Ember Salisbury Cast

Amazing 24 hours spent with the Salisbury Uni Campus Crusade team over the weekend. We didn't just reach a goal, we experienced a win. Here's some details and reflections from our time. Warning - long post ahead. Don’t feel bad about skimming or stealing what will work for you.

If you've tracked this project from dream to execution, you know that TayEst is the point person - a college student, totally sold out to both local community impact and global mission, an alumn of SPACE - the local church student missions component I used to be a part of. Loved, loved, loved working with her on this. We already started dreaming of the next step. [Developers....]

Friday night was used to expose students to some of the core core principles we were thinking about for this weekend over an ice cream party. See the pic. The overall goal of the weekend was a tangible report to give to future ministries about what we learned about the community today - a gift to the future. While we did that, we would learn first hand about context, learning postures and engaging the place where we live. See the win sheet for more details.

Saturday morning was a very lightly planned few hours where students would go into the community to serve, engage but mostly listen. We used a thing we call the Matchbox - some tangible tools to help us engage. This was very organic, very experimental. No, I have never done something like this before.

My specific team went to a location called Booth Street, a community of underprivileged and government subsidized homes. While there, we invited a bunch of kids to hang at the park with us while we played football, basketball and had fun. Not a huge group of kids. Booth Street was chosen by the Salisbury team because they already had some students who have a presence there - a weekly kids camp that they run there every Monday afternoon. Becky knew most of these families and their kids names. Oh - Becky and Tayest who run this started this initiative on their own. Right, that's the kind of college student we are dealing with.

All teams met at a local park for lunch and for a quick decompress. Stories included a ton of students engaging the homeless, students not realizing how poverty was all around campus, meeting some homeless that lived in a tent enclave who told them that they were fine and to go help someone else, and seeing the community through new filters. Right there, according to our sheet, that's the win.

The whole team split into two for the afternoon, one team working at Joseph House, another team - the one I was on - worked at Halo ministries. Halo has a ton of stuff going on but the core is a women and children shelter. We sorted through a bunch of donated canned food and some of the guys demo'd some old furniture as well as building some partitions for the shelter area. Amazing story of how they fell into this massive space.

We also heard from Celeste, the executive director. You would never see the visionary in her from the outside but on the inside, she's the executor of dreams and visions for this place. Loved hearing about that - those are the kinds of people the future needs.

We finished the day with more snacks and another recap/decompression. In the next few weeks, Tayest and I will chronicle what the teams found from this day and package it up for someone in the future - church planter, community activist, campus catalyst. [Will make that available when it's ready.] That's our small gift to the future. Ember's big gift to the future is, hopefully, the eruption of some of these students into an amazing trajectory that serves a great world in need. And thanks to those of you that prayed for us on Friday - you are throwing fire with us.

More images here. [Related: Ember Philly Cast, January 2010]

Latest Kindling

+ Been reconnecting with some ex-SPACE peeps this week - feels like life is almost normal after the past few months.
+ MichelleK is working at Virginia Tech all summer : economic analysis, farming technologies, underdeveloped countries. Told you she was one to watch.
+ We are at about 25% for support for the AZ team. If you are interested in helping fund future apostolic starters, I can almost guarantee you a return on your investment. You might think I'm being overly presumptuous - let me show you the portfolio.
+ Been reading this fun blog. Love hearing about local spots in DC as well as activities from a CSM host.
+ Thanks again for your prayers for my mom - she's managing and we think through the initial stages of grief.
+ Every team goes through excitement and then anxiety as their dream takes shape via support raising. I have faith in my wife having faith.
+ LB is settling in to furban [fake urban] Montgomery County. Hey, I can say that because I grew up there. She's gotten involved at a local domestic violence nonprofit. She couldn't tell me anything else about it - it's basically like a security clearance.
+ From 2010 on the move - Robyn landed in Israel yesterday. Trevin leaves tomorrow. Tayest leaves in late July. Erin attends a global missions conference with her agency in early August. Saw Tayest and TriciaB twice in the past week.
+ We've recently made the decision that Dea and Em will also come to AZ with us. Love love love having my family around mission experiences. Going to require some interesting family budgeting but worth every penny.
+ Been intrigued with the following questions with the elder team: 1 - how do we identify and engage existing influencers?; 2 - can/should our elders get feedback from a team of futurists?; 3 - what kinds of things should be on a list that an elder team looks at as a dashboard of effectiveness?
+ Our 2009-2010 interns are making some serious financial commitments with regard to Arizona - not will we make it but how we will make it.
+ Ember friend MPM retires from youth ministry at the end of next month.this weekend. Sad to not be able to be at the youth service he is speaking at. misread that email.... 12 years - as a volunteer. With a normal job. And a wife. And kids. That equates to about 18 years in my mind. Well done Matt.

