Church Profiles and Matters

Bishop and ango ree M T

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The Protestant Christian Church in Bali finds purpose and mission in its island identity

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BY KAREN MODEROW

presence. The cross in the middle shows that Jesus is the way to God. I notice the cross is bent at the bottom, as if marching.

“We call it the crooked cross,” says the pastor. “The Mango Tree Church believes that the cross, as the symbol of the work of Christ, is never still. It is always moving, just as we should be.”

I would later learn this was not just a pleasant-sounding phrase, but the dynamic that drives this church.

Walking around the sanctuary, I had the sense of being both on holy ground and in an art museum celebrating the best of Bali culture. It’s not an accidental pairing. Reaching the people of Bali for Christ by communicating the gospel through Balinese symbols, images, and art has been a lifetime passion of Bishop I. Wayan Mastra.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing the bishop in Bali. He is a quiet man with kind eyes and a gentle spirit.We met in a cabana-style lobby, surrounded by intricate wood carvings, flowers, and exotic birds. The ocean is just a walk away. These surroundings evoke a sense of opulence—not necessarily material, but of natural abundance and beauty unique to Bali. The influence of this setting in the design of

o one in Bali calls the Protestant Christian Church by its given name. This collection of churches strategically planted around the island is known simply as The Mango Tree Church. And their commitment to live out the gospel while being true to the culture where God has placed them is evident even in their physical church structures.While churches in most Third World countries tend to look like their Western counterparts, the Mango Tree Church builds open-air sanctuaries resembling mountains. I am told the Balinese associate God, the source of life, with the majesty of the mountain. A temple gate in front of the church tells all who walk by that this is a place of worship. And inside, their sanctuaries preach sermons in wood and stone, using Balinese art forms revered by islanders for hundreds of years.

The church I visited features an ornate, floor-to-ceiling stone carving behind the Communion table. In its center, a vivid red medallion picturing an island boat floating on an ocean of mango leaves makes a powerful statement—this is a church sure of their identity as Balinese and as Christians.

The pastor explains that this exquisite art piece, styled as a traditional temple gate, symbolizes coming into God’s

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the church I visited earlier is obvious. And that, according to with the Hindu caste system, created a centuries-old mindBishop Mastra, is exactly as it should be. set where the possibility of bettering one’s position in life Since the 1950s, Mastra has been the driving force behind seemed impossible. the Protestant Christian Church in Bali. Under his leadership, While isolation kept Bali staunchly Hindu as most of the the Mango Tree Church has become a model of indigenous neighboring islands became Islamic, other faiths were also church growth by embracing its island identity and culture. excluded. Not a single Christian lived on the island until It was Mastra who developed a ministry plan for empowering 1930. A year later, a small community of 100 believers had the people of Bali to evangelize their own people through sprung up. But these Christians were persecuted and ostralocal resources. cized. Denied water for their crops, they struggled for Born into a Hindu family, Mastra was the first person in survival and found comfort in the theology of poverty his village to attend college. After taught by the church. Because a dramatic conversion while a in their experience to live as a student at the Christian Teacher Christian had resulted in cataTraining College in Surabaya, strophic material loss, Christians Mastra returned home to teach erroneously concluded that and minister. But he was disonly the poor could be believturbed by his country’s wideers. By the time intense persespread poverty and lack of educution ceased, poverty as a lifecation. He thought of God’s style was well entrenched. words to Abraham: “I will make As Mastra began to make you a great nation; I will bless connections between Bali’s polityou and make your name great; ical-religious history and the and you shall be a blessing” (Gen. Christian faith, two convictions 12:2). This verse challenged him emerged. If Balinese Christians to believe that Bali, Indonesia, were to live out God’s call to be was destined to bless the nations a blessing to the world, they of the world. He began preachwould have to begin by receiving this message from the pulpit. ing God’s blessing in their own But his views met resistance lives, something they could not from his own people. The condo without a biblical view of gregation felt they had nothing themselves. This meant acceptto offer. ing that they had value—both “The people in my congreas individuals and as Balinese. gation were poor, and they had a Mastra saw the celebration of poor person’s mentality,” Mastra Bali’s culture through the arts as says. “That had to change before a way to express that biblical we could hope to change our The altar, styled like a traditional temple gate, symbolizes view and to connect with the country.” But he himself had community. Secondly, Mastra worshippers’ entrance into God’s presence. not clearly defined how to bring believed that being a blessing to these changes about. Then Mastra had the opportunity to others meant addressing all aspects of a person’s life—mind, study in Asia, the U.S., and Europe, earning both a master’s body, and soul. He felt the church should be leading the way and a doctorate in theology. With a widened worldview, he in educational and social initiatives that would change peogained a better understanding of the barriers that kept his ple’s lives in all three dimensions. Mastra’s views were revopeople from experiencing God’s blessing in their lives. lutionary to Christians who had been programmed to deny The barrier in Bali, Mastra explains, was rooted in its their culture and accept a low station in life. history. Though Indonesia was under Dutch colonial rule Because the Balinese culture and the Hindu religion were from the early 1700s until the 1940s, treacherous coral reefs so entwined, the church taught that anything cultural was protected Bali from most external influences. However, it automatically anti-Christian—even evil. Mastra had grappled also permitted the Dutch policy of keeping the Balinese uned- with the relationship between faith and culture in his docucated to go unchallenged.The lack of education, combined toral thesis. But not until he had the opportunity to live in PRISM 2007

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Europe for three months did the pieces fall together for him.

He visited museums and cathedrals, enthralled by the beauty of both. In the Aquinas Institute School of Theology, the Catholic seminary where he received his doctorate, he’d experienced the power of symbols and rituals to convey the truth of scripture. Mastra saw the language of the church in a new light.

He was fascinated by the way Europeans had adapted Christianity’s Middle Eastern culture into their own through the arts. Whereas the Jewish Mary and Jesus likely had dark hair and eyes, the Madonna and Child of Europe’s master painters were blond and blue-eyed. He also observed how what were once pagan symbols were transformed into meaningful icons embraced by European Christians.

“At one time, the tree was worshipped by Germans,” Mastra says. “As one of Germany’s most plentiful resources, its wood provided shelter and fuel that kept them alive in the cold winters. When Christianity came, the tree—which was so important to their everyday lives—was not discarded by their culture; it was redeemed.” The German “tannenbaum” eventually became the Christmas tree, an international symbol of the season of Christ’s birth.

With a growing awareness of how European Christians translated the gospel into the language of their culture, Mastra began to wonder, “If Europe can do it, why can’t Bali do the same?” Mastra concluded that it was not only reasonable to redeem culturally significant icons for the Christian faith, it was important to do so. This revelation, though years in the

making, profoundly impacted Mastra’s approach to ministry.

Mastra had often asked himself, “Why is the church so barren?” He looked around at the mango trees so abundant on Bali. They were mature and healthy, with an overflow of nutrients that produced the sweet, delightful mangos the island was known for.

The thriving mango tree, he realized, was a picture of what the church in Bali was to be. John 15:16 says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” From this passage, Mastra developed what would become the foundation of his church theology.

“Fruit has three purposes,” he says. “First, to be a witness, because the tree is known by its fruit. Second, to be a blessing, because the fruit has meat that can be eaten to give health, strength, and life.Third, to be the seed for new life, because each fruit has a seed that can be planted to bring forth new trees.”

Mastra observed that trees produce the most delicious fruit in their own native soil and environment. “If you try to grow a tree in an area unsuited to it, it must be put in a pot in a green house, watered, and fertilized,” he says. “It will grow like a ‘bonsai,’ a dwarf, potted tree that needs constant care but bears no fruit.”

Left & Above: Celebrating Christ with traditional Balinese arts is at the heart of Bishop Mastra’s passion to bring revival to the local church.

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Unfortunately, the church in Bali resembled the “bonsai” use the dance to illustrate the message that we are to live without worry.” more than the mango tree. Mastra felt called to change that.

