So I got mad at xanga for putting ads on my blog, so I'm revamping my existing Blogger blog and posting here from now on.

That's all, I'm tired.

Things he wish he knew

Joel shared information today that he has learned over his ministry years that he did not know going into them.

One thing that stuck out to me was when he said "spend time outside of the inner city". It is important to take time and spend it outside of the area in which you live, work, eat, sleep, and breathe. That is one thing that I do not do enough of now as a student. I've been told that next year when I'm an RA I will need to spend a few days per month off campus, just regrouping. I liked that little piece of information.

A scary thought was when he said that "compromise" and "experiment" are not dirty words. So often I am scared of failing so much that I do not experiment with anything. I realize that this can be a bad thing, but experimenting is not so fun to me either. I will just have to make sure that I am working with someone who is not afraid to experiment and compromise or who will urge me to get out of my zone.

Basically all of the information was extremely useful and now I get to start life with that knowledge instead of having to learn it all :).

Behavior 101

Today we talked about behavior management, an area in which I could use a lot of work. Joel talked about how important respect is. Respect is different with inner city kids though. Because there is a lot of distrust, many times they will not respect you until you respect them. I think that many times leaders like to think that they deserve respect because they are the leader. Or because they are the adult/college volunteer. But that is not how it works with these students. You have to show them the respect first.

There were a few other guidelines as well such as following through on threats, making sure that the punishment fits the crime, and a few other things as well.

There was a really creative form of discipline that I really liked. It was based on a sports camp and the consequence is something physical, like push-ups or laps. Here's the catch: the leader does it as well. This shows support and love even in a time of punishment. I like the idea of physical punishments like this because it is a way to release energy for the student and is beneficial for their health in the long run.

Today we went to Urban Family Ministries downtown. It was cool to hear what they do as an organization, when all that I ever see of them is when they bring the inner city kids on campus. One of the things that Urban Family really focuses on is mentoring. I've seen commercials by the Boys and Girls Club recently advocating mentoring as well. I agree that mentoring can really change the lives of people.

My only annoyance is this: Why is there a lack of mentors in the church? Why has our focus turned away from the church and instead on kids who don't know God? Now don't get me wrong, I think it is very important for disadvantaged children to have the opportunity to be mentored and taught all sorts of things, I just wonder if perhaps we need to balance out the help.

I appreciated it today when a student in our group asked the director of UFM what the fruit of the organization was. Do the kids grow to know the Lord? Do things change? Fortunately she said yes, but how many times is there a lack of accountability among the non-profits? That is one thing that I will definitely need to remember as I venture out into the world of business in a few years.

It's true. We dont' know hip-hop. By we I mean those of us not imersed in the culture. If you couldn't guess, we talked about the hip-hop culture today in class. It isn't just the rap music, a "black thing", or 1-D. Rather it is its own culture.

Language: Rap
Music: DJing
Art: Graffiti
Dance/expression: Break dancing
Philosophy/Religion: Street knowledge
Entrepreneurship: Capitalism

I have such a deep appreciation for many of the artistic elements of the culture because they are things that I am incapable of doing. I cannot rap...I cannot break dance...nor can I create good graffiti.

We talked about ministering to the hip-hop culture. I really appreciated what was said about needing to pursue a holistic ministry. Not only do we need to share God's message of spiritual hope, we need to offer them social justice by helping them with housing issues, food issues, etc.

Oh the numbers game...

Tonight we discussed evangelism and discipleship. The suggested way to do evangelism was called disciple-making evangelism. It is rooted in the Grand Narrative, is based on loving your neighbor, flows from the church, and more. The one thing that stuck out to me was that it doesn't play the numbers game.

Let me describe a scenario and we'll see if you recognize it. It's Wednesday afternoon and you are going to go to youth group at your church later on tonight. You're in class and all of the sudden you remember that it's bring a friend night! The person who brings the most people gets a _________ (pizza party, prize from the bucket of surprises, free ticket to heaven, etc). You quickly find all of your friends and invite them to the hip service at your church.

Sound familiar? Yeah, my church has done it too. What is that portraying to the youth? That the church who has the most people is the holiest? Or does it even boil down to the idea that he who has the most is the best? I understand why youth leaders do this. Yes, the youth need God. But perhaps relationships are the answer...not the sheer size of the group.

That's what this disciple-making thing is about: building relationships. As Joel always says, he who spends the most time, wins. Jesus built relationships with people in order to "win them over". He didn't buy them. These days all that kids want is someone, anyone to care. With 50% of all marriages ending in divorce and a plethora of absentee fathers/mothers, kids feel worthless left and right. How do you show them God's love?? You love them. Spend time with them.

Service Project

I have been volunteering at a place called Sabaoth Ministries (changing to Base Camp) that works with inner city (mostly Hispanic) children. It has been an amazing experience to see how the director Kelly Ellis works with these children and keeps everything under control. She keeps a tight ship and yet the kids LOVE her and I can see how they just long for the structure that she provides. Many of them do not speak English at home which makes life a little fun sometimes :). I have been helping them with their homework and then just hanging out with them for a bit.