The proof might be in ...

the leaders that aren't leading yet.

Fun conversations this week with Tayest [SPACE alumni] and Trevin [our first Ember guide.] It's one thing to traipse the world engaging different cultures, serving and encouraging people and being involved on mission. It's a completely different level to empower and help others into doing the same kinds of things - start with lots of dreaming, listening, encouraging and connecting. It also requires movement thinking and catalytic leadership - like finding ways to jump start indigenous initiative. Complex, nonlinear and oh so exciting and generative. Something like this tweet:
@trevinhoekzema : spent an hour on the phone with AR, talking, catching up, dreaming... #Duke is doing an amazing this with its Engage program.

Ember hits Salisbury in November working on a community project based on demographic data - so privileged to work with these two catalytic leaders. Even more fun than working with them - we do this for leaders that aren't leading yet. They are out there, on the brink of being engaged and sometimes they need a bright spot like Tayest and Trevin to kick them into the future.

#EmberPhilly11 Wrap Up

Had a great time in Philadelphia this past weekend with a team of college students that Ember hosted. Here's some of the details that might interest you.

:: Schedule
Fri night - Chinatown, including cultural awareness, dinner and hearing from LT about the background of this context.
Sat 1 - Salvation Army in West Philly, urban garden, organizing a toy room to get ready for donations, various other cleaning projects
Sat 2 - Philadelphia Access Center, South Philly, various cleaning and organizing projects
Sat eve - free time while some of us went to the ER with a student who hit his head pretty hard and then started throwing up. Obviously, this was not plan A. Cat scan was clean, he was fine but with a slight concussion.
Sun - church at CCCNC where LT spoke on Luke chapter 2.
Lodging at Chaomunix Mansion Youth Hostel.

:: Observations
+ Such a privilege to work with this team. TayEst is replicating students that live the Gospel in both word and deed. This team doesn't have to be convinced about community impact, most of them are involved in two community projects every week. They already get it. It's beautiful.
+ This team already spends a lot of time in direct interaction with recipients of community impact programs. Instead, this weekend, they got to see a lot of the other side of the nonprofit world. Cleaning, organizing, and other kinds of activities that need to get done but isn't necessarily seen by program participants. This perspective wasn't intentional in our planning but worked out great anyway.
+ We could have spent hours pushing around concepts like poverty, power, dependency, sustainability, etc. with this team [see what I mean.] Instead, we bagged most of that because of the ER trip. Insight from Dea: maybe God said it was good enough for today.
+ It's difficult to host teams. Both of these organizations did it really well.
+ Loved the model of the church engagement initiative at PAC, which starts first and foremost with a community needs assessment. So many times, we are guilty of forcing our talents and skills on hosts/partners/communities. Especially when it comes to overseas short term teams.

+ Our guides were, as usual, fantastic, and a first experience for Amy as a guide.
+ I brought my family on this one - they love this kind of stuff and it's my job as a dad to expose my kids to this kind of thing. We also brought one of Kt's friends along for the first time. Mir had a great weekend.
+ Ben joined us too as part of the youth missions coaching we are doing together. Very fun to have him with us for all of it.
+ Here's a few items for continual improvement that we may have to systematize: prepping our guides better, involving the actual team's leaders more as the experience goes on, having a room to gather in. We also need a experience closeout checklist, I think.

