Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Our First Road Trip
April 2-5 was our first Beyond Borders Road Trip. We set aside the weekend to invite people into our rhythms of communion with God, community with each other and missional life in our neighborhood and city.
The weekend started off with a day in Golden Hill and our surrounding neighborhoods. We explored, engaged in conversation about what God is doing in San Diego and feasted on street tacos in Logan Heights.
Saturday morning we left for Ensenada, Mexico. We spent the day at Casa Esperanza, a homeless shelter for women and children. After some painting and playing with the kids we enjoyed a meal together and ended the day by sharing our life stories with one another.
We were introduced to Casa Esperanza by "Reflejo," a collective of Mexican Christ followers who share life together as they serve Jesus in their own neighborhoods and city. One of the most exciting things about the relationships we're building in Mexico is the partnership that's beginning to form between NieuCommunities and Reflejo. We've found a common heart beat with them and are beginning to link arms and dream about how God might be bringing us together for ministry.
The Road Trip ended on sunday evening after a fairly long wait to cross the border at Tecate. Individually and collectively God planted some significant seeds in all of us that are already beginning to grow and produce fruit. The best is yet to come! :)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
discipling our children
I was just reading a blog post by Hugh Halter on kids and home groups...
http://hughhalter.com/?p=83
...and it challenged me to think about ways our community could more intentionally disciple our children. Utilizing other churches to do it is certainly an option, especially if they're geared up for it. But I'm not sure a healthy community should ever fully outsource the discipleship of their children. So consider this an invitation to think with us about creative ways we could nurture our whole community...even the littlest ones among us.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Listening to the streets
A couple of Saturday's ago, Emily, some friends of hers from church, my buddy Bobby and I spent a fascinating day exploring and listening to a side of Golden Hill and downtown that I haven't had much exposure to, the homeless. The kids had made blankets that they handed out to people in Ocean Beach, in Golden Hill and on 16th street in downtown, where the homeless tend to gather. It was a real learning experience, as we walked and talked with folks living on the street (got some great insight, as well as some cautions from them). We also spent time in the morning helping pack gleaned groceries with an amazing local group in Golden Hill called City of Refuge.
City of Refuge is located in a back alley off 25th street in GH. They have a room with sofas where kids can hang out, and an outdoor area with killer street art.
Can't wait to do more!
Monday, March 9, 2009
A weeked in Porvenir
We spent the weekend in the small town of Porvenir, in a beautiful valley east of Ensenada. Some very kind friends gave us their home to stay in. It was a great time to connect with the whole team, share life and our timelines, chow on some great tacos, taste some Baja wine, and enjoy this magnificently beautiful place.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Diving Deeper ...
posted by Sophia
This past Tuesday night we started a new conversation that will take a few weeks to unwrap, we started the night off by exploring the meaning of "deep culture" beyond the visible surface; way down deep were we find behaviors, values, beliefs and perceived world view.
I'm really finding all this fascinating since I'm still processing even what I know about my own culture, having been raised as both an American and Mexican. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of learning how to ask the right questions and how not to assume to know why people of a certain culture "do what they do" and to make sense of what is seen as true and good, and most importantly was is real.
So on that note, I thought it appropriate timing to share this cool little animated short, "The Return of Superbarrio" (La Vuelta de Superbarrio), in Spanish with English subtitles.
Superbarrio Gómez is a "living superhero" in Mexico. According to Wikipedia he's a real guy named Marco Rascón Córdova, who seeks to fight injustice and corruption on both sides of the US/Mexico border through protests, civil disobedience, and political action.
I also read an informative essay about SuperBarrio's life, and it concluded with this great summary;
So with that in mind, I hope you enjoy this video that presents some interesting perspectives.
ps. You get extra points if you pick up some new spanish vocabulary words!
This past Tuesday night we started a new conversation that will take a few weeks to unwrap, we started the night off by exploring the meaning of "deep culture" beyond the visible surface; way down deep were we find behaviors, values, beliefs and perceived world view.
I'm really finding all this fascinating since I'm still processing even what I know about my own culture, having been raised as both an American and Mexican. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of learning how to ask the right questions and how not to assume to know why people of a certain culture "do what they do" and to make sense of what is seen as true and good, and most importantly was is real.
So on that note, I thought it appropriate timing to share this cool little animated short, "The Return of Superbarrio" (La Vuelta de Superbarrio), in Spanish with English subtitles.
Superbarrio Gómez is a "living superhero" in Mexico. According to Wikipedia he's a real guy named Marco Rascón Córdova, who seeks to fight injustice and corruption on both sides of the US/Mexico border through protests, civil disobedience, and political action.
I also read an informative essay about SuperBarrio's life, and it concluded with this great summary;
By implication, to believe in Superbarrio is to believe in a collective struggle that functions regionally and operates as a social movement across borders. To believe in Superbarrio is to believe in us as transnational social agents. Beneath the mask, we are all Superbarrio.
