Housing Evictions Among Minority Women

A New York Times article this morning highlights the growing number of minority women being evicted from their homes. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/us/19evict.html?emc=eta1

Current Culture and the Church

This link was sent to me because of my many visits to the religion page of USA today.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/index?csp=FandR&csp=

Interesting articles - I find the USA Today religion page often has articles that help us understand where the American culture is going when it comes to belief in God. Some good info and some presented challenges for the Church of the 21st century (challenges particulary in the articles "No God? No Problem!" and "The Gap's 'Happy Whatever-You-Wannakah' ad ...").

Missional Church

Ok team, here's what I'd like to do as we move toward meeting together again. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Dave Fitch's definition of missional church (below). Read it through a couple times, sit on it for a day or so, and then respond.

"I define the Missional church as the church mobilized for incarnational (as opposed to attractional) ministry occupying the place of Christ’s humble servant presence in a locale (as opposed to a place of coercion and presumption) whereby we live (visibly) an entire way of life that witnesses to the salvation of God (His Kingdom) birthed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is natural, it is concrete, and it is above all local. In this witness, people are invited out of their lostness into a vital relationship with the Triune God and all He is doing to make the world right through Jesus Christ." (Dave Fitch blogs at www.reclaimingthemission.com)

When we started our small groups at First Free, there was an intentional focus on sharing kingdom moments with one another. I think that was an abstract concept to most people, but this article is a perfect example of what we meant by "kingdom moments."
http://missiolux.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-kingdom-story.html

After School Program Helps Homeless Children

Thought this was interesting - almost in our back yard! Homeless kids need a place where they feel "at home."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/10/12/2009-10-12_1_in_5_kids_is_homeless_at_ps_636_but_afterschool_program_makes_them_feel_at_hom.html

20/20 Vision

Hey all,
Here's an update on last Wednesday's prayer meeting: I started by giving a brief description of how the idea of mission is shifting to include our own local context. We talked of the need to go out as the representatives of Christ in our neighborhood, seeking to demonstrate his love and peace in tangible ways. Adam then talked a little about the 20/20 Vision for Schools. As I write this, I realize I haven't included anything about 2020 here on the blog before. So here's a great video that gives an overview of the initiative:



We presented 20/20 as an item to seriously be praying about in the coming weeks. Many of us in the congregation have sensed that God is moving us in this direction, and so we spent the last portion of the prayer meeting asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment on when/if/how to move forward. We asked him to break down barriers that might hinder efforts to engage our community. Throughout the night, we also heard from the leaders of the Chinese and Arabic congregations about how they are serving and engaging people in Brooklyn.

We believe that God's Spirit is among God's people, calling forth new ways and expressions of Christianity. Fresh Expressions is a collaborative effort by churches in the UK to share about the new and innovative ways they are engaging in mission in their neighborhoods. If you get the chance, please check out some of the stories that are posted here.

As a team, I'll also ask us to be in prayer for the 20/20 Vision idea that is starting to take shape. We'll be talking more in the coming weeks about what our role as a team might look like.

Did you see the New York Times Magazine today (Sunday, August 23, 2009)? The entire magazine is devoted to global women's issues. I have the hard copy of the magazine, but you can see some of the articles at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?_r=1. A couple of stories to note: "A School Bus for Shamsia," and "Truck Stop Girls." If you have time to read all of the articles, though, it's a great edition of the NY Times Magazine.

In the hard copy of the magazine, there's an ad for an organization that brings this home to NYC: http://nywf.org/pdf/The_Activist_Philanthropist_August09.pdf. When the link takes you to the newsletter, scroll down to page 2. On the right hand side - about halfway down - are a few stats on homelessness and women & children in NYC. Keep scrolling to the bottom of page 2 to the article "Holding On," by Angelia Dickens about the increase in the numbers of homeless families and children in the summer.