What is your Samaria?
Mike Herman

I was born in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson is known for its beautiful desert landscapes and breath-taking sunsets, not its downtown skyline. Tucson would never be mistaken for a big city.

Now I live in Compton, California, a city often noted for its gang violence, high poverty rate, and gangsta rap. Compton is 55% African-American and 45% Hispanic. Moving into the community is not without issues or concerns. Working in an African American church is not without issues. However, God didn't command us to live a comfortable life but to follow His example.

People wonder how a white man ended up in Compton. Sometimes it still amazes me. Why in the world did God choose me, a white boy from cactus country, to go into the city to stand in the gap for Him?

In John chapter four, we find the story of Jesus traveling through Samaria. I think this passage best summarizes the answer to the question of why God sent me here. Verse four is simple but has an often overlooked, profound message. Here we find that Jesus "had" to go through Samaria on His way to Galilee. According to a map, this would seem to be the obvious route, as Samaria lies directly between Judea and Galilee. However, Jesus' path had nothing to do with geography.

If you study Samaria you'll find it was considered to be a place of outcasts, a home of mixed breeds, of the “impure.” The Jews were known for their racial hatred toward the Samaritans. The conflict was so great that Jews walked around Samaria -- over 20 extra miles-- simply to avoid the place and the people.

So the path Jesus chose was intentional -- and against societal norms. The call to reach out cross-culturally was strong that He "had" to go there, even when others chose not to. As a result of His time there, we are told many came to faith in Christ. Surely His mission would've been incomplete had He not spent time in Samaria.

In our society, we have many Samaria’s. Compton is a Samaria. The inner-city is a Samaria. Sometimes a person can be a Samaria. It is anything that we don’t feel comfortable dealing with, that we try to avoid at all cost.

But our Lord would have us go through our Samaria, even if you're a white man from Tucson going to Compton. He is more concerned with our character than He is our comfort.

What are your Samarias? What does God want do deal with in your heart that you’ve been trying to avoid? Go through Samaria. You’ll find that Jesus is not only walking beside you, but He’s already been there waiting for you.

Lord, Thank you for leading the way into places like Samaria.

Take me out of my comfort zone, I'll go where you want me to go, Amen.

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Great Learning Tool Graphic on Privilege & The Economic Opportunity Myth

2015-06-10T12:36:00.002-07:00

Via - http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-on-a-plate

From the Liquor Store into the Garden…

2015-04-03T12:32:00.002-07:00

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When we first discovered the lot where the Compton Community Garden now resides, it was neighborhood blight. It had been trashed and scarred by years of neglect and misuse. As we began to excavate the lot with plans for a new landscape and a new purpose, we had no idea that God was doing a similar work in a life around the corner.

DJ was a 36 year-old man who had grown up in the neighborhood. He’d had a tough childhood, a series of unhealthy and broken relationships, used coping mechanisms of drugs and alcohol. But like most people here, there were many gifts and talents hidden beneath that story. DJ was born bold and ambitious. Gifted with a quick mind and an even quicker tongue, he was able to overcome a lot of his challenges and build a successful career as a mortgage broker. He became a family man with a wife and children.

However, when life hit him, as it does all of us, he was thrown back into old patterns of self-destruction. A combination of the mortgage industry and his marriage both taking a dive devastated him. In the process, he also lost his relationship with his kids. He found himself frequenting the liquor store on a daily basis, which meant that everyday on his way, he walked right past the Compton Community Garden!

For two weeks he would walk past the garden and watch us work. He assumed (naturally) that those of us who were white had to be in law enforcement (why else would we be there?), so in the beginning he intended to stay clear. Eventually, though, his curiosity (and the Holy Spirit) got the best of him, and he walked through the gates.

DJ sharing his story at a Garden Day event.

“What is this garden place?”

“What’s going on here?”

“Why are you people even here?” he wanted to know.

We told him about the mission to provide healthy food, nutrition classes, and gardening plots for the community. We shared with him the vision to create jobs in order to address our community’s desperate need for more employment opportunities. And then we explained that the real reason behind all of it is to honor God and demonstrate His love here in our city.

DJ began to come around regularly. He hung out and was paid for a few small jobs here and there, still checking everything out. And then, suddenly -- he was all in. He started attending a weekly Bible study, rededicated his life to Christ, gave up some of his normal escapes, and started working with us every chance he could get. Slowly, DJ began to heal.

That was several months ago. Yesterday (March 30^th) DJ participated in week three of our current cycle of Leadership Development Academy classes. He had lunch with the other interns and three mentors (including me, Mike). He and I have been working on 2 business plans -- he has amazing entrepreneurial dreams, and we have turned those into goals. There is a restaurant across the street from the garden that is now up for sale -- he plans to purchase it with another local mentor, Ralph. (Ralph is a retired businessman and chairman of the Garden Community Board.) DJ has become a leader among our other interns. He has been stepping out and taking initiative in ministry -- he’s been given some significant responsibilities and now is an associate member of our staff team!

What's made all of this possible? DJ is following Jesus!

Each day is a journey for DJ, as he strives to maintain his new commitments. He has replaced his old, unhealthy coping mechanisms with new, life-giving ones. He is praying, encouraging others and growing in Bible study. He is building community around him, and receiving support from others each step of the way.

God has transformed DJ in a powerful way. And He will continue to transform him, as He does with all of us.

