New Website Launches

It's not quite complete with all the content I want there, but our new site is now live. Check it out at http://urbanfocus.net and let us know what you think!

Thanks!

Our Response to the Shooting

Compton: A Sodom & Gomorrah or a Nineveh? You make the call.
by Mike Herman, urban missionary of Campus Crusade for Christ

We have worked in Compton for almost 15 years and lived here for 11. Thousands of people have been here much longer, but we are unique because we are white.

Rarely have we talked to someone from outside our community, state, or even country that has never heard of Compton. Our city is internationally known because of movies and rap music depicting modern American inner-city life. Compton is infamous for birthing "Gangsta' rap" and the Bloods gang, for drive-by shootings, for drugs, for staying on the "Most Dangerous Cities in America list"…in general it's a place people want to stay far-away from.

Because we are an unlikely minority here, we are often asked questions like, "Do you know where you are?" (as if we got off on the wrong exit from the freeway) or "Why do you live there?"

Sometimes this question is from friends or acquaintances from the ministerial community, sometimes by someone else who is white community, sometimes it is from people we have met here in Compton. Often times it is a question asked by our local law enforcement.

People find it perplexing, confusing, and even inconceivable that a (relatively) young white couple would actually choose to live in a community such as this, not to mention raising our two (white) children here.

Generally, we assure them that we are (mostly) normal people that have felt the call of God to relocate to this community; even though there are struggles and difficulties, we feel that we have the best job in the world. We try to illuminate how God is moving and transforming lives and our community as a whole. We have always assured them that in all these years we have rarely seen or ever been a part of any major incident that has put us in danger.

Until now.

This past Saturday our house was hit with a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting on our street. Around 10 pm we had finished putting up our Christmas tree and sent our kids to their room to prepare for bed. My wife and I were sitting in the living room and our 20 year-old godson (who has lived with us for three years) was in his room across from us. All of a sudden we heard shots ring out and immediately realized they were very close to us. Toward the end of what seemed to be a very long stream of bullets we heard a loud cracking-pinging-thump sound. We knew our house was hit somewhere and we all dove to the floor.

Just as suddenly as it started it was over. I cautiously stood and moved toward the front door. Looking out the peep hole first, I then ventured outside to see some neighbors already out and surveying the situation. The Sheriffs arrived quickly and the story came together slowly.

Apparently, a truck traveling perpendicular to our street was shooting at a suspected gang member running down our sidewalk. (We found later that the young man shot was not expected to live.) The bullet hitting the frame of our living room bay window missed our window by less than 1/2 an inch.
As we spent time afterwards processing and praying together as a family, our overwhelming emotion was not fear but GRATITUDE.

For years we have set our hopes upon the promise of Psalm 91 – that we "dwell in the shelter of the Most High" and do not have to "fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day." That confidence has never before been challenged, but now that it could be – we actually feel more confident than ever, because we have actually EXPERIENCED Psalm 91.

It is overwhelming when we consider the many ways that God was with us that night. First and foremost to us, our children were not in the living room when the shooting happened – they had been in the back only about 5 minutes.

Secondly, they were playing Christmas music so loud they heard NOTHING. (They are still unaware that a bullet hit our house -- we will tell them when we think it's appropriate.) Had the bullet entered our window, no one would have been hit due to our positions in the house, but the emotional trauma would have been more severe, especially for Syd and Zach. (As it is, we are watching for any signs of trauma or distress; we are processing with them their perceptions and fears as they come up.)

Our first summer in urban ministry we were challenged on how to perceive the inner-city. Do we see a particular community as a Sodom & Gomorrah or a Nineveh?

In Genesis 18, God informs Abraham that he plans to destroy the city of Sodom because of its wickedness. Abraham pleads with God not to destroy Sodom, and God agrees that he would not destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people in it, then 45, then 30, then 20, or even ten righteous people. Only one righteous person was found living in Sodom. Consequently, God destroyed the city.

In the book of Jonah, Nineveh was an evil city that needed to be condemned. God sent Jonah to preach to Nineveh and its population. So Jonah finally goes and enters the city crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be destroyed." The people of Nineveh believed his word and initiated a fast. The king of Nineveh put on sackcloth and ashes and made a proclamation to decree fasting, prayer, and repentance. God saw these reactions and spared the city.

So now that the violence has touched our home, has it changed how do we see Compton? Our answer: We see Compton as more like Nineveh than ever.

We can and will not dismiss the lives that are being touched and changed, the churches coming together in unity and mission, even the non-Christians that are getting involved in the transformation. The new slogan of the city is, "Birthing a New Compton", and that is exactly what is happening.