As Bishop Mastra speaks, I realize the dance is more than In 1971, Mastra returned home permanently from studies and travels abroad, excited about the concept of a church an illustration. It is fruit—the expression of a church that now with its own identity and locality. The following year, after knows it has much to share. being elected bishop of the Protestant Christian Church, Today the Mango Tree Church has over 70 congregations.

Mastra began the intentional process of adapting the gospel They are not poor. And they are breaking the cycle of povto the Balinese culture, using the symbols and art forms that erty on their island with a host of creative projects. Their already had meaning to his people.

Dhyana Pura Foundation developed a hotel that operates as “The stories of the Bible come alive when they are told a Christian retreat center a couple of months a year and as in the language of the culture,” he says. “In John 15 Jesus a resort the remaining months. Because tourism is a major says, ‘I am the vine, you are the industry in Bali, the church branches ....’ Bali has no vines, started a school to train hotel but we do have mango trees. So personnel. The school alone has we explain the principle of abidgreatly impacted the standard of ing in Christ by using the mango living for locals who develop tree, because it’s something the skills needed by the large resorts. people understand.”

The school now offers a bachWhereas once the church elor degree program in hotel had been reluctant to allow such management and has an interadaptations, today they miss no national student body of over opportunity to present Christ 2,000. within the context of the Balinese Income from the hotel and culture. Before meeting with school provides support for the Bishop Mastra, I attended a dinchurch, supplements pastor and ner hosted by the Mango Tree missionary salaries, and funds Church. Instead of a resort hotel many educational projects. The dining hall, the church chose an Mango Tree Church also offers outdoor Balinese venue for the a variety of community based event and served scrumptious programs to help people become traditional foods. Later a brightself-supporting, including a ly arrayed gamelan orchestra bank, small business developplayed as young women dressed ment program, and land stewin ornate costumes of pinks, ardship project. greens, and golds danced for us.

A common saying in the Given their stunning beauty, I Mango Tree Church is, “Bali is Bishop I. Wayan Mastra: “We are embedded deep assumed the troupe was profesmy body and Christ is my life.” in our own local culture and environment by Christ sional. I later learned the performMastra says, “We are embedwho is the inspiration for our existence.” ers were part of the arts academy ded deep in our own local culestablished by the church that ture and environment by Christ trains people in all art forms.This troupe was from the dance who is the inspiration for our existence.” The Mango Tree school, which serves as both an outreach in the community Church is busy serving Christ, who is their passion, through and a ministry of the church. the unique and beautiful Balinese body God has given them.

The dancers’ costumes and movements suggested those And like the mango trees that grace their island, their fruit of exotic birds, their headdresses resembling feathers and is abundant. ■ their capes like wings. The bishop confirmed this, explaining, “It’s a traditional Balinese dance called the Bird Dance. Karen Moderow is a freelance writer living in Big Canoe, Ga. When the young women perform it in church, we read the Photos courtesy of Billy Grimes of the Haggai Institute scripture from Luke 12 where we are told to consider the (haggai-institute.com). ravens. They do not sow or reap...but God feeds them. We PRISM 2007

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What If Every Denomination Were Like the

Salvation Army?

A Modest Proposal for Transforming American Church Life

BY TODD LAKE

While women weep as they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I’ll fight; while men go to prison…as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, I’ll fight; where there yet remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight— I’ll fight to the very end!

church. In fact, their existence points to the fact that churches, for the most part, want to outsource their contact with the poor. So they create entities that can do good Christian things on behalf of the poor.The local congregations themselves, however, do not view such engagement with their community’s needs as a constituent part of their identity.

Check out just about any church’s website, and you will find under the heading “services” a list of worship opportunities. Under the heading “ministries” you will discover a host of programs serving your needs in the areas of children or grief or handbell ringing. What you will not find, for the most part, is ministry as the New Testament understands it.

One shining exception is the Salvation Army. Some would say, “Wait a minute, that’s not a church, it’s a social service agency.” Even those of us who learned at some point that it is a denomination, and not a Christian social service agency, have failed to ponder the significance of that fact. The Salvation Army is a church, just like the Methodists and Baptists. It has ministers and educational requirements for ordination and choirs and Sunday morning worship and Sunday school and has even had a few church splits in its history—a sign of genuine denominational status if ever there was one.

The Army, as it is known, differs from the other denominations in only one key respect: It believes that commitment to the poor in one’s community and in the world is not optional for a church. That’s it. It is not peopled by better Christians or smarter Christians or even less contentious Christians than the rest of our churches. Its distinctive mark is not its uniforms but rather the simple fact that it has insti-

William Booth, Final Public Appearance, May 1912

C.S.Lewis

wrote once that we are not as holy as the apostles for the simple reason that we never intended to be. We cannot become what we have no intention of becoming. And it is clearly the case that American churches do not serve the poor because they do not intend to. Certainly there are exceptions, and readers of PRISM are aware of a great amount of the Christian community development work in the United States.We should be thankful for Lutheran Social Services, for Caritas and the St.Vincent DePaul Society, for the Christian Community Development Association, and the myriad parachurch agencies that bring Christians together to serve the poor in Jesus’ name.

But the major denominational service agencies are something other than the denomination itself.They are a special interest group within the denomination, just as the para-church agencies are special interest groups.They are good and they are needed, but they are not churches doing the work of the

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Redefining Church at Ground Zero continued from page 23. more frequent basis.”

In light of this need, the Sacred City’s first and focal project will be the creation of a Garden of Forgiveness at or near Ground Zero.The fact that the attacks of September 11 were religiously motivated, combined with the coming together of so many faiths and nationalities in the relief effort, laid the initial groundwork for the garden, which will be a place where people of all faiths and traditions will be able to pray and meditate on the need for peace.“Religion as a cultural force must be studied and faith communities mobilized to participate in the redevelopment,” Harris says.“We neglect religion at our peril.”

September 11 has international importance: Individuals from 91 countries, and nearly half that many faiths, were killed in the terrorist attacks. While this project is in the initial development stages, Harris advocates that it is essential that all nations and all faiths be a part of the future at Ground Zero and of a future that replaces religious violence with understanding, cooperation, and lasting peace.

The Sacred City Project’s other endeavors include a peace rally at Ground Zero on the U.N. International Day of Peace, to be held on September 21, 2005; a conference in the spring

Rev. Lyndon F. Harris directs the Sacred City Project, which seeks to continue the work of the interfaith community that arose spontaneously after September 11. of 2006 with the keynote speech by Fred Luskin of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and speeches by others such as NYPD Detective Stephen McDonald, who was paralyzed in the line of duty in 1986 and who now speaks on peace and forgiveness; and a citywide Interfaith Colloquium on ReImagining the City. ■ More information about these two projects can be found at www.sacredcity.org and www.sjchapel.org.

Becky Garrison is a freelance writer based in New York City. She is currently working on a book focusing on the role of religion in the 2004 election, to be published in the spring of 2006.

they would operate 5,420 group homes and 570 medical clinics to serve the poor. Further, they would provide holiday assistance to almost 50 million people and help 1 million individuals who are trapped in substance abuse—all this while conducting the full range of traditional activities more closely associated with a Christian church.

The cities of America would be transformed in remarkable ways if every denomination were like the Salvation Army.

Every time someone proposes refurbishing Sunday school space, or building a family life center, or going on a youth ski trip, it is an opportunity to speak up on behalf of the poor. Serving them is not optional in the kingdom of God; it is part of what makes it the kingdom of God. We need to begin quickly transforming our churches and denominations into places where Isaiah 58—known as The Salvation Army Charter—is the order of the day. As General Booth wrote in the preface to In Darkest England,“I have keenly felt the remedial measures usually enunciated in Christian programmes…to be lamentably inadequate for any effectual dealing with the despairing miseries of these outcast classes.The rescued are appallingly few—a ghastly minority compared with the multitudes who struggle and sink in the open-mouthed abyss.” ■

What If Every Denomination Were Like the Salvation Army? continued from page 25. seemingly innumerable programs for urban children and youth, people with AIDS, those needing assistance with food and utilities and rent, and signature programs like the annual Angel Giving Tree.

