Fast and Pray Oct 16

Mark your calendar and tell your friends!
Oct 16 & 17, 2007

STAND UP SPEAK OUT AGAINST POVERTY http://standagainstpoverty.org

Join The Compassion and Justice Learning Community as we:

Fast & Pray to End World Hunger
Start Time: Tues Oct 16 am-Wed Oct17 7:59am
Location: Wherever you are
Event Description: FAST 24 hrs. & PRAY during your would-be mealtimes.

Pray:

That the non poor consider the needs of their poor neighbor.

That we will actively seek ways to alleviate suffering and injustice.

That followers of Christ will be compelled by love and live a life of sacrifice.

(Above: Phnom, 7, gives thanks for her food at World Vision’s Bamboo Shoot Center for street children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia http://www.worldvision.org/

*"Stand Up, Speak Out" calls for people of the world to hold their leaders accountable, to foster knowledge and understanding of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to propagate global grassroots participation that positively impacts the decisions of world leaders. This is not about raising money; it's about raising awareness

Do we worship a homeless man?

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20

Feed the Homeless Go to Jail!?

You gotta read this to believe this. ORLANDO, Fla. -- A controversial city ordinance has led to a number of protests and now a trial. An Orlando man is the first person to face a jury for feeding the homeless. http://www.wftv.com/news/14289861/detail.html?reddit

Feed My Sheep

God's Word for contemplation: John 21:15-19
The Reinstatement of Peter

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. " He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. " He said to him, "Tend my sheep. " He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. " [Jesus] said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. " He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me. "

Read and contemplate. Exchange your name for Peter's. What is God saying to you? How are you showing or confessing your love and devotion to Christ?

Here is a great commentaty on this beautiful and often read scripture:
http://centeringprayer.com/wklyart.htm

Feeling Compassion

I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.
Thomas Aquinas

Work for Food That Endures..

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." JOhn 6:27

""My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.." John 4:34

Compassion and Justice Learning Community

PCC's Compassion and Justice Learning Community welcomes people who are intested in learning together, praying together, humbly serving together, as we demonstrate the love of Jesus to the least of these in Redwood City. We desire to live out our Christian mandate to LOVE GOD and LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.

As Mother Teresa so beautifully puts it:
“I wish to say that every person must be concerned with the welfare of his neighbours. It is a duty of charity. We must show our love for all men and women who are God’s children and, so, are our brothers and sisters”“We can not show our love for God whom we can not see and who is in need of nothing except by loving and serving our neighbor who we see and love as God’s child”

OUR COVENANT
1) GATHER with other Christ followers
2) READ & REFLECT on scripture and books related to the poor
3 ) SERVE – Acts of Compassion – individual service and group service (1-2 hours a week)

For more details on our community at Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City, please check out the other posts in this blog or contact me at virginiahuffman@yahoo.com

Be Rich Towards God

Mt 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Well I can tell you where my heart and mind have been. Struggling with the pull of the material world and the Everlasting Kingdom. It is so true that my heart, mind, soul and energy are given to things that don't last. I have to constantly realign myself with God's priorities and it' so hard. I am glad to finally be in community with people who are also on this journey towards Kingdom values. I am glad I have to give an account and am trying to immerse myself in the Word which brings me life and proper perspective.

As I am thinking more and more about the poor, I am seeing things in scripture through a new lens. For example, last night I read Luke 12:15-21. It's the parable about the rich man whose land produced abundantly. He had an excess crop and instead of asking God what he should do, he hoarded it, tore down his old barn (which was probably still useful) and build a bigger better barn. If he had done so today, he probably would have hired an interior decorator to make sure it matched his house or consulted the latest version of Pottery Barn to make sure it looked vintage yet new and oh so cute. Maybe he would have been highlighted in "This Old House" magazine or sponsored a Sunset Magazine Tour.

What I had not seen in this passage before is not that he simply hoarded and built bigger barns bu that he failed to share with the poor. He was not "rich towards God" and God took his life that very night and he was not able to enjoy it nor pass it on to another. So how do we respond when we have and overflow? Say $10 or $10,000? Many times I just spend it on myself, buying again more things that will not last. Somehow it seems easier for me to pray about the bigger amounts than the everyday $5-$20 expenditures. But that adds up too.
Lord, please help me be rich towards you!! Help me to spend my money toward Kingdom purposes.