DecEmber Kindling

+ Been spending a good amount of energy in getting some infrastructure up for 2012. Including recruiting meetings with some guides, getting an application process together and setting our guides up for success.
+ Tayest highly recommended Toxic Charity to me. Her words: "make the guides read this." First time getting book recommendations from college kids. Love it.
+ In July 2007, a group of high school kids traveled with me to Hungary. We went to NYC in January 2008. Traveled back to Hungary in July 2008. This spring, they finish college and a majority of them are doing missional stuff. Most fruit of your youth ministry doesn't show up for at least four years. Edit: I don't know what I was trying to say here. See Michelle's comment below.
+ The career list includes applied economics, nursing, international development, education. Whatever your field of study, missions can use it.
+ We've had a house guest for the past few months but only during the week and he's graciously donated some funds to Ember. One part of my Creative Revenue Plan. This was a nice surprise that just landed in our lap.
+ Trevin and I hang out next week with the middle school kids from Ember Ocean City. Looking forward to meeting them face to face. This student ministry has gone through 11 months of transition.

Discussion Notes - Toxic Charity

A few months ago, Tayest, one of our Ember guides, recommended the book Toxic Charity to me. Since then lots of other people in my circles have also been talking about it. And Taylor asked if Ember would host an evening discussion on the book, specifically to talk about the ideas and her context of a team of college revolutionaries. Here are some rough notes to the conversation:

+ Participants
Tony, Trevin, Clancy - Ember guides, Lauren - Ember intern
Taylor, Dylan, Rachel, Brooke, Jenny, Wendy, Jack, Nathan - Salisbury students
Glenn - Nathan's dad, professional in intl comm dev

+ Context
Salisbury Uni - core team of about 10 college students who are serving the fringe via off campus ministries
three venues:
God's kitchen - a soup kitchen model
HALO - a womens and childrens shelter and homeless day center
Salisbury Urban Ministries - a soup kitchen model

+ Intro
"Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people."
examples from the book:
free church food pantry transformed into a food co-op
giving Christmas gifts to needy families versus a discount toy store
affluence - this topic may be more intense because we have so much
those who have been given much, much will be required
unique to us gathered here in this room
see more notes on the book here

+ Initial Thoughts
most everyone agrees with the basic premise of the book
difficult to generalize - but most seems very valid
attentive to the spirit - tension of helping and giving in the right way but also being attentive to how God is leading
requires change - not everyone will want to change what they are doing because it makes them feel good
sometimes we are not in charge at the places we serve. not easy to make this kind of organizational change

+ Glenn B, special guest [seriously, read his resume]
agriculture and intl development
peace corps - Guatemala
missionary
a do no harm approach
'we facilitate opportunities for people'
accompanying them, training microgrants, design and implement together
base principle - we don't know what is best for them
physical and spiritual components have to be done together
relief and development

measurement and indicators are important but you can't be driven by them - 'best effort' stewardship

counterpart contribution - onwership, dignity, value,
donor results can erroneously drive a free gift, quota approach

+ Idea Models
[this was totally stolen from Ben Arment, see this and this]
The question is really how to bring some of these ideas back to your context at Salisbury so lets play around with some idea models based on the idea of sustainable charity.
resume writing
cooking in a soup kitchen
toy store versus food co-op [from the book]
church partnership - big clothes swap
CVS or Wal Mart store
addiction counseling/Christian counseling
PAC access center - paradigm for church community development - better practices
survey the population - methodical strengths/skills assessment - value clusters, evaluate the demand in the community for the skills - don't want to train them in skills that are not in demand by the market
skills job training mentoring
homeless paper in DC - Streetsense
lots of resources in the university
someone at God's kitchen thinks the college kids are all actors. can't believe people actually serve like them.