What would it look like if all denominations acted as the Salvation Army does? Let’s do the math.The Salvation Army has over half a million members in the United States.* You can multiply the Army’s number of ministries or people served by the appropriate number for your denomination. For example, if you are a Southern Baptist, multiply by 32 (there are 16 million Southern Baptists in the U.S.); if you are United Methodist, multiply by 16.The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has almost 3.5 million members, so if it were like the Salvation Army, its members would do seven times what the Army is doing.

Lutherans (ELCA), for example, would multiply these figures from the Army by 10, meaning that if they were doing on a per-member basis what the Salvation Army is doing, * The Army actually divides its adherents into two groups: Members (449,000) and Soldiers (115,000).The members may teach Sunday school, share in worship, etc. Soldiers are those who have signed the “Articles of War,” which include a standard Wesleyan doctrinal statement followed by “therefore…” It is here that the soldier pledges to devote him- or herself to be faithful “in His name, caring for the needy and disadvantaged” and to be involved in the “corps” (i.e. the community centers run by the Army) in order to fulfill the pledge. Soldiers and officers wear uniforms, while others do not.

Todd Lake is vice president for spiritual development at Belmont University in Nashville,Tenn.

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ON BEATING UPYOUR YOUTH PASTOR

BY BRUCE MAIN

“I’m leaving my church!”

Slouched in a chair across from my desk, 32-year-old Bert Wills had that youth-pastor look—sandals, baggy denims, a worn T-shirt with the emblem of some hip, social-justice cause. If I were 16, I’d have loved being in his youth group.

“Leaving?” Hadn’t Bert just traveled halfway across the country with his church’s youth group to help us out with our inner-city ministry?

The kids in his group were upper-middle class, and my quick assessment was that Bert was doing some cutting-edge discipleship by getting them out of their gated communities and putting them in places that would challenge their utopian worldviews and indifference and teach them what it meant to sacrifice and serve others.

Wearily he said,“I’m just tired.Tired of fighting. My church elders and trustees don’t want to reach out to kids. Every time I try to initiate a new project, I get shot down.The only youth ministry the church leadership seems to endorse is a maintenance program for church kids already in our programs. I have vision and passion for the fringe kids, but I just get beaten up for doing what God has placed in my heart.”

I listened as Bert talked. Earlier in the day I had watched him interact with his kids. He didn’t just pay attention to the jocks and cheerleaders, but had a special concern for those kids suffering from low self esteem. He had vision, passion, integrity, humor, and accessibility. He was a risk-taker with an entrepreneurial spirit, and he was a gritty servant. Hadn’t he just driven a 55-passenger bus for three days straight?

“Doesn’t his church know what they have?” I asked myself.

“Don’t those elders realize what kind of long-term impact this guy could have on their kids and their community?”

I’m sure those same elders would be the first to complain about rising youth violence, drugs, and teen pregnancy in their community. Couldn’t they see the connection between a dynamic youth minister and the curbing of those social problems? Couldn’t they move beyond their pettiness and see that skilled, loving youth pastors are rare and that they were incredibly blessed by God to have Bert?

But Bert felt as though he had been cursed by God like the prophets of old. His bones burned like Jeremiah’s when he thought about limiting his youth outreach to those kids who fit within the structure of the church. Bert believed that the gospel message of grace, forgiveness, healing, and redemption was not reserved just for kids whose parents got them to youth group in their Volvos, not just for kids who knew how to sit in a pew, read a hymnal, and conform to church etiquette.

He wanted to go into the skate parks, the video arcades, the roller rinks. He wanted, in the words of Martin Luther, to live on the “doormat of hell” and catch a few kids before they were enraptured and seduced by this world. He wanted to be a dispenser of God’s life-changing love and grace.

But his strong sense of God’s grace included those kids down the street—those no one cared about. One of Bert’s own deacons had said without thinking,“If those kids can’t come on their own to church, why do we have to go out and get them?”

“Their parents aren’t going to come and contribute to the church,” another had chimed in.

“Why do you need an extra $500 for ‘outreach’ when we could use the money to improve the curriculum for our kids?” the church accountant had asked at the annual budget meeting.

This lack of vision and support was driving Bert out of the church. He seemed at a dead end.There was no encouragement to stretch and develop his gifts—only resistance to outreach and growth.The message from the church leadership was clear: Don’t make waves. Focus inward. Maintain the status quo.

Shackling our entrepreneurs?

In the business world visionary thinking is recognized with promotion and bonuses. Initiative on the part of employees is acknowledged and affirmed. Entrepreneurial spirits keep businesses competitive, and companies that do not change and respond to a rapidly changing world quickly go out of business.

Status quo does not cut it in the long run.

If Bert worked, say, for Burger King and was given the task of recruiting young people and training them to become managers and leaders, he would be applauded and encour-

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aged for any initiatives that moved him towards that goal.

For some strange reason, however, church leadership often fails to make the connection between visionary thinking and the long-term life of a vital congregation. Churches often seem to be the only institutions in our culture that can justify the maintenance of “business as usual” while convincing their members to continue providing support. Stagnant congregations show up week after week, like creatures of habit caught in a time warp, and then they criticize those who are trying to initiate new ideas and adapt to a changing world.The irony is that most of these “business as usual” congregations would never support this mindset in other area of their lives.

Would they go to movies that were using the same special effects and techniques used in the ’60s or ’70s? Would they bank at financial institutions without MAC machines? Of course not.Then why do church congregations not embrace and support those who want to use their creative and innovative talents to expand God’s work in the world?

Most people-based institutions live by the principle that they must recruit new people and get those new people passionate about their vision and mission if they want to remain relevant and competitive. But sadly churches don’t always see that recruiting new kids from the streets into a youth group is significantly more important than recruiting kids to work at a fast-food shop. If they did, guys like Bert would be recognized as heroes and given the support they deserve. Instead, too many churches exercise their insecurities by beating up the Berts of the world.

To put it bluntly, too many churches do not know how to deal with young, energetic entrepreneurs, and the youth pastor’s vision and passion for God is slowly undermined by the church power structure. Narrow-minded church boards have difficulty investing in programs that do not have an immediate payoff for their congregations, and trustees frequently find themselves more concerned with the spots on the carpet than the spiritual lives of kids. Churchgoers are often afraid to let their own children mix with kids who come from different communities, and youth pastors who have a vision to bring kids in off the streets are often chastised.

Consequently, the person with creative gifts too frequently leaves the timid church and finds an outlet in a parachurch ministry or in the marketplace. I know many former youth workers who have taken their incredible people skills and their unending vision and have given it all to the business world.

Certainly these individuals can be terrific witnesses in their places of work, but the majority of their energies are not being directed towards young people. Rather than counseling kids away from suicide, they are selling products anybody could sell. Rather than hanging out on basketball courts and

sharing the gospel over coffee, they are flying around having “power lunches” and closing deals with those more interested in building their company’s net worth than the souls of American youth.The entrepreneurial spirit, the energy, and the creativity that should have been released on a full-time basis for God’s work in the world are instead being offered on the altars of corporate America.

Fan the spirit of youthful vision Entrepreneurial and innovative youth workers are one of God’s great gifts for building the church for future generations. As leaders and older adults we must relinquish our need to control, let go of our fears of the unknown, and enthusiastically encourage leadership that seeks to move beyond the status quo. We must look at youth outreach as our number-one priority, realizing that without our gifted youth leaders our churches will not grow and will not develop leaders for the next generations.

When children came to Jesus and were shooed away by the disciples, Jesus had a stern rebuke.The little ones, he said, are what the reign of God is all about, and he issued a warning to those who created stumbling blocks for the little ones who wanted to enter this reign. Church leaders who defeat, squelch, or discourage their youth pastors—the very people who are building bridges between kids and the reign of God—should take heed of Jesus’ warning.

As I look around Camden, N.J., the city in which I work, and see empty churches which were once filled with people from the surrounding neighborhoods, I am vividly reminded of the dire consequences for local churches that lack visionary leadership and do not respond and reach out to their changing communities. Within the last 20 years, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian congregations have all closed their doors because of their inability to reach local youth and nurture those youth into roles of leadership.