Luke 12: 16-21
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Jesus Does Not Want Your Spare Change

I have been surfing the web for video clips and other dynamic resources for our Compassion and Justice Learning Community. Alas right before bedtime I found a great resource you should visit called The San Damiano Foundation http://www.sandamianofoundation.org/

Click on www.myspace.com/sandamiano -- The PROMO video is on the right side of the page with a picture of a man driving a car. The phrase that is etched on my brain is, "Christ is not looking for us to give our spare change, he's looking for us to give our lives." Hmmm I guess that will require some self investigation and trasformation. It kind of goes along with a book I am reading called "Compassion" by Henry Nouwen. It makes me realize that I think of compassion as a feeling, being moved by someone's sufffering -- shedding tears. True compassion is being with people in their suffering and may include doing something more. It requires more of a sacrifice than just shedding tears and moving onto the next task on my "To Do" list.

Acts of Compassion can be inconvenient but in acting compassionately we uncover a bit of His Kingdom here on earth.

Rethinking Ministry to the Poor

The books I am are reading are stacking up and as usual I am reading three to four at a time. They're all so compelling and if I can not find one in my home somewhere I can pick up the one that is closest at hand. Here's an excerpt from "Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life — Rethinking Ministry to the Poor " Author John Lupton is an innercity warrior and veteran servant to the poor.

"The effectiveness of our efforts to empower the poor could be significantly enhanced if, prior to launch, would-be helpers would take the following pledge:
I will never do for others what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.

I will limit my one-way giving to emergency situations and seek always to find ways and means for legitimate exchange.
I will seek ways empower the poor through hiring, lending and investing and use grants sparingly as incentives that reinforce achievements.
I will put the interests of the poor above my own (or organizational) self-interest even when it may be costly.
I will take time to listen and carefully assess both expressed and unspoken needs so that my actions will ultimately strengthen rather than weaken the hand of those I would serve.
Above all, to the best of my ability, I will do no harm.

For more info on John Lupton's ministry click on http://www.fcsministries.org/up/

Rich in Good Deeds

How rich are you?

As I was wondering through fellow sojourner Tony Gapastione's blog I clicked on a website I had never seen before http://www.ministryofmoney.org/ . As I continued clicking through I came upon an interesting survey that beconed me to enter -- it asked: How rich are you? I entered in our annual income and it showed me how rich our family is compared to others in the world. To some it may build their ego to see themselves on the top of the heap. For me it was embarrassing and disheartening as I see how much I have compared to others in the world and as I am reminded that "to whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). Check it out for yourself. http://www.globalrichlist.com/

What is more important in God's upside down kingdom is that I am RICH in GOOD DEEDS. Hmmm lets see how did I spend my morning .... shopping I must confess... for things I don't really need.

1 Tim 6: 17-18 "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Dear Lord -- help me to put aside those things that do not last, those things that carry me away from your will for daily living -- help me to consider the poor and to expend my life on their behalf rather than chasing idols that do not satisfy.

Raising up an Army of LOVERS of God and Suffering People

Just finished this book today "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical" by Shane Claiborne. WOW! Food for thought -- and I'm not talking baby food. Claiborne's life is revolutionary and challenging. He's provocative and sure to cause many Christians to be angry at some of his comments on the church and how it's lost it's calling to serve the least of these. Don't throw this baby out with the bath water. Read and pray about how you would live in light of how he presents ordinary albeit radical Christian living.