This is what discipleship looks like here. It’s a process, an ebb and flow. Every day, and practically everything on the agenda -- even something as simple as a Home Depot run -- is an opportunity to build into someone and care for them. Not everyone moves along as quickly as DJ has. Some folks take years to make the kind of changes DJ is making. But God is faithful and powerful and trustworthy!

The Concept of the Flâneur (or Flâneuring)

2014-11-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

I learned a new concept today.

The idea of the Flâneur was invented in 19th century Paris. The word carried a set of rich associations: the Parisian man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street.

In todays terms it could be considered ‘intentionally wandering in your city’. We are so adapt at getting as quick as possible from Point A to Point B. It’s so routine and utilitarian that we constantly miss all the city, all the life, between those two points. We are busy. We are not experiencing or feeling the marvelous tiny details of our neighborhoods.

I'm very guilty of this. My day typically exists of this type of busyness, running back and fourth to numerous places trying to be as speedy and efficient as possible. Even after driving some of my cities streets for twenty years, I'm still discovering things I have previously missed.

I love my city. I love the people that live here. I love the parks and streets. I love all the cultures represented. I love the change and transformation. I love the hidden secrets. I love the quirks and nuances.

I want to experience more of that. I’m going to become more of a Flâneur.

Opening Day ignites new Hope!

2013-12-10T08:57:00.002-08:00

An article from our December Newsletter.

Admittedly, I (Tonya) was a bit skeptical when the Lord dropped this community organic garden on us. I am a big believer in eating healthy, in community development, and in ministry to the whole person. After all, Jesus fed the thousands and healed the sick -- who would we be to deem such things not important? But there was still that niggling voice in the back of my mind -- would we really be able to see spiritual development happen because of a garden?

Our team leaders had great vision -- of relationships we could build through the garden, of spiritual, life-filled conversations that could happen there. And as God kept providing and moving (sometimes it felt more like shoving!) us forward, it became very clear that this was on HIS agenda. I was excited as I saw the way God was obviously moving, but I still had my doubts...

The day of the garden opening was a beautiful SoCal fall day -- sunny blue skies and mild temperatures. Almost 200 people came out to celebrate with us -- ministry partners, volunteers, students from nearby universities, and most importantly -- people from the neighborhood! We had music and delicious food, face painting and crafts for the kids. We rented garden plots and sold t-shirts with “Compton Organic Community Garden” on them. The garden was spoken over, prayed over, and dedicated by a host of special guests who had invested financially, spiritually, and physically in the process (including our new mayor!). It was a day full of joy and excitement and triumph.

As we were finishing the last of the cleanup, Betty (name changed) approached me. Betty is a woman who lives next door to the garden. In the city, those who have had life the roughest wear that truth visibly all over themselves. I don’t know many specifics about Betty’s life, but it’s clear she’s one of those folks. In that moment, though, Betty came with a huge grin on her face, tears in her eyes, and a request.

Could she become a volunteer? Could she water the garden boxes of those who couldn’t get there every day? Could she clean up around the garden? Could she keep an eye on the place and chase off any vandals? She was offering to help in any way she could -- she was just desperate to be a part of it all.

“You all have such a beautiful aura about you -- and it’s over this whole place! Every since you’ve been working in here -- and seeing all this happen...well, I’m out there, doing a lot of bad things. But in here -- this place -- it makes me believe that maybe I can get back to being the old Betty once again.”

It didn’t take long before Betty’s tears had become my own. We stood for a few minutes, her talking about her life and me sharing about mine. I told her that the hope she was describing had, in turn, filled my own heart with hope. That that’s how it is with God -- He uses us to bless each other, no one person being more important or “better” in His Kingdom, but all of us learning from and needing each other. This was the beauty she was sensing in all of us.

Since that conversation, I have spent a lot of time thinking about Betty and how she sees the garden. Located in a place that is arguably one of the ugliest, most crowded and run-down parts of our city, the garden is becoming a place of beauty and life. And for people who see little other than their local surroundings day after day after day, beauty brings hope.

I am thankful for Jesus and His simple spirituality -- boiling it down to much more basic concepts than I want to create in my privileged American mind. I am thankful for what He knows about the people He has created, the needs that they have, and the places where He can best meet them. I’m especially thankful that, in spite of my ignorance, He lets me be a part of His meeting them. After all, those connections are the places where beauty, life, and hope shine brightest in my own life.

I look for Betty every time I visit the garden now. Inevitably, if she’s there, we end up having a spiritual conversation along similar lines to the one we had that day. She usually has a story to tell me about something that’s happened at the garden, and God will give me another chance to tell her how much He loves her. We shed a few tears, we hug, and I leave with a very full heart -- filled with the fullness of the love God has for this woman, and with the generosity she has to share her life with me.

We also want to say Merry Christmas, from our family to yours! May God bless you and minister to you all during this special time.

We pray that your family time is meaningful, rich and full of joy as we take the time to focus on each other and our Heavenly Father.

So, Merry Christmas from Compton, CA!

Preparing a Downtown LA Urban Hike

2013-08-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

I love downtown LA. I don't get there very often anymore. But during our first few years here our Director and I developed an extensive walking tour to take mission groups through.

Tomorrow I get to do it again!

Check it out.

Our Africa Trip in AIA's Magazine

2013-06-17T19:04:00.002-07:00

The Spring edition of the Every Athlete Magazine included a really nice article on our December trip to South Africa!