Because of their short-sighted approach to ministry, our neighborhoods are void of youth programs that get kids off the streets and potentially transform their lives. I strongly believe that this is one reason our city has a notorious reputation for drugs, crime, and teen pregnancy.

So let’s stand up for our visionary youth pastor at the next trustee meeting. Let’s risk a little financial expansion for youth outreach at the next budget meeting.And let’s walk down our church hallway to the Youth Department and make sure our youth pastor senses that his or her role is absolutely critical to the life—and future life—of our congregation. ■ Bruce Main is the cofounder and executive director of UrbanPromise Ministries in Camden, N.J. (www.urbanpromiseusa.org).

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REGAINING LOST GROUND Benevolence and the Church B Y LY N N E M . T H O M P S O N

to spend on our own buildings and administrative staff.”

Not only did we abandon the poor, Martin believes, but the church also left behind its heart. “When you personally know a homeless man or a single mom, your attitude towards your responsibility changes. I’m not suggesting that the poor don’t have any responsibility for helping themselves. But we must initiate reaching out to them. Single moms and their children are among the poorest in our land.Yet, our stereotypes about welfare mothers have often caused us to overemphasize the concept of the worthy poor and the unworthy poor, while neglecting to look at ourselves to see if we are even willing to reach out.”

Randy Alcorn, author of The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving (Multnomah, 2001), introduces a surefire way to restore the heart of social evangelism in the church. In an email interview Alcorn said,“Some people say, ‘I wish I had a heart for the poor.’Well, Jesus told us exactly how we can:‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, your heart will be also. ’The way to move our heart toward something is to put our treasure there.You want a heart for General Motors? Then invest a lot of money in General Motors.You want a heart for the poor and the needy? Invest your money, time, and abilities— all of which are your treasures—in the needy, and your heart is certain to follow.”

One church that might be considered fully invested in eternity is First Baptist Church of Leesburg, Fla. Struggling to survive 25 years ago, the church today is 5,000 members strong and offers 70 different ministries, housed at a “ministry village” on property adjacent to the church worship center. It includes a rescue mission, women’s shelter, teen home, pregnancy-care center, furniture barn, clothes closet, food pantry, and medical center.

Under the leadership of its pastor, Charles Roesel, the church offers what they call ministry evangelism.“Ministry evangelism is meeting a person’s needs in order to share God’s

n June 2001, George W. Bush invited a diverse group of Christian college presidents to Washington, D. C., to discuss one of the first proposals of his presidency, commonly known as the faith-based initiative plan. It was a radical idea: allocating funds to enable religious organizations to reach out to the community. Concerns quickly arose: It would be necessary to assure that none of the government support would go to religious activities.

When viewed through the lens of history, the scene described is striking in its paradox. Unlike past centuries, the church is now on the outside looking in, viewed by much of society as a stranger when it comes to public assistance and community outreach.Today the church is knocking on the doors of institutions the church itself once founded. Many of our hospitals, shelters, and orphanages trace their roots to the work of Christians who embraced Jesus’ mandate to help the “least of these. ” So when did the church become the outsider? That’s one question Cindi Martin, a licensed clinical social worker, addresses when she speaks to pastors and counselors regarding social services in the church.“Demographically and economically, the development of urban sprawl left many inner-city churches destitute,” Martin explains.“Those who could afford a move to the suburbs left, and apparently so did the vision for the inner city as an obvious mission for the local church.

Many inner-city churches shriveled and died, leaving their boarded-up shells as a testimony to another era.

“Whereas once we were faced with ‘my brother in need’ everyday,” she continues, “now we could read about them from the safety of our homes or gated communities.We didn’t think about those we were leaving behind or who would reach them. But the government did. Interestingly enough, the welfare state was emerging at the same time that the church was moving out.And since there were now organizations and government programs to meet the needs of the poor, we could focus on overseas missions and church growth.We had money

I

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love and forgiveness with them,” says Roesel.“I am not here just to feed the hungry or clothe the naked, but, I’ll tell you this, it is the most effective New Testament way of reaching people week after week for Jesus Christ. ” Pastor Roesel personally lives out his conviction.When his unbelieving neighbor needed his leafy roof cleaned off, Roesel grabbed his blower and went to work. Today both that neighbor and his wife serve at the church.“I could have given them Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict, which is a wonderful book, and we could have gone on two or three years discussing and debating. But one act of service evangelism got their attention more than years of talk.”

For one woman, service evangelism has meant a great deal more. Abby was finishing up boot camp following a period of incarceration and was frantically looking for a place to stay. “I didn’t want to go back home into the same ways of life as before, and the Lord worked everything out.” Abby began residing at the church’s women’s shelter where she received the support she needed.

“I attend the Sunday school and church service. I even got a job at the church as a janitor. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I would have been flat on my face—and back in prison—without the spiritual foundation being laid.”

Today, Abby is married to a godly man, and attends college in pursuit of a nursing career, hoping to work eventually in medical missions. She is thankful that God used the shelter to give her a new life.“God knew what he was doing when he placed me there. God sees so much more for us than we

see for ourselves.”

Building a serving empire like the one in Leesburg, where thousands of people receive some type of assistance each year, might seem financially overwhelming.After all, benevolence doesn’t come cheap. But Roesel believes that pastors concerned about the dollars are asking the wrong question.

“Never ask, ‘Can we afford it?’ Ask, ‘Is it God’s will?’ If it’s God’s will, he can afford it. ” God has more than footed the bills at Roesel’s church. Donations and grants from the community and members alike helped the church build the $2-million ministry village, with the church still finishing up its fiscal year $100,000 over budget.

Still, there’s nothing wrong with churches starting small when they first establish a benevolent ministry. Tabor Mennonite Church in Newton, Kans., partners with two other churches to provide a community food pantry.Volunteers under the able leadership of 78-year-old Rosella Wedel run the food closet that is housed in one of the Sunday school classrooms. “Ten years ago the minister said we needed a food pantry, so we took it on,” she explains.“There are some recipients who spend their money foolishly. Some church members said we shouldn’t feed them, but I said, ‘We’ll do it anyway. If they’re hungry, we’ll feed them.’”

By preaching more on evangelism and outreach, Corey Miller, pastor of the host church, has been working with his parishioners to make sure those receiving help get more than just food.“It’s easy for people to give food and fix up a house, but it’s always been more difficult for us to verbalize.We often

Seven Questions to Ask Before Starting a Church Benevolence Program 1.Who will make the decisions regarding requests? How much flexibility will the gatekeeper have?

What is the budget?

2. Can we verify the need? If so, is there a responsible party to whom a check can be written directly?

3. Is there any instance in which a person unknown to the church would be given cash?

If so, what are those instances?

4. Can the “creature comforts”—food, clothing, shelter, and medical care—be provided through arrangements with local vendors? For instance, can the church open a charge account at the local pharmacy so that someone suffering from poison ivy or a cold could go to the pharmacy and be given the proper medication? What about the same sort of relationship with doctors, grocery stores, and other vendors?

5. Is there someone within the congregation willing to offer these services for free or at a reduced rate?

6. How many times will the church help a nonmember or nonbeliever? What are the reasons for the limit?

7. Is there a sin—gambling, pornography addiction, drug use, alcohol abuse, or unbridled consumerism— causing the need? How will this be handled?

- Michael Barrick, editor of the webzine: www. thegoodsteward. com

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decided, in this case, to give to them financially and work with their directors.We are looking at becoming part of their program and gaining more of a voice for Christ.”

Clearly, one challenge of the 21st-century church is to reclaim our reputation for service to the community, finding creative ways to show and tell the gospel through benevolent acts both large and small. Perhaps the greatest challenge, however, is to resist the temptation to sidestep the benevolence issue altogether by setting ourselves up as judges of whom is “deserving” or “undeserving” of our acts of giving.

