NCM Magazine/Spring 2016

A PUBLICATION OF N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S

S P R I N G

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MINISTRY IN THE MARGINS HOW CHURCHES ARE LIVING OUT COMPASSION AMONG THE LEAST OF THESE

… for those who embrace compassion as a lifestyle

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF HOPE? Sponsor a child in Jesus’ name. ncm.org/mag/cs To sponsor a child, go online to ncm.org/cs or simply cut off and mail this form using the prepaid envelope. l I would like to sponsor a child for $30 a month. I would like to sponsor: l Greatest Need I would like to sponsor a child from:

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Name / Group____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person (if different)_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address / City / State / ZIP_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________ Email__________________________________________________________________ Church to receive 10% giving credit_______________________________________________________________________________________ You can mail this form to: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Child Sponsorship

17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas 66220 No payment is due now. You will receive information by mail about your sponsored child and payment options.

Table of Contents DEPARTMENTS 4

Connection Points 27

Called to Compassion 28

Love in Action 30

Snapshot

NCM Magazine Spring Issue, 2016 NCM Magazine aims to tell the stories of the church living out Christ’s compassion.

Our hope is that all of us would hear the call to compassion as a lifestyle.

Magazine Design: Paul Kinsman Cover Photo: Dash Gualberto

Following the example of Jesus, NCM partners with local Nazarene congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease. NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the gospel to all people in word and deed. n

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362, info@ncm.org n

To sign up for a free subscription, please visit ncm.org/magazine or call (800) 310-6362.

For subscription changes, email info@ncm.org or write to NCM Magazine, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220.

FEATURES

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How Sweet the Sound In L.A.’s Skid Row, a church is using karaoke and coffee to build community among people facing addiction and homelessness.

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Take the Lead The Bresee Youth Center in Central Los Angeles is empowering students to beat the odds by discovering their leadership potential.

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Bresee and the Roots of Compassion Ron Benefiel, former pastor of L.A. First Church of the Nazarene, talks mercy and justice.

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A Force for Hope In Swaziland, a country with the world’s highest rate of HIV/AIDS, two women have been leading the church to do something.

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Following Jesus Into the Margins When his church asked him to work with families who had been displaced by violence in the Philippines, a 20-something says he had no idea what he was doing but he went anyway. Here, he shares his experience among the least of these.

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Questions? Comments? Email info@ncm.org. n

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Connection Points.

OPENING NOTES

Photo courtesy of Tom Nees

Lorenzo Wright (left) is a member of Community of Hope, a congregation started by Tom Nees (right) and his wife, Pat (center).

Faith at the Margins

If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.

— Proverbs 21:13

by Tom Nees

L

orenzo Wright, 54, was called forward by his pastor, Rev. Larry Taylor, to tell his resurrection story on October 25, 2015, during the 40th anniversary worship service at the Community of Hope Church of the Nazarene in Washington, D.C. With a smile, this soft-spoken, gentle man talked about graduating from high school illiterate. After making the Goodwill Games U.S. boxing team, he lost his way in the street life and drug culture of D.C. It was not until spending five years in a federal prison on a drug-related conviction that he learned to read and write and vowed to live a better life and never return to prison.

After prison, his change continued when he happened upon a car wash at the Community of Hope church. He was welcomed, got acquainted, and eventually joined the congregation. He is now married, drives a truck for a local food bank, and has a close relationship with his adult son and two grandsons.

As I listened to Lorenzo’s story that Sunday morning, I thought of how so many others like him have also been lost in the city but never found their way out—and how, but for a few important turns, he might not have either.

His newfound life at the Community of Hope adds to the evolving narrative of a congregation I started more 40 years ago in an urban D.C. neighborhoods that was once

4 | NCM Magazine

referred to by a journalist as a “pit stop on the way to hell.” In recent years, that neighborhood has gentrified to upscale housing and businesses, so the church decided to relocate to southeast D.C, where the most urgent social problems can now be found.

Churches too often move away from rather than toward the margins. Not the Community of Hope. Lorenzo is a member here because the church didn’t avoid his neighborhood. He has found his home and a ministry in a congregation where almost everyone has family, friends, or neighbors who’ve experienced poverty, violence, drug abuse, or prison.

The congregation is a living witness to their neighbors about the possibilities of grace in the most difficult of circumstances.

It’s OK, even expected, for members like Lorenzo to say and sing honestly, “I once was lost, but now am found.”

Those who live their faith at the margins, whether by choice or circumstance, are vulnerable. They risk getting caught in the cross fire while doing good. But it is at the margins among the disinherited and disheartened where Christ’s gospel becomes good news. That’s worth the risk.

Tom Nees was the founding pastor of the Community of Hope Church of the Nazarene in Washington, D.C., and the first director of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries for the U.S. and Canada. He writes at www.tomnees.com.

LEARN WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN THE MARGINS OF YOUR COMMUNITY. compassionconference.com

CHILD SPONSORSHIP SPOTLIGHT

Photo courtesy of Debbie Moussa

All in the Family DEBBIE MOUSSA, UNITED STATES (OREGON)

D

ebbie Moussa and her husband love the outdoors. In Hillsboro, Oregon, it’s easy for them to share their appreciation of the nearby mountains, desert, ocean, lakes, and rivers with their two sons, two daughters-inlaw, and three grandchildren.

And as their family has grown, so has a desire to share a picture of God’s love with the next generation.

“We decided to sponsor one child per and their families,” she says. “To pray for each of our grandchildren,” Debbie says, a child, their family, community, workers “and to involve our grandchildren in the in the child development centers, the local letter writing, sharing with them about churches … then to hear and experience the children across the world who need to ex- growth in the child by receiving letters and perience Jesus’ love and support. We also updates is such an amazing experience.” decided to sponsor the same gender and apDebbie also encourages others to expeproximate age of our own grandchildren so rience sponsorship. “Families on both sides that they could relate to them more easily.” of the sponsorship are impacted by this!”

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries’ she says.

Child Sponsorship program has provided a Both the teen group and larger congregaway for the whole family to pursue compas- tion at Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene have sion together. committed to sponsoring different children.

The family has been sponsoring children During Child Sponsorship Sunday last June, for five years now. Bijoy, 15, lives in Bangla- various people within their congregation collectively sponsored 11 children. desh; 6-year-old Leanne lives in Lebanon; “Don’t be afraid to particiand 6-year-old Luz is from the Dominpate—get your family and ican Republic. friends involved in this Debbie says sponsoring chilWe w wonderful ministry!” dren has been “transformative” hear froamnt to y o Debbie says. “Why for the whole family. u !

Share y o would you not want “It has made us more aware u r sponsor ship sto of the global needs of many to be a part of this? ry by emai under-served populations, speIt’s God’s amazing lin cs@ncm g cifically our sponsored children handiwork!” .o

rg.

PERSPECTIVES

Too Young to Wed: Chandni’s Story

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You can change the world one child at a time! ncm.org/mag/cs

reason that child marriage is so common in Bangladesh. Yet marrying young typically perpetuates a cycle of poverty because young brides drop out of school without the skills to earn an income, and pregnancy can endanger the health of teen mothers and their babies.

In an effort to counteract this tradition, the child development center that Chandni attends holds parent meetings once a month.

“Caregivers [from the center] taught us the risk of death during pregnancy for those who get married before 18,” Maya says.

Her father agreed, and Chandni is continuing her schooling and looking forward to her future.

Maya says she’s thankful to see her daughter thriving at the child development center.

“I became really impressed to see my daughter performing dances and singing

Photo courtesy of NCM Bangladesh

t 15 years old, Chandni* was considered old enough to marry. Chandni’s mother had married young, and her older sister was already a mother by the time she turned 17. That’s just the way it is for many families in Bangladesh.