Here are the 4 pages of the article in image form. (Click to enlarge)

page 1

page 2

page 3

page 4

As the official trip photographer Tonya took 95% of these photos!

Wer are so blessed to have been able to participate in this experience and see God work in some many different ways.

We are grateful to all of you that partnered with us in this trip! We love you!

South Africa!

2013-02-07T20:02:00.003-08:00

2012 AIA Pro Soccer Tour

I, Mike, have a confession. When I was asked to chaplain one of our professional MLS soccer teams, I had ulterior motives. I was not that interested in working with pro athletes as individuals -- I really just wanted to get them mentoring kids in Compton. As the team chaplain I could push hard for this to happen.

Now though, I realize the full blessing of getting to know and grow together with some amazing players. When Justin and Michael gave 3 years to come and mentor Compton kids, I had a front row seat watching God do incredible things in their own lives. Even after they were both traded to other teams, we have been able to still build into each other.

In October, I challenged these guys and a newer player, James, to participate in Athletes in Action’s first ever missions trip for pro athletes. Michael and James accepted! Together with our whole family, another 4 pro players, a trainer, a girlfriend, and handful of AIA staff, we headed to South Africa in the middle of December.

During the first half of the trip, the players stayed in homes of several pro African players, followed them in their team schedules, and led Bible studies with their teammates. Having US players present drew more South African players to the meetings. We were able to have significant ministry impact with four pro teams -- great relationships were strengthened or launched! At the Bible study Zach and I attended (with the BidVest Wits from Johannesburg), a record was set for attendance!

The second half of the trip was spent in some of the poverty-stricken townships. We visited two churches, two orphanages and an AIDS hospice, with kids ranging from infancy to 19 years old. We were blown away by the vitality and life of these kids that were all taken in from the streets! After we served at these facilities (cleaning, cooking, playing with the children, etc.), the players would have a game with kids from the facility or the local neighborhood. Afterwards, players shared their stories to all those who had gathered, testifying of how God had worked in their lives and encouraging the kids to trust in Him.

In the times that Michael shared, I could see from his expressions that God was working in him even then. He shared about playing on dirt fields at age 5 in his home country of Sierra Leone, and how God provided the only immigration lottery pass available for him to move to the US to be with his mom. He shared about God providing soccer opportunities that kept him from getting into trouble, about how much his mom sacrificed to keep him on quality teams, and how God touched him at a low point his freshman year in college. It seemed as if playing on the African dirt brought him back full circle and opened his eyes to see how God had constantly worked in his life, though he often had missed it at the time. This unique glimpse of God’s sovereignty and provision effected Michael in a profound and permanent way. This is a moment I had prayed to see from the first time I challenged him to come, a most special of many great moments on the trip.

Michael sharing his story at the first orphanage.

We are so thankful for how God worked in Michael, as well as all the players. Three of them were so impacted by their time as “pro missionaries” that they asked to be baptized in the hostel pool on the last day of the trip! They wanted to make a public declaration of their commitment to put Christ above everything else in their lives. What a privilege to share this moment with them -- and for our children to do the same. An ongoing partnership in is the works with AIA in South Africa, where the we would continue to send pro players there on an annual basis. What a privilege to be a part of pioneering such a ministry!

Many of you received a letter from Sydney and Zach, as they had to raise their own funds (a great experience!) to attend this trip. We are SO GRATEFUL for the generosity of so many of you that blessed them abundantly and let them see firsthand that God is able to provide for all of our needs! We asked them to each write a paragraph sharing their own perspective on the trip:

Sydney

South Africa was an experience I will never forget. I got to see God’s work firsthand in everyday life, yet a life that isn’t mine. I saw God work in ways I don’t see in the states. I saw wild animals up close and experienced majestic beauty in ways watching TV will never accomplish. I got to feel a lion’s growl deep inside my veins, see his teeth, and all his might. I experienced hospitality that my US-acculturated self literally couldn’t believe. The beauty of the people and the culture whacked me in the face and I was astonished. Not only were we blessed by the people who welcomed us there, but also with the people we got to go with. God blessed us with a trip of a lifetime, one that came at a young age. Therefore, I’m spoiled. Great, first missions trip, and I’m spoiled! God’s good right?! All I can hope now is that I will be able to go back!

Zachary

My favorite part of South Africa was the townships and the animal park. I liked them because they were fun and interesting. I had so much fun in South Africa. In the animal park, I got to pet baby lions and tigers and saw a baby rhino. The township was fun because we connected with so many kids. I learned that life is different everywhere, but God is ever present.

Pray for us that this experience with extreme poverty, soccer outreach and cross- cultural ministry would continue to impact us and help us be exactly what God wants us to be here in Compton. Also pray for Michael that God would continue to use this experience to strengthen his walk and prepare his heart for all that God has for him.

Mike & Tonya, Sydney and Zach

More favorite pictures!

Video of our first game

Video of Dasan having fun with the kids!

End of the Year Gift?

2012-11-06T11:50:00.003-08:00

Do you need an end of the year gift for 2012?

Well we have an opportunity for you!

As you can see in the post previous to this, our family is raising financial support to go to South Africa next month on the inaugural professional soccer player mission trip with Athletes in Action.

We each need to raise $2500 to participate. This money will cover our airfare, living expenses, and the equipment the group will need for our outreaches. Would you consider making a donation of $25, $50, $100, or even more? Please keep in mind that any gift will help us towards our goal!