Christ himself never made those judgments, reaching out to any and all who came to him for help. History has shown us that benevolence is a powerful way to get our neighbors’ attention so we can then share the message of Christ with them. And Christ has commanded us to love one another, even our enemies.The way before us is clear. ■

12 Ministries to Start Today 1. Pregnancy care: provide free pregnancy tests, counseling, and prenatal care.

2. New parents: provide babysitting for new parents.

3. Women’s care: provide housing, protection, and care for displaced, endangered, or abused women.

4. Clothing: provide appropriate work clothing for people seeking employment.

5. Latchkey ministry: provide before- and afterschool care for a small fee.

6. Tutoring: provide a free after-school program to help students with academic problems.

7. Home meal delivery: provide hot meals to senior shut-ins.

8. Transportation: provide transportation to seniors for grocery shopping, medical appointments, and church attendance.

9. Car repair: offer automobile repair for widows, elderly persons, and single mothers.

10. Christmas toy store: purchase and collect new toys and other children’s items and invite lowincome parents to come and select items at a low price or for free.

11. Counseling: provide group or individual counseling by professional counselors or by trained lay counselors.

12. 24-hour prayer line: provide and advertise a telephone line that is staffed 24 hours a day.

Lynne M.Thompson is a freelance writer from Modesto, Calif. (www. kidfishy. com)

Out-of-the-Box Challenges • Meet once a week with an urban pastor in your city, for breakfast and prayer.

• Invite a homeless person to join you for lunch at McDonalds (yes, you eat together!).

• Volunteer to serve at a local homeless shelter or crisis center twice a month.

• Form a prayer team that focuses exclusively on what benevolent ministry God is calling your church to pursue.

Adapted from Meeting Needs, Sharing Christ, by Donald A. Atkinson & Charles L. Roesel (LifeWay Press). Used by permission.

Resources • Meeting Needs, Sharing Christ: Ministry Evangelism in Today’s New Testament Church, by Donald A. Atkinson and Charles Roesel (LifeWay Bookstores, 1995; tel: 800-233-1123).Video and workbook also available.

• The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving, by Randy Alcorn (Multnomah, 2001) • Establishing a Benevolence Ministry In Your Church Community, by Crown Financial Ministries (tel: 800-722-1976) • The Kingdom Assignment, by Denny and Leesa Bellesi (Zondervan, 2001) • The Church of Irresistible Influence, by Robert Lewis (Zondervan, 2003) • World Vision’s Love in the Name of Christ (LOVE INC), tel: 800-777-5277; www. LOVEINC. org

don’t preach what we practice;we are doers but we’ve been quiet in the land. Now we are trying to articulate our faith more.”

Other churches serve by partnering with existing parachurch organizations. Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California’s Silicon Valley wanted to extend a hand to some of the 700 homeless people who populate the area, many of whom walk through the church doors requesting assistance.

After some soul-searching, the church decided to lend financial support to a local ministry called Urban Ministry of Palo Alto.As David Peterson, director of congregational care at Menlo Park, explains:“A number of the agencies do what they do extremely well. If we were to try to replicate it, we would do it at a much lower level or not as efficiently.That’s what we thought with the homeless. Do we bring them here?

Do we feed them here? We saw that the program already set up is really efficient and has been refined over 12 years. So we PRISM 2004

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE L ori G . Baynard

Offering Good News in Bad News Times

debt, deficits, and delinquencies.

Given this commitment to fiscal responsibility, it was only natural that when the foreclosure crisis hit the state of New Jersey, Soaries felt compelled to step up and help. But what could one church do? Federal politicians were scrambling to try and rectify the growing number of foreclosures. New Jersey First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens was hit particularly hard. So Rev. Soaries, was founded in 1937 in Somerset, N.J., along with the First Baptist Community where it quickly established itself as a Development Corporation (which later church that cared for and served the became known as the Central Jersey community. Its legacy of feeding hungry Community Development Corporation families, providing scholarships to young or CJCDC), set up a meeting with compeople in the community, and taking the munity members, bankers, mortgage love of Jesus Christ out into the neigh- representatives, elected officials, and boring community was well in place members of the clergy. When over 800 when Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries people showed up, it was only too clear came to the church in 1990 as a pastoral that they needed to devise a plan to help candidate.

“The role of the Christian church is Given the pastor’s commitment to offer good news to those who find to fiscal responsibility, themselves in bad news situations,” affirms it was only natural that when Soaries. And whether the bad news situation is a governor in the middle of a the foreclosure crisis hit scandal, a radio personality making racial New Jersey, the church slurs about the local women’s basketball stepped up to help. team, or a police chief who needs assistance with community relations, Rev. Soaries and the members of First Baptist those homeowners most desperately in Church of Lincoln Gardens have been need. In answer to the need, the Housing Assistant Recovery Program (HARP) quick to serve.

Under Soaries’ guidance over the last was instituted by the CJCDC. In partnership with area banks, two decades, the church has placed 345 abandoned babies in loving homes, con- HARP has created a revolutionary structed over 100 homes for low- and approach to assist struggling homeownmoderate-income families, and created ers on the brink of foreclosure, and the the Cisco Technology Academy (the first program has had remarkable results. Here’s faith-based academy of its kind in the how the program works. Homeowners country). The church created and runs who are facing foreclosure first meet a state-of-the-art health center and a with HUD-certified counselors in an social services center, as well as a job attempt to work out a loan modificareadiness program.When a growing num- tion with the homeowner’s lender. If ber of church members found themselves loan modification is unattainable, the saddled with credit card debt, Rev. Soaries CJCDC will purchase the home from instituted the Dfree Lifestyle program, the lender and enter into a lease-purchase which encourages and teaches members agreement with the homeowner. The to manage their money and live free of homeowner must commit to attending

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financial counseling provided through the CJCDC. In addition, the homeowner must identify a mentor who can help the family through the process of reestablishing themselves financially by holding them accountable to their goals (the mentor has no financial obligation to the family). Finally, within 12-24 months, the family is able to repurchase their home at an amount not to exceed their original debt. Through this initiative people are able to stay in their homes, reestablish their credit, and repurchase their homes at a fair price. Rev. Soaries calls the plan “real help, right now, using no taxpayer money.”

In HARP’s first year the CJCDC was able to help over 400 families, but with the number of foreclosure filings steadily rising, Soaries believed that they needed to do more. Under his guidance, the CJCDC brokered a partnership with a neighborhood revitalization firm called APD Solutions in Atlanta, Ga. The firm invested $25 million to further HARP’s work and to allow the CJCDC to buy up vacant bank-owned properties in eight targeted communities in New Jersey.

The CJCDC would then offer these homes to low- and moderate-income families along with continuing to help those families facing foreclosure.This new venture is estimated to help approximately 625 families this year alone.

Rev. Soaries sums up the core belief of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Garden like this: “We don’t celebrate Jesus only on Sunday morning but also believe in serving our community in the name of Jesus all week long.” And by the grace of God, they are doing just that.

(For more information about HARP visit FBCSomerset.com). n Lori G. Baynard is a Sider Scholar at Palmer Theological Seminary, where she studies faith and public policy. She also serves as a courtappointed special advocate for abused and neglected children in N.J.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE mae elise cannon

Besieged by Hope

preaching the gospel while situated in the bull’s-eye of a war zone.

Dozens of bullet holes punctuate the wall and ceiling of Raheb’s office. In 2002, during the second intifada, Israeli soldiers used the church’s facilities as their headquarters for three days, causing over In 1967, shortly after the outbreak of the half a million dollars in damages. Despite Six-Day War between Israel and its neigh- the destruction inflicted by the army, the boring states, a 5-year-old Palestinian ministry of the church has continued to boy named Mitri Raheb was carried by grow and to flourish, for Pastor Raheb’s his mother to the Church of the Nativity message is one of great hope.

Raheb sees his pastoral role in the in Bethlehem in search of refuge from the bombardments. Built on a 4th-century community as encouraging Palestinians foundation, the Church of the Nativity to move from the perspective of being marks the traditionally recognized birth- a victim to that of being active participlace of Jesus. For centuries worshipers pants in pursuing hope for the future. from around the world have been trav- He invites people to be a part of the vision eling to that very place to celebrate the and to nurture, challenge, and educate birth of the Prince of Peace. However, themselves through leadership training through much of the 20th century and and development. The opportunity for into the new millennium, Bethlehem has transformation comes through a relationbeen a place of conflict, poverty, and ship with Christ and the opportunity to oppression — the consequences of living become actively engaged in shaping the under occupation. Bethlehem has known future of their community.

