Heading for Africa

I am leaving for Africa today and won't return until July 3rd. I am traveling with World Vision to Zambia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo, Botswana and Victoria Falls. I'm sure I will have much to blog about when I return but probably won't have computer access for the next couple of weeks.

Fire at Shane Claiborne's Simple Way House

Thanks to the Jobless Minister for alerting me to the fact that one of the Simple Way houses in Philly caught on fire last night. Thankfully everyone got out in time.

Where's your focus?

Here's the Lilac Chaser illusion from Wikipedia. If you stare at the cross in the center of the circle for 20 seconds or so, the image seems to change and instead of a circle of lilac dots a green dot seems to chase them out of existence. Hmmm, seems life is a lot like that. Where we focus can change our perspective. In the words of the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, by Helen Lemmel, when we focus on Jesus, "the things of earth will grow strangely dim".

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Redeeming a Needy Neighborhood

Here's a link to an interesting interview with Rev. James Meeks about Redeeming A Needy Neighborhood.

Our mission was always to build a healthy people, and that automatically means that you are concerned about what else happens on your Jericho Road. And on your Jericho Road, you not only care for the wounds of those set upon by robbers, but you go door to door telling robbers they're unwelcome.
And we get the streetlights fixed!

Sojourners Candidate Forum on CNN

Sojourners hosted a CNN live broadcast of leading Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama on Monday, June 4, for A Presidential Forum on Faith, Values, and Poverty at Lisner Auditorium of The George Washington University. This video has highlights from the Candidates Forum.

Quiet Riots in the African American Community

Here's a link to a CNN post by Roland Martin about Obama's comments regarding the growing despair in the African American community. Martin quotes from a speech given by Obama at the Hampton University Annual Ministers' Conference on Tuesday during which he said...

(Quiet riots) happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better.

You tell yourself, my school will always be second rate. You tell yourself, there will never be a good job waiting for me to excel at. You tell yourself, I will never be able to afford a place that I can be proud of and call my home.

That despair quietly simmers and makes it impossible to build strong communities and neighborhoods. And then one afternoon a jury says, 'not guilty' -- or a hurricane hits New Orleans -- and that despair is revealed for the world to see.

Here's what Roland Martin had to say...

What Obama spoke of I see every day. I can look out our bay window and see men and women going to work each day, trying to make ends meet, and they often don't. I see women walking their kids to school just to keep them safe, but inevitably, some don't come home, like the 31 students from Chicago Public Schools who have been murdered this year. Oh, I definitely see the urban terrorists -- gang members and drug dealers -- who tear the fabric of the black community apart with their rampant violence.

People shouldn't have to endure "quiet riots." They should be shouting from the rooftops, and we should hear their pleas.

Martin criticizes the bloggers who "know nothing about the conditions of the nation's urban poor, want to sit in their ivory towers and pretend that if you just read, write and work hard, all will be well. And there is no doubt that the work ethic and willingness to do better is paramount, and encouraged -- even by African Americans. But it's also critical to know that there are many who are working and working and working, and don't seem to be making any headway."

Here's a link to the full text of Obama's speech.

The Teddy Stallard Story

Here's Tony Campolo, the consummate story teller, telling two of his great stories: the bag lady at Nordstroms, and the Teddy Stallard story. Does it matter to you that the Teddy Stallard story is not true? The story has even been made into a heartwarming video. It is actually a work of fiction created by Elizabeth Ballard (now Elizabeth Ungar). It's an urban legend. I still like listening to Tony tell a good story. And, of course, teachers can make a huge difference in the life of a child.

Cross-cultural Faux Pas

My friend Max sent me an email today with this list...

• When Pepsi translated “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” into Chinese, they literally said, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”
  
• Purdue Chicken's “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” in Spanish became, “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”
  
• The first attempt to translate Coke in Chinese was “Ke-kou-ke-la,” which, depending on the dialect, meant either “Bite the wax tadpole” or “Female horse stuffed with wax.”
  
• Parker Pen’s “It won’t leak in your pocket & embarrass you,” in Spanish translated into, “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

                --Sarasota Herald-Tribune - 01.19.98

Forsaken, Humiliated and Extremely Weak

I really resonated with this post on Yolanda Field's blog from yesterday. We are in the middle of a pretty intense struggle at Breakthrough and really need your prayers.

A Clean and Innocent Heart

Give me, O Lord, purity of lips, a clean and innocent heart, and rectitude of action. Give me humility, patience, abstinence, chastity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. Give me the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and of Thy fear. Make me ever to seek Thy face with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind; grant me to have a contrite and humbled heart in Thy presence--to prefer nothing to Thy love. Most high, eternal, and ineffable Wisdom, drive away from me the darkness of blindness and ignorance; most high and eternal Strength, deliver me; most high and eternal Fortitude, assist me; most high and incomprehensible Light, illuminate me; most high and infinite Mercy, have mercy on me. Amen

  --A Gallican Sacramentary, from A Guide To Prayer for All God's People

The Reality of Getting Old

So, I was running around the Garfield Park Lagoon the other day (eight times around both lagoons is ten miles). It was a grueling long run and I was hot and tired when I came upon a group of young boys. Can I call them young punks? Anyway, one of them yelled, "You go, old lady!" and they started laughing and singing the Rocky song, "Dah da dah...., dah da dah..." I doubt any of them will be running a marathon any time soon, but it doesn't matter. They're young and can't imagine ever being as old as me.

