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