Creative opportunities to develop and little peace.

A descendent of generations of uplift people in the community are found Christians, little Mitri Raheb would grow in the church’s Diyar Consortium, a up to become a pastor and shepherd to compilation of ministries that includes his community in Bethlehem. He stud- the International Center of Bethlehem ied in Germany, earning his doctorate (ICB), committed to “serving the whole in theology from the Philipps University of the community from the ‘womb to in Marburg. After returning to his home- the tomb’ with an emphasis on women, land, Raheb became the pastor of the children, youth, and the elderly”; the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem Media Center, which prowhere he discovered that the theological vides programming in Arabic that seeks framework he learned from his univer- to support the elderly and empower sity training failed to relate to the ques- women as well as to report the good news tions being asked by his community in coming out of Palestine; and the DarBethlehem. He began a process of help- Al Kalima College, which teaches over ing his congregation wrestle with con- 100 students skills for sustainable living, textual theology while living with the including training in the arts, teaching, stress of occupation. Six months after tourism, and various other academic his return from Germany, the first inti- programs. Other ministries of the church fada started. Raheb recounts the difficulty include a restaurant and guesthouse, of preaching a sermon while artillery children’s programs, a community cenfire barked in the distance. He talks about ter, a 350-seat theater, and dozens of the challenges of worshiping God, shep- activities to encourage life and bring herding the community of faith, and hope to those living in Bethlehem.

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Just as Christ’s incarnation took place in a particular cultural context, theology must be relevant to the context of the Palestinian people. Raheb says, “It is only Jesus who is able to transform people in this country from spectators into actors.”The partition wall that surrounds the city of Bethlehem is covered with scrawled cries for freedom.

The despair of living with restricted movement, with limited economic opportunities, and with other realities of occupation can feel overwhelming to Palestinians living in Bethlehem.

But Raheb describes the genius of the gospel in this way: Jesus could have viewed himself as a victim of the Roman Empire — that would have been a natural, understandable response. Instead, he was victorious over death, and his followers went forth proclaiming, “He is risen!”

They professed a hope that was beyond human understanding. Christians were no longer victims but victors in the message of Christ.

Of his community in Bethlehem, Raheb says, “If hope can be experienced in this context, it can be experienced anywhere in the world.”The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church is doing all it can to embody the promise implicit in Christmas, here in the birthplace of hope — for the people of Bethlehem and beyond. n Visit BethlehemChristmasLutheran.org.

Mitri Raheb’s books include I Am a Palestinian Christian (1995), Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present (1998), and Bethlehem Besieged (2004).

Mae Cannon is executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Nominate a holistic church at kristyn@esa-online.org.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE D aniel C ollins

Reaching Working-Class Immigrants in Chicago’s Chinatown

CCUC bought the building, named it the Pui Tak Center, and established it as the physical home of their community service arm. A year later, David Wu was hired as the center’s executive director.

Wu points out that the 30,000-squarefoot building, Chinatown’s only historical landmark, is a perfect portrait of the gospel — something corrupted by man has been redeemed by God and now serves people in God’s name. He insists it is no coincidence that the city’s most distinctive example of Chinese archiWhen Wendy Chai left her native China tecture has become the point at which for Chicago two years ago, her primary Chinese immigrants begin acclimating concern was finding a job. But she also to a new life in the United States.

“Even in our outreach work we are needed to learn English. A number of people recommended that she check out trying to connect this need people the free ESL classes at Pui Tak Center, have — to learn English — with our located in the heart of the city’s vision of sharing the gospel with the Chinatown.Two weeks after arriving in people around Chinatown,” says Wu. Chicago, Chai began her first course. “Every year, people are getting bap“Now I can speak and write basic sen- tized at CCUC, and I think that is the tences,” says Chai, 57. “I don’t have to most important measure — not simply becoming active at church, but really avoid talking to Americans.”

The Pui Tak Center is a ministry of doing work to build a Christian life.” the Chinese Christian Union Church While adult education has been a cen(CCUC), which opened in 1903 with tral focus, many new immigrants are in the goal of reaching the city’s growing urgent need of basic orientation to the number of Chinese immigrants. Over city. CCUC’s Individual Community the years, the church has offered English Program meets this need by assisting classes for adults, sponsored homework immigrants with legal, medical, and edututoring and Chinese language classes cational concerns. By distributing over for children, and even opened up its gym 300 welcome packages a year to newto the community. The church started comers, the Pui Tak Center begins to Chinatown’s first preschool in 1953 build relationships with immigrants who and operated a monthly medical clinic might otherwise have neither the time nor the inclination to attend church on throughout the ’60s and ’70s.

In the late ’80s, the church’s ministry a Sunday morning.

From the start CCUC has taken a to the community had expanded so much that additional space was urgently needed. holistic approach to community services.

Just down the street from CCUC stood “All of our services here at the Pui Tak a monument to traditional Chinese archi- Center focus on one thing — helping tecture, a building constructed in 1928 new immigrants in Chinatown rebuild as headquarters for a Chinatown mer- their lives,” says Wu. “On a typical day, chants association. The building served 600 to 800 people come through our in that capacity until 1988, when an FBI doors. Many are new immigrants from raid exposed a multimillion-dollar rack- China who come to learn English or to eteering operation and it was confiscated seek advice from our staff. Some realize by the federal government. In 1993 that they need help rebuilding their PRISM 2009

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spiritual lives, too.”

The success of the ESL program has been fueled by the immigrants’ earnest desire to learn, even when it means an early morning class after an all-night shift at a restaurant. Wu recalls one student who drove two hours from Racine,Wis., to attend classes. Because the program receives some governmental support, the classes cover job training, career development, and computer literacy. In addition, CCUC offers ESL Bible classes, which allows the staff to touch on the spiritual as well as the physical and economic aspects of each immigrant’s life.

“ESL allows us to walk with immigrants for two to three years,” explains Wu, “building long-term relationships that would otherwise be impossible.”

“I think evangelism is what really drives the church,” he continues, “but a lot of churches miss the immigrant working class because it’s so hard to reach out to them with their demanding work schedules.”

The recession has provided an opportunity for the church to expand its outreach. Says Wu, “Our ESL instructors are working to create a new healthcare curriculum for our classes to provide a broader market for immigrants. We are also developing courses tailored specifically to restaurant workers and hotel housekeepers — with English they need to do their job.”

The joy and enthusiasm that the staff exhibit in serving immigrants explain why Wendy Chai, and others like her, beam with appreciation for the Christians at Pui Tak Center. “They have given us a new life that I’m very proud of,” she says. More importantly, the gospel is being lived out before them in practical, tangible, and significant ways. n Daniel Collins is a freelance writer and video producer in Chicago, Ill.“Making a Difference” profiles congregations that put arms and legs on the gospel. Nominate a church at kristyn@esa-online.org.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE M ark L . R ei f f

Reversing a Trend The January 2009 issue of Christianity Today reported that African American congregations are increasingly embracing a “black flight” from urban areas as more and more African Americans reach middle-class socioeconomic status. The report said that this only increases the disillusionment with God’s people among those who stay.

Standing counter to this trend is the Great Commission Church (GCC).

Founded a decade ago in Roslyn, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, this congregation decided to move to a Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood dealing with more than its fair share of crime, drugs, and unemployment. Pastor Larry Anderson, who oversaw the move, marvels at the work God is doing in and through GCC, a congregation that was, at the time of the move, composed mostly of middleclass African Americans—a model of the very trend reported by Christianity Today.

The story of GCC’s unusual move goes back to 2002, when Larry Anderson and his family moved to Roslyn and began searching for a new church home.