The sad reality is, many of them will not see age 53. Their lives are in danger every day. I am amazed by how many young men I see in wheelchairs around here. They are victims of urban warfare.

So, my aging body rounding the lagoon for the eighth time gave them a laugh. OK. I can take it. I actually get lots of encouragement and high fives. I feel a little like Akeelah in the movie, Akeelah and the Bee, when the community began to get involved in her success. If this old lady can run a marathon, maybe there's hope for change after all.

Can Chicago End Homelessness?

Thanks to Rebecca for pointing me to this link of a Time article about the Chicago Plan to End Homelessness. She asked for my thoughts, so here is my two cents...

While I have supported the plan in concept I have always doubted that there would be enough money allocated to make it work. I think it is wonderful to have a plan and it is very motivating to work toward ending homelessness entirely. I believe we could eliminate homelessness in Chicago, but not without the political will to channel lots of money into the process and I don't see that happening. We have made progress, but not nearly enough.

Basically the plan set forth by a wide coalition of funders, homeless advocates and government officials (of which I was a contributing member) espouses the "housing first" model. This has resulted in government dollars being directed away from shelters and toward subsidizing permanent housing units.

Research has shown that people without homes are more likely to achieve stability in their lives if they are housed first. That is kind of a "na dah" to me. Of course if we could put everyone in our shelters into their own apartments today, we would. And if there were no more homeless people waiting to take their places in our shelters, I would say, let's sing the hallelujah chorus and close all of the shelters in the city!

Of course, that isn't close to the reality of the situation. Our shelters are always full with a waiting list, and we try our best to get people moved into housing as quickly as we can. We have thirty subsidized apartment units for our participants, as well as the sixty shelter beds we offer, and they are always full too.

Housing people in apartments costs about six times as much as housing them in our shelters. Some of the guests who stay with us are able to get off the dole and live on their own, paying their own rent, if given the support they need for a time in our shelter. What motivation does someone have to get and stay employed and pay their own rent if they are handed a hefty rent subsidy under a "housing first" model when they are capable of working if given a chance? And if the subsidy is all they get (supportive service dollars are not readily available) then "housing first" becomes "housing only" and people can still be living by themsleves in addiction, isolation and poverty and be growing increasingly depressed. Of course, women fleeing domestic abuse situations need special protection that is not acknowledged in a pure housing first model. I think there are lots of other special services needed such as drug and alcohol recovery programs, life skill training, etc.

I appreciate the work of the legislators and advocates that brought about recent state legislation that has added a ten dollar fee to real estate transactions. I was part of that advocacy. This is generating an additional ten million dollars per year for rent subsidies, but that will only accomodate about 6,000 people, while there are something like 70,000 on waiting lists for subsidized housing. While we certainly need more affordable housing, I think to close the shelters is foolishness and will only bring more hardship on people who are waiting to find suitable housing that they can afford.

While Breakthrough gets some funding from the government we are not dependent upon government funds to stay open. When the city cut the funding for our men's shelter last year, we put out a plea to our private donors and kept our doors open. Not all shelter providers have that kind of diverse funding base. When others shut their doors it just makes our work more important and necessary. (By the way, the city later reinstated our shelter funding after facing severe criticism from homeless advocates.)

I believe the chronically homeless (those who are mentally ill and have been on the street for years) should be housed in some type of community setting. Giving them keys to their own apartments without adequate support will not ensure their success in independent living.

The work of Breakthrough and other homeless service providers is important because we build relationships with our homeless guests. I'm not saying other providers and government entities don't do that, but I think the depth of care that Breakthrough demonstrates is rare. Every person is different. We cannot assume that what is best for one person is best for another. So we allow our guests to choose their own goals and empower them to make good choices.

The ministries and organizations who have been operating shelters and day centers for years provide those caring relationships that make such a crucial difference in the lives of struggling people. A government dispensed rent subsidy will not have the same impact. Sadly, I am watching service providers close their doors because "providing the poor wanderer with shelter" as Isaiah sets forth in Isaiah 58 is no longer the politically correct thing to do.

The article mentions Daley's plan to require 10% set asides in new construction for those making $75,000 or less. I agree with the advocates who are asking the question, why not 15% for those making $60,000 or less. We need to stem the tide of the fast paced gentrification that is forcing residents out of their homes throughout the city by advocating for scattered site affordable housing that is really affordable.