• Jesus, one of our 17 year old soccer players recently said, "I have never thought of going to college before coming to Compton United".
• Jose, another 17 year old soccer player, has taken many of his high school friends to the high school youth ministry. His influence continues to grow among his friends.
• Ramiro will graduate next year from college with a degree in Kinesiology. His goal is to teacher and coach in Compton, ministering to youth like himself.
• Louquitta, our oldest S.A.Y. Yes! alum, received her Master's Degree from Howard University and is now a social worker. She moved to Atlanta a few years back to help plant a very dynamic church there. (We still pray God might call her back to Compton someday!)
• Over 20 different churches have participated in the 'Compton Initiative' clean-up days, rehabbing many, many houses, churches and parks in the city over the last 3 years.
• Saddleback Church from south Orange County has chosen the 'Compton Initiative' movement to help launch their domestic P.E.A.C.E Plan; they average bringing 500 volunteers to our Compton day every two months.
• We have group after group volunteering to come to Compton for short-term ministry projects. In fact, Compton is becoming somewhat of a ministry training ground for these groups.
• We see economic development happening all around us. From Target, Staples, Best Buy, and TGIF Friday's, Compton is experiencing an economic renewal that has exceeded expectations.

God's calling on our lives is clear. We are some of the Jonahs sent to Nineveh to proclaim our Lord and learn to love our neighbors well.

Does a shooting change that? The answer is simply no. Is it always easy? No. We live in a desperate community with many desperate people. But Romans 5:20,21 tells us where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. This is the truth that we stand upon.

We never know what will happen next, what challenge or obstacle will rear its head. However, we do love our city, its people, and its future. We hope to be here for many years to come, seeing God’s grace fill this place.

People Trade Firearms for Gift Cards in Compton

KTLA News

November 29, 2008

COMPTON -- In an effort to
make the city of Compton a safer place, authorities on Saturday gave
$100 gift cards to people who turned in firearms and $200 gift cards
for assault weapons.

The fourth annual "Gifts for Guns" event
was held at a Ralphs supermarket at 280 E. Compton Blvd., where the
weapons were collected by sheriff's personnel and volunteers at a booth
set up in the parking lot.

The booth will be set up again Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"We're trying to rid our city of guns being shot, people being killed," said City Councilwoman Barbara Calhoun.

People who turned in guns were not asked to identify themselves or say where the weapons came from, said Sgt. Byron Woods.

Organizers
said people have turned in about 1,500 guns over the last three years.
The first year was the biggest in terms of the number of guns turned
in, they said, adding that it continues to be a very successful program.

Authorities
perform a ballistics test in a crime lab on each gun collected. In past
years, they have discovered upon processing the collected guns that
some have been involved in crimes. In those cases, the weapon is turned
over to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

The gift cards they received can be redeemed at Best Buy, Target, Home Depot and Ralphs Supermarkets.

Compton United Soccer Club Overview

Overview: Compton United Soccer Club was created to fill the absence of sanctioned, quality youth soccer programs in the inner city.  CUSC utilizes its ‘Five Stages of Development’ to grow players into leaders; athletic, academic, character, leadership and community.

As we develop soccer players into top level competitors giving them opportunities not normally afforded to youth from a community such as Compton, we will take all opportunities to maximize the platform that soccer gives us to develop these youth into college recruits, college graduates, great parents and spouses and business and community leaders.

Location Served: Currently in greater Compton, CA, a community known all around the world for its crime, drugs and gangs, with future objectives to establish sister clubs in other disadvantaged urban communities.

Participants: Boys and girls ages 6-19 living in and around the greater Compton area.

Key programs:

•  US Soccer Competitive Club Teams
•  USYSA Youth Developmental/Recreational Teams
•  Sanctioned Futsal Teams
•  Youth Futsal Recreational League
•  Creation of Compton United Youth Soccer Academy (currently in planning stages)
•  Academic Tutoring
•  Annual College Night
•  The Crash Elite Leadership Mentoring Program
•  Urban Youth Soccer Leadership Academy (Summer Camp)
•  International Youth Leadership Soccer Trips (i.e. World Cup 2010 in South Africa)

Impact: Since its inception in 2002, Compton United has engaged over 200 children and youth.  A vast majority of these participants come from very challenged and/or troubled homes and soccer has provided a vision for the future.  Recently, a 17 year old competitive team player was quoted as saying, “Before Compton United I never even thought of college”.  Now he is ready and prepared to go.

Response to a Supporter's stop of Support due to Voting for Obama

Before the election, one of our fellow staff families received a letter from a long-term supporter that decided to stop their support because this couple's support of Obama.

Here is the response from that couple to the supporter.

+++++++++++++++

Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your support over the past XX years. We appreciate all that you have done for us, and others as I know your heart to help those in need. It’s evident as I walk into your office and see world vision sponsorship, the trips you do with habitat and your strong involvement at your church. You live out your faith and I respect and admire you for that.