If you are willing to make a donation and/or pray for our team, please fill out the commitment card and send it back to us within the enclosed envelope. All funds are due to AIA before December 1st.

(Or you can give securely online at http://give.cru.org/0667823)

Thank you so much!!

Mike

Our family to South Africa!

2012-11-06T11:44:00.002-08:00

I (Mike) have been asked by Athletes in Action (AIA) to assist with the first ever pro soccer mission trip going to Johannesburg, South Africa this December! We will be taking professional soccer players from North America to partner with Athletes in Action SA staff to help build relationships with soccer players, fans, coaches, and officials to help accelerate their ministries.

Also, our whole family is able to go! We are thrilled for the opportunity to involved our kids in overseas projects. Tonya will be doing communication for the project and our kids will assist as equipment managers.

During the trip (Dec 5-17), our group will work alongside the players and their families to share the love of Jesus through soccer. We will help facilitate soccer clinics for kids, distribute water and aid within townships, and help start soccer ministries in various cities.

If you are willing to make a donation and/or pray for our team, please fill out the commitment card and send it back to us within the enclosed envelope. All funds are due to AIA before December 1st.

(Or you can give securely online at http://give.cru.org/0667823)

Thank you so much for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Mike

Who said this?

2012-09-13T19:54:00.001-07:00

'Few of their children in the country learn English. The signs in ourstreets have inscriptions in both languages. Unless the streamof importation could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that all theadvantages we have will not be able to preserve our language, and even ourgovernment will become precarious'.

Who said this?

It was Ben Franklin, deploring the wave of Germans pouring into the colony ofPennsylvania in the 1750's.

http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/letter18.htm

Hey, wait... I'm German!

It reminds me of things being said now about Mexican immigrants. There are so many myths that are so readily believed, much like Franklin did here.

For a great source on many of those myths see The Justice for Immigrants link below.

If all these false suppositions were boiled down, it reveals a deadly and profound and ungodly disease often referred to as the "us vs. them" mentality.

They are us and we are them. Be it Germans, Mexicans, Polish, Jews, Blacks, Persians or one per-centers, 99 per-centers or any other division we could come up with, the fact remains, God sent His only begotten som for all of us.

That and that alone should be the prevailing fact in how we perceive and relate to each other.

Then we can deal with the whole denomination issue!

http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/documents/immigration-myths.pdf

God's Commands Concerning the Poor

2012-06-13T21:56:00.002-07:00

God's commands concerning the poor:

Deut. 15:7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

Deut. 26:12. When you have finished paying the complete tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and the widow, that they may eat in your towns, and be satisfied.

Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.

Prov. 31:8ff. [Commandment to kings.] Open your mouth for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

Is. 58:66ff. Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Jer. 22:3. Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Luke 12:33. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys.”

Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”

Mt. 5:42. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

God's Concern for the Poor

2012-06-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

God's concern for the poor:

Deut. 26:5-9. The Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to… this land flowing with milk and honey.

Luke 4:16-21. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read… “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD… Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Ps. 140:12. I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.

Is. 25:4. For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress.

Ps. 10:14. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan… O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed.

Is 41:17. The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

Luke 6:20-21. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

James 2:5. Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

Troubled start to Summer

2012-06-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

According to Pastor Rafer Owens, a Compton sheriff deputy, a local church partner and friend, the beginning of summer often indicates the start of “gang wars”.

This past weekend, we experienced some violence in our surrounding area. There was shooting a few blocks north of us on Friday where someone was killed. On Saturday, there was a shooting on the street of our friends and church (a few blocks from us) but thank God no one got hurt. Last night, Sunday, someone got shot on the hip one block south of the church, two doors down from the apartment complex where three families from City Church live, including Jessica and Darrell. These shootings have caused fear in our neighborhood but we believe that this is a huge ministry opportunity for our church. Men do things to cause hurt and fear but God can turn it around so His Kingdom can come and be established on Peck Street and the surrounding blocks.

Yesterday after church, our pastor challenged us to respond in love and go out to pray over our neighborhood and see how people are doing. We hope that doors will be open for people to process and pray with our church members.

God is bringing us to a place of peace where we can now say in the midst of all the chaos that God is here! We believe that “No weapon formed against us shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17) and “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Please pray for:

1. Safety in our community

2. The culprits will be caught and brought to justice.

3. Wisdom for City Church in how to love our community well.

4. Wisdom in how to process these things with our children and others, too.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on prayingfor all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Would you please join us in prayer?

The Secret to City-Wide Culture Making

2012-06-01T10:37:00.001-07:00

A great article in the Almond Nation blog today,

The Secret to City-Wide Culture Making by Andy Crouch:

A few years ago, I found myself in a room with more diversity, intelligence, and energy than I've experienced almost anywhere else. It was a spring Saturday morning in a suburb just west of Richmond, Virginia, and gathered in a meeting room of a pleasant nondenominational church was a group of about 50 people, most of them young adults, all of them keenly engaged in a series of sessions about faith and cultural responsibility. These students, instructors, and mentors for the Richmond Christian Leadership Institute (RCLI) were nearing the end of their ten-month-long immersion in the opportunities and challenges of cultural leadership in the city. The next month, they would be meeting again, this time in an inner-city African-American church. RCLI is a moveable feast.