One thing about the Hispanic culture is that they LOVE soccer! They are so good at it too! Each culture I have come to find is good at something unique. The African American community has natural rhythm and the ability to dance and Hispanics have the natural ability and the passion for soccer. God is pretty cool in designing people that way (you can't blame everything on socialization...)

Touring the streets

Tonight we went to Joel (our professor)'s house for dinner and to see where he lived. He lives downtown GR where he serves. Many people would not consider his neighborhood safe enough to raise children in. There was a rape in the park kiddie corner from his house, drug deals in the same park, and shootings nearby as well. It was cool to see the place where he does his urban ministry and gave me a bit of a taste of what kinds of things I might be working with someday.

I couldn't help feeling really uncomfortable in the neighborhood though. Here I am a white girl from the subarbs scoping out the inner city. It got me thinking about my possible sphere of influence someday when I get a job. I'm not sure I am cut out for, or have the desire to work with students in the inner city. Now granted, it is not what I feel my calling is, but I do have to face the fact that there is a chance that I would be working with them in some format. Oh to know what God has in store...

One of the questions today was "how do we break the cycle of poverty for long term?" There were four "simple" solutions: homeownership, education, economics, and the Lordship of Christ. Wow. The problem is that those solutions are not exactly easy to "do". Programs are not the answer, life skills are. Especially the skills of budgeting, reading, and various other job skills.

My problem comes in when trying to figure out how to teach those skills, while still meeting people's physical needs while not allowing them to become dependent on me providing for those needs.

It was reiterated today how important it is to live in the community in which you serve. Again, it makes sense, it's just a little bit scary...

year of Jubilee

What if we still followed the Year of Jubilee laws?? What if every 7 years we gave back the land that we took and forgave debts? The Bible has much to say about poverty; in fact, it talks more about poverty and injustice than it does about homosexuality and yet we (the church) constantly focus on the issue of homosexuality. Perhaps our priorities are a little messed up.

Did you know that for every $1 the developing world receives in grants, it spends $13 repaying debts? (http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp#fact13#fact13) What would happen if we were to reinstate the Year of Jubilee? Shouldn't forgiveness permeate every aspect of our lives, including the government and international affairs?

myths of the city

Today we talked about poverty and various myths about the city. One of the myths that I have fallen into is the myth that the city is extremely dangerous and not safe enough to raise a family in. Sure, it makes sense. We hear about all of the crime stats and the drive-by shootings and we get scared. But here's my professor who has dedicated himself and his family to the city and is living there among the people who he serves. he says that most of the shootings happen among people that know each other. That eases my concerns a bit.

Another myth is that God is found more so in nature than in the city. That's one that I have to disagree wholeheartedly with. Being a self-proclaimed "city girl" I am always amazed at what I find in the city. Here are man-made creations that tower higher than trees. In the words of my friend, "God told us to subdue the earth, and boy have we subdued it".

Class 3

Today something was mentioned that struck a chord within me: there is a tension between truth and love. That is somewhat profound. All sorts of problems within the city could be resolved with the truth about God. But we all (hopefully) recognize that that will not cut it these days. Instead, we need approach the problem with love. And yet we cannot ignore the truth. So what do we do with that line?

We certainly cannot ignore the line and take one approach or the other. But I seem to think that we as Christians do that. We approach the topic of human sexuality by either saying "love whomever you want, whenever you want, however you want" or "God will bring down his wrath on you if you do not do _______". Do people listen to that jargon? We cannot reach the people of the city that way, although it is not effective (or our calling) to do the opposite.

Another thing that was mentioned was the idea that implementing a bunch of programs do not heal everything. Rather, the relationships that are formed are what make the difference. This is another line that needs to be approached and embraced. Effective programs, I believe, can make a huge difference, as do relationships. Again, the two extremes are no good. I think the two need to be entertwined in order to have the biggest effect on the cities.

Class 2

We talked about the different fallacies that are prevalent today. I see so many of them EVERYWHERE! Dualism, pietism, materialism....the list goes on. And it makes me sad that so many well meaning Christians are confused.

Spiritual warfare was also discussed. I love talking about it. It scares me mainly because I don't know how to counter it. Sometimes prayer isn't enough and then... There are interesting discussions about the topic, like can Christians be demon possessed? I don't know. It's interesting.

Part of the class is also doing service learning and I'm working at Sabaoth Ministries. I basically get to hang out with inner city kids. Most of them are Hispanic which is pretty cool. I sat and did some girls' nails and just talked. :) I love little kids.

Day 1

Today was the first day of Urban Ministries and I'm very excited for what I'm going to learn. I know little about the city other than my shopping trips downtown Chicago, going to work with my dad, and hearing about all of the "bad" things. I'm not scared of the city, although the "scary" people there do frighten me a tad. I want to live there someday...and help the people who live there too.

It seems like it's going to be a very down-to-earth class. No gimics, no facades. Just facts, trends, and God in the city. The God in the city must be the compassionate God. The God who cries when little kids are shot because their big brothers are in gangs. The God who wants so desperately to see his people fed.

We are also going to be talking worldwide in the class. Finally, a view beyond our American culture. There is so much out there that we do not have a clue about.