But Chandni didn’t want to get married.

At the Nazarene child development center she attends, the young teen had learned that girls should not marry before 18. She desperately asked her mother, Maya, to intervene, but her father had made up his mind that his daughter would be married.

Poverty is entirely too common in the rural village where Chandni lives, and it’s one

Thanks to the support of her parents, Chandni will not become a child bride.

songs,” she says. “These all were possible [because of the] good teachings of the center.”

Chandni is a top performer in her classes and even helps other students who struggle with their class work. She has many dreams for her future, including a career as a police officer. She wants to combat women’s violence.

“Please pray for me,” Chandni says. *Children’s names are changed for their protection.

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Connection Points.

COMPASSION CONNECTION

Circle of Support: Special Needs Ministry in Ukraine

by Efrain Ungria, NCM Eurasia

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GLOBAL 4/14 DAY On April 14, 2016, join with 1 million Christians to pray for the 2 billion children in our world.

For a free prayer guide, visit global414day.com

Photos courtesy of NCM Ukraine

kraine is not a friendly place for people with disabilities. Apartment buildings and public transportation are not handicap accessible, and it’s difficult for people with disabilities to find employment. Few resources exist for families to help children with disabilities grow up to live a full life.

That’s why volunteers from churches in Ukraine are doing what they can to give children with physical and intellectual disabilities, as well as their families, a different experience through a special camp.

The volunteers work with a boarding school for children with disabilities to create a week-long camp experience that involves more than 60 families. The children enjoy games, songs, crafts, and Bible stories; and their family members get the opportunity to rest and connect with others who face similar circumstances.

The camp’s participants include children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and autism of varying degrees. They each receive the message, “You are loved. You are valued. Your life has meaning.”

The purpose of the ministry has always been to share the hope of Christ.

After 12 years, many have come to faith in Christ, now attend church, and even serve as volunteers at the camp themselves. Together, this group has found a circle of support.

SHARE YOUR STORY We want to hear your stories! How are you or others you know living compassion as a lifestyle?

How is your church meeting needs in your community?

And how have you seen compassion change lives?

We’re listening at ncm.org/story.

QUOTABLE “Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to [the] place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken.

CHANGED LIVES

Addressing Addiction: A Church in Chiapas Offers Restoration

by Edi Montejo Alvarado, NCM Mexico

W

alking along the cobblestone streets and dirt paths, residents savor a delicious aroma that has made its way across the village. In yards, women carefully guard their harvests; in town, people haggle over the price of bags; and on the outskirts, people roast aromatic coffee beans. Here in Chiapas, Mexico, coffee beans move the local economy.

As money comes in through harvests, though, many workers often spend their money at bars instead of putting it into the bank. Located in the Sierra Madre Mountains on the border of Guatemala, this village, Jaltenango, has an especially high rate of alcohol abuse and addiction.

Raúl* had been on the streets drinking for 15 days. He was drunk on a street corner when a truck stopped suddenly in front of him. Desperate, he eventually asked the man in the truck for help.

“Yes, of course I can help,” Manuel Molina, a Nazarene minister, told him. “I will take you to a place where you will meet the

person who can pull you out of that life.”

Molina took Raúl to La Fortaleza, a rehabilitation center for alcohol addiction run by a local Nazarene church.

Molina and Graciela Alcázar felt God’s call to initiate this project in January 2014.

Initially, La Fortaleza was able to serve 30 people for a period of three months. Today, the center has served approximately 150 people who have graduated from the program. At the center, people receive food, lodging, and hopeful messages from the Bible.

By the age of 30, Raúl had been hospitalized 11 times, unable to conquer his addiction. This time, with the shelter’s provisions, things were different.

“I had an encounter with Jesus Christ, who restored me completely,” he says. “I graduated from the rehabilitation program and can experience freedom.”

Today, Raúl helps support the recovery of other people struggling with addiction. * Name has been changed.

But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering.

What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or cure for it.”

— Henri Nouwen

Photos courtesy of NCM Mexico

finding a quick

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Connection Points.

COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT: TONGA

From Strength to Strength: Tonga’s Mango Tree Center for Children With Disabilities Expands Reach

by Simone Finney, NCM Communications

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are unable to travel to the center. Because there are no public health or social services once someone is discharged from the hospital, Mango Tree staff also provide customized wheelchairs and mattresses for those with spinal injuries to help prevent bedsores.

In some cases, they have even built simple houses for those with the greatest needs.

“God helps us realize that we need to really value each and every soul, one by

one,” Kim told Engage magazine. “Again and again, we realize just how much God loves the children with disabilities and their families here in Tonga. We are so thankful that He has sent us here, where there aren’t proper services and facilities, and has continued to use us in fulfilling His beautiful and precious works.” *Children’s names are changed. **From matangitonga.to

Photos courtesy of John Watton

ue to a genetic condition, 6-year-old David* is already losing his eyesight— and so are his father and most of his siblings. In Tonga, many children with impaired vision are neglected by parents and teachers who don’t have the skills to help them, and eventually they leave school due to poor performance.

Since 2007, the Nazarene Mango Tree Respite Center in Houmakelikao in Nuku’alofa has been providing physical therapy and counseling to children and adults with severe physical disabilities and their families. Of the 100 people they care for, 40 are children with cerebral palsy; others have hearing loss, weak immune systems, cognitive dysfunction, or epilepsy. Saddened by the situation of children like David and his siblings, the staff of six have also begun teaching braille to children who are blind or partially sighted.

William’s older sister is learning braille at the Mango Tree center. Because braille is English-based, the center staff decided to enroll David first into an English-speaking primary school, funded by students from a college in New Zealand. At the center, David has his own desk, created at a specific height for his needs, and the team helps transport him safely to and from school.

“Most of the low-vision children will lose their eyesight in the future, but blind students can study like sighted children if they know braille and English,” says Rev. In-Kwon Kim, who runs the center with his wife, Jeong-Seok. “We started pre-braille classes for low-vision last year. Early intervention is important.”** The center has also created braille books in Tongan because none existed before.

From Monday through Thursday, the Mango Tree center provides physical therapy to help children with cerebral palsy. Staff also pay home visits to parapalegics or those who

In Tonga, few services exist for children with disabilities. The Mango Tree Respite Center provides physical therapy, counseling, and vocational and life skills training for children with disabilities and their families. Today, they provide care for 100 individuals, including 40 children with cerebral palsy.

PRAY WITH US We are among Your called.

We have heard and answered Your summons.

You have addressed us in the deep places of our lives.

In responsive obedience we testify, as we are able, to Your truth as it concerns our common life.

We thank You for the call, for the burden of that call, for the risk that goes with it, for the joy of words given us

by Your growing spirit, and for the newness that sometimes comes from our word.

Photo courtesy of Dash Gualberto

We have indeed been in the counsel of Your summoning spirit, and so we know some truth to speak.

But we are, as well, filled with rich imagination of our own, and our imagination is sometimes matched and overmatched

by our cowardice, by our readiness to please, by our quest for well-being.

We are, on most days, a hard mix of true prophet and wayward voice, a mix of Your call to justice and our hope for shalom.

Here we are, as we are, mixed but faithful, compromised but committed, anxious but devoted to You. Use us and our gifts for Your newness that pushes beyond all that we can say or imagine.

We are grateful for words given us; we are more grateful for Your word fleshed among us.

Written by Walter Brueggeman, Prayers for a Privileged People

“Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

He said, “The one who showed him

BUILDING BRIDGES. BREAKING CYCLES.

