Community Service

Somali friends

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One of the greatest blessings of helping with the Conversational English Club is building friendships with Somali refugees.  I’m excited to see what happens as our relationships move from the student-teacher realm to being friends whose families spend time together.  Most of our students and my one student-friend in particular are devout Muslims, yet it is amazing to see how cultural and even religious barriers are removed by serving someone at their point of need.  I love this quote from my friend Michael Ly who serves the Somali population near Seattle, WA, through Soma Communities and Peace Catalyst:

Jesus commands us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. Muslims at the least are our neighbors. They are our neighbors, period…. At worst, if they are our enemies, we still have the same command.

In the next couple of weeks, Christin and I plan to have a Somali family over for dinner.  Although this may sound like a small step, we are praying for God to use us as we begin to share our lives with our new friends.  I’m also excited to see how God works through our service to the Somalis to tear down preconceived notions concerning Christianity- both within the Muslim community and the larger Burlington community.

Thank you for your prayers.

 

God Stories: Conversational English Club

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The past few weeks of ministry have been exciting as we’ve moved from hypothetical ideas to taking concrete steps forward.  Although our Home Fellowship is small, the buy-in from everyone is extremely high.  I’m excited to see what God does in the coming weeks as we invite those who are seeking and searching into this group.  I’m especially pumped about a new Conversational English Club we’ve helped start on Sunday nights.  Here’s just a glimpse of what God is doing.  See if you can connect the dots:

  • In 2008 Jason and Rebecca Vickery moved into the Riverside Avenue Apartment complex with a desire to reach out to Somalian refugees.  Over the last few years Rebecca has spearheaded different efforts to serve that community with a vision of eventually creating opportunities to teach her neighbors English.  She had a God-given vision, tons of passion, but experienced little traction.
  • This past November we moved to Burlington with the idea of starting Home Fellowships serving different neighborhoods.  With our initial Home Fellowship we all agree we want to focus on serving the refugees in Burlington’s Old North End.  Through some common friends, Christin and I are introduced to Rebecca and Jason.  We all see an obvious open door to begin serving.
  • We put the word out that through Awareness to Action (a nonprofit I helped start in NJ) that we’re beginning a Conversational English Club and looking for volunteers to mentor refugees in English.  The result was fourteen volunteers including people from our Home Fellowship, North Ave. Alliance Church, the Navigators ministry at UVM, and a few from the surrounding community.  We held an orientation with these very excited and motivated volunteers on Sunday, April 10.
  • On Friday, April 8, I received an email through my blog from Michael Ly.  Turns out Michael is an accounting professional in Seattle and one of the pastors at Soma Communities (a church doing something very similar to what we’re attempting).  He also happened to be in VT visiting his in-laws.  We met for coffee the afternoon just before our English Club volunteer orientation.  Guess what area of Seattle he focuses on serving? A community of 70,000 Somalian refugees.  He’s also the Northwest Director for an organization called Peace Catalyst.  What an amazing guy to learn from!
  • Last night we finally kicked off our Conversational English Club last night with ten students, and it was AMAZING!  This is going to be a six week trial run, but we already have more refugee students wanting to attend and more potential volunteers wanting to jump on board.  This has the potential to grow exponentially.  We’ve also been so blessed to have the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program open up their tutor training to our volunteers and help us figure out what we’re doing as we move forward.

Here are a few ways you can pray for us in these coming weeks:

  • Pray that through our Conversational English Club that God will enable us to bridge cultural, language, and religious barriers.  Pray that we’ll develop meaningful relationships with our refugee neighbors.
  • Pray that God will give Christin and I wisdom in serving a Nepali family  through the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program.  We’re becoming fast friends and want to be a blessing to them as they  adjust to life in America.
  • Pray that this Easter Sunday we’ll see some of our friends who are seeking and searching attend our Home Fellowship.  Pray that the hope we have in Jesus’ resurrection comes through loud and clear.
  • Pray for God to send more workers for the harvest.  We are asking that God will continue to add to our core group, either by raising up leaders from the Burlington community or leading people to transplant their lives here.
  • Pray for Christin and I as we prepare for our baby girl who is due on May 6- she could come any time!