The following quote summed up what I hope will happen in PCC's Compassion and Justice Community:

"We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists
but of lovers -- a community of people who have fallen des-
perately in love with God and with suffering people and allow
those relationships to disturb and transform them." p. 296

AMAZON REVIEW From dressing the wounds of lepers in Calcutta to living among the homeless in Philadelphia to visiting families in Iraq, social activist Claiborne strives to live an authentic Christian life. In his view, he is a radical in the truest sense of the word, returning to the roots of Christianity by living as Jesus did and doing "small things with great love." A partner-founder of the Philadelphia-based faith community Simple Way, he presents an evangelical Christianity gentler and more inclusive than is usually seen, especially in the mass media. He describes Simple Way as a new culture that relies on radical interdependence and consists of grassroots organizations, intentional communities, and hospitality houses. Although the book isn't an autobiography, in it Claiborne reports much about his life: growing up in the Bible Belt, becoming a Jesus freak, moving to Philadelphia despite his family's misgivings, and helping the homeless there. Then he boldly requested an internship with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She simply responded, "Come." Besides illuminating his own faith journey, Claiborne is insightful on the huge U.S. cultural and economic divide: the problem isn't that wealthy Christians don't care about the poor, he says, it's that they simply don't know the poor. A moving, often humorous account of a life of faith lived to the fullest. June SawyersCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Rich Chrisitans in an Age of Hunger

Here is one book the Compassion and Justice community will be reading that will challenge our faith, our time and our pocketbook. The review is from Amazon.com.

Midwest Book Review Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger is written for our times, when every day more than 34,000 children die of starvation and preventable diseases, and 1. 3 billion human beings live in relentless, unrelieved poverty worldwide. Why is there still so much poverty in the world? Conservatives blame sinful individual choices and laziness. Liberals condemn economic and social structures. Who is right? Who is wrong? Both, according to Ronald Sider in this newly revised, expanded and updated edition of Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger. Sider explains that poverty is the result of complex causes, and then he presents practical, workable proposes for change, proposals that should be taken up by every man and every woman who seeks to deserve the title "Christian" and to apply and to follow the teaches of Jesus of Nazareth in the modern world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description Do you want to make a true difference in the world? Dr. Ron Sider does. He has, since before he first published Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in 1978. Despite a dramatic reduction in world hunger since then, 34,000 children still die daily of starvation and preventable disease, and 1.3 billion people, worldwide, remain in abject poverty. So, the professor of theology went back to re-examine the issues by twenty-first century standards. Finding that Conservatives blame morally reprehensible individual choices, and Liberals blame constrictive social and economic policy, Dr. Sider finds himself agreeing with both sides. In this new look at an age-old problem, he offers not only a detailed explanation of the causes, but also a comprehensive series of practical solutions, in the hopes that Christians like him will choose to make a difference.

Our Scripture Reading Guide

This book will be used for our daily scripture reading and meditation.

Amazon Book Description This book brings together in one place passages from the Scriptures pertaining to hunger, justice, and the poor, along with the concerns of prominent Christian leaders, to challenge us to become proactive in the battle against hunger and poverty.

Giving Out of Poverty

At the Compassion and Justice conference I attended in Dallas this last week one of the speakers Jack Jezreel of www.justcompassion.org said that there are more references in the Gospels to money than to salvation -- I need to take a look -- heres one such scripture I came across today...

Matthew 14:41-44.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

Hmmmm what does this scripture say to me? How can I live more like the poor widow?

Thoughts? Opinions?

Behold I Stand at The Door

"Unto the least of these you do unto me." Jesus

"In the poor we meet Jesus in the most distressing disguises." Mother Teresa

What is the Compassion and Justice Learning Community?

OUR PURPOSE

The Compassion and Justice Learning Community welcomes people who are intested in learning together, praying together, humbly serving together, as we demonstrate the love of Jesus to the least of these in Redwood City. We desire to live out our Christian mandate to LOVE GOD and LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.

As Mother Teresa so beautifully puts it:

“I wish to say that every person must be concerned with the welfare of his neighbours. It is a duty of charity. We must show our love for all men and women who are God’s children and, so, are our brothers and sisters”

“We can not show our love for God whom we can not see and who is in need of nothing except by loving and serving our neighbor who we see and love as God’s child”

OUR COVENANT

1) GATHER with other Christ followers on Sunday morning 11 am (Sept 30- Dec 9th) at Peninsula Covanant Church in Redwood City, CA
2) READ & REFLECT on scripture and books related to the poor and the Christian's call to serve. 3-4 hours a week
3) SERVE – Acts of Compassion – individual service and group service (1-2 hours a week) _- “Discover through direct contact.” “.. .Learn your lessons not out of a book but in the rough and tumble of life, among real people, in a setting you will never forget” Mother Teresa

OUR GOALS

1) FOR OTHERS
MAKE GOD REAL by being the loving hands and feet of Jesus to a distressed, helpless, disenfranchised people
MAKE DISCIPLES – fulfilling the Great Commission
HELP PEOPLE BECOME TRANSFORMED -- Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. -- what could be more exciting than this?