It doesn’t matter when you start. It only matters that you do.

mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

— Luke 10:36-37

THE JUSTICE MOVEMENT justicemovement.com

Spring 2016 | 9

HOW SWEET THE SOUND

How Karaoke Is Creating Community in LA’s Skid Row

How Karaoke Is Creating Community in L.A.’s Skid Row

By Callie Radke, NCM Communications Photos by Scott Bennett

I

f you pass Central City Community Outreach (CCCO) in downtown Los Angeles, California, on a Wednesday night, you might catch the soulful strains of someone singing, “Reunited and it feels so good …” by Peaches and Herb. Or maybe you’ll overhear Tony Stallworth belting out Michael Bublé’s “I just haven’t met you yet”—just one of his many activities as pastor of the Central City Church of the Nazarene.

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Because the church’s outreach is located in Skid Row, an area where 2,000 homeless people set up camp, crowds might not seem unusual. This group isn’t here for a meal or other services, though. They’re just here to sing.

Karaoke Coffee Club is a ministry that opens its arms—and microphones—to anyone who wants to come. Attendees can choose from more than 14,000 songs waiting for them inside the doors.

“I’ve got some karaoke junkies now who, instead of getting high, are singing their song,” says Lucy Stallworth, director of the ministry and Pastor Tony’s wife.

The Coffee Club started 18 years ago as a collaboration between Scott Chamberlain, founding pastor of Central City Church, and Tony and Lucy Stallworth. The Stallworths knew how to run karaoke, and an idea sparked.

finally took me down to homelessness.”

More than 20 years ago, Tony found himself sitting on a wall outside his dealer’s house one night. He was looking for anyone he knew who might be willing to share because he was broke. As he waited, he heard a voice urging him to pray. So, with nowhere else to go and nothing else to do, he did.

The very next day, though, Tony had already given up on God. No one, it seemed, was going to answer his prayer. He then decided to break into an abandoned house for shelter, leading to an altercation with the police. Moments later, a woman crossed the street and offered him something to eat.

Within a few hours, the woman had found a center run by the Union Rescue Mission that would take Tony in for the night. Then at that rehabilitation center, he found Christ.

“He met me right where I was at, and my life has been His ever since,” Tony says.

That’s one of the things he can share with people living in Skid Row: he knows.

“One of the things about this place—and it’s one of the reasons I love Central City so much—is everybody that’s out there has been through the same thing, from the pastor on down,” Tony says. “Nobody has any room to think they’re any better than anyone

“I’ve got some karaoke junkies now who, instead of getting high, are singing their song,” HERE TO STAND WITH YOU “We’re giving this community something else that is productive, that is fun, that is clean fun,” Tony says.

In an area where drug and alcohol abuse and addiction are a part of life, that mission is an important one. According to Lucy, it’s a street ministry in the truest sense of that phrase—it’s mainly run by people who live on the streets. The only rule? You have to

live clean to help out.

“Can’t be getting high on San Julian Street on Tuesday night and then come serve our ministry on Wednesday night,” Lucy says.

Pastor Tony knows a little something about what it feels like to live on the streets.

“I’m a recovering addict myself,” he says. “I’ve been through years of cocaine addiction, crystal meth, heroin, and all that stuff, and it

Pastor Tony Stallworth belts out “Just Haven’t Met You.” Photos courtesy of Scott Bennett

Spring 2016 | 11

them, and that I care for them,” he says.

Lucy and Tony Stallworth started Karaoke Coffee Club 18 years ago.

About 200 people come regularly to sing at Karaoke Coffee Club.

else. And so we all embrace one another, we all stand linked together. … I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to stand with you. Let me help you get up.”

Chamberlain met the Stallworths as Tony was working to break his addiction.

At the time, the couple was working seven nights a week setting up for karaoke in bars around the city.

When the couple suggested using karaoke as part of a Sunday morning service, Chamberlain suggested turning it into an ongoing ministry instead. As they dreamed, they decided to call it a coffee club to play off 12 | NCM Magazine

“One of the things about this place—and it’s one of the reasons I love Central City so much— is everybody that’s out there has been through the same thing, from the pastor on down.” the concept of a night club, Lucy says.

The first night they opened the Karaoke Coffee Club, 300 people lined up outside the doors. Now, 18 years later, about 200 people still come regularly to sing.

“It gives people who are marginalized the chance to have gifts to offer,” Chamberlain says. “It’s a metaphor for what it means to step into a relationship.”

That sense of openness and acceptance is exactly what Tony has been continuing in his own role as pastor for the past four years. “I shake everybody’s hands. I got hugs for everybody. I want people to know that I love

COMMUNITY ON SKID ROW Los Angeles is a city of contradictions: emerald green lawns dot the arid Hollywood Hills, and movie sets are constructed next to low-income housing. Nowhere is the reality of contradictions more apparent than in Skid Row, where people who are homeless are shuttered between tents and tarps just blocks from the high-rises and coffee shops of the city’s burgeoning arts scene. Skid Row is surrounded by change but stuck in immobility.

Central City sits in the middle of it all.

And that is exactly where it’s supposed to be.

About 90 percent of Central City’s congregation is indigenous to Skid Row. “This [Skid Row] is their community,” Chamberlain says. “Outside of it, people isolate themselves. … These are the most marginalized people in the U.S., but they’re rich in community.”

L.A.’s Skid Row has the largest concentration of homeless people in the United States.

It also stands alone as essentially the last “skid row” in the country, and big changes seem to be coming. More and more people are moving to downtown L.A., which means the 50 blocks of Skid Row are becoming valuable real estate.

Even Tony has seen a slowing of the Skid Row population. In fact, Central City closed one of its youth-oriented programs due to the decreasing number of young people in the area. But that certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t still people who need the community found at the church.

“The way I look at it is that we keep doing the things we do—loving people, praying for people,” Tony says.

Every day, people living on Skid Row are facing addiction, mental illness, poverty, and danger. Some have the scant shelter offered by tents or tarps, although both are technically illegal on the streets. Others just make due on the sidewalk, which makes for very long nights.

That’s how many people initially end up at Karaoke Coffee Club on Wednesday nights—it’s something to do, plus there will be hot coffee. But while they may come for the distraction, they stay for the community.

It’s a safe space to laugh, care for one another, and develop relationships.

“That’s the great thing about karaoke: no matter how awful you sound, everyone cheers and applauds,” Lucy says.

FOCUSED ON RELATIONSHIPS From its inception, Karaoke Coffee Club focused on relationships. According to Chamberlain, the methodology behind the ministry is based on community and relationship. Karaoke automatically sets up a ministry model that works through community, rather than from the top down.

“A lot of times, we think of ministry in a box of ‘here’s how you do it.’ But karaoke can open the door to doing something crazy and fun that ministers to people. It draws people into the church, where we can have relational transformation,” Chamberlain explains.

That same mindset of relationship-building creates the ingredients for the church’s other ministries, too. Karaoke, while perhaps the loudest, is only one of many.

The newest, social enterprise, addresses one of the most long-standing issues of homelessness: sustainable employment. Even if someone is motivated to find work, living on the streets creates a deficit in certain skills and resources.

This program partners with Rose City Coffee in Pasadena, which is a nonprofit business helping at-risk and homeless youth gain skills through training and mentorship.

Other ministries address issues of mental health and transitioning out of homelessness in a way that promotes peace in the community.

These programs work through partnerships with other L.A. nonprofits.

There was a time when Tony wondered how much good karaoke was doing in the community, especially compared with other ministries at the church. Was the ministry actually changing lives, or was it just something fun people came to do?

Several years ago, Tony stood outside the church building on karaoke night. He was asking God that exact question when a Skid Row resident came up to shake his hand, covertly passing off several crumpled dollar bills. Tony discovered that the man had been on his way to his dealer when he heard the music.

Tony remembers the man saying, “And then I heard the music and I came here and I like this a lot better than getting high, so I’m going to stay here.”

