Last Friday night upwards of 40 people crammed their sweaty selves into a Victorian aged parsonage–home of Gloucester City’s own little intentional community.  It was a wonderful conglomeration of old friends, newly connecting ones, total strangers and a handful of high school students from Camden. Delightfully awkward conversations abounded as we awaited the arrival of the night’s guest: poet, Derrick Brown. He was set to share his poetry at 7:30 in conjunction with an out-of-school assignment from Camden teacher C.J. Reynolds and Haddon & Fern’s own Events Team.

Eight pm rolled around and neither C.J. nor Derrick Brown had arrived. At 8:15 we got a phone call explaining that C.J.’s car broke down in Staten Island, and that they were working on a way home. It would be at least 2 hours, but the majority of us decided it was worth sticking around for. The students had prepared poetry to open the show with, and we decided that they should just go ahead and share as we waited. Right as we finally assembled ourselves to listen, another phone call brought the tragic news that Derrick Brown was going to stay in Staten Island because he had a show in NYC the next day. We were already gathered. Poetry was still going to be shared. We decided to just go with it.

What ensued was probably better than if Derrick had shown up and spoken his own words. The poetry of C.J.’s students was remarkable. These kids were rappers and artists, and honest words rolled fluidly off their tongues. Though they self-admittedly felt the most out of place, they were the ones who boldly set the space for the rest of us to share. Kent Ellingson ran home to grab his guitar and sing a song he had written for Shalom House. The guitar was borrowed, originals were played and Neutral Milk Hotel was inevitably covered. As more people stood up, more people gained courage to do the same. The night ended with Jen Hulfish drawing on the energy of the night to speak words that led her closer to healing from the loss of a neighbor.

Sometimes open mic’s are horrendous. What was beautiful about this one was that it was so humbly grounded in the space we were all gathered. Some words were recycled, but many were written on the spot, drawing from the peculiarity of this gathering of people; Adam Malliet’s beard, the oldness of the house and the warmth and acceptance that was so apparent. Madeleine L’Engle describes these as ‘thin places’ of our reality that allow a few more drops of God’s presence to get through than usual. New life spoken with aged air from the ancient bits of matter comprising our lungs in an old house in an older town left us all drenched.

BBQ!
On Sunday, a handful of heat-enduring and grill-loving friends set up shop on the sidewalk outside of 1125 S. Broad St. They grilled and handed out hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, sodas and snacks to passersby before and during the 5pm Public Meeting. It was a great night–we made some new friends and had a good time!

We didn't have any fireworks at our BBQ, but they lit up the Philadelphia sky later that evening.

Monthly Leadership training
Even with the holiday weekend in full swing, many showed up to the monthly leadership training that was held at Broad and Washington on Saturday. The topic was How to study the Bible. The next cell leader training is August 7^th at Frankford and Norris. All are welcome.

(Brittney “Blew” Lewis and Kristen Baskin of Leotah’s Place)

Haitian solidarity with one another is much more evident than isolated incidents of violence, MCC workers say.

By Linda Espenshade

A group of Haitians found a 6-year-old boy still alive in the rubble three days after the earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was weak but alive.

When Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) worker Ben Depp happened upon them, he was able to get a hacksaw and a flashlight that helped them complete the boy’s rescue.

This kind of compassion — Haitians working together to help neighbors and strangers — is far more prevalent than the incidents of violence that are being reported on the national media, said Depp.

“Most of the rescues that have happened have been by Haitians pulling their neighbors out of the rubble,” Depp said. “A lot of the people who have been working don’t have simple things like hammers, saws and picks, but they’ve pulled a lot of people out alive,” he said.

As aid organizations struggle to roll out large-scale relief efforts in response to the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince and beyond on Jan. 12, Haitians are still living in desperate circumstances.

At sunrise Monday morning, every free space, from streets to soccer fields, was covered with people sleeping outside, said Daryl Yoder-Bontrager, reporting what he saw as he surveyed a section of the city near where he is staying. Yoder-Bontrager, MCC area director for Latin America and the Caribbean, arrived on Saturday morning, along with three other MCC team members who will help Haiti’s MCC staff to coordinate the initial disaster relief and recovery.