Only five years old and limited to about 30 students per year, RCLI is already having an outsize influence on the city of Richmond, and on the Christian community there. Its influence hinges on its innovative approach to civic education. Its participants come from every sector of culture—primarily business, nonprofit organizations, and local government—and from a vast array of neighborhoods, churches (53 different churches have been represented by RCLI's 151 participants to date), and ethnic and racial backgrounds. What they share is a serious commitment to Christian discipleship, some demonstrated capacity for leadership, and a love of their city. And after ten months together, they have something else in common: an in-depth education in Richmond's history, culture, neighborhoods, government, and economy. They also have friendships with fellow emerging leaders they would never have met any other way.

RCLI's approach to training the next generation of civic, business, and church leaders is a good measure of the health of the Christian community in Richmond, and Christians' commitment to the health of their city. I believe RCLI, both in the details of its programs and the philosophy that has shaped its work, comes as close to a secret of Christian civic renewal as you're ever going to find. At least if a tremendously challenging, multifaceted effort based on decades of investment, learning, reflection, trial, and error counts as a "secret." It has several qualities that could be borrowed for culture-making efforts almost anywhere:

Intentional diversity. Most American cities are economically and ethnically diverse. But the very complexity and relative anonymity of city life means that, paradoxically, cities make it easier for individuals to cluster with people like themselves. Just because the sidewalks of your city are diverse doesn't mean that the people on those sidewalks have deep or trusting relationships with many people with different background or beliefs.

Beginning with the first planning meetings, RCLI has been intentionally diverse, with its majority-culture leaders investing countless hours in learning from and taking direction from minority-culture leaders. "Being truly diverse is slower, it's more painstaking, and it takes a ton of effort, but we think that it is God's vision for this world," founder Fritz Kling says. (Kling has also volunteered his time as a senior producer for This Is Our City's coverage of Richmond.) "And we're fortunate to be in a city that really doesn't allow us to be otherwise." RCLI's very first session was held at one of the city's largest African American churches—a step that required Kling to invest months in relationship and trust-building.

Focus on infrastructure. What does zoning have to do with Christian values? A lot, it turns out—as do transportation, public health, and law enforcement, to name some of the other subjects RCLI classes cover in depth. Several RCLI alumni mentioned to me that the session on regional land use had been one of the most eye-opening of the whole year. A topic that would do well to attract a handful of citizens to a committee hearing turned out to be critical for understanding the fault lines between the city of Richmond and its surrounding counties.

My friend David Blair, an Air Force pilot and Georgetown Ph.D. student doing research on combating criminal networks for human trafficking, has a pithy saying: "Amateurs think tactics; professionals think logistics." In other words, it's easy to imagine a new program or policy that would benefit your city; but the real work is in the blocking and tackling that make that program effective and sustainable. Cultural change at the level of a metropolitan region happens because of seemingly mundane choices about transportation routes, tax rates, building codes and covenants, and other things that only a few professionals—and of course the business leaders whose interests they serve or conflict with—take the time to care about. Real leadership in a city requires "thinking logistics" over a decade or more. By introducing young leaders to these topics, RCLI ensures that many more influential Richmonders will be engaged in these issues in the decades to come.

Attention to history. Several years ago, while working on anotherChristianity Today project, "Where Faith and Culture Meet," I had the privilege of meeting a First Nations leader named Tal James who was working toward healing and reconciliation from the legacy of Canada's misbegotten residential schools system. "The fruit of the past is the present," Tal said. Our view of our cities tends to be like a portrait taken with a very shallow depth of field—the present is clearly in focus, but the past in the background is fuzzy at best. But the present is the fruit of the past, the sum of a long history of choices made by, and choices forced upon, the generations that came before us. RCLI works hard to bring the centuries-long history of Richmond into focus, so that the next generation of leaders understands just how long it took to create the city that they see today, and how long it will take to see comprehensive flourishing emerge.

RCLI's first session each year includes a tour of Richmond's five centuries of history, beginning with the English arrival, stopping at the site of America's second-largest slave market, and continuing to the present—an introduction to the complex and often tragic history of a city that was at the center of the slave trade and the Confederacy and has borne the brunt of 20th-century "urban renewal" as well as the complex opportunities of 21st-century gentrification.

Intergenerational relationships. Although RCLI is targeted at young adults, it's not a generational ghetto. Each small group has an older volunteer who joins them for the weekend meetings and often hosts informal gatherings as well. One of the great weaknesses of contemporary American urban life is the way it segments us not just into niches of ethnicity and class but also into age cohort—something you can see at any neighborhood bar as well as many a neighborhood church. Any program that can deepen social networks across generations has a tremendous advantage in building long-term influence in a city. Unfortunately, even churches can't be counted on to bridge this gap—but RCLI has intentionally worked to do so, simultaneously benefiting its younger participants, older volunteers, and network of leaders.

High cost. RCLI is not particularly expensive to its participants in dollars—class members pay $500 for the year, compared to thousands of dollars for leadership programs run by Rotary Clubs and Chambers of Commerce in Richmond and other cities. (Even that fee is negotiable for those who have trouble affording it.) But it is expensive in the one currency we all have the same amount of: time. The program requires one Friday night and one full Saturday each month, plus a longer retreat at the beginning and end of the program. Further, participants are encouraged to spend substantial time reading ahead of each meeting and getting together informally with their small group at others times during the month. That is a major investment of time for young professionals.