Instead of buying drugs, those few dollars bought coffee. And every Wednesday night, people can still come off the street in Skid Row to find coffee, karaoke, and community. n

WITH MIC IN HAND

Once in a while, James Brown comes to sing karaoke at the Central City Community Outreach in Los Angeles.

At least, that’s how he introduces himself. No one knows his real name.

He started coming to the Karaoke Coffee Club more than 15 years ago, completely drunk and wanting to sing. Lucy Stallworth, who directs the ministry, told him the rule: no participating unless you’re cleaned up.

“Here’s the deal,” she told him. “You come in next Wednesday sober, and I’ll bring you right up. I don’t care how many other people are singing, just give me your request.”

The very next week he came in not only clean and sober, but dressed in a suit like James Brown might have worn.

He asked to be introduced with that name, and the crowd went wild.

The next thing Lucy knew, she started seeing him on Sundays at the church where her husband, Tony, serves as pastor. Sometimes, “James” still struggles to stay clean, and sometimes, they don’t see him in church for months.

“We just try to encourage him as best we can,” Lucy says.

While this James Brown comes and goes, the Stallworths are always there to greet him with open arms. Now, after a stint in the hospital, he is back at church, and on Wednesday nights you can find him at karaoke—mic in hand and feeling good.

CCCO is organized and run by Central City Church of the Nazarene.

For more information about how you can get involved or support the ministry, visit lacentralcity.org.

TAKE THE

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LEA D

HOW THE BRESEE YOUTH CENTER IS CREATING YOUNG LEADERS IN CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

By Beth Clayton Luthye Photos by Scott Bennett

Spring 2016 | 15

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rowing up, I watched my mom get abused regularly. My father was a drunk, and I always worried about him fighting with my mom. This went on for years. On the night of August 28, 2009, my father came into the room screaming. My mom sat on the floor with my three-year-old sister on her lap and my sevenyear-old brother standing beside her. She pleaded for him to calm down and sleep because he was scaring us. My father pulled out a gun and pointed it at my mom. I put my small hands on the gun and begged him to stop. He removed my hands and pulled the trigger. I turned to look at my mom, who was now on the floor. … I lifted her head and held her as she took her last breaths. Moments later, she was gone.

Gabriela*, a high school senior, wrote these words as part of an essay for her college applications. When her mother died,

Gabriela is a mentor to younger students through the Goals for Life program.

Gabriela was 11, her brother was 7, and her sister was 3.

Statistics suggest that Gabriela’s chance at future success shouldn’t be high. In addition to experiencing trauma at a young age, she lives in a neighborhood known for gangs and poverty in central Los Angeles, California. Her grandparents, who moved from Guatemala to L.A. to care for Gabriela and her siblings, don’t speak much English and are unable to help with schoolwork. Despite the odds, though, Gabriela will graduate from high school later this spring, and in the fall she will begin her studies at a four-year university.

TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS Gabriela’s story could have had a dramatically

“AT BRESEE, YOU BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE STAFF. ... YOU HAVE LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK YOUR MIND. THEY DON’T SHUT YOU DOWN.”

At Bresee, 40 percent of staff members are alums. (L to R): Fonda Whitehead, Cristina Aviles, Chheav Em, Cynthia Calvillo, Jasmine Desenclos

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different ending, particularly in a neighborhood with a 40 percent school dropout rate.

The same can be said of hundreds of other youth who come to the Bresee Youth Center each day.

The center sits in the middle of a 1.75-square mile area known as the Rampart GRYD (Gang Reduction Youth Development) Zone. It’s the most densely populated area in Los Angeles County, with more than 75,000 people per square mile—including an estimated 805 active gang members who are responsible for nearly 25 percent of the city’s gang-related crimes. More than half of adults age 25 or older never finished high school. In this area of Central Los Angeles, about one-third of families are living in poverty. At the Bresee center, though, about 90 percent of the youth served come from low to very low-income levels, and 80 percent come from single parent households.

The numbers can be overwhelming, but instead of focusing on large numbers and statistics, the center’s programs emphasize one-on-one connections. “Relationships transform lives,” says Seth Eklund, executive director of the Bresee Youth Center, repeating the center’s foundational truth.

Covenant groups are the cornerstone of the relationship-building that takes place with youth at Bresee. In these small groups, a staff member meets regularly with three to five students, typically over a meal, for a full year. The groups use a character-based curriculum, but it’s not a class. Instead, the groups become a place where students can talk openly and honestly about what’s really going on in their lives with a mentor and peers.

“It’s important for kids to connect to each other and to an adult on a deeper level,” Eklund explains. “Over weeks, the groups have a deeper bond. … They’re grounded.”

According to Eklund, the groups, which focus on middle school students, are key because “you’re finding your identify in middle school.”

When students find a sense of identity and belonging through Bresee, they are less likely to seek out those things through gang affiliation. In fact, Bresee’s Gang Prevention program team has provided more than 400 of the most at-risk youth and their family members in their GRYD Zone with intensive case management, family counseling, and youth development activities.

Staff members tell stories of the impact the Bresee center has had by steering youth away from gangs. Gabriel Diaz, who teaches graphic design to students at Bresee and is responsible for the center’s website design, grew up down the street. While he got involved in activities at the center, his best friend got caught up in a gang and wound up being killed. That could easily have been Gabriel’s story as well.

Cynthia Calvillo, who has worked for two years as a family case manager at Bresee, also grew up down the street. “I was introduced to Bresee in ’98,” she says. “My parents had split up, and I was hanging out on streets a lot. It would have been easy for me to join a gang. I was looking for a support system, to feel like part of something. … Personally for me, Bresee has been a life changer.”

LEARNING TO LEAD Gabriela credits her own covenant group and relationships at Bresee with shaping her life, too. “At Bresee, you build relationships with the staff,” she says. “I see them as friends, as people I can trust and talk to. Those relationships have changed my life. … They [the staff] listen to what you have to say and you have a lot of opportunities to speak your mind. They don’t shut you out,” she says.

Now, Gabriela is providing those kinds of opportunities for other students as a mentor through the center’s Goals for Life program.

Through the program, older students work with a younger students to provide homework help, lessons in life skills and boundaries, and a listening ear.

Luis, a student at a local community college, also served as a mentor through Goals for Life. He says the center was instrumental in his own journey as well. “I didn’t think I had the leadership ability, but this [program] brought leadership out of me,” he says.

“Here, youth take charge. Little by little, you get more responsibility. It has shaped my outlook on life.”

Chheav Em, 30, who has directed Goals for Life for the past few years, says, “The programs here [at the Bresee center] give kids very specific opportunities. We’re trying to grow these kids. We say, ‘You take ownership of this,’ —helping them to see themselves as the change in their community.”

Chheav understands the importance of exposure to opportunities and learning to

Covenant groups are the cornerstone of relationship-building at the Bresee Youth Center. Here, Seth Eklund, executive director (third from left), poses with three young men who were part of covenant groups he has led over the years.

Spring 2016 | 17

“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY FOR ME TO JOIN A GANG. I WAS LOOKING FOR A SUPPORT SYSTEM, TO FEEL LIKE PART OF SOMETHING. …

PERSONALLY FOR ME, BRESEE HAS BEEN A LIFE CHANGER.” lead at a young age. Like 40 percent of the staff members, she is a product of the Bresee center herself.

Without her time at Bresee, she says, “Many things would be different. … I don’t think I would have been exposed to the same opportunities.”

Through Bresee, Chheav was able to attend and graduate from Northwest Nazarene University on a scholarship. She says her parents, who fled to the United States from Cambodia during the brutal regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, were unable to help her through tough times in college. “[But] I could always call my mentors and others from Bresee when I felt like I wanted to leave college or whatever,” she says.