2) FOR OUR OURSELVES
MAKE OUR FAITH ALIVE/REAL by doing KINGDOM WORK
LEARN TO LOVE GOD AND OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES
STORE UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN
LEARN HOW TO EXPRESS OUR FAITH THROUGH LOVING, HUMBLE SERVICE

3) FOR THE CHURCH BODY
PREPARE God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ((Eph. 4:12,13 – CHECK REFERENCE)

4) FOR CHRIST -- TO SERVE THE ONE TRUE GOD HIMSELF– AS WE SERVE OTHERS WE WILL STRIVE TO SEE JESUS IN THEM, TO SEE PEOPLE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF THE SON OF GOD.

WHO's INVITED?

All those interested in moving further along in their journey of Christian formation through understanding the concepts of compassion and justice. People interested or already involved in community outreach, economic development, or mission.

SCHEDULE

SESSION 1 (Sept 30-Dec. 9th) COMPASSION

SESSION 2 (Jan15-April) JUSTICE

(See below for a more detailed schedule)

COST

Approx $42 each session for reading materials

Encouraged!

Having a vision for God's community to serve the poor is one thing -- starting a community to step into the vision is another. But I guess it is God who does the work and can take credit for any success or failure it has. I just feel it is the right timing and that he has a great plan. "For we ARE His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to DO GOOD WORKS which He has prepared in advance for us to do. "

So, yesterday I had a brief moment to read the Merc News and it had an article that caught my interest. A SHIFT IN EAST PALO ALTO GANGS. (See excerpt below) Of course beacuse I have invested 15 years of my life in this community I had to read it. The article says that the Sac Streey Gang has almost disappeared but others have filled the spot. The bad news: Gangs in East Palo Alto are still running strong. The good news: The Sac Street Gang has almost disappeared. For the past 15 years volunteers and staff like myself have been mentoring, co-parenting, crying with and praying for the families in this one block cul-de-sac. Once reason there is no more Sac Street Gang is that the younger brothers and sisters of this havoc wreaking group did not choose to follow in their fathers or brothers footsteps. They had better things to do like participate in a homework program or Bible Club with caring CityTeam Ministries Staff and volunteers. I rejoice because there was much heartache working in this small but notorious street. Not many have followed The Way but many have been deeply affected by the way. Even the older brothers who participated in CityTeams afterschool programs have been reported to have legitimate jobs working at local restauraunts, construction companies and the like.

I pray that the word that God has promised will never return void continues to work in the hearts of the kids I remember and the ones that were just passing through. "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in Christ Jesus." I am encouraged and have a stone to remind me that I am only required to be faithful, to step out in faith and to do what he has called me to do. He's in charge of bringing all together to ultimately Glorfy His Name.