My biggest impression after this group left was that I'm excited to see what they come up with. I think it's going to be an idea model that is completely out of the box.

August Kindling

+ Debriefing the STC Baltimore team last night included the three topics of context, sustainability and indigenous. I continue to ask why hardly anyone is discussing these all important concepts with students. Interesting: a suburban youth ministry whose ethos included youth gatherings in the inner city with no big deal.
+ Grace high school team leaves for DC Sunday. They'll be working with CSM DC.
+ Happened to meet the owner and founder of Icing Smiles last month at a swim team event. They've experienced the kind of explosive growth that lots of starters could really learn from. She incidentally goes to our church.
+ There are probably some people in our churches that are doing amazing things but are unknown to all of us. That may have more to do with church leadership than you think.
+ Some of Ember's favorite people are coming home to disturbia in waves. Could you people be in the same zip code at the same time?
+ Met Kirk Crager face to face - he hosted a SPACE England team in 2008. Best insight - England is a culture that is highly segmented via economic strata because a class system has existed for centuries. No, not segmented like the US. Segmented like you don't go to the same church or live in the same community.
+ Sad that our guide gatherings are ending after the summer. Loved Wednesday evenings dreaming and executing with John, Trevin, Lexi and Tayest.
+ Deanna and I celebrate our 17 year anniversary this weekend. No it doesn't seem that long.
+ August is blog sabbath. See you in September.

October Kindling

+ Ember is working with a college community impact team in November - we're hitting up Philly. Always excited to work with TayEst and her team.
+ Initial feedback on a youth leader missions mentorship something something something we are doing. Yeah, we have to find a better name. But that's some good feedback, I think.
+ You should have seen the interns jump in last week at the M conference. They loved meeting people and saying hi and telling people who they were and what they were doing there - it was beautiful. They were for sure the youngest people there. One of the speakers came up to me to tell me how impressed he was with them. [They were like this before I got to them...]
+ Even more beautiful - the way they befriended a stranger on the rental car shuttle bus. I can help them learn about global missions but they already know how to be kind.
+ Matt Klingler is launching a church in downtown Silver Spring in the next few months. If you are in that area, this is one to watch.
+ Summer 2012.
+ It's also not too early to think about end of the year tax donations. If you want to donate to fund some emerging global student leaders, help me help them learn some tangible skills.
+ I have an appointment for a colonoscopy with a guy named Dr. Butt. True story.

Ember Darley Park

The Ember Cast helped facilitate a service and leadership experience last Saturday for some students at Salisbury Uni via Serve the City Baltimore's Spring service day. If you've been reading along, you know that we've worked with TayEst and her clan of college students for a few years and that they've been doing some pretty remarkable things at school. A few months ago, Taylor asked if Ember could put together a service and leadership experience where they could learn about sustainable community development, based on a desire to learn more about these kinds of principles like outlined in Toxic Charity. I asked my good friend Patrick Donohue if there was a possibility that this could work out for the Serve the City Spring service day and we got Saturday, which worked out perfectly.

Our team heard some teaching about the context of Darley Park, one of the most at risk communities in Baltimore, and go to work with Dorothy, one of the most senior residents of this community that decided that she was going to stay, even in the midst of the community being overtaken by bad people. Our big task, chosen by Dorothy, was to clean all the trash from two alleyways. In and of itself, the actual task would have been pretty good. Knowing that it was chosen by someone who is indigenous to the community [Dorothy] and hearing about the context of Darley Park made it a great project.