In saying that I hope that you would know us as well as we are like minded in most ways. Never in all our days as Christians have we supported abortion. We know as strongly as you that the Bible teaches that each unborn baby is known by God and is made in His image. Abortion is murder and is one of the many abominations we have allowed to happen in our country.

I know you and XXXXXXXX are birth parents and I can’t imagine all that you two had to go through during that time. As you know we are adoptive parents to kids that could have been aborted if the adoption plan wasn’t there. XXXXXX started the only teen mops in all of South LA because of her passion to support teen mothers. It’s a great program as you are involved too, and it’s an injustice that there has been no one to start the program were the need is the highest. We are not foster parents but we also take in kids who have little hope and nowhere to go. We agree with you that killing a baby doesn’t solve any problems it only creates more.

This is not the first time we have been the recipients of anger from fellow believers over a political stance. Usually it has been strong Christian Democrats who think it is unconscionable for us to have voted for Bush. (Interesting how 90% of Christians in urban areas are democrat and 90% of Christians in the suburbs are Republican) The accusation from the left side is “as a Christian and missionary how can you support McCain and Palin when they blatantly and firmly neglect the needs of the poor?” Funding has been cut to our school. Our few hospitals are being closed. Our youth can’t afford college or get the loans they need to get there. Children who were brought across the border illegally and raised here can’t get a job, health insurance, can’t get a higher education, can’t buy a home, and can’t survive if they go back to the country their parents came from because there is nothing for them but violence. Our Emergency food and shelter money has been cut federally and by the state to zero. LA is the hungriest city in the country and we feed 150,000 per month out of our warehouse. What am I going to tell people come January when the money is stopped and people are hungry? Skid row is full of homeless who were put there because republicans passed a bill that didn’t fund mental institutions and they were dumped on the street. These people are just as valuable to God as the unborn child. Unfortunately, there is not a candidate who addresses the needs of both.

McCain is not addressing these issues or at least not well. Obama is and most democrats usually do. This is one of the main reasons people of color and the urban poor vote to the left.

There are just as many issues in the McCain camp that are an abomination to God as there are in Obama’s.

Politics has never been the solution for our world. We do not put our trust or faith in the new president. Our faith as is yours is in Jesus. The only hope for change is when Christians work together across social, economic, and racial barriers to further His Kingdom.

Millions of Christians are voting for McCain just as Millions of Christians are voting for Obama. We hope they are not putting their hope in them. We hope they are voting for the man whom they think will bring the most good for our country.

Neither of us like Obama’s support of roe vs wade and neither of us like McCain’s apathy to the needs of the poor, both are an abomination. So we pray for wisdom as I know you do.

So no matter how we vote we get judged and assumptions are made as to what we value. I hope you won’t be one of them.

Your support to us is not nearly as important as our relationship. We understand if you feel you can no longer support us, but don’t let it be because you think we support the murder of unborn children. We vehemently do not.

XXXXXXXX and XXXXXX

Hate, a Lesson for Today

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

- Martin Luther King Jr.

TAPPED Archive | The American Prospect

TAPPED Archive | The American Prospect: "'It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $7 $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.' - Bono

--Dana Goldstein

Posted by Dana Goldstein on September 24, 2008 11:17 AM | Permalink"

Reflecting on Our Response to 9/11

Reflecting on Our Response to 9/11

(reprinted from Sojourners @ www.sojo.net)

Seven years ago this morning, airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in rural Pennsylvania. The next day I joined with a few others to draft the following statement. In a few weeks, more than 4,000 of America's religious leaders of all faiths had signed it and it was printed as an ad in The New York Times.

Seven years later, as we remember that day, it is appropriate to reflect on this statement and to wonder how the world would be different if its counsel had been heeded.

We demanded "that those responsible for these utterly evil acts be found and brought to justice. Those culpable must not escape accountability." Yet after seven years of war in Afghanistan, we are still engaged against a resurgent Taliban and al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden has still not been found. Then, 9/11 was used as a rationale to invade and occupy Iraq, a conflict that has now taken the lives of more than 4,000 American troops and countless Iraqis. Rather than "the vision of community, tolerance, compassion, justice, and the sacredness of human life, which lies at the heart of all our religious traditions," we have seen the erosion of our civil liberties, torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and indefinite detentions without trial.

Today on this anniversary, let us pause to remember those who died, to reflect on what has happened since, and once again, "Let us rededicate ourselves to global peace, human dignity, and the eradication of the injustice that breeds rage and vengeance." We offered a different way to deny the terrorists their victory, which, I believe, could still be followed. It's not too late to change our course. Please read and reflect upon the original statement.

I like this description...

Justice is what love looks like in public.

- Cornel West
From Call and Response, a documentary on global slavery.

Role of the Church

The church ... cannot be content to play the part of a nurse looking after the casualties of the system. It must play an active part both in challenging the present unjust structures and in pioneering alternatives.
- Donald Dorr

MCCAIN MET PALIN ONCE BEFORE YESTERDAY?