“It’s hard for pictures to communicate the atmosphere of a city where thousands of people sleep in their yards or on the streets because they don’t trust the structure of their houses, especially when the aftershocks happen,” Yoder-Bontrager wrote in an e-mail.

Alexis Erkert Depp, who is also an MCC worker, said the violence she has heard about is caused by “truly desperate” people who will do what it takes to feed their families. The Depps are from Waxhaw, N.C.

The MCC workers who live in Port-au-Prince are doing all they can to alleviate the growing desperation for food and water in the community near their office. In the first few days, they have been able to import a pick-up load of corn and sorghum from MCC workers in Desarmes, a town that was not damaged by the earthquake.

Depp said the MCC workers carried the food in their backpacks, handing it out discreetly to about 100 people, even as the workers try to buy and secure more food from the Dominican Republic and the Haitian countryside. Buying food is more difficult than expected because merchants are not accepting the U.S. dollar as payment, and banks that would exchange money are closed.

Staff is filtering water at the MCC office and passing it out to people. MCC ordered 1,000 water filters last week that each can purify 300 gallons per day. They should arrive in Haiti soon.

Erkert Depp is registering camps of displaced people so that the camps can be matched with international aid that is coming into the country. Larger aid organizations are not allowed to move around the city without a military escort, but smaller organizations don’t have the same restrictions. Through her blog, Erkert Depp was recruiting others in Haiti to assist her.

“This is extremely important work since… people won’t receive aid until these agencies know where they are located,” she said in her recruiting notice.

The larger MCC response is underway, with two shipping containers of canned meat being airlifted into Haiti this week and subsequent containers are being shipped by sea. MCC will send at least 5,000 blankets and an undetermined number of relief kits that typically include towels, hygiene supplies and bandages.

Joining Yoder-Bontrager on the initial support response team are Kathy and Virgil Troyer, of Orrville, Ohio, regional disaster management coordinators, and Sylvia Dening of Edmonton, a former Haiti representative.

MCC’s Haiti team includes nine program staff and five support staff in Port-au-Prince and nine program staff in Desarmes. MCC’s Haiti program has been in existence since 1958.

Mennonite Central Committee, a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches, shares God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice.

Linda Espenshade is MCC News Coordinator.

A third reason why we would want to meet and exceed our financial sharing goals for 2009 would be so we can fulfill our goal of giving 5% to Brethren In Christ Cooperative Ministries and 2.5% to the BIC World Hunger Fund (which you’ll hear more about in a few weeks).  

When resources are tight, it’s only human to draw the lines tight, guarding our territory, and watching out for number one. Even among Jesus’ earliest followers, weeds of competition, divisiveness, and one-upmanship threatened the vitality of the Gospel message. And those weeds have only gotten thicker and more destructive with time.

However, as Paul’s words in I Corinthians 3 remind us, it really does not matter who plants or who waters. It is God who makes things grow. The Kingdom of God is a competition-free growing zone, with more than enough work—and blessing—to go around.

Each year, Brethren in Christ churches invest millions of dollars in our various “gardening” projects. The bulk of these funds are devoted to local ministries aimed at growing God’s church where we are. A portion is allocated to initiatives within the eight regional conferences. Circle of Hope is currently receiving funds from our regional conference for the church planting in Camden. And through participation in Cooperative Ministries, everyone has a hand in nurturing our church-wide priorities and growing our global outreach. 

Regardless the corner of the Brethren in Christ “garden plot” in which each of us works—a local congregation, a regional conference, or a church-wide ministry—it is all for one great harvest. As we work, pray, and give together, the Lord of the Harvest blesses and makes things grow.

The phrase “cooperative ministries” is used to describe the work we do as the Brethren in Christ Church beyond our local congregations. It’s the support and care for pastors we provide together, the resources and programs we develop to equip our churches for more effective ministry together, the new churches we plant together, and the missionaries we send together.

Cooperative Ministries is also the name we give to the dollars that Brethren in Christ congregations contribute in support of the commitments just described.