Chheav, who is the only Christian in her family, also credits relationships at Bresee with her coming to faith. “It [Bresee] shaped my worldview in more than one way,” she says. “Then, I questioned everything [about faith], but people would have conversations with me.”

18 | NCM Magazine

GIVING BACK Youth leadership shows up throughout the Bresee center, which has employed hundreds of young people over the past 10 years.

Students came up with the idea for the center’s longstanding interactive youth bank, which allows students to earn points they can “bank” in order to pay for activities such as field trips or outings to amusement parks. Points are earned by doing homework and other activities. The bank is also used to teach the concepts of saving, borrowing, spending, and investing. Youth are the ones who teach the financial literacy class.

The motto that goes with the youth bank is “spend some, save some, give some away.”

The concept of giving away goes beyond money and points to lives as well, according to Fonda Whitehead, director of development at Bresee. In addition to building relationships and developing leadership skills, she says Bresee helps students learn to go beyond themselves by giving back.

Fonda models that principle herself.

When she was a student at Bresee, she received the center’s first college scholarship, which allowed her to attend Northwest Nazarene University. After graduation, she came back to work at the center and has been instilling leadership in students for 19 years.

Emma, a high school senior involved in Goals for Life, mentored eighth-grade students last year and is mentoring the same group this year as high school freshmen. She shares the story of one student who struggled with math last year and the way their work together helped that student to improve her grades. Goals for Life has changed the way Emma sees herself and her leadership abilities.

“I feel like my life can impact other people’s lives,” she says. “Before, I didn’t see it, but now I do.”

You can walk throughout the building and see the way the concept repeats itself over and over again. Pedro Joel Espinoza, for example, learned how to make films as a student at Bresee. After earning a university degree, he used video and photographry as a documentarian and community organizer.

Today, he coordinates Bresee’s teen technology center.

As a teen, Cesar Ramirez (pictured above) came to Bresee because they were offering a free karate class. He stuck with it and then started his own martial arts studio. He wanted to give back, so he started a new karate program for the students at Bresee.

Greg Monterrosa, another Bresee alum, co-founded the company MyLLC.com. As a way to give back, he has served on the scholarship board at Bresee, which has awarded more than $530,000 (USD) in scholarships over the past 10 years. More than 110 students have been able to attend universities including the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Pennsylvania; and Smith College.

As a student who is looking ahead to her own future, Gabriela says, “People have changed because of Bresee. It’s changing the lives of kids.” n *Name changed to protect privacy.

To learn more or support the work of the Bresee Youth Center, visit bresee.org.

BRESEE AND THE ROOTS OF COMPASSION: An Interview With Ron Benefiel Ron Benefiel serves as lead consultant for mission resources and pastoral relations and professor of sociology and theology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California.

Previously, he served as pastor of Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, which birthed the Bresee Youth Center, pastor of Mid-City Church of the Nazarene in San Diego, and president of Nazarene Theological Seminary.

NCM: The Bresee Center focuses a lot on developing leadership. Was that intentional?

Ron Benefiel: Some of our analysis when we were developing the program was thinking about institutions of support that young people need for development. Those institutions—almost all of them—were broken in that part of L.A., so we couldn’t just create a recreation program. We had to think holistically. And so it was education, it was job training, there was a Christian dimension to it— support groups—it was mentoring, it was economic literacy, and there was a college scholarship program. You can see how the gangs in the area were meeting the economic function, the camaraderie, the sense of community, if you will, so we had to compete with that. … Jeff Carr [former director of the Bresee Youth Center] did a terrific job at developing the model.

NCM: So how did it start?

Ron: We had the idea of an urban grad program called the Bresee Institute. … When people came to study with us, sometimes they stayed. The nonprofit began to apply funds toward internships, and those interns then began starting ministries. One of many was Bresee Youth. … And then it took off and outgrew the church.

NCM: Many point to Phineas Bresee and L.A. First Church of the Nazarene

as the root of the compassionate conscience of the Church of the Nazarene. How do you define compassion?

Ron: The biblical word that is more frequently used is mercy, and so I think of compassion associated with a sense of finding ways to come alongside those who are in need. … I do think there’s a distinction between mercy and justice.

A biblical view of justice necessitates an understanding of social systems. Mercy does not challenge the systems. … With justice, there is this sense of asking, “What are the systems that continue to create poverty or gangs or prostitution?”

NCM: What does the biblical call to mercy and justice look like lived out?

Ron: When I say justice, I don’t want to confuse that with a liberal social agenda. It’s biblical terminology. So what does that look like for us? When we look at the language of mercy and justice in Scripture, it goes back to the character of God—God who is a merciful God and God who is just. And part of that, then, is lived out in the character of God’s people as they are remade in the character of God.

Second, is, of course, financial support. What we do through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is a great example of that, with opportunities for child sponsorship or any number of other programs. So that’s support.

Third is sending. For some it means we commission people to represent us, but probably for most of us it means actually going instead of vicariously doing something, but being personally present. So that means mission trips, but it’s more than that. It’s also where we send people [and ourselves] out to be present where there is greater economic need than the communities where some of us might live.

NCM: So what does that look like outside of urban areas like where L.A. First Church is located?

Ron: What does it mean to be incarnationally present, especially among the poor? That would mean for us here at Point Loma or a suburban church that even though it’s not practical or possible for us to uproot this place and move it to somewhere like the middle of Los Angeles, we can partner with groups that are there. … [We] partner with those organizations as opposed to thinking it’s all on us, but to recognize the real breadth and strength of the Christian communities that are out there on the front lines every day in difficult situations. That’s not just here, it’s also globally.

Spring 2016 | 19

HOPE A FORCE FOR

VOLUNTEERS IN SWAZILAND OFFER WHOLENESS TO HUNDREDS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

by Brad Crofford, NCM Africa 20 | NCM Magazine

T

he first thing you notice as you approach Swaziland is the hilly terrain. Shrouded in fog, the hills tower over the road.

Along the roadway, cows graze and groups of people sit, waiting for public transit vans.

Billboards advertise cell phone plans, restaurants, hotels … and HIV testing.

One such billboard shows two young people at a desk together poring over a book.

“Are you really just study pals?” it reads.

“Why not test together?”

The billboard touches on the realities Swaziland faces as the country with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in adults in the world. Although the rate has dropped slightly in recent years, more than one in four adults in Swaziland is living with HIV or AIDS, according to UNICEF estimates. Within a population of about 1.3 million people, more than 200,000 individuals are estimated to be HIV-positive.

THE BEGINNING Years ago, when the country’s health crisis was coming to light, two women decided to take action. Evelyn Shongwe and Mary Magagula, both members of Sharpe Memorial Church of the Nazarene in Swaziland, began discussing plans for an HIV/AIDS ministry soon after Swaziland’s King Mswati III declared, in 1999, that HIV/AIDS was a national disaster.

“We thought, ‘As a church, we can’t stay quiet,’” Mary, a retired nurse, says. “‘We have to do something.’”

On monthly visits to a hospital near their church, Mary and Evelyn witnessed sick people who were turned away due to a shortage of beds and told they would need to be cared for at home. Unfortunately, many of the caregivers at home didn’t know how to provide the type of care that people living with HIV or AIDS needed.

In 2002, two years after the idea emerged, Evelyn and Mary launched the HIV/AIDS Taskforce. Trained volunteers from various communities, known as “supporters,” began to visit homes and identify people suffering from HIV/AIDS, as well as other terminal diseases, to provide practical, emotional, and spiritual care.

According to Mary, these visits are significant in light of the cultural stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, such as the belief that most people contract the virus through

Opposite: Mary Magagula (center) poses with care supporters Thoko (left) and Sindy (right) at an HIV/AIDS support group garden.