Here's some other items of note:
::: Our host, besides Dorothy, was one of the leaders of The Transformational Team, a partnership between the police department, local congregations and local nonprofits. Take special note at the Indicators for Transformation section. Perhaps this is how we should measure effectiveness of our churches.
::: Darley Park context
+ 1 church for 300 people in Baltimore. More pastors and deacons in the city than drug dealers but the mindset of the city is still owned by evil.
+ The level of darkness is greater than the level of prayer.
+ Push back the dark, then minister to needs.
+ Spiritual and cultural initiatives this summer in Darley Park:
art project
jazz on Friday nights
a prayer alter on a porch on every block
+ Is 62:4 The idea of married to the land.
::: There was a police car with us the whole day. I was told later this was by intention.
::: Two key concepts for next generation global leaders: systems and people of peace.
+ Systems - think systemic and systematic. Apply change to the system instead of just the circumstance.
+ People of peace - Dorothy was one of 6 elderly ladies that had a lot of influence in the community. Dorothy is a Christian so that one aspect of a person of peace doesn't quite fit her.
+ Neither of these concepts is taught enough to our high school or college kids.
::: Patrick Donohue, who runs Serve the City Baltimore and is planting Mercy and Grace for the City, is a phenomenal leader.
::: Grace Church used this service day as a launching point for their student teams as part of an overall preparation plan. Mission teams are stereotypically underprepared. This event helped teams grow together before they reach the field.
::: My 11 year old smelled pot for the first time. It didn't go unexplained.

More pictures

2012 on the move

Some of Ember's tribe on the move because of mission this summer and fall. And you have to know that they were like this before they got involved with Ember. We are just privileged to serve with them.

Trevin - serving with the Ember AZ 2012 team; Queen Creek, AZ.
TayEst - starting a job with Teach for America in the fall; Baltimore, Merryland.
Lexi - currently in East Asia.
Kristen - leading a vision team to Brussels [that I am on] at the end of June, recently started a job with Grassroots; Brussels, Belgium and Columbia, Merryland.
Andrew - serving this summer again with First Love; East Africa.
John - takes on a outreach/missions coord volunteer job this fall with his college ministry; Harrisonburg, VA.
Michelle - starting a job in quantitative economics and statistics with Ernest and Young; Washington, DC.
Erinmoy - serving on a short term missions team as an occupational therapist; Domincan Republic.
Caroline - finishing a season of training as a midwife with YWAM; Australia and Uganda.
Katie - Ember Cast spawn - Ember AZ 2012 team and a week with STC; Queen Creek, AZ and Baltimore, Merryland.

Note some of the very specific tangible skills some of these fine young people have developed, that helps them be on mission.

[Related: 2011 on the move ]

Summer 2010 Listening - Taylor

Hardly any of us can land on a different planet - say perhaps where all the people there have purple skin - and gauge their response. It's kind of like the time I arrived in the Dominican Republic to a group of elementary school kids chanting the phrase "Chino, chino, chino!" over and over - and then laughing uproariously. My hosts explained, "You are probably the first Asian they have ever seen." Oh, thanks for the clarification.

We listened to Tayest tell us about her recent opportunity that was similar. Her trip to Zimbabwe included traveling to a village where no white skinned people had ever visited. Using a digital camera to show people their faces for the first time. Showing the Jesus film in a native tongue. Running a kids school program for 800 kids. Sex ed class for teenage girls with 15 minutes notice. Giving kids pencils and them not knowing what they were for.

You probably can guess this - Taylor doesn't have purple skin. In fact, her skin is white - suburban white, she would probably say. Up until a little while, she had a worldview that was about the same - centered around nice yards, getting a good education and making a good life for yourself. Something changed in there though and the next few summers found her traipsing the world giving herself to bigger things. It might have been a new awareness of the world, the Ghost marking her heart, friends that promised to not live ordinary lives anymore. Whatever it was, we are better for it.

You might not be able to land on a different planet. Then again, you might.

Some Proof

Loved catching up with TayEst, circled in the picture from November 2005. SPACE alumn who was a part of England, Hungary and Cameroon teams, we're collaborating on a possible project for the spring.

The real proof of student ministry is what happens after they graduate. In her case:
+ She's been actively engaged with Campus Crusade at Salisbury University, this year helping run their community outreach. This generation cares a lot about the world in which they live.
+ She's been involved with a church plant called Remedy Church which just launched a few weeks ago. We need more new expressions of Church that effectively contextualize the Gospel.
+ She's intentionally investing in freshmen who have already risen to influence. Real leaders create other leaders.
+ Oh, right yes she actually goes to college.