And rightly so. If there is one mistake I think Christians tend to make in the competition for attention in our consumer society, it is to lower our expectations for commitment to try to attract someone—anyone—to be involved. But nothing worth doing can be done without deep commitment—and of course Jesus' own Galilean leadership institute required most of its students to quit their jobs altogether. The kinds of learning and relationships that RCLI forms, challenging prior assumptions and building relationships across unfamiliar differences of race, vocation, and class, simply can't happen unless people are willing to commit. The greatest temptation in a society that worships scale is to try to go too big, too fast, by asking too little. RCLI, at 30 students per year, stays small and asks a lot—and every year its application process becomes more competitive. My bet is on that model for real, lasting influence in Richmond—or anywhere.

Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making (InterVarsity Press), is special assistant to the president of Christianity Today and executive producer of This Is Our City.

Stay tuned for an interview tomorrow with RCLI founder Fritz Kling and executive director Tim Holtz.

METRO UPDATE

2012-03-13T11:21:00.004-07:00

Many of you have asked us how our transition to Navigators has gone. We just want to say that we are THRILLED with our new roles as Navigator staff! It is such a great fit for us and the rest of our team.

Please pray for us during the weeks of March 21-28th! We will be traveling back to Colorado for another round of training. This time we will be meeting with staff who have done community development and discipleship in Africa for many, many years. They are looking to translate the principles they have learned in rural Africa to urban America; we are looking for more training in how to disciple people through Christian community development! They have agreed to train us and help us form our strategic plan. We are very excited about this partnership, as well as some of the development dreams that God has started to birth in our team. We look forward to sharing those with you as well, once we get back from our training and have more details ironed out. Please keep our training and planning time in your prayers!

Luis in Washington

2012-03-12T15:35:00.001-07:00

Several months ago you may remember us talking about one of the Compton United players named Luis. Last summer he accepted Christ into his life at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes soccer camp. This had been a process of building into and loving Luis for over 3 years.

Then all of a sudden is family moves from California to Washington State.

I was frustrated, especially with the timing God choose. Luis was really starting to blossom in his role as a team leader. He had been mentored by the pro Chivas USA players for several years and we were seeing real change.

As his parents were struggling more and more financially they discovered better job opportunities up north. The whole family was gone.

I had communicated with Luis a lot as they moves up there and got settled. It was a big adjustment for him. There were a few bumps but Luis started to flourish. He became a multi-sport players at his high school and made a lot of friends. He started to develop a relationship with a Christian girl that took him to her church. He seemed to fit in there very well.

He recently came to visit Compton for a weekend. I knew he was doing good up there but I was amazed how much he had grown in just 6 months of being there. He had a peace about him. He knew his goals and the necessary steps to get there. His walk with God is strong.

Would he have grown like this if he stayed? I don't know. I do know that is family for the most part is happy there, becoming more financially secure and God is still God no matter what happens.

Unexpected Email

2012-03-12T15:32:00.003-07:00

It was a letter I was not expecting. It was an email from a parent, but not of one of the kids we work. It was a letter from a parent of a professional player from our Chivas USA bible studies.

This dad was expressing his gratitude that his son, Justin had the opportunity to work with and mentor some of the Compton United players. He wrote,

...I wanted to let all of you know how much Justin valued working with your players. While at Chivas and away from home, he always spoke to me on the telephone about his experiences with your players and how valuable his time with them was. He looked forward to working with your guys every week. It was truly a highlight of his week...

Technically, our mentoring ministry exist FOR the Compton United players. The pro players commit to our top CU players as Christian mentors, meeting weekly with them and being available to them for help at any time. But Justin, a white kid from Utah who grew up in a strong Christian family, expressed over and over that mentoring kids from Compton changed HIS life as well. Over the years, we have seen time and again that God's math is always greater than ours! In this case, because one pro player was available, he, his family, and our players were all blessed tremendously!!

After three years of investing in our CU kids, Justin was just traded to Canada this preseason. It's an incredible loss for our Compton United family. We will miss him. The players will miss him. I will miss him! However, in God's economy, we trust that He has great plans for Justin that will honor and glorify Him. We are so thankful for the time he spent here. Would you join us in praying that God will continue to multiply Justin's time here in Compton as he now impacts lives in Canada? We look expectantly to hear what God has in store for him!

A Boy named Eric and You

2011-10-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

A Story of a Boy named Eric

Born in Compton September 7, 1963.
He came from an average working class family in Compton.
Eric was basically an average boy, he did things that boys his age did.
Soon those little boy things begin to turn into ditching school, getting into trouble both in school and at home. He started just hanging out with friends. His main role model was the drug dealer he saw in his neighborhood. Soon he began to model his life after that drug dealer.
As a sophomore in High School, Eric was so busy and successful selling drugs he dropped out of high school.
Eric had several arrests on various charges.
March 16, 1995 Eric finds that he has full-blown AIDS, he had fathered 7 children from 6 different women.
March 26, 1995, at the age of 31, Eric dies from complications from the AIDS virus.

Some of you might recognize Eric’s full name, Eric Wright, but almost everyone in this country recognizes his nickname of Easy E from NWA.

Eric went on to be arguable one of the most influential people of his generation.

He is known as the father of Gangsta’ Rap
His group’s album, “Sraight Outta Compton” sells more than 3 million copies
His first solo project sells 2.5 million copies

Eric lived 11,523 days on this earth – what could have happened if he had a Christian, a teacher, a neighbor, a coach, a church that would have invested their life into Eric’s?

What could that potential have done for the Kingdom of Christ?