Left: Taskforce co-founders Evelyn Shongwe (left) and Mary Magagula review a client’s health records during a home visit .

Below: Members of the Banqobi HIV/AIDS support group tend a garden, which provides nutrition and income.

WE THOUGHT, ‘AS A CHURCH,

we can’t stay quiet.

WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.’

unfaithfulness or prostitution. Some people do not get tested because they believe the illness is caused by witchcraft or poisoning.

Once tested, women are sometimes reluctant to divulge their status for fear of being turned away or abandoned.

“At the beginning, they were hiding their diseases,” Mary says. “If they keep hiding their status, they get so stressed.”

Through their regular visits, the taskforce supporters build relationships. They provide encouragement, support clients’ health by encouraging them to take their anti-retroviral medication (ARVs) on schedule, provide spiritual advice and counseling, and bring essentials for nutrition, such as canned fish, beans, cooking oil, corn flour, and nutritional supplements.

THABO’S STORY Taskforce supporters also help others in the household who are indirectly affected by the

disease.

“When we visit homesteads and find children who are not schooled because their parents are dead or because they are sick, we try to get them sponsorship,” Mary says.

Thabo* is one of the sponsored children.

A soft-spoken teen, Thabo is in 8th grade at a local Nazarene high school. His favorite subject is agriculture, and he hopes to become a doctor some day. He is one of an estimated 73,000 children in Swaziland orphaned by AIDS, according to UNICEF estimates from 2013.

Though Thabo’s parents were HIV-positive, both died without telling him about their status—or his. Only after moving in with his grandparents was Thabo tested and found to be HIV-positive himself. Since then, the HIV/AIDS Taskforce has provided training to Thabo’s grandmother, helping her better care for Thabo and encourage him to take his medication on schedule.

Spring 2016 | 21

ARVs can help patients live longer and better lives if taken properly. The Swazi government has provided ARVs to the public since 2004, making a formerly cost-prohibitive treatment more accessible. Not all patients follow the treatment closely enough for it to be effective, though. Some stop taking the medication due to the claims of faith healers. Others, like Thabo, don’t understand at first why they are the only person in a household taking the medication. Thabo didn’t take ARVs regularly until his grandmother received training and he could better understand the medication’s importance.

“We have patients discovered in 1999 who take ARVs and are still alive today,” Mary says.

With regular medication, support from his biological family at home and church family around the world, and hard work at school, there is now hope for Thabo to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor some day.

CULTIVATING HOPE Four support groups have now formed among some of the HIV/AID Taskforce’s clients. Beyond encouraging and spiritually supporting one another, the members

It uplifts Your faith WHEN you assist someone,

“

Photos courtesy of Brad Crofford

SEE THEM GET BETTER AND BETTER, GO BACK TO WORK, AND HELP THEIR FAMILY.”

Above: The Banqobi HIV/ AIDS support group grows a wide variety of crops in their garden, including maize, onion, lettuce, cabbage, beets, eggplant, carrots, pumpkin, watermelon, peppers, and green beans.

Right: Mary Magagula (right) and her client, Thembi, share a laugh while posing for a photo.

22 | NCM Magazine

of these support groups run gardens, from which the vegetables grown can help ensure a healthy diet, which is vital for those with HIV/AIDS, and can also be sold to help support members’ families.

Some of the groups also engage in other income-generating activities, like sewing and making jewelry, candles or soap. The groups schedule their own meetings—usually weekly—and support each other to build savings and provide credit, extending small loans to group members.

Members of the support group do not have to be HIV-positive themselves, though all have been impacted by the virus in some way.

Thoko* is HIV-positive and one of the Taskforce’s supporters. She is also a member of the Banqobi HIV/AIDS support group, which formed in 2007. Today, the group runs a large garden that grows a wide variety of crops, including maize, onion, lettuce, cabbage, beets, eggplant, carrots, pumpkin, watermelon, green peppers, and green beans.

“We are starting to be known in the community,” Thoko says with a smile. “Our dream is to become millionaires! Vegetables are becoming more expensive.”

The garden is thriving. Vegetables entered in 19 categories at a recent trade fair won the garden accolades and a gift card for 700 rand (about $55) from a local grocery store.

“We won because our vegetables were the best at the trade fair,” says Sindy* another HIV-positive supporter and support group member.

Alongside the vegetables in the garden, hope is growing, too.

“YES, JESUS LOVES ME” On a cool September afternoon, Sindy, one of the Taskforce’s early supporters, visits a small, two-room house with Mary and Evelyn. Mary sits near the client, Thembi,* while Evelyn presents a plastic bag filled with nutritious food. Thembi, a client since Sindy began visiting her in 2010, suffers from HIV, tuberculosis, and, more recently, a skin problem. Her caregiver shares Thembi’s health records with Mary, who is pleased to see that Thembi has been taking her medication faithfully.

“When you have tested [positive for HIV], they encourage you to take treatment and not wait until you are so weak,” Thembi

says through a translator.

She speaks highly of the Taskforce, saying “[They] lifted my life, which was almost dead.” Her goals are to talk about God and preach the gospel of Jesus, talk to others about the virus, and visit people who are sick at their homes—the way the Taskforce has done for her.

After a song and prayer, the visitors pile into their pickup truck and follow a winding, dusty trail to a compound shared by three families.

At the next client’s home, the same procedure takes place: Evelyn delivers food, Mary examines the client’s health record, and Sindy talks to the client, Gugu*, who is an energetic and talkative storyteller, and whose facial expressions range from sadness to amusement as she responds to their questions with long stories. As she talks, the reasons for her dismay become clearer.

Gugu used to be a seamstress. The money she earned helped pay for school fees and food for her family. But as her illness worsened, she could no longer work. Because of this, only two of her three school-age children are attending school. The ARV treatment is helping, and she has regained her appetite, but her family still faces problems.

They lack food. Because of the stigma around HIV/AIDS, some of the other people on the compound are afraid of Gugu and shame her.

She wants her family to move elsewhere, but they can’t.

Like the first visit, this one ends with a prayer and a song. In the midst of her difficult circumstances, Gugu joins in singing these encouraging, simple words: “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.”

A FULLER FUTURE The HIV/AIDS Taskforce now serves more than 600 clients. The number fluctuates based on how well clients are doing.

“Some clients, when they are better, go and get a job and you don’t see them again,” Mary says. “But that is the goal for them.

They move on with their life.”

The Taskforce faces some big challenges. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate remains high. Supporters are encouraged to have six clients, but they often take on more because multiple people are ill in the same household. Polygamy remains common in

Above: In Swaziland, one in four people is HIV-positive— the highest prevalance of HIV/AIDS in the world.

Left: Evelyn Shongwe (right) prays with Gugu, a client and mother of three. She feels isolated, so home visits from Taskforce supporters offer needed practical, emotional, and spiritual support.

Swaziland, which continues the spread of HIV. All of this makes the supporters’ work emotionally challenging.

“To go every day, you get almost traumatized,” Evelyn says. “When you see someone’s life decline, you feel you didn’t do good.”

Evelyn says that having faith in God helps her keep perspective during difficult times.

There are many reasons for hope, though.

Fewer children are now born HIV-positive, Evelyn reports. The stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS has lessened over the years, and more people are talking openly about their status. Mary says this is because now more people understand now that “you can be born with it.”

Evelyn and Mary are actively mentoring about 40 trained supporters working in two of Swaziland’s four regions. Resources permitting, they would also like to mentor the approximately 40 trained supporters who

live in the other two regions.

Although their work with the HIV/AIDS Taskforce is difficult at times, it is also spiritually and emotionally rewarding.