They visited GCC and found it was a good fit, but God had more than membership in mind for Anderson. A year later the church’s lead pastor expressed his desire to step into a support role, and Anderson, who was doing urban training and pursuing his MDiv at Biblical Theological Seminary, was asked to consider the position. By the end of that year, through continued study and training as well as close mentorship by the leadership team, Anderson was confident enough to fill the lead pastoral role. “I never applied for the position,” recalls Anderson.“God prepared the entire situation, and I just followed his leading.”

Since its inception, GCC had rented meeting space in various church build-

ings within the suburban community.

But Anderson’s understanding of the biblical partnership between evangelism and social action prompted in him a growing discomfort with the congregation’s vision for suburban ministry. His concerns were vividly confirmed when GCC planned to give Thanksgiving turkeys to needy area families and nobody in the congregation knew of anyone in need. His discomfort intensified as Philadelphia’s 2007 mayoral election cycle commenced and he heard stories of the city’s rampant murder rates, largely in his native North Philadelphia.

Anderson wasn’t the only one in the congregation with urban roots. In fact, much of GCC had close ties to those urban areas in the most turmoil. Anderson began to seek God’s will for the church, and he invited the congregation to join him in an intensive study of Nehemiah.

Because of what God revealed to them through this study, as well as the congregation’s growing desire to have its own facility, GCC decided to move to an urban setting where they could integrate with the community and partner with God’s work of transformation.

In the year following this discernment, GCC worked at raising adequate funds, handling logistics, and preparing members’ hearts for the impending move into a new context.They located an old church building in Philadelphia’s West Oak Lane section that fit their vision and, with some assistance, was fiscally feasible for them to acquire. They studied the surrounding neighborhood and found that their congregation could mesh well demographically.They developed a document outlining their plan, expressing their desire to serve in an urban setting and inviting others to journey alongside them. Anderson used this document as a rallying point to mobilize the congregation and others to support the transition, both spiritually and financially.This entire process culminated in January 2008, when GCC moved into its new PRISM 2009

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facility, poised to connect with the societal brokenness all around them and offer it Jesus’ love.

Since the move, GCC has continued to be a nontraditional, informal evangelical congregation. Anderson has worked at cultivating a sense of authentic transparency throughout the church, which offers safety and grace to those in the community who are recognizing their brokenness. These successes certainly have not come without trials, and Anderson is ready to share about the times when the new context has strained congregational comfort zones. But GCC has allowed God to sustain and lead them in this journey, making each of these struggles fruitful.

Anderson has worked at developing partnerships with various agencies in the community that GCC can support and work with in social engagement. He has been influenced by John Perkins’ philosophy of Christian community development, which he encountered in his current doctoral study at Biblical Theological (where is he also director of Urban Initiatives and the seminary’s first African American faculty member), and he is working to utilize those principles in GCC’s new setting.This has led the congregation to participate effectively in holistic ministry and to begin offering new hope to a neighborhood in turmoil.

By God’s grace GCC is pioneering an exciting response to the reality of “black flight,” offering a model of hope to all churches, regardless of demographic makeup. (To learn more, please visit their website at GreatCommissiononline.org. n Mark L. Reiff is pursuing his M.Div degree at PalmerTheological Seminary inWynnewood, Pa., where he is a Sider Scholar working with ESA’s Word & Deed Network. He is also a youth pastor at Doylestown Mennonite Church.

“Making a Difference” profiles congregations that put arms and legs on the gospel. Nominate a church at kristyn@esa-online.org.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE K rista Petty

A Church for Orphans

The church did eventually build a school, which today ministers to foster families. “Foster kids are welcome at the school, and we work hard to scholarship their needs,” says Sauder.

The church maintains a strong emphasis on issues related to orphans: 100 kids “We were planning on building a school are in their care on any given day, 200 in 1997, but our plans changed,” recalls volunteers participate in such ministries Doug Sauder, pastor of family minis- as mentoring and teaching, and over 200 tries at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Christian families are licensed to be foster parents. Every child brought into the (CCFL).

Why? Because that year the news- Broward County Child Welfare system paper headlines in Florida exposed a —yes, that’s right, every child!—is dire state of affairs: Foster children had given loving shelter and supervision at been lost, and some had even died yet SafePlace 4KIDS while they await a gone unmissed by the very system cre- more permanent placement.

After that, children are either placed ated to track and care for them.

This got the attention of CCFL’s with a foster care family or at KidsPlace leadership and members. Although they Shelter, a family-style shelter for up to had always been a church focused on six kids, aged 4 to 14. This allows sibcommunity needs, they chose to divert lings to be kept together while awaiting a energy, effort, and funds to solutions for foster home placement or reunification foster care children and youth as never with a family member. Those children who are not placed with a foster care before.

“Children need homes first!”exclaimed family or family member are welcomed Senior Pastor Bob Coy from the pulpit into GirlsPlace (for teenage girls), one Sunday.The congregation—a vibrant GuysPlace (for teenage boys), and body of more than 18,000 believers at KidsPlace 2 (for sibling groups and chilone main and two satellite campuses— dren who are difficult to place).

CCFL and 4KIDS of South Florida agreed, and today, much to the credit of CCFL, children in Broward County are also work in tandem with two additional not only being enfolded into new homes nonprofit organizations that were but are also receiving a quality educa- launched from the church. His Caring Place provides a safe harbor for pregnant tion and being formally adopted.

By delaying the start-up of the Christ- teenagers, and Adoption 4KIDS matches ian school project for a year, the church courageous birthparents with committed was able initially to add four people to Christian families.

Another aspect of this ministry to staff for their foster care ministry, 4KIDS of South Florida. Since then, the minis- foster children is CCFL’s commitment try has become its own nonprofit with to help other churches get involved in a staff of 70. To date, 6,000 kids have foster care solutions.To date, 140 churchbeen housed, fed, and loved in Christian es are involved in or partnering with shelters or foster homes as a part of the CCFL and 4KIDS of South Florida.

How did this church organize such ministry, and over 100 children have been connected with families for adoption. a comprehensive, large-scale effort so This ministry is in addition to their min- effectively? Seeing the need to draw in istry to thousands of prisoners, a home other churches and faith-based providers for pregnant teens, and 65 church plants throughout the tri-county area, 4KIDS birthed “Churches United for Foster Care” in Florida and around the world.

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in 2002.This initiative now facilitates the involvement of more than 100 organizations to care for Florida’s orphans.

“We have vision luncheons with other Florida pastors, sharing the mandate of Scripture to care for orphans as well as teaching them how they can be a part of the solution. We tell them, ‘We don’t need your money. We need your people to love and care for orphans,’” says Sauder.

CCFL empowers local churches to start their own residential homes for kids in need.“We train and take on liability so that a church can integrate a ministry to foster children into the life of their own church. It’s sort of a franchise model,” says Sauder.

In 2006, CCFL made 32 presentations to congregations, yielding 33 new families involved in the licensing process, 53 new homes licensed, and 53 children placed in ministry-based, foster care settings.

Parenting a child is a lifetime commitment, so getting members involved can be challenging.“Foster parenting can be scary, but once you see the kids and begin to work through the issues, it is very rewarding,” says Sauder, a foster parent himself. “Spiritually, our ministry to foster kids adds a vibrancy to the church.” Having foster kids in the classrooms of the church’s school and summer camps, as well as having foster parents in the adult Sunday school classes, brings a dose of reality to the scriptural call to care for orphans. n Krista Petty is a senior advisor for Backyard Impact (BackyardImpact.com), a community-involvement training organization for congregations, community agencies, and corporations. She also serves as an editor and resource developer for the Externally Focused Church (EFC) movement. Sponsored by the Compassion Coalition and Fasten Network, Petty writes EFC profiles of churches (available at FastenNetwork.com), from which this article was adapted.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE J . M onty S te w art

A Wellspring in Paradise Emerging from the Honolulu International Airport on the island of Oahu, you get your first whiff of paradise.

Verdant palm trees wave in the seawaterscented breeze, and you can almost taste the mango, papaya, coconut, and pineapple. People fly in from all over the world, drawn to luxurious locations like Waikiki Beach and famous landmarks like the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor or the Aloha Stadium, home of the NFL’s yearly Pro Bowl.

