A Boy named Eric and You

A Story of a Boy named Eric

• Born in Compton September 7, 1963.
• He came from an average working class family in Compton.
• Eric was basically an average boy, he did things that boys his age did.
• Soon those little boy things begin to turn into ditching school, getting into trouble both in school and at home. He started just hanging out with friends. His main role model was the drug dealer he saw in his neighborhood. Soon he began to model his life after that drug dealer.
• As a sophomore in High School, Eric was so busy and successful selling drugs he dropped out of high school.
• Eric had several arrests on various charges.
• March 16, 1995 Eric finds that he has full-blown AIDS, he had fathered 7 children from 6 different women.
• March 26, 1995, at the age of 31, Eric dies from complications from the AIDS virus.

Some of you might recognize Eric’s full name, Eric Wright, but almost everyone in this country recognizes his nickname of Easy E from NWA.

Eric went on to be arguable one of the most influential people of his generation.

• He is known as the father of Gangsta’ Rap
• His group’s album, “Sraight Outta Compton” sells more than 3 million copies
• His first solo project sells 2.5 million copies

Eric lived 11,523 days on this earth – what could have happened if he had a Christian, a teacher, a neighbor, a coach, a church that would have invested their life into Eric’s?

What could that potential have done for the Kingdom of Christ?

How many Eric’s are there around your church, on your street, in cities like Compton everywhere? And what does the Lord want you to do with them?

My New Favorite Quote

Tonya is reading "Tattoos on the Heart" by Father Gregory Boyle. I like when she reads books that I really want to but never make the time. I get the benefit of getting to hear the highlights!


She read a part of the book to me that have now become a new favorite quote.  Here it is.

‎"How do you work with the poor?...You don't. You share your lives with the poor. It's as basic as crying together. It is about 'casting your lot' before it ever becomes about 'changing their lot.'...Success and failure, ultimately, have little to do with living the Gospel. Jesus stood with the outcasts until they were welcomed or He was crucified -- whichever came first."

 We have learned ministry can all be boiled down to relationship. Father Boyle nails it here. If you are entering urban ministry, or any ministry for that matter, learn this first and learn this well. 


You should read it.

A Big Change!

Last month in our Newsletter we revealed that God has been leading us toward some big changes in our lives...

For the past two years, we have been really seeking God about where He is leading us in the future. We have loved working with Athletes in Action these past 3 years – they have been so wonderful to us and supportive of every aspect of our ministry, even though our ministry is totally unique within the organization!! Yet we have missed being in a ministry that is urban-focused and working alongside other urban practitioners of the Gospel. We have never wavered in our calling, but have been asking God what is the best vehicle in which to fulfill that calling?

After many months of praying and looking into various ministry possibilities, God has led us to the Navigators. If you haven’t heard of the Navigators, it is an international, interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1933 very similar to Campus Crusade. Their desire is to know Christ and make Him known. Like Crusade, they are most widely known for their college ministry.

However, in recent years, Navigators have made a huge commitment to focus on reaching poor and marginalized people groups with the Gospel. One of the ways they do that is through their inner city ministry called Metro Missions which is in 14 cities. They currently are not in Los Angeles and have been praying for a staff team to be raised up! So by the grace of God, we are some of the staff they have been praying for!! Best of all, we will be joined by two other couples who are close friends that we have ministered alongside of for the past 14+ years -- we will be part of an urban team again!

What will this new ministry look like? The basics of how we’ve been doing ministry will not change. Mike will continue to work with Athletes in Action (AIA often partners with other ministries and is excited to still work with us!) by serving as Chaplain of Chivas, USA. He will continue to facilitate mentoring relationships between the pro Chivas players that he disciples and our youth in Compton United. He will continue to run and expand the Compton United soccer club as God allows. Tonya will continue mentoring youth and families in the community and offering training to others ministering to people in poverty.

The biggest differences in our ministry will come in the future. For the longest time, we have dreamed of using economic and community development as a larger platform for bringing the Gospel to our community. The scope of the Navigators mission will afford us the freedom do so -- starting businesses and acquiring property are just some of the what we envision. We long to see people transformed by the Gospel through the creation of self-sustaining entrepreneurial programs and services. Not only would individual lives be changed, but the inner city community would be stronger because of Christ centered businesses and services that are meeting the community’s needs. We will be learning from a Navigators staff member in Chicago who has been seeing God transform lives and communities through business/job creation for the last 20 years. (see http://www.navigators.org/us/)

We are so excited about what God has in store for us in the future!