How many Eric’s are there around your church, on your street, in cities like Compton everywhere? And what does the Lord want you to do with them?

My New Favorite Quote

2011-09-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Tonya is reading "Tattoos on the Heart" by Father Gregory Boyle. I like when she reads books that I really want to but never make the time. I get the benefit of getting to hear the highlights!

She read a part of the book to me that have now become a new favorite quote. Here it is.

‎"How do you work with the poor?...You don't. You share your lives with the poor. It's as basic as crying together. It is about 'casting your lot' before it ever becomes about 'changing their lot.'...Success and failure, ultimately, have little to do with living the Gospel. Jesus stood with the outcasts until they were welcomed or He was crucified -- whichever came first."

We have learned ministry can all be boiled down to relationship. Father Boyle nails it here. If you are entering urban ministry, or any ministry for that matter, learn this first and learn this well.

You should read it.

A Big Change!

2011-09-12T16:46:00.001-07:00

Last month in our Newsletter we revealed that God has been leading us toward some big changes in our lives...

For the past two years, we have been really seeking God about where He is leading us in the future. We have loved working with Athletes in Action these past 3 years – they have been so wonderful to us and supportive of every aspect of our ministry, even though our ministry is totally unique within the organization!! Yet we have missed being in a ministry that is urban-focused and working alongside other urban practitioners of the Gospel. We have never wavered in our calling, but have been asking God what is the best vehicle in which to fulfill that calling?

After many months of praying and looking into various ministry possibilities, God has led us to the Navigators. If you haven’t heard of the Navigators, it is an international, interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1933 very similar to Campus Crusade. Their desire is to know Christ and make Him known. Like Crusade, they are most widely known for their college ministry.

However, in recent years, Navigators have made a huge commitment to focus on reaching poor and marginalized people groups with the Gospel. One of the ways they do that is through their inner city ministry called Metro Missions which is in 14 cities. They currently are not in Los Angeles and have been praying for a staff team to be raised up! So by the grace of God, we are some of the staff they have been praying for!! Best of all, we will be joined by two other couples who are close friends that we have ministered alongside of for the past 14+ years -- we will be part of an urban team again!

What will this new ministry look like? The basics of how we’ve been doing ministry will not change. Mike will continue to work with Athletes in Action (AIA often partners with other ministries and is excited to still work with us!) by serving as Chaplain of Chivas, USA. He will continue to facilitate mentoring relationships between the pro Chivas players that he disciples and our youth in Compton United. He will continue to run and expand the Compton United soccer club as God allows. Tonya will continue mentoring youth and families in the community and offering training to others ministering to people in poverty.

The biggest differences in our ministry will come in the future. For the longest time, we have dreamed of using economic and community development as a larger platform for bringing the Gospel to our community. The scope of the Navigators mission will afford us the freedom do so -- starting businesses and acquiring property are just some of the what we envision. We long to see people transformed by the Gospel through the creation of self-sustaining entrepreneurial programs and services. Not only would individual lives be changed, but the inner city community would be stronger because of Christ centered businesses and services that are meeting the community’s needs. We will be learning from a Navigators staff member in Chicago who has been seeing God transform lives and communities through business/job creation for the last 20 years. (see http://www.navigators.org/us/)

We are so excited about what God has in store for us in the future!

Saying Thanks

We are grateful for the last 20 years that we have served with Campus Crusade. We love the friends we have made, are grateful for all the experience we have gained and the opportunities made available to us, and could not say enough great things about the blessings we have received. We even through a Crusade summer project in NYC, 1990! We will continue partnering with Crusade in ministry whenever God affords the opportunity.

When will you begin with Navigators? We will be transitioning from Campus Crusade for Christ October 31^st and starting with Navigators on November 1st.

Thank you for praying for us in this transition!

If you have questions about this move please contact us. Our email address is urbanfocus@gmail.com.

Thanks again!

Mike & Tonya

Why I Follow Christ

2011-09-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

I did not write this… it was written in 1981 by John C. Hutchinson Jr. As I was prepping the Chivas USA Bible study today I came across this letter. It spoke to me, maybe it will to you as well.

Why I Follow Christ
by John C. Hutchinson Jr.

I have not seen clear statistical evidence that fewer Christians die of cancer than non-believers or that they are immune in greater degree from the diseases that afflict the human race.

Some of the kindest, most selfless persons I have known have had more than their share of bad health. The fact that they belong to Christ did not insulate them from disease.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for promised healing.

I will not deny or dispute evidence of restoration of health. I will rejoice at every recovery from what seems to be hopeless, threatened death. I will not hesitate to pray for recovered health for my loved ones and acquaintances. I will set no limits on what God may do but I will not follow Christ for promised healing.

I see no sign that Christians escape disaster and accident more often than others. I’ve helped dear friends empty muddy water out of dresser drawers and new appliances after a disastrous flood. I remember as a child taking clothes to a widow with five children whose house had burned to the ground. A bullet makes no detour around the body of a believer.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for any promised protection from disaster.

I will not scoff at amazing survivals nor deny that providence has and continues to work for the good of God’s own. I will continue to pray for protection from wicked men and tragedy, but I will not follow Christ for promised protection from accident or catastrophe.

I do not observe that Christians are especially favored with prosperity. Like James, we’ve all seen the rich oppressing the poor and justice is rarely perfect in this world. The psalmist has said that he “had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” and in the deepest needs of this life, that is certainly true but all of us have known people of integrity who have not prospered.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for promised freedom from physical want or hope of affluence.