In the nearby community of Aiea stands Wellspring Covenant Church, the first Evangelical Covenant church plant in Hawaii. Pastors Randy Furushima and Dale Vallejo-Sanderson planted Wellspring in 2001, the result of both tenured pastors desiring to be more justice-oriented in the scope of their ministries. Wanting to see justice and righteousness prevail, they envisioned their new church as being contemporary, invested in the lives of people, and making a difference in the local community.

Then the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, rocked the nation.

People immediately began returning to church, but it was mostly to the mainline denominations. The pastors regrouped and prayed about finding a niche, something that no one else was doing on the island of Oahu. They discovered that while many churches were involved in jail or prison ministries, reaching out to incarcerated folks, no one was helping children stay in touch with their incarcerated parents, particularly the mothers.

They applied for a separate nonprofit and launched Safe Place, a ministry for kids of incarcerated adults. “We

want to see a generation of children who rise up and do not follow in the paths of their parents,” says Furushima.

Wellspring works predominately with children of incarcerated mothers, but has worked with children of incarcerated fathers as well.

They began by consulting with staff from the Center for Family at the University of Hawaii, building relationships in the community, and seeking to integrate the prisoners’ families into the local church. Right next to Aiea, in the shadow of such tourist magnets as Aloha Stadium and Pearl Harbor, lies the community of Pu’uwai Momi, a public housing development and one of the largest and most challenging neighborhoods on the island.

“We decided to take the church to Pu’uwai Momi,” explains Furushima.

“Too many times we say that we are the church and people should come to us.

We took the church to the people.”

This involves providing Christmas for the families, picking up local youths so they can participate in church events, and providing Mother’s Day celebrations for those children whose moms are incarcerated.

Eventually Wellspring came to understand that their various activities were not simply an offshoot of the main ministry of the church, but something intrinsic to their ministry, a natural manifestation of who God was calling them to be. With this in mind, in 2006 Wellspring absorbed Safe Place into the church, canceling its separate nonprofit status, for they no longer see the ministry as separate from the church.

On Easter Sunday, Wellspring took the church to the local women’s correctional facility, thanks to the rapport the church body has developed with the authorities over the past few years.

They brought in food, games, crafts— and the inmates’ children. Volunteers from the church, including people from Pu’uwai Momi, joined with the incarPRISM 2008

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cerated moms and their children in worshipping the arrested, incarcerated, tortured, executed, risen Christ. On that memorable day, they were no longer separate entities—Wellspring Covenant Church, incarcerated moms, etc.—instead, they were simply one body, the church of Jesus Christ experiencing his grace through the resurrection story.

In addition to erasing the walls between the church, the community, and the prison, Wellspring has established both the Wellspring Arts Institute and Hawaii Theological Seminary. The Arts Institute is a place where writers, painters, sculptors, and musicians can express their faith and where the church body can embrace and benefit from their gifts. “We believe that the arts are another significant way we can impact the world,” explains Furushima, who also serves as president of the church’s small accredited graduate theological school. “Our goal is to equip leaders for ministry in a variety of settings,” he says of the seminary, “especially in Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, and Asia.We will soon become the graduate school of a college currently in Guam with campuses on several Micronesian islands.”

While tourists wander the nearby beaches enjoying a brief stay in what they call paradise, little do they know that heaven is really happening in the local prison, public housing neighborhood, and a small church with a big heart. For paradise is wherever righteousness and justice prevail and wherever Christ’s church understands her call to be his bride. n J. Monty Stewart is the pastor of Kona Church of the Nazarene, a multicultural church in Kailua-Kona,Hawaii.“Making a Difference” profiles congregations—of any size, budget, and denomination—that put arms and legs on the gospel. If you’d like to nominate a church for this column, email the editor at kristyn@esa-online.org.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE MEG E. COX

Collaborating with the Spirit

place for them to go after school.

Michaelsen didn’t yet attend Living Water Community Church, but she knew some people who did: Debbie Lee had started the moms’ group for which Michaelsen babysat, and Lee’s upstairs neighbor, Lidia Mika, was hosting a small Where are the ministries? This is what I group of middle-schoolers for homewanted to know when our family began work time in her apartment in the afterattending Living Water Community noons. Mika invited Michaelsen and the Church, a small Mennonite congrega- boys to use her living room while the tion in Chicago’s Rogers Park neigh- middle-schoolers met in the kitchen.

Mika and Lee introduced Michaelsen borhood nine years ago.

Before moving to Rogers Park, we to other members of the church who had attended Rock of Our Salvation had created a tiny nonprofit called Bridge Church on the city’s West Side, and I and Garden Works, giving it the motto had worked at Circle Urban Ministries. “Christians cultivating children’s potenThe two form a church-parachurch part- tial in Rogers Park.”When Michaelsen’s nership that serves hundreds of people term with Youth with a Mission ended, each week and is widely regarded as a she asked her friends and family to conleading model of faith-based commu- tinue to support her work by giving to the nonprofit. nity development.

This jived with the congregation’s I felt at home in our new congregation because its core members were mission strategy. Members “look for socially conscious people who had relo- where the Spirit of God is at work and cated to this city neighborhood to start collaborate with it,” says Pastor Sally the church, but I was perplexed because Youngquist. The Bridge and Garden there seemed to be no outreach programs. Works connection was only a small part Then I heard about “Kayleen’s Boys.” of the picture. Hospitality, peaceful Kayleen Michaelsen had come to volunteer action, and good cooking are Rogers Park to work for Youth with a Living Water’s long-term tools for culMission. She was volunteering at a local tivation: Discipleship flourishes when pregnancy center when she met six boys members welcome neighbors into their who together hailed from three conti- homes; a lemonade stand provides a nents—a microcosm of the neighbor- peaceful presence on a corner where hood’s ethnic mix. Only 8 to 10 years old, fights often break out after school; neighthe boys wore their house keys around borhood kids crowd in for a weekly their necks and spent their afternoons potluck meal.

When Pastor Youngquist opened her roaming the neighborhood. As they got to know the Youth with a Mission home to the boys for an evening Bible folks, they began to hang out in the study, they began to invite their friends, unlikeliest of places: the waiting room and soon they were a group of 12—all of the pregnancy center where boys but one. They called themselves Kids Network.

Michaelsen volunteered.

The group then moved to the dou“Obviously they must have been bored to want to come in there, and they ble apartment that the congregation felt we were people they could trust,” used for a fellowship room, and Living Michaelsen remembers. She and her col- Water’s after-school program was born. leagues kept the boys busy with art sup- More volunteers joined in, and they plies, but she wished there were a better began serving a dinner-quality snack to PRISM 2008

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the children. “It’s often the kids’ first meal of the day,” said the current coordinator, Sue Ormesher.

Soon the original Kids Network group became too old for the afterschool program, so youth pastor Joe Maniglia began integrating them into the church youth group. Now they are finishing high school and beginning college—and anchoring the volunteer staff of Living Water’s summer VBS. Two years ago Living Water moved into its own building.The transition was so expensive that the tiny after-school line item had to be cut from the church budget, and the youth pastor position was cut down to part-time.The congregation held its breath, wondering how things would go without them. Ormesher wasn’t worried. “If God wants this thing to happen,” she said, “then it doesn’t require a particular leader.”

Indeed, the program now serves an unprecedented 18 children two afternoons a week, Spanish-speaking volunteers are joining in, and the leaders are beginning to make connections with the children’s families.

Living Water was recently awarded its first-ever grant for the after-school program—$5,000 from a major foundation. Ormesher is hoping to expand the program to four afternoons a week rather than increase its size. There was a time, Ormesher said, when what she wanted most was to reach more kids. But her husband asked her: “Why go a quarterinch deep and a mile wide when you could let the roots go deep and cover a smaller portion of land?”

Ormesher realized he was right. “To get to water,” she said, “you have to have deep roots.” ■ Meg E. Cox is a freelance writer and editor in Chicago. “Making a Difference” is a new column profiling congregations—of any size, budget, and denomination—that put arms and legs on the gospel.You can nominate a church at kristyn@esa-online.org.