Saying Thanks

We are grateful for the last 20 years that we have served with Campus Crusade. We love the friends we have made, are grateful for all the experience we have gained and the opportunities made available to us, and could not say enough great things about the blessings we have received. We even through a Crusade summer project in NYC, 1990! We will continue partnering with Crusade in ministry whenever God affords the opportunity.

When will you begin with Navigators? We will be transitioning from Campus Crusade for Christ October 31^st and starting with Navigators on November 1st.

Thank you for praying for us in this transition!

If you have questions about this move please contact us. Our email address is urbanfocus@gmail.com.

Thanks again!

Mike & Tonya

Why I Follow Christ

I did not write this… it was written in 1981 by John C. Hutchinson Jr. As I was prepping the Chivas USA Bible study today I came across this letter. It spoke to me, maybe it will to you as well.

Why I Follow Christ
by John C. Hutchinson Jr.

I have not seen clear statistical evidence that fewer Christians die of cancer than non-believers or that they are immune in greater degree from the diseases that afflict the human race.

Some of the kindest, most selfless persons I have known have had more than their share of bad health. The fact that they belong to Christ did not insulate them from disease.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for promised healing.

I will not deny or dispute evidence of restoration of health. I will rejoice at every recovery from what seems to be hopeless, threatened death. I will not hesitate to pray for recovered health for my loved ones and acquaintances. I will set no limits on what God may do but I will not follow Christ for promised healing.

I see no sign that Christians escape disaster and accident more often than others. I’ve helped dear friends empty muddy water out of dresser drawers and new appliances after a disastrous flood. I remember as a child taking clothes to a widow with five children whose house had burned to the ground. A bullet makes no detour around the body of a believer.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for any promised protection from disaster.

I will not scoff at amazing survivals nor deny that providence has and continues to work for the good of God’s own. I will continue to pray for protection from wicked men and tragedy, but I will not follow Christ for promised protection from accident or catastrophe.

I do not observe that Christians are especially favored with prosperity. Like James, we’ve all seen the rich oppressing the poor and justice is rarely perfect in this world. The psalmist has said that he “had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” and in the deepest needs of this life, that is certainly true but all of us have known people of integrity who have not prospered.

Therefore, I will not follow Christ for promised freedom from physical want or hope of affluence.

I’m not sure that Christians have stronger personalities or fewer neuroses than non-believers. I do know that there is no bitterness like religious bitterness and no arrogance more insufferable. I have watched Christians suffer emotional and mental disabilities and though it may seem heretical, I am not sure that I would really enjoy living in the same house with either the Apostle Peter or Paul.

God wills that the mind of Christ be formed in us and there is no doubt in my mind that the Christian’s attitudes and actions will be improved by his Christianity, but I will not follow Christ for any promise of personality enhancement or perfection.

Why then follow Christ? Why become a disciple of Jesus when life may become more complicated as He so often warned?

For one reason alone: in Jesus we behold the face of God. He is the truth, the everlasting truth, God in the flesh. I know that in His life, death, and resurrection, I am reconciled to God, the giver of life.

I believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He has all power and goodness and I trust Him and His promises. To him, I offer my life, damaged or whole, brief or full of years. It matters not. He is the one certain thing in an uncertain world. He is to be worshiped, not so something will happen to me or to the world. Something already has happened to me and the world, but because He is God who, through Christ, has reconciled the world to Himself. He saves me. He is my justification. He is the center that holds. To worship the God of our salvation, to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving; that alone is our vocation. We offer our lives to God, not so as to be healthy, wealthy, or wise, not even so to gain the strength to do great things for Him; we offer our lives to Him because He alone has claim upon us. God is not a means to an end.

Isaiah 61:4

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

~Isaiah 61:4

Why don't they just immigrate the legal way?

This is taken from http://undocumented.tv/ an amazing resource for Christians and those concerned with immigrant justice issues.  Please read and share with others!