I’m not sure that Christians have stronger personalities or fewer neuroses than non-believers. I do know that there is no bitterness like religious bitterness and no arrogance more insufferable. I have watched Christians suffer emotional and mental disabilities and though it may seem heretical, I am not sure that I would really enjoy living in the same house with either the Apostle Peter or Paul.

God wills that the mind of Christ be formed in us and there is no doubt in my mind that the Christian’s attitudes and actions will be improved by his Christianity, but I will not follow Christ for any promise of personality enhancement or perfection.

Why then follow Christ? Why become a disciple of Jesus when life may become more complicated as He so often warned?

For one reason alone: in Jesus we behold the face of God. He is the truth, the everlasting truth, God in the flesh. I know that in His life, death, and resurrection, I am reconciled to God, the giver of life.

I believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He has all power and goodness and I trust Him and His promises. To him, I offer my life, damaged or whole, brief or full of years. It matters not. He is the one certain thing in an uncertain world. He is to be worshiped, not so something will happen to me or to the world. Something already has happened to me and the world, but because He is God who, through Christ, has reconciled the world to Himself. He saves me. He is my justification. He is the center that holds. To worship the God of our salvation, to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving; that alone is our vocation. We offer our lives to God, not so as to be healthy, wealthy, or wise, not even so to gain the strength to do great things for Him; we offer our lives to Him because He alone has claim upon us. God is not a means to an end.

Isaiah 61:4

2011-09-06T22:05:00.001-07:00

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

~Isaiah 61:4

Why don't they just immigrate the legal way?

2011-09-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

This is taken from http://undocumented.tv/ an amazing resource for Christians and those concerned with immigrant justice issues. Please read and share with others!

For many Americans, whose ancestors migrated lawfully to the U.S., it is extremely frustrating that so many immigrants come today outside of lawful channels. Why don’t they just come the legal way, the way that my ancestors did?

Many immigrants do come lawfully, of course, but there are an estimated 10.8 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.who either entered unlawfully or, after entering lawfully on a temporary visa, overstayed. Why don’t they just come the legal way?
Those are good and reasonable questions. We have to understand both a bit about our country’s history and something of how current U.S. immigration law to answer them.
The reason that my ancestors migrated lawfully to the U.S.—mine came in the mid-19th century from Holland—is that there was no illegal way for them to come. You see, until 1882, there basically was no federal immigration law: anyone who arrived was welcome to make their life in the U.S.; there were no visas necessary, no consulting with a U.S. consulate before you departed; you boarded a boat and you built your new life in the U.S. That began to change in 1882, with the Chinese Exclusion Act, when the Congress decided that immigrants from China—who some argued were biologically inferior to Europeans—should be kept out altogether. Over the next four decades, we gradually restricted further groups—the poor, the sick, the uneducated, those suspected of holding questionable ideologies—until in 1924, Congress enacted a new immigration quota system that drastically limited immigration. It became extremely difficult to migrate, especially if you were from a country outside of the Northern and Western European countries that were granted the vast majority of the limited number of visas made available.
That changed again in 1965, when President Johnson signed into law a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. immigration system again. America could not and would not go back to an era of open borders, Johnson said as he signed the law, but the new law would base eligibility to immigrate not primarily on race or country of origin, but rather on family connections and employability.
In the nearly fifty years since that last overhaul, that system has worked fairly well for some people-spouses, minor children, and parents of adult US citizen and highly skilled workers with advanced degrees who could find an employer sponsor, for example-but, particularly as our economy has grown but visa quotas have not, the system is not working very well today. Because the quota numbers are much lower than demand, family members can wait up to twenty years to be reunited through the proper legal channels in some cases. The employment-based system is equally dysfunctional, particularly for “low-skilled” workers: under the law, a maximum of 10,000 permanent visas are available per year for employer-sponsored workers other than those who are “highly skilled” or ”holding advanced degrees.” The problem is that our economy produces many, many times more jobs for people considered “low-skilled”–jobs that require little to no education, but a willingness to do very hard work–than there are visas. To put things in perspective, back in 1910, an average of 20,000 individuals, most of whom would today be classified as “low-skilled,” entered each week.
We can tell people to wait their turn in line, but, for example, for a Mexican (or a Guatemalan, a Filipino, a Pole, or folks from many other countries) who does not have a college degree and has no close relatives who are U.S. citizens or green card-holders, there is almost certainly no line for them to wait in: without reform to the legal system, they will not be able to migrate “the legal way” to the U.S., not if they wait ten years, not if they wait fifty years. But if they manage to come unlawfully—and historically we have not made it so difficult to do so, though our borders are much more secure now than they have ever been—they will almost certainly find work—because even in a time of high unemployment, there are certain jobs that most Americans have not proven willing to do. For individuals living in poverty, desperate to support their families, that has been an attractive option. Everyone would prefer to pay a reasonable fee and be granted a visa, but that has not been an option for most of those presently here unlawfully. That, in short, is how we got into this mess, and why so many immigrants—most of them family-oriented people—have ended up undocumented in the shadows of our society.
For a more thorough answer to these questions, we recommend reading chapters 3 and 4 of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang (InterVarsity Press, 2009). To go even deeper in understanding how history and policy relate to this topic, check out the resource page for further book recommendations.

2011-08-25T11:30:00.001-07:00