Miracles

So.....

I believe that everyday there are little miracles if we will just open our eyes to see them.

Today I was working in the garden with some wonderful volunteers and discovered some "volunteer" tomato plants. These plants likely came up from seeds of tomatoes that fell from last years plants and decomposed. It was incredible for many reasons, one of them being that last year I only planted around 15 tomato plants, and this year there were around 100 volunteer plants that sprouted up. I gave a few of the plants away tonight and am going to take many more to plant at the homes of some of the families that I know who are interested in growing some of their own food.

The coolest thing though, is that Jesus says, " Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it cannot bear fruit." It is just so amazing to see that passage come to life. There was one spot where 16 tomato plants where all clustered together, clearly being from seeds of one tomato. That one tomato fell to the ground and died, but it produced 16 plants which will each produce many tomatoes. Beautiful.

So many more thoughts about the gardening experience tonight but will just note a couple quickly.

1. The kids got to pick a strawberry from the few that have grown- the rinsed and ate them with the biggest smiles on their faces!

2. The kids cut a lot of lettuce(yet just a small portion of all that is ready to harvest). They were thrilled about rinsing, and even eating it! So exciting.

Non-Profit

I have been thinking quite a bit about starting a non-profit. There are several reasons for doing this, the main reason being the ability to raise funds for community development projects in the First Indian community. I have really struggled with a name for the new ministry because I believe that it will include several programs to people of different ages. I just happened to be sitting in my living room about to begin reading a book, and it came to me.

THE JUBILEE PROJECT.

Jubilee is a concept that is found in the book of Leviticus, a concept that says all debts shall be released. This is a concept that fits directly into my vision for the First Indian Community. In our community there is a significant need for release of debts- debts that we have individually and communally accumulated. The debts or chains of poverty and addiction are just a few.

Part of the working mission statement is something like this: Our mission is to see redemption and justice in urban Oklahoma City.

Some of the programs in the organization will be:

-Mentoring program (this has already started with a relationship at Capitol Hill Elementary and several mentoring relationships with students from the church)

-After School Program (this is already taking place, the goal is to focus on redeeming the importance of education in our community by helping students to graduate from high school)

-Employment- micro-businesses

-Recovery programs for those recovering from drug and alcohol addictions, as well as recovery from lifestyles of prostitution

WOW...This is all in the works...having a name in mind is a huge blessing, that is what has been holding me back for the last couple months.

Im so excited about the potential that The Jubilee Project will have. Please pray!

LONG, LONG Time No Post

Well friends, I can't believe that I haven't posted anything to this blog in almost 6 months! I can't begin to state all that has gone on in the last several months. We opened the Youth Center on September 13th and have really enjoyed the safe and spacious place to hold our children and youth activities. We started SALSA( Succeeding And Learning Skills After school) on September 14th. SALSA has proven to be a blessing to the children and their families, it allows us to spend time with the children during the week and to help them with their homework and other academic and life skills.

The following is a bit of my personal journal entry for today...I had a beautiful day with friends in the community.

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God’s faithfulness and beauty are such that I can’t help be continually be overwhelmed! Wow…where to begin…

My day began by picking Judy up to get groceries from Jesus House. It was a new experience, I didn’t even know that Jesus House has a food pantry. There were so many people lined up in the 20 degree weather to receive groceries, some waited outside over an hour I’m sure. It was good to spend some time with Judy and to see Melvin as well.

Next off to the Beatnix café for a meeting with Joe and Tim…

We discussed non-profit stuff, specifically community development and micro-business. We have been in conversation about starting a lawn mowing business to provide employment for people in the community. This morning Joe mentioned that it has been on his heart to start a coffee shop in the area that would serve as a place for the suburbanite community to engage with the urban community. Tim stated that the two areas of micro business that have been on his mind are lawns and coffee shops.

Fast forward to this afternoon at SALSA….

It was a beautiful day (the first in a couple of weeks) so we played kickball in the backyard of the youth center. We all had so much fun! The rest of SALSA went so well, the kids were very well behaved and respectful. Robert and Marcus both had their report cards… Robert has moved from below level in reading to ON LEVEL! This is hugely wonderful news! When Marcus showed his brother his report card Robert looked at me and said, very saddened, “he has an ‘F’ in reading.” I told him I knew and encouraged Robert to help Marcus with reading at home. A few minutes later, when Robert was finished with his homework, he volunteered to read with Marcus. Robert put his arm around Marcus’ shoulders and sat very close while guiding him through The Three Little Pigs. It was so beautiful to see Robert stepping up to help his little brother.

When Alicia came to pick the kids up she began filled me in on what has been going on with her in the last couple of weeks. She mentioned that she has been talking with Josh about her desire to open a pastry shop…and he shared with her his dream to open a coffee shop…then encouraged her that they could have a coffee and pastry shop together…and she mentioned to me that she wanted to have a homeless day or something to be able to include the homeless because she has a heart for the homeless.

Now… Beatnix café conversation…Alicia conversation. WOW. Need I say more? I hope and pray that the opportunity here is for Alicia and Josh to start a coffee and pastry shop that we can help to support.

I couldn’t help but cry when Alicia told me this. Of course, she looked at me very seriously and said, “ DON”T CRY!” To which my response was, “ I CAN’T HELP IT!” I informed her of my earlier conversation with Joe and Tim and told her that I believe God is starting something with all of us…He is stirring our hearts and minds in the same direction.