“It uplifts your faith when you assist someone, see them get better and better, go back to work, and help their family,” Evelyn says. “After you work, you feel peace in your heart.” n Brad Crofford is a volunteer for NCM Africa. He holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Oklahoma and bachelor degrees from Southern Nazarene University. He grew up in West Africa and Haiti as the son of Nazarene missionaries Greg and Amy Crofford.

To learn more or support the HIV/AIDS Taskforce, visit ncm.org/taskforce.

Spring 2016 | 23

FOLLOWING JESUS INTO THE MARGINS

I

n May 2014, I moved to Zamboanga City, a 12-hour bus ride from my hometown in the Philippines. I had just graduated from university. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but my church had asked me to go and I said yes.

Eight months earlier, Zamboanga had experienced a 20-day battle between the Philippine military and a separatist organization that had left more than 60,000 people disWhen my church sent me to work placed. I was sent to work in the Mampang with families displaced by violence, transitory site where 10,000 people had I had no idea how God would transform been relocated. me through ministry to the least of these.

Most of the people I work with are from

By Leody Eschavez the Badjao tribe, an ethnic group who live Photos by Dash Gualberto in the seaside areas of the city. They’re

sometimes called “sea gypsies” or “sea dwellers.” They are peace-loving people yet are considered the lowest and most outcast in the Philippine context.

My job is to organize and lead a temporary learning space in one section of the site where a few volunteers and I teach math, basic writing, proper hygiene, and personal values. In general, about 70 to 80 children— mostly Badjao—attend if they’re in the mood. Sometimes they aren’t in the mood, and only 20 to 30 children attend. Education is generally not considered a priority, and some parents do not even allow their children to attend, preferring they go to work fishing or go begging in the streets instead.

These kids are students in our temporary learning space. They are all Badjao. A lot of children go to school each morning, but many have to help their parents with chores or selling food. Other kids just play. Education is not a priority for most people in this culture, so we are trying to encourage them and show the importance and benefits of education.

Every day water tankers bring water to the camp, but it lasts for a short while because of the very high demand. Each family receives only three buckets of water a day.

24 | NCM Magazine

This woman is using rain water to wash her clothes.

Water is scarce, so rain is celebrated.

Doing laundry and bathing are luxuries in the Mampang transitory site.

A MIX OF HEARTACHE AND HOPE After almost two years working here, I can describe life in the transitory site in one word: hard. Finding a stable source of income is very hard, and finding daily food for survival is like climbing a mountain with no trails. The temperature is hot, and there are no trees for shade.

Almost 10 trucks of water are delivered to the site each day, but still it is not enough to meet the needs of almost 10,000 individuals. Water is precious, like money. For this reason, whenever a strong rain comes, people stock barrels of water. The water is not safe, though, and there is a lot of diarrheal disease.

Even though education is difficult in this context, many children have shown a lot of

determination. There is a girl named Rita* who has consistently attended our activities.

She is quiet and shy, but what strikes me most is her dedication to learning. Although

There are many people who have said to us, “You’ve changed our lives and helped us,” but I tell them, “You’ve changed our lives. Look how resilient and strong you are!” she is 14 years old, she was never taught how to write. But given a little education, she has already learned so much, including how

to write her name and other basic literacy skills. There are many kids here like Rita.

The girls are very vulnerable. Here in Zamboanga, there are men paying girls 20 pesos (42 cents USD) for sex. Children are being exploited. Girls tell us that many men are coming to the transitory site. Because of their extreme poverty, these girls are coerced and forced to engage in this kind of activity.

In spite of the heartache, there are hopeful moments, too. The most rewarding aspect is personal interactions. Badjao people are often misunderstood and looked down on, but our team has the privilege to talk to children and their parents and to really know their stories.

There are many people who have said to

Left: Most of the children come to us with no formal education. They don’t know how to read or even how to write their letters. We start with pre-literacy exercises, such as learning how to draw a diagonal line as a way to begin to teach them to write their ABCs. Below: I teach children stories and values from the Bible.

This family is Tausug, another ethnic minority at the site.

Their father is a fisherman and just got back home from fishing. They just sold their catch to their neighbor, who will then sell it in a nearby marketplace.

The children are attending our temporary learning space.

Spring 2016 | 25

us, “You’ve changed our lives and helped us,” but I tell them, “You’ve changed our lives.

Look how resilient and strong you are!”

TRANSFORMING LIVES God is using our presence here. Many organizations offer assistance, but they don’t necessarily offer love. People ask us, “Why are you different? Why do you talk to us?

Why do you hug us? Why do you eat with us?” We tell them, “We love you because God loves you—Jesus loves you.”

These vinta boats are either being carried to the shore or will be transported to the main sea if it is high tide. The boats are handcrafted and made by locals also living in the area.

Vintas often have sails adorned with beautiful colors. It is one of the key images of Zamboanga.

God has worked in my life here, too. When I was a student, I was happy-go-lucky. I didn’t care about what was happening around me. I didn’t care about social issues or about people in need. When I was a kid, I saw people begging, and I didn’t care about them. Now, I understand their situation and their pain, and I cannot neglect them. I speak to them on Jesus’ behalf and advocate on their behalf. Some friends tease me and ask me why

*Children’s names are changed for their protection.

Leody Eschavez lives in Zamboanga City, Philippines, where he serves as the field team leader for the Nazarene church’s disaster response team.

This is a sarisari shop, which is common in the Philippines. A few families in the site have set up this kind of business, but others fish or sell vegetables, or, worse, they send their children to beg in the streets.

Before the war, the Badjao families were living in the coastal areas where they established their fishing village and communities.

26 | NCM Magazine

I speak up for those considered outcasts, but the Lord has given me this burden.

God has transformed me and molded me through this ministry in the margins. n

When I talk with them, they always say that their life in the site is really hard because they are not used to living away from the

sea. This is called a transitory site, but they can’t go back to where they were living and don’t know where they can go in the future.

Called to Compassion.

Because There Is Hope

A

community’s future, Maria and her peers speak of the love and acceptance they received through mentorship and committed relationships. They share the importance of hope for change. They talk about the desire to see all the people they love come to faith in Jesus, the one who is able to make things possible.

Love, hope, and faith: simple words with such power to change a life.

I think to myself, “May God make all things possible for these children, because Christ’s love is never-ending.” And before I know it, I am not just thinking about what I want God to do. I’m daring to think about what He might be asking me to do as well.

I pray, “Lord, use my life to offer love, hope, and faith, even in the middle of complex, difficult stories.” *Children’s names are changed for their protection and privacy.

Aisling “Ashling” Zweigle has served, with her husband, Dr. Grant Zweigle, in pastoral ministry in the US and Canada. She is passionate about child advocacy and the church’s outreach to children-at-risk.

Aisling and Grant serve as Nazarene Mission Corps volunteers for APNTS and the Asia-Pacific Region.

Photo courtesy of Aisling Zweigle

further education is a huge investment.

Yet it’s an investment that is paying off as young people become catalysts of change in their own communities. They tell Child sponsorship is turning me that child sponsorship and the church’s young people into catalysts investment in their unique stories have changed their lives. for transformation Maria* shares, “My mom only completby Aisling Zweigle ed grade five. My cousin and I are the only s I step into the community, men are ones in my family to complete high school gathered on their tricycle taxis, taking and now attend college. My father finished a break from the day’s business. Children elementary school, but most did not. They are laughing and jumping. Dogs run across value education, but most in Rowenas valthe path. Parents sit outside and call out ue income because their goal is survival.” to those who pass by. The sun is starting I ask Maria about messages she has to set. I walk deeper into the community, received that motivated her to work at her and the path makes way to education. “I think it narrow ledges alongside the is, ‘Have hope,’” she I pray that the God of creek that flows a few feet says. “I didn’t expect our Lord Jesus Christ, below. One-roomed concrete myself to be a gradthe Father of glory, homes are pressed together. uate from college may give you a spirit of because I gave up As I get closer to the Rowisdom and revelation wenas community developthose dreams, but the as you come to know ment center, I hear music church and the [Rohim, so that, with the and laughter. Guitars are wenas] project really eyes of your heart being tuned. Older students motivated us.” enlightened, you may are practicing dance moves, When I ask what which they teach to a group the church has meant know what is the hope of younger students. and what they thought to which he has called This community, home to God wanted for their you, what are the many, is an informal settleriches of his glorious ment on the edge of Manila, inheritance among Philippines. Historically, it has the saints. been a place where squat— Ephesians 1:17-18 ters dwelled. The advocacy of students and pastors at the neighboring Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary has birthed feeding programs and ministry projects over the years.

