Cultural Navigation - Highlandtown, Baltimore

Ember was honored to partner with Redemption City Church and The Salaam Center to walk a student service team through a cultural navigation exercise in a few neighborhoods in Baltimore earlier this week. Although we've done a ton of these, this was our first one since the pandemic and it felt good to help with something like this again. 

Of course, lots has changed since the last time we ran one of these. Like a coach I heard say a few months ago, "Pay attention to what you pay attention to." Some adjustments since the last time we ran one of these: 

+ We firmly mentioned that we were from the suburbs and were not the experts about Baltimore. Related: "Walk with humility. Remember, you are showing up late to a meeting. God has been at work among these people long before you arrived!" - Tim Dearborn, The Short Term Missions Workbook. 

+ On the topic of urban populations without homes, we should be at least mentioning mental health and trauma informed care. 

+ The Pagoda at Patterson Park has been renamed to be more culturally appropriate. An appropriate symbol. 

If you are making plans for 2023, make sure to schedule team preparation. It is one of two silver bullets for your investment in your cross cultural experiences [the other one being decompression.]

Friday Burn

::: Questions To Ask Before Sending Your Child on a Church Trip

::: I Gave Up on Church

::: Why American Teens are so Sad

"And the more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild." - Chesterton

Photo: La Brea tar pit museum, May 2022.

Our Time at Eurocast

First Ember excursion in over 2 years and it was something… Three of us spent a few days in Vienna visiting with an old college friend and his family, drove to Crikvenica, Croatia spending six days there with Communitas International and then a few more days in Vienna [unexpectedly]. Loved most of our experience and it was super fun to have our younger daughter Emily and her friend Karson to hang with me for most of this. 

I recently joined the board for Communitas International although we have worked with them on and off for about 15 years. They were previously known as Christian Associates and we were first introduced to them by some mutual friends who were planting a church in Italy. In 2007, we took a team to help run the kids care part of their staff conference and fast forward, we have partnered with them multiple times with either friends that are on staff or projects around the world. This has included 2008 [the same kids care for a staff conference], 2012 [Brussels, Europe vision trip], 2013 and 2014 [Aix], 2015 [Prague], 2016 and 2017 and 2018 [our Italy trips were not formally with them but one of their staff is outside of Catania]. I love their vibe - organic, decentralized, and culturally relevant. 

This event was meant to be an Eastern European leadership conference. Of course, global events in Ukraine put some limitations on who could be there. The schedule also included a board meeting right after the conference was over and it was super fun to meet all of these people face to face, mostly for the first time. There were about 50 people in attendance, most either church planters and/or community development folks. 

This trip was not easy for me. I developed hives all over my arms and legs about a week before I left. All 3 legs of my outbound flights were delayed. Five days into our trip, Emily got Covid. Luckily, it was just a mild cold for her. My mother had some issues while I was away and I had to have multiple phone calls with her retirement community. These difficulties make one wonder whether this conference was significant in some invisible way. While I don't feel like my participation there was hugely impactful, I do feel like there could be some truth to this for our field staff. Besides the past 2 pandemic years, living cross culturally in vocational ministry is incredibly tough and we know that these staff gatherings have historically been very important for our staff. I was privileged to be a part of it. 

Finally, Emily and I stayed a few extra days in Vienna because of Covid. In hindsight, we should have waited it out a few more days. This was a bit of improper planning, impatience on my part and frustrating with my ailments. 

Come talk to us at Communitas if you are interested in a season of cross cultural living.

Eurocast - Communitas

Later this week, I'm traveling to Croatia to attend Eurocast, which is a leadership conference hosted by Communitas International. We've done a ton of work with Communitas, which used to be known as Christian Associates, our partnership dating back to 2007. My younger daughter Emily and one of her good friends, Karson, who were on The World Race together, are also joining me. I recently joined the board of directors for Communitas so this is a fun way to contribute. We start in Vienna for a few days visiting with an old college friend and his family and then drive to Croatia for the gathering.

This little jaunt represents our first slow restart of Ember and it also reflects a new cadence. From 2013-2019, we planned something every summer and I'm too old for that. Instead, the future will look like special projects I am interested in and invite others to. A slower more pensive, flexible pace.

Thanks for praying for our time. It feels super weird to be doing this again. There may be updates here later.

Photo: The 2007 Hungary team, over the Danube river in Vienna. Lots got started from that experience.

HBD Deanna

"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Friday Burn

::: Scott Belsky's 10 Forecasts For The Near Future Of Tech 

Link 

AI recommendations: "Everything you’ve ever loved in life has, to some degree, constrained you. Whether it’s a favorite song, a favorite restaurant, or a favorite hotel…these circumstantial discoveries became go-to favorites and consume our attention at the expense of new and (by the law of probability) even better experiences that we just don’t know about." [I started using Spotify's Song Radio because of this.] 

Polygamous Careers: "The next generation of talent entering the workforce will overwhelmingly opt for what I’ve come to call “polygamous careers.”... The next generation will have a nomadic decade of life and work, and will love it." [I created an account on Polywork because of this.] 

::: What Should Airbnb Launch in 2022 

Link 

::: 12 Google Sheets Formulas 

Link

Photo: Vienna, Austria. