Transformation Volume 4 Issue 2

Transformation Volume 4 Issue 2

Ministry Magazine

of

The Desert Southwest Conference

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.�

Summer 2012 | Desert Southwest Conference Communications | www.desertsouthwestconference.org

The call to engage in social holiness 3

Contents

Summer 2012

Contents Let us pour ourselves out

4

Social Holiness spark innovative ways to change the world

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United Methodists are movement builders

6

Things are not always as they seem

8 Photo by UMNS

The value of connecting and relating to others

10

Justa Center: A Place Where Transformation is Available to All

12

Do all the good you can

16

New Life to an Old Ministry

18

Christians must grow in God’s grace

20

Ministry on a Shoestring 22

Right 2 photos courtesy of Rev. Lorenza Photo by Christina Dillabough

In consultation with her bishop, Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith was appointed to be in ministry with the poor and marginalized. She has chosen to live among the people she serves on the streets and has gotten rid of her home and all of her possessions, becoming homeless herself. She was also among a group of Desert Southwest Conference and United Methodist Church leaders that visited Tent City and met with Sheriff Joe Arpaio to discuss living conditions and other concerns. Follow her ministry and interact at http://www. facebook.com/lorenza.andradesmith.

Special Feature

Social holiness in pursuit of the common good 14 2

Transformation Summer 2012

M inistry M agazine

of

T he D esert S outhwest C onference

Summer 2012 Volume 4, Issue 2 Contributors Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Billie Fidlin, Stephen J. Hustedt, Darlene Newsom, Betty Mathis, Bill Mefford, Jimmy Nelson, Jim Perdue, Scott Ritchey, Tex Sample, Sharon Scobie, and Patrick Scriven

For general inquiries or subscription information, e-mail: communications@desertsw.org, call 602-266-6956, or mail Communications Department, 1550 E. Meadowbrook Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85014-4040.

Transformation is provided quarterly in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter by the Communications Department of The Desert Southwest Conference.

Transformation is also available online by going to www.desertsouthwestconference. org/transformation. Individual articles and photos may be used by DSC churches and organizations.

Views in Transformation come from representatives of official Conference groups or by request of Conference Staff.

Viewpoints may only be those of the writer and may not be representative of the entire Conference. Questions about the reproduction of individual articles or photos should be directed to Stephen J. Hustedt, Conference Director of Communications (602-266-6956 ext. 220 or steve@desertsw.org).

The call to engage in social holiness

Publisher’s Pen

Transformation

Photo by Jodi Strava

by Stephen J. Hustedt, Director of Communications

A

s United Methodists the tradition of engaging in social holiness goes all the way back to John Wesley and, of course, Jesus. Social Holiness is a fundamental part of who we are and one of the key areas of our Strategic Direction. However, the term Social Holiness can be hard to define and even intimidating when it is not entirely understood. It is not uncommon for United Methodists to choose to ignore or avoid this crucial part of our heritage rather than risk “rocking the boat” and possibly upsetting people or risk their own embarrassment. Of course, such a fundamental part of who we are, both as Christians and United Methodists, cannot be ignored.

All around The Desert Southwest Conference churches and individuals are already engaging in Social Holiness and amazing ministry has been brought about.

Furthermore, The Desert Southwest Annual Conference agreed to spend an entire year going deeper into Social Holiness for the Common good and amazing ministry has already started

Stephen J. Hustedt to bloom throughout the Conference and even beyond.

This issue of Transformation will highlight some of these ministries and will seek to more deeply explore both the foundation and practice of engaging in social holiness. Social holiness is not only fundamental to who we are, it is also a crucial piece of how we can bring about the transformation of the world. Together we can make the world a better place as we strive to be one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world! †

Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS Summer 2012 Transformation

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Photo by Christina Dillabough

Let us pour ourselves out I

t is interesting to me that when we speak of social holiness we often begin by speaking of our fears. In moving out into the world as bearers of God’s mercy and grace we are often afraid that the task will overwhelm us.

Sometimes the world around us sees us as if paralyzed by or even apathetic to the human struggles right at our door step, but I believe our paralysis and apathy are but visible symptoms of a deeper fear. We fear that we may not know what to do.

And we fear that we won’t have sufficient resources to do what needs to be done and survive ourselves. It is the mental state of scarcity—not enough power, strength, wisdom, knowledge, or resources. Not enough, the scarcity mentality.

I have often spoken about our scarcity mentality, but recently in a time of prayer I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to a different place. It is not enough, it seemed the Holy Spirit was saying to me. Not enough to challenge self and others to not be consumed or directed by a scarcity mentality. To be people of faith one must be willing to give sacrificially.

Suddenly images from Scripture ran through my mind like a free-flowing river—the widow of Zarephath who in a time of famine only had enough flour in the bin and oil in her jar to feed her son and herself yet she gave it all to feed the prophet Elijah and was blessed with abundant bread and life for her and her son (I Kings 17:9-24)! And Phillip who stepped out in faith into unknown territory at risk to his own life because the Holy Spirit told him to, and poured out 4

Transformation Summer 2012

his faith to a man who was a foreigner, a total stranger to him, and a man of a different sexual orientation, and thus becoming in that moment an agent of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon that Ethiopian eunuch and himself (Acts 8:27-39)! And Dorcas, beloved among the early Christians for her sacrificial spirit, a woman full of good works and charitable deeds. She had given away so much of herself to others that in her days of grave illness others begged the Apostle Peter to come quickly and pray for her. She had died by the time Peter was able to arrive, but such abundant goodness had come from her life that Peter prayed for her and the Lord resurrected her back to life (Acts 9:36-42), blessing her and many others!

And Jesus most of all, Jesus who emptied himself for us, day in and day out, healing the sick, finding the lost, restoring the broken hearted, and challenging every earthly evil that stood in the way of God’s love for all God’s children and creatures alike. Jesus ultimately gave his life on a cross for the sake of the world, the sacrifice of pure love that one good day transformed our lives and that is transforming the world even now. Jesus’ heart has forever yearned for a world transformed by the love of God, enough to give his holy life for it.

Do our hearts yearn enough for a world transformed by God’s love to be sacrificial in our discipleship? Can we feed the hungry even when our table is scarce? Can we pour out whatever good we have because like Phillip the Holy Spirit has beckoned us to share? Can we

devote our lives day in and day out to being compassion and justice incarnate because Jesus has touched our hearts and filled them with such love for others? Can we give it all away, life and possessions because with Jesus our hearts yearn for that better world that only Jesus can lead us to? It isn’t about our overcoming our scarcity mentality. That truly is not enough. It is about having the sacrificial heart of Jesus and those whose hearts have been deeply touched by him.

I believe that your hearts and mine have been touched deeply by Jesus our Lord, and that we will step out in faith to share, to pour ourselves out, to give, to serve, till Jesus comes and we feast at his table. Along the way I have no doubt that we will be blessed and be a blessing for a world in need of holy blessing. You will be in my prayers. Pray for me as well that together we may be faithful. † Peace, Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño Photo by Mike Dubose, UMNS

Photo by UMNS

Social Holiness

innovative ways to change the world

S

park12 (Spark12 Team), a new initiative of the Council of Bishops’ Leadership Table, invests in young entrepreneurs to launch innovative ideas that will transform the world. The initiative is designed to be a faith-based catalyst providing funding, coaching, and resourcing to bring these ideas to life.

We know that we live in a world with great need. We also know that John Wesley told us, “there is no holiness but social holiness.” Today’s young adults are full of innovative ideas that will transform our communities for tomorrow. Spark12 is a way to live a life of social holiness—a way to use innovation to transform the world.

Trying to bring an idea from dream to reality, to ignite that creative spark, is not easy work. Each year, thousands of nonprofits are started as people are moved to try to do good; and thousands of non-profits are closed or left abandoned as the work proves itself too difficult to achieve or financially sustain. In the real world, even a good idea isn’t always enough and a great idea can fail if it doesn’t receive the nurture and care it deserves.

Spark12 is designed to help to support the most promising ideas and individuals as they strive to bring innovative solutions to a world in need of transformation.

“The imagining of people linking together their desire for God’s justice and their commitment to following Christ in a real and authentic way is truly exciting and inspiring. My hope is that Spark12 can be

By Patrick Scriven and the Spark 12 Team

that for people, to allow our participants to imagine and to honor their commitment to love God and love Neighbor,” said Joseph Kim, director of Children’s Rights Advocacy for the General Board of Church and Society and director of Community Care for Spark12.

Those selected as Spark12 fellows will receive funding to begin to breathe life into their idea. They will also have those ideas vetted by mentors with expertise in a related field and by peers eager to perfect the work of the team. Spiritual coaches will help them to remain grounded and oriented toward doing the most good. Our fellows will be challenged to refine their vision, learn how to express their goals, and be networked with people/organizations that might be inclined to give ongoing support to an idea like theirs.

At Spark12, we believe our process will allow participants to be more successful than if they had to go it alone. We suspect that their innovations will have a greater impact on more people more efficiently. We know that the world will be a better place when their spark is allowed to ignite.

The United Methodist Church is stepping forward boldly to find and support young people who are sensing the movement of God in new ways. If you would like to learn more about Spark12 you can visit our website (spark12.org), “like” us on Facebook (fb.com/spark12org), “follow” us on Twitter (@spark12org), or email us at info@spark12.org. †

Photo by UMNS TOP: The Rev. April Casperson speaks to United Methodists gathered in Tampa, FL for General Conference 2012 about Spark12 during the Celebration of Ministry service.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Rev. DJ del Rosario shares his thoughts on the importance of Spark 12 with the 2012 General Conference session in Tampa, FL. Summer 2012 Transformation

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United Methodists are movement builders

By Bill Mefford, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society

Bill Mefford holds up his cell phone and encourages rally attendees to call their congressional representatives.

Photo by UMNS.

T

he phrase, “vital ministry” has been one that has been tossed around quite a bit lately in United Methodist circles. I am not quite sure exactly what it means, but I assume it involves ministries that are transformative, that make a societal impact, both eternally and in the here and now. If that is even close to what vital ministries are supposed to be then I think I can safely say that what United Methodists are doing around immigration ministries can certainly be deemed vital.

In roughly three years, United Methodists across the United States engaged in 570 public witness events.

These events ranged from public prayer vigils to passing resolutions at annual 6

Transformation Summer 2012

conferences to meeting with members of Congress to hosting luncheons and discussion roundtables—creative ways to educate and mobilize United Methodists to defend and support the rights of immigrants. 570 public witness events averages out to almost 200 events per year, or 1 event every 42 hours. Think about that. That means once every 42 hours, at least one United Methodist congregation somewhere is doing something to defend and support the rights of immigrants.

That is a powerful witness in the local communities across the country and in the halls of Congress.

And these are not sporadic events without coordination. In February of 2009 there were 80 prayer vigils nationwide among people of all faiths—United Methodists hosted close to half of them.

In April of that same year, people of faith hosted close to 100 meetings with members of Congress (called Neighbor to Neighbor meetings) with United Methodists again responsible for half.

And in the fall of 2011, people of faith engaged in 500 DREAM Sabbath services, dedicating part or all of their worship services to lifting up the stories of DREAM Act students, often with the DREAMers themselves speaking during the service. Of the 500 total services, United Methodists were once again responsible for half (with the Desert Southwest leading the way

for the UMC!). To see more of the public witness events and to see what churches have engaged in the Desert Southwest Conference, see here (http://tinyurl.com/ DREAMSabbath).

It is clear that people of all faith backgrounds are committed to welcome the sojourner in their midst. I work on a national level with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, which consists of over 35 faith denominations or organizations that span politically and theologically from left to right. But I think it is safe to say that United Methodists are out in front on this issue, leading the way among faith groups for the struggle to defend and support the rights of immigrants.

How does something like that happen?

Is it because United Methodists are more passionate than people of other faiths? I doubt it, though passion has a lot to do with building a movement and I have seen the deep passion that United Methodists have on this issue.

Is it that United Methodists are better trained as activists to engage in such a public witness? I doubt this as well since there are people who identify themselves as “political activists” in every expression of religious faith. In fact, I would argue that the number of public witness events and the fact that there is such coordination among United Methodists means that

Bill Mefford and various religious leaders toured tent city and met with Sheriff Joe Arpaio with humanitarian concerns. Photo by Christina Dillabough.

Want to join the movement being built in Desert Southwest?

Contact Marjie Hrabe at (520) 579-1602 or desertcereus@yahoo.com.

more than simple political activism was occurring.

It is clear to me that what we have seen over the last several years constitutes a budding movement among United Methodists committed to supporting and defending the rights of immigrants.

Calling something like this a movement requires more than simple activism. I tend to call myself a political activist so I know this firsthand.

Political activism as I have known and experienced it requires very little of people.

Activism can be achieved individually so it is easy to engage when I want and to disengage when I want. Because activism is individualistic, there is little need for accountability, especially to those directly impacted by that which you protest against. Moreover, from my experience, activism really does not have as a goal anything other than remaining active. One event leads to another event, leading to another event, and on and on it goes until you are just too tired to go on.

On the other hand, and following Wesley’s lead who knows a thing or two about building a movement, movements are inherently relational, which is why Wesley started classes to build the Methodist movement. Likewise, the focus of what we are doing around immigration, and what we should be doing as a denomination and as followers of Jesus, is

on building relationships.

First, following the example of Jesus, we must enter into incarnational relationships among the people most directly impacted by a broken system, who in this case, are immigrants. While activists can come and go as they please, from one issue to another, movement builders are people who are in this for the long haul because it impacts those they are closest to, those among whom they are incarnated. They are engaged because those who are hurt by injustice are their friends.

Movement builders then begin to build bridges among those directly impacted with those who are the sidelines, close to the action and concerned, but not yet in the game. Movement builders initiate one-on-one conversations with potential movement joiners and invite them to something where they learn more and, most importantly, where they can enter into relationships with those directly impacted. The new movement joiners then become movement builders as they in turn look for those on the sidelines, inviting them into incarnational relationships with those directly impacted. On and on it goes, movement joiners become movement builders.

And we need movement-builders if we want to bring about real change for immigrants. Historically, whether it was the Methodist movement, the

Marcha for America, immigration reform rally. Photo by Steve Hustedt.

Candlelight vigil for Healthcare reform.

Photo by UMNS.

Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights movement, or one of the many other movements we know of, they were all essentially relationally based. Mere political activism is not enough, though it can keep us busy. Instead, we must always be building relationships, incarnationally located within and among immigrant communities and inviting people to join us. It is our mission for it is the way of Jesus. †Summer 2012 Transformation

7

Things are not always as they seem

A

few weeks ago my husband and I were in Target, in the section that carries toys for newborn babies. I was holding a lovely little stuffed animal in my hands. A young mom walked up to me and exclaimed with much enthusiasm, “My daughter just loves that! How old is your baby?” I responded, “Well, this is actually for my dog!” Yes, things are not always as they seem, and so it is with the many justice issues that face our Conference area.

As Director of Outreach for the Desert Southwest Conference, as well as chair of the Arizona Ecumenical Council’s Public Policy Commission, I find myself embroiled in issues of justice all the time.

Justice is distinguished from mission in the following way: mission equals mercy.

We see the need and we fill it. As United Methodists, we do this well! Justice on the other hand, looks at the mission and asks what is the root problem, and how can we fix it so the “problem” exists no more.

The areas of our Conference face some of the most stark poverty-related malice

By Billie K. Fidlin, Director of Outreach

of our time. Malice is a strong word, yes, but Mahatma Gandhi said, “Poverty is the worst form of violence.”

The three states of our Conference: Arizona, California, and Nevada, have experienced strong economic downturn, some of the highest rates of hunger in the nation, job loss, immigration issues, low reading scores, schools in crisis, inequitable health care, death penalty executions, privatized prison debate, water rights conflict, state debt issues, politics without civil discourse (or as we would say holy conversation), and an everincreasing rate of those who are homeless (many of whom are of a demographic never homeless or hungry before). These are just some of the many issues that face the citizens of the three states of the Desert Southwest on an ongoing basis.

I have witnessed time and time again with United Methodists that we can’t sit still for too long when something gets under our mission skin. The stories of our churches and urban ministries are endless, and tell us of a people called by

Christ to care, people who fulfill that call, and so much more. Our churches have food pantries, and those that don’t have food drives. We have churches with ESL classes, and constituency interested in starting everything from legal clinics to standing at the state capitals in vigil on a variety of issues. When our Conference Board of Church & Society issues a Justice Note through our Conference Communications network to call your legislators on a given topic, my office receives e-mails saying, “I made the call and shared the message.” That is exactly what we need to do, but more of us need to do more of it.

Living into social holiness requires much of us. We need to seek out the stories of the vulnerable. We need to hear the stories, and listen with our hearts and minds. We need to share the stories, not only of what we are doing or what we have learned, but also about what needs to be done. Take the stories out through the doors of the church to the halls of mission and justice.

Participants in the “Day of Learning” at the 28th Session of the Desert Southwest Annual Conference discussed what action steps to take in their local church in pursuit of social holiness.

Photo by Don Benton.

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Transformation Summer 2012

So many times we wonder if we can truly make a difference. The answer is yes. Fifty faxes or e-mails or letters to a legislator can get their attention. One hundred messages on paper plates about hunger, hand delivered to the state capitol will make an impression.

Think about the Imagine No Malaria campaign. Just a year ago, one person died in Africa every 30 seconds from this disease. In large part due to United Methodist efforts, the statistic is now one every 60 seconds. Is that good enough for us? No! Are we making a huge difference?

Yes! As our states tackle their budgets, it is certain that the churches will again be admonished to do “more.” When one looks at budget deficits, the churches can hardly make up that difference and it is foolish for state governments to suggest we can. It is not that we don’t understand the federal program reductions. It is not that we do not care or have compassion. It is that we are doing what we can, and we will continue to do all we can. But with 25% of children in Arizona food insecure, 18.5% of children in Nevada food insecure, 15% in California insecure, our churches, all churches, cannot fill this need every single day on a daily basis. We can do what we can do, which includes both the justice and the mission side of trying to remedy this apparent challenge, which undermines the inherent right for all to have enough to eat, underscored in the backdrop of the immense wealth in this country. If we do both—feed and fight for the end to hunger, we will stay the course and win the battle. It’s the same in every issue.

A story I heard recently touched my soul. An elementary school teacher was excitedly sharing a lesson on good nutrition with her class. The children were waving their hands wildly as they talked about what they had eaten the night before. She noticed one of the boys was sitting quietly in the back with his head hung down low.

At recess, away from the other children, she sought him out to ask what the matter was.

He sheepishly explained that he had not eaten the night before. “Why?” she asked.

“It wasn’t my turn,” he replied.

This is a real story about a real child.

If you want to make a difference there are

things you can do to start: 1. Listen. Pray. Act. 2. Educate yourself—it takes research and use of multiple sources. In today’s world we simply cannot depend on any one news source to give us a fair and unbiased view.

3. Seek out the stories and share the stories at all levels—with your neighbor, your church and your legislators. Be present to these stories as well as the triumphs you’ll hear about at the same time.

4. Federal commodities have been reduced and food drives are down. Run the best food drive your community has ever seen, and do so often. Hunger doesn’t stop.

TOP: Desert Southwest Conference/ Western Jurisdiction Clergy and Laity signing a statement in support of comprehensive immigration reform at an event hosted by Arizonans for Immigration Reform.

MIDDLE: Nearly 5,000 health kits sent to UMCOR Depot in Salt Lake City, UT for response to Haiti disaster.

BOTTOM: Billie Fidlin in conversation at a roundtable meeting, “Embracing My Neighbor.”

Photos below by Steve Hustedt

5. Support our urban ministries and community programs. They have the best organized networks, reaching out to so many.

6. Be in touch with local, state, and federal elected officials. Make your voice heard. Be extremely direct in the ask (what you want to see happen or change). Remind them you are a voting member of their constituency, which is directly linked to their position.

7. Write editorials for the newspaper, your school or university communications etc.

8. Talk about it. Whatever your passion is, talk about it!

9. Engage in advocacy efforts such as letter writing campaigns, e-mail/fax campaigns, vigils, appointments with those in power around the issue.

10. Determine partners to work with.

We must not let our diverse opinions polarize us to the point of inaction. We are called to seek out justice and be the face of mercy by God, who loved us first. Let us do all that God has so faithfully placed in our hands so that together we can make a difference. The world is watching the faith community, now more than ever.

May we be the example of faith that cares, a faith that offers hope for tomorrow, and a faith that has an impact. †

Summer Summer 2012 Transformation Transformation

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The value of and

connecting

relating to others

Photo of two people talking over coffee by UMNS

W

ith all of the goings-on around immigration over the past three years, I have enjoyed a rare opportunity to see just about everything in my community. There has been good on both sides of the national debate, most on both sides, has not been so good. But one thing that I encountered was a complete surprise: the Industrial Areas Foundation.

Most of what I remembered about it was back when its founder Saul Alinsky was writing books like Rules for Radicals.

Because of its title and the time in which it was written, that book was pretty scary stuff for people who had been dubbed the “Silent Majority.” Then, Alinsky shifted direction and proclaimed that his new goal was to organize that same Silent Majority.

Some years later, when the guard changed at the “Foundation,” Alinsky’s strategy of “pick a (political) target, mobilize, and hit it” shifted in a remarkable way to “connect and relate to others.”

What I have discovered over the past 10

Transformation Summer 2012

By Rev. Jim Perdue, GBGM Missionary for Immigration & Border Ministry

three years is that the Industrial Area Foundation (IAF) is now a totally different species from other organizing groups in the U.S. Instead of teaching about civil disobedience, they begin to help develop more “citizens” through the process of civic engagement. They are not about making followers who demonstrate in the street for “issues.”

True progress is seldom won in that way.

Instead, they are about making citizens who, through relationship-building, learn the right way to win what they need and deserve – by building real power within the established political arena, by “getting a seat at the table.”

I have come to believe that, deep down, the “IAF species” has the soul of a church. Edward Chambers of IAF says, “Issues follow relationships. You don’t just pick targets and mobilize first, you connect people in and around their interests.” The IAF’s way of organizing is very much like how the church over the centuries

has spread to the ends of the earth—by brief one-on-one personal, “relational meetings,” in which we listen for what makes each other tick and what gets us excited, and we look for a new reality to which we are ready to commit together with new leaders and people that are becoming a part of the church’s ministry.

In the community surrounding many of our conference’s churches, an IAF group could come in and train leaders who are from the congregation itself, and those leaders would go out into the community around the church to identify and include new community leaders with a similar interest for the common good of the community. It all begins with the development of a small core team of leaders within that congregation, each of whom is ready to learn and practice how to conduct relational meetings and learn more about the community through the sharing of meaningful stories that can animate that community.

Photo of IAF group courtesy of Jim Perdue.

IAF staff members are experts in approaching a community, finding out what its residents care about, and helping them together to go out and create the kind of future they want and deserve as citizens.

Photo by Steve Hustedt.

Hundreds (yes, hundreds, because the number of leaders keeps growing!) of relational meetings later, the church and the community would begin once again to know each other pretty well. New relational meetings would never stop happening, but then hundreds of small “house meetings” of six to eight people would get added. Both the church and its surrounding community would begin to get a clearer sense of what they needed to do together for the common good of that community. This would be followed by research actions in which they learned what more needed to be done to make important things happen, and by civic academies in which others would be invited to learn about central issues facing the community.

I see nothing in the IAF methodology that wouldn’t translate also into that church’s evangelism or mission in the same community. In fact, the IAF methodology, based on one-on-one, relational meetings, is a great way to get our churches out of their own silos and back into their communities. For too long now, the church has lived in

a world where relationships have been increasingly avoided in the pursuit of individual success, which then rewarded those individuals with isolation from the world’s suffering. But now we’re beginning to realize that we may have thrown out the baby with the bath water.

We are now lonely and more scared in our isolation. The gospel of Jesus Christ is purely relational. Until Christians share with others who may believe differently than we do, we never discover that it is community that unites very different people in remarkable ways.

IAF staff members are experts in approaching a community, finding out what its residents care about, and helping them together to go out and create the kind of future they want and deserve as citizens. Many churches in our conference now find themselves in communities whose ethnic and class make-up has changed drastically since those churches first opened their doors. Because they don’t know what to do to be in ministry with people that are different than themselves, many churches turn inward, which is a natural road to decline. Rather

than remaining as islands in the middle of an ocean of people they don’t know, our churches could be transformed by organizations like IAF. †

Industrial Areas Foundation http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org/ IAF Affiliates within DSC: Las Vegas Valley Interfaith Sponsoring Committee, LVVISC@gmail.com 2108 Revere Street North Las Vegas, 702-738 7477 Valley Interfaith Project vipphxaz@sprintmail.com 1802 E. Thomas Rd # 15 Phoenix, 602-248-0607 Pima County Interfaith Council courtneyke@sbcglobal.net 3200 N. Los Altos Ave. Tucson, 520-903-2333

Summer 2012 Transformation

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JUSTA CENTER: A Place Where Transformation Is Available To All!

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[A] woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about [Jesus], and came and fell down at his feet. The woman was a Greek, by race a Phoenician from Syria. And she started asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He responded to her like this: “Let the children first be fed, since it isn’t good to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to the dogs! [kynaria]” But as a rejoinder she says to him: “Sir, even the dogs under the table get to eat scraps dropped by children!” Then he said to her: “For that retort, be on your way, the demon has come out of your daughter.” She returned home and found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone. (Mk. 7:25-30)

G

uests visiting Justa Center often see our name in print for the first time. Invariably someone comments, “Oh! I thought it was Justice Center.” Equally predictable is their next question, “What does ‘Justa’ mean?”

Justa is the name Christian tradition ascribes to the Phoenician woman from Syria. Her notoriety stems from the fact that she, a Gentile woman, had the hutzpah to challenge Jesus’ reaffirmation of Jewish conventional wisdom: “Wait your turn! Humans (i.e. children of Abraham) get fed before sub-humans (i.e., Gentile dogs)” [my paraphrase]. The woman replied that “Even the dogs under the table get to eat scraps dropped by children!”

Jesus response to her persistence– dare I use the word “faith”?–was tangible evidence of God’s love that does not discriminate between insiders and outsiders. Eight verses later Mark reinforces the point by recounting the feeding miracle in Gentile territory that mirrors the feeding of the 5,000 in Jewish territory in Mark 6. Mark’s account of the Phoenician woman from Syria forms the template for the ministry of Justa Center.

It’s important to recognize that Jesus chose to leave the comfort zone of his own culture and national boundaries and risk an encounter with outsiders.

Had Jesus not made this choice it is doubtful that he and the Gentile woman would even have encountered one another, let alone engage in a conversation that transformed them both.

Two of the more familiar purposes of the ministry of Justa Center are to affirm God’s indiscriminate love for those whom respectable society

dehumanizes and sweeps under the rug into ghettoes of homelessness or bureaucratic invisibility and to place homeless older adults in appropriate housing, first by securing essential documentation, and then by connecting them with earned benefits or steady employment.

There is, however, a third purpose that is no less important than the others. Justa Center seeks to provide a unique, potentially life-transforming “third place,” a place where visitors and volunteers: • Can step across the invisible cultural boundaries that separate them from older men and women who happen to be homeless.

• Can experience transformation every bit as profound as our homeless members.

• Will hear the stories of our members and learn to know them as unique individuals.

• Will value and be enriched by the gift of God’s presence within our members.

• Will reflect in light of Scripture upon the values of a society that suppresses the flourishing of the essential humanness of our members as bearers of God’s image.

• Will commit to biblical lifestylechoices that enhance, rather than undermine, our members’ ability to flourish as children of God. • Will experience for themselves the growth in grace and joy that accompanies their decision to align their lives with Jesus’ life.

• Will experience how they are the

same as homeless men and women instead of how they are different.

“Joe” is just such a volunteer whose story we would like to replicate many times over. He attended the first fund-raiser for Justa Center in 2009.

Joe’s attitude toward the plight of homeless older adults has been evolving from sensitivity to pity, then sympathy, empathy, and finally passion. He identifies several significant contributors to his journey toward social holiness, beginning with his Christian faith. He made service his life-philosophy as a means of supporting his own addiction recovery. After becoming aware of Justa at the 2009 fund-raiser Joe immersed himself in Justa’s culture of personal dignity and social justice.

Because of his immersion in the culture of Justa, Joe says he has “supplanted the rhetoric of social justice and faith development with in-your-face reality.” He has an increased awareness of “the grace of my own recovery.” As a result Joe identifies more fully with the “individual hopes, regrets, and memories of our guests” and takes much more seriously his own “responsibility to share whatever talents or abilities I have left.”

Justa Center is about transforming lives, everyone’s lives. Our homeless women and men have learned through a seemingly endless variety of life-shattering experiences that selfsufficiency is a myth. They understand what Paul meant when he said, “When I am weak, I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10), and that is the Gospel proclamation that those of us who are comfortable need to hear and embrace from them if we, too, want to experience transformation for ourselves. † Summer Summer 2012 2012 Transformation Transformation 13

Social holiness in pursuit of the common good

By Rev. Dr. Tex Sample

DSC Photo 14

Transformation Summer 2012

S

ome years ago I needed to build an addition on our house in order to have more room for our teenage children. I asked Ron Holland, a United Methodist pastor and a former union carpenter, if he would work with me and teach me the necessary skills to do the job. He said that he would come for two weeks, that we would do the carpentry work required to build the floor, construct the walls, and put the roof on it. He said that by then I would know enough to finish the job. He scared me to death with that proposition, but I took him up on it.

One day, while we were nailing together studs for the walls, I kept

how to do something. It requires not mere experience, but experience in a craft. It is not freedom understood as merely making choices; it’s about a rich capaciousness of know-how, of sizing things up, and of skills and competencies.

I contend that the outreach ministries of the church are best understood within the craft tradition of knowing.

The Christian faith is not merely a view of life, it is a way of life. God’s grace is not merely a subjective feeling, it is a power, a power at work in community, embodied in our lives, and fueling our actions. Our response to God’s grace is not mere belief, not even mere trust,

as a craft, a discipline to be learned in outreach to others. For Wesley, holiness is not a sanctimonious bearing, but rather it is to be called out for God’s work, and it is a work. Such work calls for the formation of ourselves as a holy people, and it requires craft-like capacities of people with the know-how to do this work.

Further, for Wesley, holiness is growing in grace, restoring the image of God resident in every one. In keeping with such holiness, the sanctified have the responsibility to give expression to, to proclaim, to bear witness to, and to mediate to the world the love of God. All

Rev. Tex Sample addressing the 28th session of The Desert Southwest Annual Conference illustrating what Social Holiness looks like during the “Day of Learning.” Photos by Don Benton

bending coated nails. When you bend one of those things, it takes a crowbar to get them out. I noticed that Ron would occasionally slightly bend a nail but that he could continue to drive that nail fully into the boards. I asked him how in the world he could drive a crooked nail. He said, “Oh, it’s easy. Hit the head of the nail on the side of the head where the nail bends out.” Well, I was having trouble just hitting the head of the nail, not to speak of hitting it on one side. But with his mentoring and instruction I learned to drive a bent nail. I developed a certain feel with that hammer, a kind of a touch, and dexterity in its use.

That was an important day for me in understanding the craft tradition of knowing. That is when you work in a craft, it is not enough to know about something you must know,

but a living out of what God has done in Christ and what God continues to do by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This suggests that our response to God is a craft, a craft of discipleship. As we engage in ministries of outreach, we require training, know-how, skills, and competence. Having a view of justice is not enough. Having a position on the issues is not enough. Outreach is a practice. It requires discipline, training, and work in the concrete lived realities of people’s needs and their hopes. As John Wesley so well understood, we are not able to understand poverty unless we are in relationship to the poor, unless we work with the poor, and unless we develop the skills to do so.

At this year’s Day of Learning at Annual Conference we engaged a Wesleyan understanding of holiness

of these are skills, skills to be taught, to be practiced, and to be honed. The year following the day of learning will be the time of honing that skill, and we will celebrate that with Walter Brueggemann at the 2013 Day of Learning.

Holiness of heart and life are the central good in Wesley’s thought. His pursuit of this good in the Methodist movement characterize his long ministry. His advocacy for the poor, his unyielding opposition to slavery, and his extraordinary inclusion of women not only in ministry but as preachers bespeak not only a man on fire with the gospel, but a master craftsman in discipleship. Our Days of Learning will allow us to learn from his witness in order to embody a social holiness in pursuit of the common good. † Summer 2012 Transformation

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y o u g o c d e o h an t l o l D a som,

By Darlene New ters New Day Cen M O M U f o CEO incorporated as UMOM New Day Centers, Inc. and has grown into Arizona’s largest homeless shelter for families. To this day, UMOM proudly operates as one of the Urban Ministries of the Desert Southwest Conference.

Darlene Newsom speaks out to protect Arizona’s most vulnerable families.

Photo courtesy of UMOM.

W

hen I was 9 years old, my dad came home from work one day and started filling a box full of food and clothes. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, “There is a man at work who is raising his kids alone and doesn’t have enough money to buy food and clothes for his family.”

I had no idea that all families did not have a mother and a father, and I thought everyone had food and clothes. From that day on, I knew that I would help others any way I could.

I draw my inspiration and life motto from the words of John Wesley who proclaimed,

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

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I have worked in the non-profit community for more than 35 years and for the past ten have been CEO of UMOM New Day Centers dedicated to helping break the cycle of homelessness. All throughout my non-profit career I have seen Social Holiness in action, none more prevalent than during my time at UMOM. UMOM rooted in social holiness It’s been almost 50 years ago that a group of United Methodists saw the social issues of poverty and hunger and decided to do something about it. Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, The Arizona Methodist Church Extension Society (AMCES) put faith into action by beginning an urban ministries program to provide relief for homeless individuals and minister to inner city families. In 1973, the Metropolitan Phoenix Council (MEPCO) expanded the program to address the issue of hunger and as a result, established a food bank. In 1985, MEPCO was dissolved and United Methodist Outreach Ministries (UMOM) was formed by the Desert Southwest Conference of The United Methodist Church. In 2004, UMOM was officially

A reason to be involved “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Proverbs 31: 8-9 UMOM’s mission is to provide homeless families and individuals with safe shelter, housing and supportive services to assist them in reaching their greatest potential.

We refer to homeless families as “the hidden homeless.” Often you see the older man on the street corner holding a sign asking for food but in reality, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single moms and their children. You don’t see families standing on the street corner because it isn’t safe.

We feel it is our social responsibility to speak up and serve as a voice for homeless families. The need for UMOM’s services is only increasing. This past year: • 60% of UMOM families were homeless for the first time.

• Families waited an average of 5 weeks to get into shelter at UMOM. • 40% of the families at UMOM cited job loss or lack of financial resources as the primary reason for their homelessness.

Call to Action Homelessness is the responsibility of all of us. It takes action from the faith community, government and the private

sector to make a difference. No one sector can do it alone. That’s why when I meet with other sectors in the community, I’m happy to share what the faith-based community is doing. Each and every day I’m blessed at UMOM to see the Wesleyan tradition of Social Holiness in action through advocacy, financial resources, volunteerism, in-kind donations, and prayer support.

One of my favorite stories is when UMOM asked for the congregations to contact their legislators to support funding for childcare subsidies. We were told one legislator’s office received so many calls that the person answering the phone declared, “let me guess, you are a member of The United Methodist Church and are calling to support Childcare Subsidies!”

Just ask Jenny why calls like this are so important.

Jenny, a former UMOM resident, recently graduated from our program and is now a nursing student at Gateway Community College with a 3.6 gradepoint average. She has received five

scholarships, works part time and will not be able to continue her education without a childcare subsidy for her daughter. Do we really want to discourage Jenny from obtaining her nursing degree and being able to support herself and her daughter for years to come? By eliminating childcare subsidies, those families who are working lower-wage jobs are not going to be able to pay for childcare. Childcare subsidies encourage employment and education and benefit the economy as a whole, not to mention encouraging a safe environment for children.

A social holiness ministry can help spread the word about these issues and encourage others to speak up to not allow a budget to be balanced on the backs of the most vulnerable.

more than 6,000 individuals, more than 2,000 of which were children.

• Protected 278 victims of domestic violence and their children.

• Served more than 149,000 meals to homeless individuals and their families.

• Cared for more than 300 children in the Child Development Center.

• Helped 54 families avoid homelessness and regain permanent, affordable housing.

We need continued help from the church to join us in our mission for the common good. The need is great. The time is now. Together, we can transform

Transformed Lives Here’s just a snapshot of what can be accomplished when a group of people put faith into action. In 2011, UMOM:

lives through Social Holiness. We hope

• Provided safe shelter and housing for

hidden homeless are counting on you. †

you’ll prayerfully consider joining a social holiness ministry or starting one in your church to help causes like UMOM’s. The

More than 600 people helped raise awareness and funds in support of UMOM’s Women’s Auxiliary “Walk for Homeless Families.” This year’s walk will take place September 29, at the Phoenix Zoo and local churches are already saving the date and forming teams of walkers to increase awareness of the growing need to help homeless families. Photo courtesy of UMOM.

Summer 2012 Transformation

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New Life to an Old Ministry

By Sharon Scobie, Executive Director

U

nited Methodist Social Ministries (UMSM) has been in transition during this past year. In June of 2011, under the leadership of Rev. Candace Lansberry, District Superintendent of North District, a Visioning Team was created.

Sharon Scobie, a long-time member of the Board, was asked to serve as Interim Director. The Team consisted of new faces, lay and clergy, people who had not been involved in major programming previously. The purpose of the Visioning Team was to determine a new direction for the organization.

During the summer months and into the fall, this group struggled with what UMSM should look like. Referring to other agencies within the community for help, it was discovered that the area in which UMSM is located has a high child-abuse problem. Using that information, UMSM created a new vision and mission statement to address the problem.

Vision: “To develop the Las Vegas Valley into a community that embraces children and families with safety, good nutrition and positive socialization.”

Mission: “To minister to at-risk children and families.”

Once in place, the Visioning Team revamped the old programming and looked to develop new programs in line with the new vision and mission.

The weekend food pantry became “Family Food Pantry” instead of Weekend Emergency Assistance Program (WEAP); even though the acronym isn’t WEEP, it still sounded too sad. The concept of a client-choice pantry was introduced. Clients, after their interviews to determine eligibility, are able to come into the pantry and

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Transformation Summer 2012

select their own items, quantity based on family size. UMSM is still open only on the weekends and we serve families with children under the age of 18.

The “Hats and Hands” program which gives hats, scarves, and gloves to the homeless has not only continued in its original format but has expanded to include layettes. The major distribution is in November as part of the city-wide “Project Homeless Connect” event held in November.

The “Fostering in Faith” program, which operates in connection with the Clark County Department of Family Services, continues to sponsor foster training classes free of charge at various UMC locations in the community.

These classes are also attended by many other social service agencies.

A new program that UMSM is working on, which will be under “Fostering in Faith,” is to provide a safe environment for foster children to meet with their birth parents.

UMSM has a child-friendly room set up in the facility that will be used for that purpose. During the months of August and September 2012, UMSM will be training volunteer monitors to be available during the visitations.

UMSM is working with Clark County Department of Family Services and the Nevada Supreme Court initiative “Courts Catalyzing Change” to make this happen.

Another new program being planned is providing a hot meal for families once a month on a Saturday morning.

As a part of this meal, UMSM will provide some life skills training and nutrition information for the attendees.

This program is scheduled to start the end of July.

Volunteer

E T A DON

VO

D

TOP: UMSM is actively working towards helping at risk children and families in the area. DSC photo.

BOTTOM RIGHT: “Hats and Hands” distribution.

Photo by Steve Hustedt.

CENTER LEFT: Sarah Bakersman sorts food at a local food pantry. Photo courtesy of UMNS.

VOLUNTEER

BOTTOM:LEFT One-time projects, like stuffing envelopes are often available. Contact UMSM to find out more.

Photo by Steve Hustedt. http://umsmlasvegas.org E-mail: info@umsmlasvegas.org Phone: 702-733-0053

DONATE

DONATE

OLUNTEER

DONATE

All of these programs are dependent on volunteers: volunteers to interview food pantry clients, volunteers to help in the pantry itself, volunteers to knit, crochet, or loom hats and scarves, volunteers to monitor the visitation room, volunteers to cook and serve hot meals, volunteers to coordinate various programs, volunteer liaisons to local churches, and volunteers with ideas to develop new programs.

During this last year UMSM has collaborated with many other community agencies. Goodwill supplies $5 and $10 gift cards that can be used at their store.

UMSM receive these cards when church members donate items to Goodwill and advise them to credit the donation to our program (UMSM). Clark County Department of Family Services provides

UMSM with professional leadership for our training classes. UMSM is listed with HELP of Southern NV which has an emergency 211 hot line to refer clients to agencies within the community for assistance. In 2007, UMSM became an accredited agency with United Way and has maintained that accreditation yearly.

UMSM continues to look for more opportunities to collaborate with other agencies and reach out to the community through social justice.

While programs themselves will not alleviate the problems that UMSM clients face daily, it is hoped that they can reach out a helping hand to provide for some basic needs that may somewhat ease the pressures and give them hope for a better future. † Summer 2012 Transformation

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Christians must grow in God’s grace

By Betty Mathis, Executive Director Wesley Community Center

O

n a hot June afternoon in 1950, a group of Methodist women from several Phoenix churches opened the doors of the chapel at Goodwill Industries in south-central Phoenix.

Wesley Community Center began that day with a six-week “vacation school.”

The children’s response was so great that the “school” continued for three years, led by volunteers. The Center was then given the use of an old Army barracks near downtown Phoenix. In 1953, the community center became a National Mission Institution of the Women’s Division of Christian Service of The United Methodist Church. The first fulltime employee was hired in 1953, living and working in the newly constructed

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building in a part of Maricopa County having only dirt roads and a water well on the Wesley Center property (that building burned in January 2006, was rebuilt and reopened as the Wesley Health Center in 2007).

In 1995, one year after I began my journey with the Wesley Community Center as its new Executive Director, I was asked to speak with a group of United Methodists on the topic, “Through New Eyes.” They asked that I share with them three things: who I am, what I was learning, and how United Methodists in the Desert Southwest Conference can “make a difference.”

My response to the first question was, “I am not a person with a Master’s Degree

in Social Work. I’m not an attorney. I’m not a Master’s in Business Administration graduate. I’m not an ordained clergywoman. I am not Hispanic.

However, I am: a preacher’s kid. I’m a BA graduate in Language and Literature.

I’m a mother and grandmother. I’m also one of those human services “professional volunteers” who, through numerous challenges and opportunities, has learned a few things. I’m also a United Methodist.”

I had learned about the challenges and opportunities throughout a primarily under-served Hispanic/Latino population, successes and disappointments, community partnerships, fund raising (i.e. donor education).

I also learned that Wesley Community

Center is the only National Mission Institution of the UMC/UMW in this conference (one of seven in the Western Jurisdiction) and a primary partner, since 1964, of the Valley of the Sun United Way; a non-profit agency affiliated with the AZ Depts. of Education and Economic Security.

In 1995 planning for the future included a potential relocation of south central Phoenix’s Nuestro Barrio (Wesley Center’s physical location), declining property values, the attitudes of Congress concerning immigration, needs of the greater community, staff expertise, leadership of Board of Directors, and volunteer and donor commitment.

In 2012, I continue to provide some insights on all of the same questions being asked in 1995—especially question #3: “How can United Methodists in the Desert Southwest Conference ‘make a difference?’”

From “John Wesley and Mission: The Works of Mercy” (http://gbgm-umc.org/ umw/wesley/mission.stm): “He believed that Christians must grow in God’s grace, which first prepares us for belief… and sustains us as we do good works and participate in God’s mission.”

Through this, he proclaimed that there was no holiness but social holiness. To that end, John Wesley lived modestly and gave to help people who were poor.

He visited prisoners, providing spiritual guidance, food, and clothing. He spoke

out against slavery. He founded schools in England. He taught and wrote about good health, dispensing medicine from his chapels.

The opportunities to continue “making a difference” at Wesley Community Center, the Amigos Center, and Wesley Health Center include: • Volunteering as an interpreter and/ or physician in the Wesley Health Center, a family practice Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)— seeing 15,000 patients in 2011.

• Providing food monthly to assist the approximately 150 families needing assistance.

• Volunteering with the after-school and summer programs for ages 5-15.

• Teaching with the 150 students who attend the adult-education programs at the Amigos Center in west Phoenix (Calvary UMC).

• Donating Back-to-School supplies to 200 children and youth.

• Assisting families needing Christmas gifts (350 children in 2011).

• Supporting all that Wesley Center does with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service.

Please prayerfully consider how you and your congregation might engage in social holiness though the Wesley Center or any number of other ministries of The United Methodist Church. †

The history of the black and white pictures are unknown, but Wesley Center was one of the few large, paved areas in the neighborhood long ago. It was one of the only places kids could use their skates.

The backpack pictures were taken during this summer’s 8-week Summer Youth Program, led by the new Director of Family & Youth Services Becky Kerr. Photos courtesy of Wesley Center.

Summer 2012 Transformation

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S

. d e s o l ix y c h c r u e ars h c r u o t ag o, m h g any folks in the neighborhood thou

Young adults praise God during a new contemporary worship service at Hope UMC. Photo courtesy of Pastor Nelson.

Ministry on a Shoestring “W

e’re old, we’re tired, we’re small, and we don’t have much money…” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this from different people in our churches. Churches that adopt this as their mantra will never be successful in ministry to those in need—it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Simply put, when we say we can’t, we won’t.

Now before I go any further with our story, it must be clearly understood that as a community of faith, we put our complete trust in God. We prayed and understood, that if we were called into a ministry, not to be hesitant, but rather, dive headfirst into the task at hand and be totally confident that God would provide everything—gifts, talents, funding, volunteers, and the energy to complete the job. Yes, we struggled, but in the end, God’s desires prevailed.

At Hope United Methodist Church of Tucson, Arizona, we are just like every 22

Transformation Summer 2012

By Pastor Jimmy Nelson, Hope UMC of Tucson, AZ

other congregation—we want to make a difference. We’re old (average age about 72), we’re tired (see average age), we’re small (only 88 members) and we struggle with our budget just like every other church. Some years we pay our apportionments 100% and some years we do not, but no matter what, we refuse to let funding issues stop us from being active and socially holy in the community.

Six years ago, many folks in the neighborhood thought our church closed.

Today, neighbors tell us that we are “the church that cares about the neighborhood.”

Today Hope hosts Academy del Sol charter school, a vibrant food pantry, free medical treatment for anyone who needs it, help with rent/utilities, Diabetes and Alzheimer’s workshops, low-cost Karate lessons for children during the summer months, and the “Pastor’s Spaghetti Dinner” twice a year. There are also a host of seasonal events like our “Pumpkin Patch and Carnival,” a safe Halloween

alternative, “Sidewalk Sunday School,” special celebrations for children at both Christmas and Easter, and much, much more. Instead of one worship service weekly, we now have three. Wednesday evenings we host a potluck, followed by worship and Bible study. We have a new Contemporary service on Sunday mornings as well as our Traditional/ Blended service. As an anchor church for the Lay Missionary Planting Network, we are working to develop Hispanic-led Bible Studies and the launch of a Hispanic worship service in the fall. I could tell you about more ministries, but I think you get the idea.

You are probably saying, “I bet that cost a bundle!” However, the reality is, our budget has been affected nominally by all of this. How did we turn it around in just six short years? It was challenging, but we figured out a way to be “socially holy” on a shoestring.

Every church has something that many

groups are looking for. It is there—trust me. Look at your church activity calendar.

Are all the building spaces used all the time? Probably not! Hope had vast amounts of time that spaces sat empty, so we opened ourselves up to organizations in the community that: 1) provided a service that filled a need in the community, 2) had qualified, trained staff, 3) had available funding for their meetings and 4) needed space. We have also connected with other United Methodist churches to host events, and constantly seek out funding opportunities beyond our membership. We have received grants and donations from many businesses in the community, in fact, we established a “Fund-Raising” committee several years ago, and their singular purpose is to find funding opportunities for mission and ministry.

The University of Arizona mobile medical clinic was looking for a place to park their truck—we had an empty parking lot—presto! A need in the community was

rho o

d.”

n , y a Tod

t h a h t cares abo c r u h c e h t “ e r u ’ t e w t s h u e l l n ei g h e t s r o bo eighb

met. The truck needed a special electrical hook-up, and after a few months of prayer, a grant was received to pay for the electrical installation (which cost over $1000—God provides!). Originally, the clinic planned on one monthly visit. However, the response was so great, that they now come weekly.

This is just one example of how we worked into social holiness by finding ways to serve the community and meet the needs of God’s people.

We pray, we listen, we respond.

Organizations now come through our door asking if we have space. One day, a representative from Tucson Electric Power came through, and within a short time, we had received a grant to replace all of our light fixtures that cut our electrical costs for lighting about 50%—that left us with more money for ministry. Other organizations pay us for the short-term use of our space, which helps us to underwrite those that cannot. Whenever there seems to be an obstacle, God shows us the way!

What is in our future? Only God knows for sure. When school reconvenes in the fall, we are looking to partner with the Tucson Food Bank, specifically for cereal.

Since I am usually in the office by 6:00 a.m., and our worship space is not being used, we will have “Breakfast with the Pastor” so that children who do not have a breakfast at home can come and tank-up before catching the bus for school. At the same time, we will seek to expand our food ministry with a Grower’s Market and additional food subsidies from the Tucson Food Bank.

Our yearly pumpkin patch will expand, the charter school is expanding, and we are looking at several other opportunities that God has sent our way. God calls us to use all our resources to reach out to all who are in need. Fear not, He will provide. God is good—all the time! †

Summer 2012 Transformation

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