So I came home and conveniently ran into Tim as soon as I walked in the door, so I shared with him what Alicia had told me. Then I preceded to enter my room, fall on my knees and give glory to God.

I began reading in Isaiah.. starting in Isaiah 55 with the promise that God had given me while serving in ABQ.

Then I read Isaiah 58:6-12 which says,

6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,

To loosen the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the bands of the yoke,

And to let the oppressed go free

And break every yoke?

7"Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry

And bring the homeless poor into the house;

When you see the naked, to cover him;

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

8"Then your light will break out like the dawn,

And your recovery will speedily spring forth;

And your righteousness will go before you;

The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

9"Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

You will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am '

If you remove the yoke from your midst,

The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

10And if you give yourself to the hungry

And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

Then your light will rise in darkness

And your gloom will become like midday.

11"And the LORD will continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

12"Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

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It was most definitely a beautiful day!

Long Time No Post

Hello Friends!
It has been entirely too long since I last posted. I assure you that there has been plenty going on at First Indian Church in the last few months. We have made significant progress in the youth building, the heat and air system is fully functioning in half of the building, which is a wonderful blessing in the middle of summer! Much of the painting has been completed, the uneven asphalt in the youth room was removed by way of jackhammers this past Saturday, and there are work and witness groups coming in the next two weeks that will hopefully finish up much of the work.

We have been running a Kids Club this Summer, which has been fun and tiring! The Church hired several teens to work at the Kids Club which is proving to be a good experience. We also have some new volunteers from OKC First Church who are teaching some classes at Kids Club.

Our gardens are doing well, having lots of fun watching the plants grow and produce. The weeds are a bit out of control most of the time, but there are often people from the community who stop in to help tend the garden when I am there working, which is a blessing.

There is much to pray about in the lives of those in our community, the following are a few ways that you can pray for us:

• Release from the bondage of addictions
• Wisdom for parents who are faced with significant challenges every day
• Funding to hire staff to provide services in the community
• Upcoming After School Program and new Director- Jean Marie Hill

Will post more soon...

Picture Update!!!

Piedmont Youth Group- Cleaned Carpets in the main church building!

Working on Completing the Central Heat and Air installation

OKC 1st Work Day- Paint and Much More!

Our Garden! Squash and Onions are looking good!

Lisandro

I wear a ring on my right hand that hasn't been taken off in almost two years. This ring is special to me because is was given to me by a my friend Wendy as her way of expressing friendship to me when I left Oklahoma City to move to Albuquerque. As we sat in her living room talking and drinking mango juice she told me that she would never forget me. She then proceeded to her bedroom where she took this ring from her jewelry box and brought it to me. "This is so you will remember me" she said in pretty good English.

Wendy and I met during my junior year of college. I passed by her house every time that we had church as I picked up the kids that lived next door. One day she and her daughter, Ashley, decided to join us. While at church Wendy started crying, sobbing really, and with my limited Spanish comprehension I gathered that she was from Guatemala and had a son that was still living in Guatemala with Wendy's mom. I learned that Wendy struggled with depression from being so far from her son, and that she was ready to have him with her. Being an illegal immigrant it would not be easy for her son, 4 years old at the time, to come to the United States. I asked Pastor Stark what we could do for Wendy and he suggested that I take her to the Hispanic American Mission, which I did the next day. We met with a woman there who informed us of the long process. First, Wendy would have to become a citizen of the U.S., which is quite a gruelling process. In order to become a citizen, you must first be able to speak English fluently, so Wendy began attending English classes several times a week at the mission.Then she would have to learn the history of the United States, and be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Next, she would have to take the citizenship test which had both written and oral segments. Finally, when she passed, she could apply to have her son brought into the country.Of course there were many expenses involved also. Wendy worked for about a year and half on fulfilling the requirements to apply for citizenship. In September of 2007 I received a phone call from Wendy telling me that she had passed her citizenship test, we rejoiced greatly in this achievement! I didn't talk to Wendy much over the next year and a half due to distance and life happenings. I have told myself several times since I have been back in OKC that I really need to get in touch with her, and on Friday night as I was driving down the street by the church, I saw her at her old house. I stopped the car and went to say hello, it was so good to see her and Ashley. There were a couple of other kids on the porch playing with Ashley and as Wendy and I began to talk she said (in perfect English),"This is my son." I looked at him and back at her and the tears started pouring down my cheeks. Lots of hugging ensued. Wendy told me that she had just returned from Guatemala the week before and that Lisandro is here for good.

Count Your Blessings

I am overwhelmed with the blessings that our poured out from First Indian Church. A consistent blessing over the past couple of months has been my friend,Wahoo. Wahoo is an incredibly gifted individual who has taken on many projects and has partnered with me in dreaming about the use of the Worship and Activity Center (WAC). I was able to have a conversation with Wahoo tonight to express my appreciation for his many gifts and the many hours that he has volunteered. The time that Wahoo has put into the WAC has put us ahead of schedule. His contributions are impacting the lives of current and future community members. Wahoo is a leader within our community and I am blessed by his presence and wisdom; I am grateful for the opportunity to call him my friend and mentor. Some qualities in Wahoo that I particularly admire are patience, wisdom, and giving. I have enjoyed watching Wahoo exhibit these gifts and hope to continue to do so. Please pray with me that Wahoo will continue to draw on his strengths as he accomplishes his personal goals and as he leads within the community.