A SHIFT IN EAST PALO ALTO GANGS http://www.mercurynews.com/
Once a haven for drug dealing and crime, the 500 block of Sacramento Street in East Palo Alto has been quiet since a police officer was slain there by an alleged gang member 1 1/2 years ago.
Gone are most of the notorious Sac Street Gang, who once ruled this cul-de-sac off University Avenue. Feeling heat from the police after gang member Alberto Alvarez was accused of shooting and killing officer Richard May in January 2006, nearly all 50 Sac Street members fled across the bay or to the Central Valley, said detective Ed Soares, the police department's gang specialist.
But while Sacramento Street is quiet today, many other streets in the 2.5-square-mile city are not. They have been taken over by a handful of other gangs. And Soares said it's extremely difficult to track their members, because many of them live in other cities and do business in several locales.
In his Demeter Street office, Soares sifted through a box of gang paraphernalia. There are red San Francisco Giants hats and red belts with the letter "N" on the buckles - items confiscated from the Nortenos, a statewide Latino gang that Sac Street broke away from. The Nortenos are the "northerners" because they initially staked their turf above Bakersfield; the rival Surenos gang claims the territory south.
These days, both gangs operate throughout the state. The Nortenos have holdings in the city east of Highway 101, while the Surenos control the west side of the freeway, Soares said.
the city's gang problem isn't restricted to any one ethnic group. As East Palo Alto has evolved from majority-black to majority-Latino, racial tensions in the broader community have been repeated in the gang structure, with turf battles breaking along lines of color and culture.
Soares pointed to a camouflage field vest covered with pockets for gun clips. It was confiscated in a raid on the Midtown Taliban, a black gang that wears military colors and holds a large piece of territory north of University Avenue.
Next to the vest was a baseball bat with tribal drawings. Soares confiscated it from a member of the Check Mob, a Tongan gang that was involved in a gunfight in December that left one girl dead and another girl critically injured.
To help local police combat East Palo Alto's gangs, a county gang task force has concentrated its efforts in the city since May. The task force was formed by the San Mateo County Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association in 2004.
Its 25 members - which include deputies, police officers and officials from county probation and state corrections departments - are charged with conducting random parole and probation searches of known gang members, as well as outreach, said sheriff's Sgt. Tom Gallagher.
Since January, Gallagher said, the task force has made 340 gang-related arrests countywide; conducted 319 probation and parole searches; seized 42 firearms; and collected roughly 164 grams of crack cocaine, nearly 100 grams of methamphetamines and slightly more than 3,500 grams of marijuana.
Drugs and violence are all too familiar to 32-year-old Dominic Blanks, a former East Palo Alto "Village Boyz" gang member who was active until he turned 29. He said he already was involved in early 1992, when East Palo Alto racked up 42 homicides, the most per capita in the country.
Now, with no prison record and six children, he is back on the streets working for a group called For Youth by Youth, which tries to turn children away from gangs. Most gang members he approaches are between 13 and 22 years old, Blanks said.
"It's the little kids that are really acting up (these) days," he said. "I tell 'em, if I can get out, you guys can get out.' "
"Some of them want the change," Blanks added, "and some of them don't

We Need the Poor!

“In the poor we meet Jesus in the most distressing disguises.”
Mother Teresa

WE NEED THE POOR!

We need the poor? I thought the poor needed us! The truth is we need each other. Through our acts of compassion, the poor will have tangible evidence of a loving God and an opportunity to hear the Good News. As Christians we will be spiritually revitalized as we rely on God, sacrifice our resources and trust in God to accomplish the “good works he has prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10) Best of all we will have the privledge of directly serving Jesus himself as we feed, clothe, visit & comfort the least of these. (Matthew 25:31-46)

Fifteen years ago I was called to serve the least of these in East Palo Alto, California. I had to leave lots of things behind...my corporate income, career aspirations, my safe community…but I gained so much more. My faith in God and my understanding of His word grew tremendously. I saw Jesus in the people I served and had to depend on Him for wisdom, provision and a fruitful ministry.

Those days seem but a distant haze as I fulfill my new role as a mom, live in my safe neighborhood and seek after things that have no eternal value. The pull of the material world continues to take my mind off His call to serve those I once was passionate about, people who became my family, my daily prayer concerns. I need the poor. I need the word. I need to redirect my resources.

Recently we have been called as a church (Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City) to “Risk it All“. God has called on me to step out and take a risk by starting a “Compassion and Justice Community. This community is for people who are concerned about the poor and committed to acting compassionately towards them. It is for Christians who desire to seek root causes to problems in our community and take action. Together we will seek ways to encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17) As a community we will:

· MEET Sunday mornings at 11 am at PCC in room starting Sept. 30 through December
· PRAY and MEDITATE on Scripture about the poor
· READ weekly from books related to Compassion and Justice issues
· SERVE the least of these in our community

Yes! This is a big commitment. It will stretch you and grow you in ways you may never have imagined. Join us for the journey.
For more information contact Virginia Huffman @ virginia@vine-design.com