Strategic Priorities-part 2

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Last week I wrote a post elaborating on my “strategic priorities”  as we move forward with planting a church.  Here’s a brief recap:

  1. Developing leaders who model the message and mission of Jesus. Luke 4:18-21, 9:1-6, 10:1-12
  2. Reproducing Home Fellowship with an ethos of sacrificial service. Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-37
  3. Launching a community service platform that mobilizes Christians to serve Burlington. Jeremiah 29:4-7, Matthew 20:25-28

Last week I discussed Strategic Priority #1, so this week my focus will be Strategic Priority #2…

When we talk about church it’s very easy to think in terms of a building, an institution, a strategy , a ministry structure, or even the personality of the pastor. When the New Testament speaks of church it is always talking about the people.  The Bible frequently depicts the church as a spiritual family:  brothers and sisters in Christ with God as our Father.

It’s not coincidental that one of the most common terms we see connected to church in the New Testament is households. This term is translated from the Greek word oikos, which literally means family, kindred, household (including servants).1 The oikos played a central role in Greco-Roman culture. This extended family of 40-50 people included not only the immediate family, but “also other relatives and domestic slaves plus a coterie of freedmen, hired workers, and business associates and clients.”2  Not surprisingly, the oikos was central to the spreading of the gospel in Jesusʼ ministry, the book of Acts, and Paulʼs church planting efforts. Here are just a few examples: Luke 14:1-4, Luke 19:5-10, Acts 10:1-2, Acts 16:14-15, Acts 18:7-8, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:14-15, Philemon 1:1-2.

As we scan these scriptures, several trends appear:

  1. The oikos played a central role in the spread of the gospel. One person would embrace Jesus and this would overflow to the others in the household network. Since these household networks often overlapped, the gospel often spread from household to household.
  2. Once an oikos embraced Jesus as Lord and Savior, this oikos often became the center for ministry and church planting for the surrounding community. This oikos would grow as Christians from outside the original household network joined the oikos.
  3. This resulted in a new Jesus-centered multiplying oikos. Often this new Jesus- centered network of relationships would replace a person’s natural oikos if they were the only person in their household to embrace Jesus. In this new oikos class, ethnic, and cultural barriers were removed due to a new common ground in Jesus.

How does this impact the way we approach ministry and church planting?

  1. We meet in Home Fellowships of 15-40 people where we focus on loving God and loving each other. Our goal is to function as a Jesus-centered oikos serving our friends and community in the name of Jesus
  2. Our modern day oikos- neighbors, family members, friends, and work mates- is where we should begin sharing the gospel. As we share Jesus with those in our oikos we also gain the opportunity to share the gospel in their oikos.
  3. As we start new Home Fellowships, each Home Fellowship will focus specifically on sharing the gospel by sacrificially serving either a specific neighborhood or network of relationships in the Burlington community.

 

References:

Anchorage Bible Dictionary, p58, v6

Church Growth State of The Art, Elmer Towns, p31

Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition, p546

 

 

 

Guilt, Justice, or Grace

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This morning I was asked by a computer media class at the Community College of Vermont to be interviewed as a volunteer who serves with the COTS (Committee On Temporary Shelter) Day Station.  Basically on Wednesdays I take a group of guests from COTS to do volunteer work with other nonprofits in the community.  It’s a pretty cool opportunity since it’s given me a way to build credibility with the COTS staff, get to know the COTS guests, and make connections with leaders in the nonprofit sector (which is huge in Burlington).  The student interviewer asked me the expected questions about needs and issues in the community, how to best address the needs of homelessness, how others can be involved in making a difference, then she asked me the BIG QUESTION: what motivates you to serve?

It just so happens that is a question among other related questions that  I’ve been thinking and praying about over the past few weeks:  What motivates me to serve?  How is my motivation the same or different than others in my community?  How has my motivation changed over the years? It’s as if God had prepared me for this question.  So here’s the answer.