My Urban Education Started at Moody

At church yesterday a friend commented about how meaningful it has been for a group of Romanian senior citizens who live in Jenkins Hall, a building that is part dormitory for Moody Bible Institute students and part subsidized housing for seniors, to have a Moody student from Romania organize a Bible study for them. Talk about practical Christian education! Imagine the beauty of crossing the ocean to go to school and learning that you are living near senior citizens from your country who are hungry to study the Bible!

It reminds me of Acts 17:26-27 when Paul explained to the Athenians that "from one man (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him."

The leadership of Moody has consistently made the decision to stay in the city doing the work that Dwight L. Moody and Emma Dryer started after the Chicago fire of caring for those who were devastated physically and financially by the fire and educating students in a multicultural setting to take the Word to the World. It was that heritage of Moody that attracted me to the city in the 70's. After biking around the many uniquely diverse ethnic neighborhoods and visiting with struggling Chicago residents in the housing projects and medicare nursing homes for Moody assignments, I was hooked on the city and I'm still here.

There was no Urban Studies program back then. I studied Bible Theology because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew whatever I ended up doing, I wanted to know Scripture and serve God. Last week a young woman at one of our River City Community Groups commented about how wonderful the Urban Studies program was for her at Moody. Studying Scripture in the context of the complex issues that present themselves in the city brings a depth of understanding that is rich with application. Since all people are made in the image of God, I think we get an even more complete picture of who God is when we truly learn to understand and love people from cultures other than our own. The city provides a wonderful theological laboratory in which to experience God's love for all people.

Thanks Moody, for expanding my view of God and helping me to find God's calling for my life.

Less Righteous In My Indignation

From A Book of Uncommon Prayer by Kenneth G. Phifer...

Will you help me to be less quick to judge
            and less righteous in my indignation?
Will you help me to be more open to life
            and to other people?
Will you give me confidence enough to be less
            defensive and less ready to react to rebuffs?
Give me steadiness and firmness
            and true commitment to the life of faith. Amen.

Forgiveness and the Power of Words

I was reminded today that words are powerful. They can bring joy and encouragement or they can cause harm. Blog posts and comments can be deleted, but once they have been read, the damage is done. The words cannot be retrieved. When I first started blogging I was too careless. I didn't really think anyone would read my little diatribe so I wrote without checking out the facts, sometimes as a way to vent my emotions. So, I am asking God and you to forgive me, and resolving to be more careful never to write things that are critical about other ministries. I pray that my words will always bring life, and when I fail, please let me know, and also, please forgive me.

I'm training for the Chicago marathon!!

On Monday I made the big decision to start training for the October 7th, Chicago Marathon. Someone asked me if I am a runner. I had to say no. I was a pretty disciplined runner for a time in my 20s and 30s, but I am 53 now and haven't run for more than a decade. I hope, in the words of Rocky Balboa, to "go tha distance"!

At the end of June I am heading to Zambia, DR Congo, Botswana, Victoria Falls, and Zimbabwe with World Vision. I know from my trip to Ethiopia in 2004 that I am going to be overwhelmed with a desire to do something to make a difference.

So I decided that one small thing I can do is join the World Vision Chicago Marathon team and raise money for World Vision while I run. I set $5,000 as my target to raise so please join me in this important cause. You can pledge online at this link. I am going to need all of the encouragement I can get!!

Shane Claiborne on "Speaking of Faith"

Shane Claiborne is a leader among young people who are seeking to live simply and take seriously matters of poverty and justice. He is the author of the book, Irresistable Revolution and founder of the Simple Way, where he and others live simply and in community in Philadelphia. Here's the link to the public radio site with the audio and other info. They call him a "new monastic".

Coming to Abba as Children

"When we get a vision of the God of whom Jesus speaks we will want fellowship with this one who combines the best qualities of a good father and a good mother. We are children. There is not question about Abba's receiving us. All we need to do is acknowledge our childishness and come. This is the reason why the broken and simple, the poor in spirit, the anxiety-ridden, the mourning, the meek, the unsatisfied and unfulfilled, the hungry and thirsty, the persecuted and ridiculed find it so easy to turn to the God Jesus reveals. Those who are doing quite well on their own and think that they have life securely within their grasp don't like to admit their ultimate helplessness and come as children before Abba. They don't feel the need of it. It also may be beneath their dignity."
       -- From Companions on the Inner Way by Morton T. Kelsey

Emotional support for students helps them achieve

Here's a link to an interesting article from Catalyst Chicago about research that indicates that paying attention to the social and emotional needs of teachers and students leads to higher academic performance.

Poverty Alleviation: Where do we start?

We can all do something: skip a meal, do without new gadgets, simplify our lifestyles, eat fewer meals in restaurants, buy clothes from recycle shops. I think the word I hear is, "Just do something!"

"How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need, and yet refuses to help."
                1 John 3:17-18