So, I wonder if McCain is picking the best person for the job, or the best vote getter for the election?

Makes me nervous.

Beer & Converative Voters

Interesting, Cindy McCain's company,Hensley & Company is the main Anheuser-Busch beer distributor in AZ.

As Hensley & Company approached its 50th anniversary, it held sway as one of the largest beer distributors in the country, enjoying more than a 60 percent share in its markets and dominating the distribution business in Arizona.

Wonder how many conservative voters know this?

http://www.answers.com/topic/hensley-company

7/29/08 Earthquake

5.8 earthquake shakes us pretty good- about 20-30 seconds of the house rolling - no damage though.

Quake was apparently felt from San Diego to Las Vegas.

Syd & Zach was at VBS at church... hope they did ok! It was their first one!

We'll pick them up in 2.5 hours.

A good reminder that we definitely should get more prepared for the eventual big one.

More later...

Urgent Prayer Request... for John Perkins

Dr. John Perkins, Co-Founder, CCDA

An urgent prayer request has just come in from reliable sources, for Dr. John Perkins... who is apparently heading into major surgery today.

Here's the published announcement at JMPF.org...

******URGENT MESSAGE*******

Dr. John Perkins was admitted to St. Dominic Hospital on the morning of July 26.

He is having surgery July 28 to remove a bile obstruction in his large intestine.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

He will be at St. Dominic in room 3404 for the rest of the week and would appreciate any visitors.

Any words of encouragement or prayers sent to elizabeth@jmpf.org will reach Dr. Perkins this week.


**********************

Thank you Neil and Rudy for keeping us all posted.

Great Quote!

It is not a matter of engaging in both the gospel and social action, as if Christian social action was something separate from the gospel itself. The gospel has to be demonstrated in word and deed. Biblically, the gospel includes the totality of all that is good news from God for all that is bad news in human life—in every sphere. So like Jesus, authentic Christian mission has included good news for the poor, compassion for the sick and suffering justice for the oppressed, liberation for the enslaved. The gospel of the Servant of God in the power of the Spirit of God addresses every area of human need and every area that has been broken and twisted by sin and evil. And the heart of the gospel, in all of these areas, is the cross of Christ.

- Christopher J. H. Wright
International director of John Stott Ministries (from Knowing the Holy Spirit Throught the Old Testament)

True Joy

It is sad to see that, in our highly competitive and greedy world, we have lost touch with the joy of giving. We often live as if our happiness depended on having. But I don't know anyone who is really happy because of what he or she has. True joy, happiness and inner peace come from the giving of ourselves to others. A happy life is a life for others.
- Henri J.M. Nouwen
Life of the Beloved

Fresh & Easy; A Compton Success (company Blog)

The opening of our store in Compton last February was one of those very special moments that will stay with me for a very long time - we were made to feel so welcome.

100 days later, it's great to see that it's proving a simple point. Although it was the first new grocery store to be built there in a generation, it's performing just like any of our other stores.

It's attracting a broad mix of customers, and it's business is being built on fresh foods - 10 of its 20 top selling products are fresh produce, some organic, and more than 75% of its sales are our own brand, all of which has no artificial colors or flavors, no added transfat, and only uses preservatives when absolutely necessary.

As I've said before, in our experience, if you offer fresh, wholesome foods at prices everyone can afford, in a clean environment with friendly service, people will shop with you.

Compton again demonstrates the point. And that, of course, is how it should be.....

posted by Simon Uwins @ 1:51

http://www.freshandeasy.com/blog/

Meditating on...

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. ... For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon's seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

- Jeremiah 29:7-14

Astros visit the MLB Urban Youth Baseball Academy in Compton

Astros manager Cecil Cooper and his entire coaching staff took time out of a busy game day to visit the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif. Cooper and his staff were given a personal tour by Academy instructor Ken Landreaux, who played against Cooper in the 1970's when both were in the American League.

This was the first time that Cooper had seen the two-year-old facility and was very impressed. Cooper and his staff took the time to chat with many of the young academy students.

Cooper says he will make it a point to come back to the academy when the Astros are in the Los Angeles area to play either the Dodgers or Angels.

In photo, Zach is the player to right, stretching his legs (maroon socks).

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo

It’s May 5th and in Compton we are celebrating Mexican heritage and pride.

Contrary to popular belief, Cinco De Mayo is not a celebration of Mexico’s independence. We celebrate Cinco De Mayo in memory of Mexico’s victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. In Compton we take it a step further and celebrate Mexican culture, history, and ancestry with an annual festival.

When we learn and observe cultures other than our own, we are able to bridge gaps, open the doors of communication, and embrace one another. For those that thought Cinco De Mayo was Independence Day you just learned something new :) Mexican Independence Day is actually on Diez y Seis De Septiembre!"