There have been seasons in my life where I’ve probably been motivated by guilt.  I just felt guilty if I did not do an occasional token act of service because that’s what good people do.  The problem with using guilt as motivation is once I feel like I’ve paid my debt, I’m done.  If I feel a little guilty, then a little bit of service will do the trick.  If I feel really really guilty, then it may take getting my hands a little dirtier and working longer and harder, but eventually the guilt will pass.

There was also a time when I thought justice was the most noble motivation.  Of course there are disenfranchised people with extreme needs who haven’t had a fair shake, and they deserve to be served.  Here’s the problem- eventually you’ll end up serving people who are experiencing the consequences of self-inflicted wounds.  You’ll meet the drug addict who also dealt drugs.  You’ll meet the homeless wanderer who walked out on his wife and kids.  The deeper you dig into someone’s life, the more reasons you may find not to serve them, because you may end up thinking they’re actually getting what they deserve.

I’ve discovered a much stronger foundation for serving others is rooted in this simple fact: I’ve been blessed much more than I deserve. I know God has poured His grace into my life despite the fact I do not deserve it.  I know there have been kind generous people throughout my life how have poured into me when I had nothing to offer in return.  Somehow I’ve realized that this blessing, this grace, provides a much deeper well to draw from than the motivations of guilt or justice could ever provide.  Hopefully as I serve people, I’m allowing that same blessing and grace to overflow into another life that needs it just as I do.

 

 

 

Going Global in VT!

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As I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I love about Burlington is that we have a growing community of 5000 refugees just blocks away.  Every week I pass people from Somalia, Burundi, Iraq, Vietnam, and we even had dinner with a Nepali family tonight.  Over the years as I’ve been moved by the scriptures to take the good news of Jesus  to the nations, I never imagined it happening in pasty white VT.

This Sunday, following our third  weekly Home Fellowship, we’re hosting a brainstorming & planning meeting with others who are interested in teaching English to Somalis.  God has connected us with a Christian family living in an apartment community where many Somalis reside- this family has been praying for quite a while about starting an ESL program but lacked the volunteers.  Now God has put all the pieces in place.

Please pray…

*Pray that God will give us incredible wisdom concerning our game-plan for teaching English- especially since many of the Somalis are illiterate in their native language.

*Pray that God will enable us to overcome the language barrier, cultural barriers, and the Muslim-Christian barrier so that we may develop meaningful relationships.

* Pray for Christin and I as we continue serving as “family friends” to a Nepali/Bhutanese family through theVermont Refugee Resettlement Program. Relationships are forming quickly.

*We’re planning a middles school basketball camp focusing on refugee families  with the help of Valleydale Church.  Pray for favor with the Catholic Diocese as we’re seeking permission to use a closed Catholic school in Burlington’s Old North End.

*Pray for God to draw others to our Home Fellowship- seekers and cynics.  Ask God to make this group a spiritual family where people can see Jesus living through us and be drawn to know Him.

*Pray that God will send more workers for the harvest.  Specifically as God to raise up more spiritual leaders from within the community and lead others to transplant their lives here.


 

 

Influencing the local culture

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This is another one of those Kevin venting, thinking out loud & online posts… One thought/question/issue that I cannot get out of my head lately is why don’t churches have more influence in their communities and local culture? I’m not saying cultural influence does not happen, but I do think it is rare.  Why? I want to share some of the thoughts I’ve been journaling.  I’d also like to hear your thoughts- even if you disagree with mine.

Just to be extra clear, when I say “we” in my thoughts below, I generally mean evangelical churches and church leaders and am not excluding myself.

#1) We tend to have a “trickle-down” mentality rooted in influencing the top 5-10% of society (whatever that means). If we can get them to join our cause, then their influence will “trickle-down” to the rest of society.  This of course makes common sense.  If we can somehow convince the smartest, wealthiest, most talented, and most influential people in society to get “saved” then it’s only a matter of time until we influence and reach everyone.  I know I’ve looked at someone who seems extraordinarily gifted and thought, “imagine what God could do with that person.”  While at the same time missing what God could do with someone that may seem rather ordinary from a human perspective.