So with that in mind, I hope you enjoy this video that presents some interesting perspectives.
ps. You get extra points if you pick up some new spanish vocabulary words!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
i will rise
posted by Laurie...
I will rise everyday
And I will give my life away.
My better years are still to come,
Remember this when my life's done
That I will rise...
- Kate White from her Turning Pages CD)
On Monday night in a hundred year old Victorian house that's been turned into a recovery home in our neighborhood, my dear friend Kate performed a concert for 43 women gathered around on the chairs and floor. Kate sang, played her violin and tenderly shared her story. Over the course of the next couple of hours she connected with these women that she'd never met before in an incredibly deep way. My teammates Britany and Sophia and I were able to be there too and meet these women who were warm and receptive.
Kate sang and talked about her family, her own marriage and her children, things that all these women could relate to. At one point, she asked all the women to say out loud altogether the names of their children. It was so touching and heart-wrenching to hear moms call out from all over the room the names of their missed children. Kate really wanted to pray a blessing over their children so she asked for permission to pray for all of them. There was probably not a dry eye in the room.
Many pieces of Kate's life story intersected with theirs and although she didn't pretend to understand everything they've gone through, they really seemed to relate to her. We had been told we couldn't “proselytize” nor had we intended to, but as Kate shared her journey she sensed that many of the women desired to know God. So she shared how she had wrestled with trusting God and with the questions and pain she had experienced, but also how she had come to trust Him and give her life to Him.
After the concert, the women came up and hugged us and thanked us for coming. Some of them shared a little of their stories with us…. painful and sad stories. One woman asked Kate how she could know God too and if she needed a priest to be able to do that. So Kate told her she would pray with her and show her how. Some others next to her said they also wanted to know God and before we knew it, almost every woman in the house formed a circle, holding hands. I'll never forget that moment when Kate led them in prayer to receive Jesus as their Savior. They repeated after her, loud and clear "Lord Jesus! I've messed up! Come into my life..." Only God knows which women actually gave their lives to Jesus that night. Some of the women were already followers of Jesus and it was encouraging to see how they came up and began helping the others.
This week we’re going to take a copy of each of Kate's CD's to each of the women and we're listening to see how else God wants us to be involved with these dear women in our neighborhood. We may be able to walk with them, do crafts with them, or just hang out with them. They're in a very structured program so we're not sure how much we'll be allowed to be involved. When you think of it, please pray for these women, for those who gave their lives to God, to grow in Him, as they do the hard work of recovery from addiction. And as they miss their children and families.
I will rise everyday
And I will give my life away.
My better years are still to come,
Remember this when my life's done
That I will rise...
- Kate White from her Turning Pages CD)
On Monday night in a hundred year old Victorian house that's been turned into a recovery home in our neighborhood, my dear friend Kate performed a concert for 43 women gathered around on the chairs and floor. Kate sang, played her violin and tenderly shared her story. Over the course of the next couple of hours she connected with these women that she'd never met before in an incredibly deep way. My teammates Britany and Sophia and I were able to be there too and meet these women who were warm and receptive.
Kate sang and talked about her family, her own marriage and her children, things that all these women could relate to. At one point, she asked all the women to say out loud altogether the names of their children. It was so touching and heart-wrenching to hear moms call out from all over the room the names of their missed children. Kate really wanted to pray a blessing over their children so she asked for permission to pray for all of them. There was probably not a dry eye in the room.
Many pieces of Kate's life story intersected with theirs and although she didn't pretend to understand everything they've gone through, they really seemed to relate to her. We had been told we couldn't “proselytize” nor had we intended to, but as Kate shared her journey she sensed that many of the women desired to know God. So she shared how she had wrestled with trusting God and with the questions and pain she had experienced, but also how she had come to trust Him and give her life to Him.
After the concert, the women came up and hugged us and thanked us for coming. Some of them shared a little of their stories with us…. painful and sad stories. One woman asked Kate how she could know God too and if she needed a priest to be able to do that. So Kate told her she would pray with her and show her how. Some others next to her said they also wanted to know God and before we knew it, almost every woman in the house formed a circle, holding hands. I'll never forget that moment when Kate led them in prayer to receive Jesus as their Savior. They repeated after her, loud and clear "Lord Jesus! I've messed up! Come into my life..." Only God knows which women actually gave their lives to Jesus that night. Some of the women were already followers of Jesus and it was encouraging to see how they came up and began helping the others.
This week we’re going to take a copy of each of Kate's CD's to each of the women and we're listening to see how else God wants us to be involved with these dear women in our neighborhood. We may be able to walk with them, do crafts with them, or just hang out with them. They're in a very structured program so we're not sure how much we'll be allowed to be involved. When you think of it, please pray for these women, for those who gave their lives to God, to grow in Him, as they do the hard work of recovery from addiction. And as they miss their children and families.
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