Still pondering something she said that's been stuck in my head - "those of us that grew up in SPACE know that we are fully capable of creating something from nothing" [or something to that effect.]

Whatever the medium - SPACE, The Ember Cast, or yours - these are the kinds of people we need to grow.

Releasing It for Greatness

I'm officially releasing an Ember project to two very capable guides. I'm releasing it because the guides have the capacity and proximity to run this project better and I trust them and know they have the Ember ethos. And I'm releasing it for greatness.

It's a small afternoon service project for a youth ministry that is taking some first steps towards community service and evangelism and social good. I know TayEst and Emily are going to do a fantastic job introducing some students to the concepts of poverty and sacrifice. It will be hosted by Em's grandfather's on the boardwalk ministry, which has some deep roots in Ocean City, Maryland, a well known resort town to Merrylanders. Emily served here all last summer, and by the way, she was on the AZ 2010 team and her dad serves on Embers Board of Directors.

Some of the greatness I can predict - like maybe satisfaction of walking some younger people through serving those less fortunate or knowing the meal you packaged really made a difference. The rest of the greatness, lets remember in 2511.

2011 on the move - part 3

These three have traveled with me here and there in the past.
Caroline - raising support to spend a year in Australia learning to be a midwife in the developing world. She was also on the very first student missions experience I architected for SPACE.

Michelle - a few more months in South Africa.

Tayest - traveling to Kenya with We Are Kenya. Incidentally, We Are Kenya is a NPO started by a group of people from GRACE. Tay is also contributing to our little video project - more on that later.

[part 2]

NovEmber Kindling

+ Very excited to work with TayEst and her team again this coming weekend in Philly. Our upcoming weekend includes cultural immersion, learning from community impact orgs and hopefully some Chinese food. Excited to watch some leadership transition over the next few months.
+ Been working to facilitate and handoff a beginning service project for 7th-9th graders for a church around the corner. The biggest challenge for some student ministries getting into community service is purely logistical. Christianity is a movement and therefore requires us to move.
+ Putting on my recruiter hat for the next 8 weeks to get the best emerging leaders we know to run some stuff for us. More about 2012 projects soon.
+ Did you see Andrew Jones' presentation on resourcing missional entrepreneurs?
+ Doing some rethinking about the high school internship. I love it conceptually, but I know we can tweak to make it even better.
+ My 13 year old told me a few months ago that our church's growth plan should include church planting.

2010 on the move

A small representation [for now] of some people on the move. If any of their travels and service interests you, let me know and I will put you directly in touch with them. I know they would love to have even more people to share in their journey.

:: Trevin - South Africa
Ember guide, working with Keep Them Safe for the summer. This is the fifth summer in a row he has traveled for a missions project.

:: Robyn - Israel
SPACE alumn - serving in Israel with Adventures in Missions for 4 weeks. Robyn's experience includes Hungary [2007], Cameroon [2008], and Belgium [2009].

:: ErinOB - Belgium
SPACE alumn - long term move to Brussels to work with the church planting org Christian Associates. If you've got an interest in post-Christian demographics or church planting among the emerging generation, Erin would be a great person to connect with.

:: Taylor - Zimbabwe
SPACE alumn - serving with the Global Aid Network this summer in Zimbabwe. Tayest and I were planning an Ember experience but it never came to fruition...yet. A suburban kid who loves orphans - yes it can happen.

Friday Burn

::: Student Debt is Killing the Church
5. Student Debt Squelches Ecclesial Entrepreneurship.
Link via Rudy


::: Religious Census in Orlando
Surprising. And you know how much the Shengs love Orlando...
Link via Jon Tyson


::: Why It's Hard to Invest in Exponential Growth
Link

Photo: Ember guides Emily Swinburne and TayEst, Philly, November 2011.