The big problem with the trickle-down mentality is it definitely appears that Jesus took a radically different approach.  Here’s a few examples:

  • God invites shepherds not political or religious leaders to Jesus’ birth.  Shepherds were religious outsiders and social outcasts.
  • Jesus’ inner circle is made up of blue collar red neck fishermen from Galilee (Peter, Andrew, James, & John), a former tax collector who had robbed and cheated his country men (Matthew), women who had little rights at the time, and even a former prostitute.  God used these people to lead the early church and even write books of the Bible.
  • The Apostle Paul, who had a great personal resume, seemed to get this when he wrote the Corinthians: Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, sot hat no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

I’m definitely not saying God cannot or will not use the best and the brightest.  He desires to use their talents, abilities, and resources for kingdom purpose.   I am saying that we easily dismiss what an extraordinary God can do with seemingly ordinary and even less than ordinary people.  I’m personally counting on the latter.

#2) We serve the “least of these” without truly engaging and mobilizing them.  Most new churches I see, especially in the missional/incarnational movement,  are serious about serving those on the fringe of their community and the forgotten people around the world.  Whether it’s serving at a soup kitchen or digging a well in Africa, we’re all about it.  We’ve done a fairly good job of serving, but there remains a significant difference between serving “them” and “them” becoming a part of us.  One of the things that stands out to me about Jesus’ ministry is that those on the fringe are not only often the focus of the mission- they often join the mission and even become leaders in the mission.  I realize as I type that this is not an easy way to do ministry nor do I want to paint some type of false utopian picture.   Taking this approach created tension in the early church (see 1 Corinthians 11:17-22, James 2:1-7) and it will have challenges for us today.  BUT well worth it.

#3) As our churches grow we gradually move away from the city or cultural center. I think most of us would agree that culture and influence primarily flow out  of the city.  In the process  of moving away, we lose influence.  Exceptions do exist, but I see this happen far more than I’d prefer.  Here’s my personal opinions on why:

  • Meeting in an urban environment tends to be more expensive.  As the church grows, larger space is needed, difficult to find, and increases expenses more.
  • Many churches meeting in cities and cultural centers still draw significant number from the suburbs.  Eventually people want to move where they’re most comfortable.
  • “Successful” growth is easier to maintain outside the city- primarily due to more “church friendly” people and resources existing.

Obviously choosing to stay in the city/urban area/cultural center is challenging.  This means we have to realize it is very difficult to have long-term influence from the outside. This will also require thinking outside the box concerning church strategy & structure, meeting space, and how we prioritize resources.

One Big Footnote: I recently read an article from Men’s Health Magazine with a list of “America’s Most Religious Cities.”  I realize Men’s Health will never be mistaken for Gallup or the Pew Forum, but I found the results interesting.  I was not surprised by Bible Belt cities such as Birmingham, Jacksonville, or Little Rock making the top ten.  I was also not surprised that my new home city of Burlington was ranked last.  What I found surprising was that the place where I was born and raised, Atlanta, was ranked 54.  That’s in the bottom half.

I often tell people that what Manhattan is to the financial world, Atlanta is to the ministry world.  Many mega-churches (some of the largest in the US) of every evangelical flavor dot the metro landscape: North Point Community Church, First Baptist Woodstock, Church of the Apostles, and Worldchangers are just a few.  It’s also home to several influential ministry organizations: Passion, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, Catalyst, and the North Amercian Mission Board.

I’m wondering… Is Men’s Health accurate?  If so, what do their findings mean?

