Liberation....

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"If you have come to help us, you are wasting your time. But, if you have come because your liberation is bound up with our liberation, let us work together."
-Lili Watson, aborigonal Australian Woman

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Old People, Etna Ave, and Diversity

Today Jeremy and I went to the Council on Aging to get some more footage for a video Jeremy is making for them. It was good to see more about what they do. They basically just try to help elderly people in all aspects of life. Good stuff.

The house on Etna is good. We haven't done much to be intentional about this area yet. Hopefully we will. We prayed briefly over the house the other day. I really hope this will be a place of hospitality and community.

I remember a few months ago I was playing volleyball at the university and a car went by with a black guy in it. It was such a rare occurance to see a non-students of a race other than white that everybody acknowledged it in their own way. There is so little diversity here that we get surprised everytime we see it. But, I realized today that it is merely the north side of Huntington that lacks diversity. There are people from a lot of different races here on the south side. They are not in large numbers but they are here. I wish that I had done more to experience the little diversity Huntington offers while I was in college. Hopefully I can make up for it this year.

For the Huntington Project we did the senior expo but we haven't met in a while. Heritage Days are comming up and that is a prime opportunity to get into the community and see what we can do. Hopefully soon we can tie up loose ends with the senior expo and all.

Prayer is key. This community seems so nice and alive in the summer but there are so many secrets here, so many dark allies where people hurt one another, so many homes where children don't feel safe. Prayer is key.

Larry James' Urban Daily

I just ran across this blog. Check it out.

Larry James' Urban Daily

Communities First

Christians and churches bring unique gifts to their neighborhoods and communities. Communities First, a new book from CRWRC, will help you engage with your community, influencing it in ways that make life better for everyone here and now. As a result, you will see your community respond and change in surprising and redemptive ways. The Church and God's Kingdom will grow.

Communities First was written by a team of people who share a common concern for the church of Jesus Christ. It is designed to teach Christians how to love their neighbors and transform their communities.

Churches today sponsor service projects, dispense benevolence funds, go on mission trips, give aid to relief organizations, begin social justice committees, and provide funding to social service agencies. These are signs that Christians want to love their neighbors. The purpose of Communities First is to provide both a framework and a set of tools to help Christians and churches mature in their knowledge and practice of loving their neighbors as themselves so that entire communities can be transformed.

The title for this project was chosen deliberately. These materials are meant to redirect a portion of a church’s time and resources from congregational self-service to effective engagement with a community.

Communities First will challenge you and your church to:

• Discover what the Bible says about the church's responsibility to people who are poor and hungry.
• See your community as Jesus does.
• Move beyond giving handouts to helping people improve their lives.
• Develop a common vision between the church, the community, and others for the future possibilities of your community.
• Mentor and disciple people in poverty who want to make a life change.
• Encourage neighborliness and a sense of community togetherness.
• Help people work together for common goals.
• Discover unfair laws and work to change them.

To order Communities First and the accompanying workbooks, click here

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CRWRC has offered to give us a free set of their Communities First resources. If anybody has any idea how to promote it to local churches or wants to promote it to their own church let me know!

The Huntington Project Flyer

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I have the flyer for the convocation done. If you want the file so you can print some out to hang up around your sphere of influence email me. Peace.......



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s216464@huntington.edu

Economic Renewal

There was a good article in the Herald Press today (Thursday, Feb 23, 2006) that said exactly what I had been telling a friend on Monday about what would need to happen to revitalization the economy here in Huntington: "Author Jack Shultz said a shift in economic development strategies will prompt communities to stop 'hunting elephants'- major companies to move to their areas- in favor of nurturing existing and start-up businesses" (the photo caption for "Explaining 'Boomtown"). It's a good article dealing with economic renewal and development. Check it out.

Jesus Land

These are the lyrics to a pretty powerful song. I had heard it plenty of times before but I guess I never really listened until Jeff brought it to my attention.

You can download the video on the Ben Folds website.....it's also pretty powerful.....

Jesusland
by Ben Folds

Take a walk
out the gate you go and never stop
past dollar stores and wig shops
quarter in a cup for every block
and watch the buildings grow
smaller as you go

Down the tracks
beautiful McMansions on a hill
that overlook a highway
with riverboat casinos and you still
have yet to see a soul

Jesusland
Jesusland

Town to town
broadcast to each house, they drop your name
but no one knows your face
Billboards quoting things you'd never say
you hang your head and pray

for Jesusland
Jesusland

Miles and miles
and the sun's goin' down
Pulses glow
from their homes
You're not alone
Lights come on
as you lay your weary head on their lawn

Parking lots
cracked and growing grass you see it all
from offices to farms
crosses flying high above the malls
A longer walk

through Jesusland
Jesusland

my email

jeremy@megiddoplains.net