For many Americans, whose ancestors migrated lawfully to the U.S., it is extremely frustrating that so many immigrants come today outside of lawful channels. Why don’t they just come the legal way, the way that my ancestors did?

Many immigrants do come lawfully, of course, but there are an estimated 10.8 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S.who either entered unlawfully or, after entering lawfully on a temporary visa, overstayed. Why don’t they just come the legal way?

Those are good and reasonable questions. We have to understand both a bit about our country’s history and something of how current U.S. immigration law to answer them.

The reason that my ancestors migrated lawfully to the U.S.—mine came in the mid-19th century from Holland—is that there was no illegal way for them to come. You see, until 1882, there basically was no federal immigration law: anyone who arrived was welcome to make their life in the U.S.; there were no visas necessary, no consulting with a U.S. consulate before you departed; you boarded a boat and you built your new life in the U.S. That began to change in 1882, with the Chinese Exclusion Act, when the Congress decided that immigrants from China—who some argued were biologically inferior to Europeans—should be kept out altogether. Over the next four decades, we gradually restricted further groups—the poor, the sick, the uneducated, those suspected of holding questionable ideologies—until in 1924, Congress enacted a new immigration quota system that drastically limited immigration. It became extremely difficult to migrate, especially if you were from a country outside of the Northern and Western European countries that were granted the vast majority of the limited number of visas made available.

That changed again in 1965, when President Johnson signed into law a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. immigration system again. America could not and would not go back to an era of open borders, Johnson said as he signed the law, but the new law would base eligibility to immigrate not primarily on race or country of origin, but rather on family connections and employability.

In the nearly fifty years since that last overhaul, that system has worked fairly well for some people-spouses, minor children, and parents of adult US citizen and highly skilled workers with advanced degrees who could find an employer sponsor, for example-but, particularly as our economy has grown but visa quotas have not, the system is not working very well today.  Because the quota numbers are much lower than demand, family members can wait up to twenty years to be reunited through the proper legal channels in some cases.  The employment-based system is equally dysfunctional, particularly for “low-skilled” workers: under the law, a maximum of 10,000 permanent visas are available per year for employer-sponsored workers other than those who are “highly skilled” or ”holding advanced degrees.”  The problem is that our economy produces many, many times more jobs for people considered “low-skilled”–jobs that require little to no education, but a willingness to do very hard work–than there are visas.  To put things in perspective, back in 1910, an average of 20,000 individuals, most of whom would today be classified as “low-skilled,” entered each week.

We can tell people to wait their turn in line, but, for example, for a Mexican (or a Guatemalan, a Filipino, a Pole, or folks from many other countries) who does not have a college degree and has no close relatives who are U.S. citizens or green card-holders, there is almost certainly no line for them to wait in: without reform to the legal system, they will not be able to migrate “the legal way” to the U.S., not if they wait ten years, not if they wait fifty years. But if they manage to come unlawfully—and historically we have not made it so difficult to do so, though our borders are much more secure now than they have ever been—they will almost certainly find work—because even in a time of high unemployment, there are certain jobs that most Americans have not proven willing to do. For individuals living in poverty, desperate to support their families, that has been an attractive option. Everyone would prefer to pay a reasonable fee and be granted a visa, but that has not been an option for most of those presently here unlawfully. That, in short, is how we got into this mess, and why so many immigrants—most of them family-oriented people—have ended up undocumented in the shadows of our society.

For a more thorough answer to these questions, we recommend reading chapters 3 and 4 of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate by Matthew Soerens and Jenny Hwang (InterVarsity Press, 2009). To go even deeper in understanding how history and policy relate to this topic, check out the resource page for further book recommendations.

The Gift of Where We Live

Our kids love living in Compton. They note the ways God is working in our city, take pride in the changes that are happening here, and defend Compton if their schoolmates put it down. While they sometimes note the lack of resources readily available in our community (i.e. not having bookstores and movie theaters down the street), Compton is familiar to them – it’s home. We consider their attitudes a direct answer to prayer, since from the beginning of my first pregnancy, I have prayed that my children would consider it a blessing to live here rather than a burden.

With the exception of a shooting on our street one year ago Christmas, their comfort here has never really been tested. We live in a quiet neighborhood with mostly quiet neighbors and homes that are well-cared for. Most everyone on our immediate street have lived here for many years, and we look out for each other. In many ways, it’s absurdly normal.