Reminders moving into 2011

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Well, the holidays are over.  The past two weeks have been so good- great time with Christin & Jude with lots of time to relax and get revved up for 2011.  Our biggest news is we found out that our baby due on May 6 is a… girl.  We’re super excited, although I’m realizing I have completely no idea what to do with a little girl.  Nothing like on the job training =)

With 2011 now here, I’ve spent the past few days reflecting on God’s activity in 2010 and looking forward to what He has in store for us in 2011.  I’ve especially prayed and thought about what is required of us to engage Burlington with the gospel.  Much of what God is teaching and reteaching me is rooted in 1 Corinthians 9:19-27.  Although this is an ongoing process and probably not new info, this has served as a good reminder of where my focus and the focus of our core group needs to be in the upcoming months.  Hopefully, it will also give you some clues on how you can be praying for us and our work in Burlington.  Maybe it will even help you as you seek to serve God where He has placed you…

REMINDERS ABOUT ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITY WITH THE GOSPEL

*Grow in our intimate (as well as our intellectual) knowledge of the gospel. This is a life long process which requires experiencing the gospel, studying the gospel, and meditating on the gospel and its application to our lives.  Even if our knowledge may seem relatively small, it must be real and fresh in our own lives.  If we don’t continually “preach the gospel” to ourselves, we can easily default towards empty religious moralism.  Remember: most people’s objections to the gospel are personal in nature, not intellectual.  This makes our own continuing personal experience in the gospel vital to engaging others.

*Develop a mindset of sacrificial service. Jesus said he came “not to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many.”  He also made it clear that as His followers we have the greatest influence when we sacrificially serve others (see Matthew 20:20-28).  Two brief thoughts on this topic:

  1. This begins with the spiritual family. We need to learn to serve each other in the context of Biblical community so that we are inviting others into an environment where sacrificial service is naturally modeled.
  2. This can actually become more difficult (although not impossible) to live out when Christians become a dominating force in the culture. All too often we see that power corrupts and draws well meaning Christians away from a service mindset.  Exceptions do exist who display great humility and sacrifice in their leadership roles.

*Know the community.  Know the culture.  We need to know the needs, hurts, fears, dreams, beliefs, values, and spiritual temperature of the community and culture (including subcultures) where God has placed us.  Secondarily to studying the scriptures, we need to study our community, so we can see where the two intersect.  One of the greatest barriers to this happening is Christians becoming an insulated subculture rather than a force of transformation in the larger culture.

*Do life among the people. Discipleship happens life on life. From everything we see in scripture, discipleship often happens pre-conversion.  This requires living a life that intersects with others- through work, play, raising a family, making a home, and purposely developing friendships. Studies repeatedly show that the #1 influence on people making a personal commitment to Jesus is close friends and family members.  Living life among  the people God has called you to serve allows you to share your life and the gospel in ways that doing ministry from a safe distance can never offer.

*Be purposeful and faithful with opportunities. We can sometimes try to do everything at once.  Most of the time God desires us to simply be faithful with what may seem like the small opportunities He provides.  We learn from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25  that as we’re faithful with what God entrusts to us (no matter how big or how small), He gives us greater responsibility.  When the community around us sees us approaching the little things with excellence, we gain credibility, trust is built, and more opportunities follow.

*Maintain a marathon mentality. Very little that happens fast really lasts.   We need  to remember when scripture describes life and ministry as a race, it’s never depicting a sprint but a marathon.  Everyone I’ve spoken to that has run a marathon says it involves a great deal of preparation, perseverance, and even pain.  I’m sure a similar mentality is required by a hard working farmer who wants a fruitful harvest.  Seasons of tilling the ground, planting the seed, watering the soil, and cultivating the young plants all precede the actual harvest.  There is a reason scripture utilizes marathons and farming as metaphors for gospel ministry.

*Saturate everything in prayer. Bottom line: we do not have what it takes to accomplish what God has called us to do.  Without His intervention, failure is certain.

As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Open Doors

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“The holidays are very hard and stressful to the poor.  It just reminds them in such a powerful way just how needy they are and how much they feel like someone looking in at a feast but are not invited.”