Congregations are encouraged to allocate a percentage of their regular offerings to Cooperative Ministries, with the emphasis on “encouraged.” It is neither a “tax” nor a “membership fee.” Rather, it is our agreed-upon way to fund the work we do as a community of believers beyond the local church. Participation is voluntary, and for the majority of churches, Cooperative Ministries is an appreciated opportunity to be part of ministry goals with a national and international reach.  

Because churches gave in 2008 . . .
3 couples began long-term mission assignments
11 pastors were authorized for ordination
14 Brethren in Christ churches were planted or adopted
17 seminarians received scholarship aid through Equipping for Ministry
21 individuals entered the Missionary Development Program (MDP)
80 tons of cornmeal were distributed in Zimbabwe through the World Hunger Fund
177 pastors and congregational leaders enrolled in the impact course, Left, Right and Jesus
205 learners took online coursework through the Directed Study Program
870 youth from the U.S. and Canada attended YouthQuest 2008    

And more! In 2009, it is anticipated that BIC churches in Canada and the United States will contribute through Cooperative Ministries. The funds will be used to call and encourage ministry leaders, start and support healthy congregations, and, carry God’s Good News to all the world. As Circle of Hope, we are part of this larger work as we give to our common fund and as a community give to Cooperative Ministries.

We plant. We water. We pray. We serve. We give. For we are God’s fellow workers . . . God’s field, God’s building (I Corinthians 3:9).

“When I see Jesus going where I haven’t been, I need to follow, even to Matthew’s (house)” (p77).  I can hear Rod singing, “I’m ready to live!” in the background here…

“Our ability to say what we mean and mean what we say in a way that smells of love is the gravity that keeps our feet on the way of life.  It is our drawing power, and the lack of it is what spins people out of their orbit around the Lord.  The story that is told about what each of us says and how all of us manage to work out our lives in love should be full of bafflingly beautiful examples of speaking the truth in love like our Father” (p 123). This book shows off God’s love poured out to Circle of Hope through his Word and through year after year of precious growth in Him- I’m buying a copy for my friend who is still in the research phase of Christianity- I want her heart to be stirred by the drumming at F/N- I want her to taste every dish at the love feast… while I wait for that day, maybe she’ll  read this book and get curious about this organism of listening love that is the Church.  I’m also buying A Circle of Hope for some of my out-of-town family who wonder what God is doing in Philadelphia these days, so that they can be encouraged, as I have been, by some bafflingly beautiful examples of love in action.

The Life Project at Frankford & Norris

This past week, Zack and I embarked on a prayer walk during the PM. We headed south on Broad Street, unsure of who and what we’d encounter. As we started walking we surprisingly began to encounter many friendly faces.

The first person we encountered is a friend to Circle of Hope. She is one of the leaders of a weekly, Narcotics Anonymous Group that meets in our space every Friday night at 11pm! I spoke with her the week before when she came to the office to drop of the group’s rent money. She told me the group is really catching on and that there are about 60 folks that come to meet regularly on Friday nights. That is so encouraging! Zack and I prayed for the NA group as they are reaching out across neighborhoods, social groups and boundaries to connect with people who are searching for a safe place to call their own. I am encouraged that the NA group is a safe place for so many people. I think it’s pretty neat they meet at Circle of Hope, too.

We walked one more block and both immediately shared a smile with a few more familiar faces. We crossed paths with two women and a young boy, all regular customers at Circle Thrift. They speak very little English. They also live in the neighborhood. They are part of the growing number of Hispanic people moving to the area. We prayed for our missional partners, Circle Thrift. We also prayed for this family and other families who have moved to South Philly, and especially the ones who do not speak English. We prayed for the English as a second language classes that are being formed and held throughout our network and the work our community is doing to connect with the Spanish-speaking community. We prayed for urban families and schools in the city, that these could be safe places for our children.

We prayed for our city, as well as our community at Circle of Hope.

A fifteen minute walk through my own neighborhood was very encouraging and inspiring! Maybe you, too might find it encouraging. I invite you to try it for yourself.