In this past month, though, there has been a shift. Three gangs within the city have started a turf war, and our little neighborhood is caught smack in the middle. Recently the shooting started escalating to the point where there has been at least one shooting daily. While we have personally witnessed none of them, there have been 4 shootings within 2 blocks of us just this week.. People who have lived here for 20 years say they’ve never experienced anything like it.

I can tell you honestly that Mike and I have no fear. While we want to be prayerful and wise , we have a deep sense of peace around us. God has been moving a lot lately in the areas where this gang activity has increased, and we know the enemy is angry that his territory is threatened. He’s retaliating, but he is not going to win. We know that evil does not give up ground easily.

At the same time, we are careful to watch our children to see how they are feeling. We want them to know that fear is normal and something to process, not something to deny or hide. We have been checking in with them a lot and trying to give them opportunities to express whatever thoughts and emotions they might have, and then working to walk them through it.

Monday evening of the week prior to Easter was particularly chaotic. Mike had just received a call about an incident in the park where our soccer teams practice. The park had been threatened so practice had ended abruptly, with coaches and parents concerned. At the same time Mike was on the phone, sirens were going off all around the community continually and the helicopters were constantly overhead. It felt a bit like being in a bad movie!

Zach had expressed some fear and anger at the enemy’s work, and had been reading Psalm 91. I was cooking dinner when he came in to talk. “Mom,” he exclaimed, “the devil would be STUPID to shoot at our house again, cause he knows we are not leaving no matter WHAT!” I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised by his resolve!

A little while later he came and asked, “Hey Mom – what does my promise book say about protection?” (He was referring to a book I had given the kids recently with God’s promises in different categories.)

“Get it,” I said, “and let’s have a look”. And so we proceeded to climb into my bed, cuddle up, and read through all the scriptures on God’s protection. As we read and discussed each one, I prayed that God would give me wisdom to reflect a balance of comforting him without leading him to think Christians have a free pass on suffering. 2 Timothy 1:12 (one of my favorites) gave me the perfect opportunity…

As we looked over the entire chapter, we talked about how Paul was suffering in prison, yet wrote “with a clear conscience”, even encouraging other believers, because he knew he could trust in the unchanging character of God. He also knew that everything is not made right here on this earth, but that a day is coming when Jesus will return and all things will be made new!

As we continued reading and finished the last scripture talking about God being our shelter, Zach began to hum the course of a favorite song from church. Prompted by him, I pulled out my laptop, curled around him tightly, and played that song, and sang together…

“I will bless the Lord forever…I will trust Him at all times…He has delivered me from all fears…He has set my feet upon a rock. I will not be moved – and I’ll say of the Lord – You are my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer – my shelter, strong tower, my very present help in times of need…”

It was a precious time, and throughout all of it I was fully aware that -- though evil had brought us to this point -- such a special teachable moment was being created that I would never forget. I tried to savor every second and imprint it deep upon my soul. The next day our pastor called to check in on us. He knew that we had endured a crazy night. As I shared with him my special experience with Zach, he made this comment. “This is the gift of where we live. The realities here drive us to the scriptures, and that’s a gift.”

I agree, and praise God for that special discipleship opportunity with my son. While I realize it flies in the face of many of the things we believe as Americans, placing comfort and protection at the top of our necessities, I recognize that in the upside down Kingdom of God, it is a gift. I cling to Psalm 91 because I have to. I stand on 2 Tim. because it is God’s word for me. We don’t want people shooting up our neighborhood – but when it is happening, we will stand on God’s word and expect Him to bring glory to Himself. And we will praise Him when He does.

Please continue pray for us – we covet all of your prayers and don’t take them for granted. We have no doubt prayers of the saints surround us at all times and keep us safe. Please pray… for the protection of our entire neighborhood…for safe places for our soccer teams to practice, as for now we are keeping them out of the parks…for God’s Kingdom to come here – that repentance would become a way of life and peace would start to reign… that we will use even this gun violence as an opportunity to minister to our neighbors…that we will remember that nothing is impossible with God.

We wait eagerly to see how He is working and to join Him in those places!