David Russell-Director, Burlington Street Ministries

At Christmas time when many of us look forward to a special time with family and friends, we can easily forget that many in close proximity to us are left on the outside looking in.  I recently came across two stats about Burlington that reminded me of how true this is for many of my new neighbors and what an incredible opportunity we have to serve them as we start this new church:

  • According to the annual Point In Time Survey, the  homeless population has more than doubled in the past two years- from 424 in 2008 to 916 in 2010.  Over the same time period the number of homeless children has increased from 86 to 256.  (Footnote: the PIT Survey only counts the homeless who are willing to be counted.  The actual numbers are always much higher.)
  • According to the Boston Globe, since 1989 approximately 5000 refugees have resettled in VT with the majority living in the greater Burlington area.  Since 2000, African refugees include 542 from Somalia, 174 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 137 from Sudan, and 113 from Burundi. Refugees from 29 African countries are represented in the Burlington area.

On a personal note, this Saturday we’ll hit the 4 week mark as new residents in Vermont.  As you can imagine, it has been an adjustment starting over-navigating a new community, making our new house a home, developing new friendships, and building a new ministry from the ground up.  In the midst of these expected adjustments, God has encouraged us so much with how He is already at work in Burlington and the doors He is opening for us.  Below is a snapshot these open doors and how you can pray for us:

*We’ve been especially encouraged by the way a few churches and ministry groups have reached out to us.  Three groups that especially stand out are St. Timothy’s Anglican Mission, Kids Alive, and the Green Mountain Baptist Association.   They’ve gone out of their way to extend true Christian fellowship to us and let us know we are not in this race alone.  Please pray that we’ll continue building kingdom focused relationships with other gospel centered ministries in the area.

*This past Sunday I had the opportunity to speak at New Life Community Church in Northfield (about an hour from Burlington).  I was blown away by how over the past two years this church has gone from 0-55 people  in an area where evangelical churches struggle and often shut down. God gave me a glimpse of what He can do when we stay committed to serving the community and sharing the gospel.  Please pray that we will be equally faithful with the opportunities God provides to serve and share.  As we are faithful with the “small” opportunities, God will provide more.

*Through Kids Alive, a ministry to the children of Burlington’s Old North End, we have the opportunity to sponsor a Burundi family for Christmas (two parents, eight children, and two grandchildren in one home).  This family has been through so much- since leaving Burundi they have traveled as refugees through Tanzania and the Congo before finally settling in Vermont.  Please pray that we’ll be a blessing to this family and that God will lead a refugee family to become a part of our core group soon.

*In the next couple of weeks Awareness to Action, the nonprofit I helped start in NJ, will become legal in VT.  With Burlington’s growing community needs and being a haven for social & environmental entrepreneurs, I believe A2A provides a great platform for connecting with community service organizations and mobilizing both ministries and secular groups to serve.  Please pray that God will give me wisdom with how to best utilize A2A and help me build relationships with secular groups desiring to get more involved in community service.

*Monday I had the opportunity to meet with the Volunteer Director at COTS.  COTS is the premier organization addressing homelessness in Burlington and they’ve opened the door for me to volunteer at their Day-Station- a warm place during the day for the homeless to get off the streets, find assistance, and get a free lunch.  They’re also excited about me mobilizing others to serve through Awareness to Action. Please pray that God will enable me to build meaningful relationships with the staff, volunteers, and clients and  provide opportunities to share as I serve.

*This Friday afternoon I’m attending a volunteer orientation with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program.  Christin and I are hoping to serve as “family friends” who help new refugee families adjust to life in Vermont.  Please pray that God will give us favor with the VRRP leadership and connect us with the right family.

*Also, please continue praying for our financial support. God continues to provide for all of our needs.  At the same time, our goal is to raise an additional $1000 per month over the next few months to cover salary and insurance- before the arrival of child #2 in May.  Our hope is to focus my time and energy on starting the church and developing the A2A community service platform without having to take on another  job.  We also believe that raising my salary for the first two-three years will allow us to focus the limited offerings of a new church on community outreach. Details are on our partner page.

As always, thank you for your continued prayers!  We hope each of you experience the joy and peace of Jesus this Christmas!

Kevin, Christin, & Jude