Kingdom come.

Hello from Wacko.

So, since we last met some exciting things have happened. It is amazing how even though my life might be in pieces elsewhere, the call to be cognizant and active in this mission and need in society is still so compelling. I just keep asking myself ‘what is happening in America today?’ I am so discouraged to the point of hopelessness when I see the facts and repercussions of our actions and ignorances. I have spent the last few days trying to get motivated to keep up with the pace of life here. Its difficult and I really just want to hang out all the time. But the time is urgent and its just like me, a typical American, to be selfish and apathetic. However, the last few days have been great.

Baylor University, that is located in Waco, is the largest Baptist University in the country. I mean it’s huge and it’s incredibly expensive. Something like a population of tens of thousands of people and a tuition close to $40,000. They call it the “Baylor Bubble” because with so many “Christians” in the 11^th poorest city in the country, that relationship doesn’t really make sense. They are known as the “Baylors” to the local project kids and they are presumed to be white and rich; just as much as we expect the project kids to be dumb and dangerous. Anyways, MissionWaco and Baylor have paired up for an activity that their incoming freshman take part it. It’s basically a Street-Camp (going in to the projects, to play with kids, give them a snack, etc) in the morning which the new Baylor freshmen do. So every Wednesday and Thursday for the rest of July, we will have 200 new freshmen each day to take to a different project site in the city. Me and Emily (the work group interns) are the “security” (no joke) at each site to make sure everything goes smoothly and any needs are met. It has been incredible. The freshmen are true freshmen through and through. They’ve never seen anything like these kids…or the drunk men carousing around the picnic tables at the parks, or the beggars asking for rides, money, anything, or the poor women walking the streets with no shoes and ill-fitting, dirty clothes. To see it through fresh eyes has renewed my passion for what I’m doing here. One girl approached me and was astonished that MissionWaco does StreetCamps all the time. She was eager to get involved when she finally got to Baylor in the fall. It’s been so great and I’ve really been enjoying facilitating and being a part of these freshmen’s experiences.

So other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of administrative tasks around the offices which basically means organizing and running errands for the staff. I was invited by some staff members to go see Harry Potter and LOVED it, especially getting to hang out with non-interns for once.

This past Friday we had a “Friday Forum” with this guy from the Waco CDC (Community Development Corporation). It’s an organization that’s affiliated with CCDA (Christian Community Development Association). They work in the poor communities with substantial crime problems and terrible appearance and revive the community. They have really been concentrated in the neighborhoods around our office (15^th street). They’ve built 30 new homes and made 100 new homeowners. They offer financial counseling to families and to date, they’ve counseled more than 900 families. Remarkably, Waco CDC has had no foreclosures on their homes due to the economy. They attribute that to the counseling and making sure their residents can actually afford the mortgage. They work with the schools to use those as cornerstones of community improvement. And the two schools in the neighborhoods have improved exponentially. They also work in improving the conditions of the government housing complexes. It was really neat to meet in a small setting and just pick their brain about what they believe community development means and needs. Here are pretty impressive pictures of their work:

BEFORE

AFTER

Other than that, my actions have been predictable and not really spontaneous. On the other side of things, my philosophy in life is changing drastically. You can not spend time in this environment for long without it changing your life. I’m having to read my last book for the Summer and we get to pick our own. I’ve chosen “The “Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne.

I highly recommend it, the most of any of the other books I've read and I'm not even finished. Go out, buy it.

Shane Claiborne’s a good friend of Jimmy Dorrell (the Director of MW) and came to speak at the Church Under the Bridge with David Crowder leading worship last fall (HATE I missed that!). Also, the proceeds of the book all go to certain organizations of "ordinary radicals" that are working to change what the church means and does. Church Under the Bridge is one of those recipients.

Anyways, I’m only 70 pages into it and can’t stop the passion that is igniting in me to be a part of this revolution in America. Seriously, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN AMERICA TODAY? I have now committed to not ignoring the shortcomings and failures of the church today. But as Claiborne says I need to “stop complaining about the church I see, and set my heart on becoming the church I dream of”. I mean can’t you feel it? Can’t you feel how the American church doesn’t seem to GET it anymore? Can you even compare the current state of the “church” with the house church in Acts where “there were no needy persons among them”? On any given night, there are 700,000 to 2 million people homeless on the streets of America. 20-25% of these homeless are mentally ill and 40% are veterans of the US military machine. My home church spends 100,000 dollars on an awning to shield its members from the rain for 30 seconds when 700,000 are sleeping in it. Wake up, because I surely am. I’m tired of just feeling moved. I want to move. I will move.

“Don’t the Bible say we must love everybody?”

“O, the Bible! To be sure, it says a great many things; but, then, nobody ever thinks of doing them.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncles Tom’s Cabin.

Thanks for reading. Peace to you.