The local Nazarene church, River of Life Fellowship, runs the Rowenas project. Pastor Jackson Natividad, who lives with his family alongside a hill adjacent to the creek, leads the congregation and is diligently raising up leaders within the community.

Child sponsorship serves as a key entry point for community development. Some of the children are now teens who are being supported in furthering their education and dreams for the future. In a community where many parents have completed school only through fifth grade and depend on every last family member to work, this

Aisling poses with a Rowenas friend, one of the hard-working young adults being mentored to serve the church and community with his talents.

Spring Spring2016 2016||27 27

Love in Action.

Building Bridges In a tiny Texas town, Nazarenes are reframing the Great Commission.

by Teanna Sunberg

N

obody around the table at the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center understood just how prophetic Dana Franchetti’s words really were. “The face of the U.S. is changing, and it is the responsibility of the Church to answer,” she said. “The fad for my generation is the Great Commissional ‘go,’ but in reality, the nations are coming to us.”

Cactus is a small, impoverished, and highly diverse town in the Texas panhandle.

The ministry center sits across the highway from an enormous meat-packing plant—the town’s main employer. It’s tucked behind a Family Dollar discount store.

“You are not in the U.S. anymore,” says

Cactus has no after-school activities, no secondary school, and no health care. The nearest doctor is 10 miles away. It’s also classified as a food desert, a place where residents can’t easily access fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole foods.

The Nazarene church is intentionally and holistically addressing these issues.

The Monteblancos and their two young children moved to Cactus in 2013 for the purpose of community development and outreach. The family lives in a single-wide trailer that shares acreage with the ministry center.

“We can imagine something different for Cactus,” Vito says. “We do not want to give

Photos courtesy of Teanna Sunberg and Cactus Ministry Center

“The fad for my generation is the Great Commissional ‘go,’ but in reality, the nations are coming to us.”

Above and Right: The Cactus Ministry Center hosts scores of volunteers each year to teach English to adults, host summer camps for children, and more.

28 | NCM Magazine

Vito Monteblanco, the center’s executive director, a role he shares with his wife, Jenni.

Cactus is home to 3,791 people with ethnicities stretching across more than 20 different countries, including Somalia, Myanmar, Guatemala, and South Sudan.

Approximately 50 percent of the people here are of Latino ethnicity; the remaining half come from a range of places yet have one thing in common: They’re all refugees.

fish to people. We want to teach them to fish and then help them start a fish market.”

This is the guiding ethos of the ministry center. Emily Burke, a volunteer, expresses intentionality toward humanizing the challenging situation that defines reality for Cactus residents. “We want everyone in the community to believe what we believe: You have something to offer, no matter what.

We are equal in our humanity,” she says.

IMAGINING SOMETHING DIFFERENT Vito’s statement is meant to be an orienting marker for people outside the community.

Though the postal code of Cactus is in the United States, much of the community’s resources don’t reflect a land of plenty.

MULTI-LAYERED MINISTRIES Dana Franchetti, a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University, is the center’s children and youth program director. She recalls how a city soccer league led to dignity. Two years ago, the center helped 95 children participate

in the neighboring city’s soccer program.

The next year, Franchetti believed Cactus could sustain its own league. Her decision to charge participants a small fee brought criticism from outside, but Franchetti believed viewing people as capable to pay for something they value, rather than depending on hand-outs, was a step toward empowerment. If statistics tell a story, then Franchetti was right—115 kids played soccer, and only five families were unable to pay.

The list of ministries the center hosts is multi-layered and growing. To address the lack of access to healthy, affordable food, the center partnered with Baylor University to provide healthy lunches every day last summer. They served 1,559 meals to children. This summer, they’ll participate again and, with the help of interns from Trevecca, expand it into a summer day camp.

The center serves adults through English classes and parenting courses, and will soon include U.S. citizenship classes and GED courses to help people earn a high school equivalency diploma. The aim is to also add a food pantry. By taking a class, individuals can earn points to “spend” at the pantry. It’s a way to validate clients while helping them meet their own needs—a step on the journey to that metaphorical fish market.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS Everyone knows that those from the Cactus ministry center are Christians. In fact, the center is home to three Nazarene congregations: one African, one Spanish-speaking, and one English-speaking. Yet a third of Cactus is Muslim, a number that far exceeds the average in most U.S. communities. The Monteblancos and Franchetti function as community chaplains and are frequently invited into the homes of Muslim families.

Learning to be accessible, loving, and Christ-like to their Muslim neighbors is not only a priority, it’s also a source of insight and growth. Franchetti remembers talking with a group of Rohingya boys—refugees from Myanmar—before an event called Bundle Up Cactus, which provides coats for kids.

It was cold, and not one of the boys was wearing a coat. “Come to the ministry center,” she encouraged. They said they couldn’t take anything with a “t” on it. When the boys

Left: As the staff of Cactus Ministry Center grows, so do the ministries they are able to offer to children and families.

Below: The Cactus center offers recreation activities for children—something the public schools are unable to do.

You begin to see that we are all people trying to make connections, raise our kids, feed our families.

We are not as different as we think we are.” saw her confusion, one led her to a nearby church and pointed at the cross. Franchetti understood: Free help from well-meaning Christian organizations often came with a price. At the Cactus center, though, they can find unconditional love.

Just as the nationalities in Cactus transcend borders, so does the ministry there.

This spring, a whirlwind 14 teams begin to arrive from other states to help with day camp, feeding programs, English classes, and construction. Then in July, the Cactus ministry team will travel to Serbia and Croatia with the West Texas district. There, they’ll partner with Nazarenes in Central Europe in refugee response to thousands of people transiting through the Balkans.

The hope is that the teams, separated by

an ocean yet dealing with similar challenges, can learn from each other.

“We are building bridges—connecting people,” Franchetti says. “You begin to see that we are all people trying to make connections, raise our kids, feed our families.

We are not as different as we think we are. … The kingdom of God is here.” n

To learn more or support the work of the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center, visit cactusministries.org.

Teanna Sunberg is a missionary, mom, and writer living in Budapest, Hungary. Together with her husband, Jay, she has the joy and privilege of serving the people of the Central Europe Field.

Spring 2016 | 29

Snapshot.

You can read more about this ministry on page 24.

30 | NCM Magazine

Photo courtesy of Dash Gualberto

In Zamboanga City, a southern port city in the Philippines, a 20-day war left more than 60,000 people homeless.

Ten thousand were relocated to the Mampang transitory site.

The families here come from the most marginalized and outcast ethnic minorities in the country. Education is not traditionally a priority for many families, and children are often sent out to beg for money in the streets. The Nazarene church in the Philippines has created a temporary learning space as a way to provide an opportunity for education, unconditional love, and hope-filled futures.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Phelps

a e g n a h C child’s life v e e r r . o f

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• • • For more information about how you can change a child’s life forever, contact: Church of the Nazarene Foundation 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy Ste 200, Lenexa, KS 66220 • 866.273.2549 info@nazarenefoundation.org • www.NazareneFoundation.org

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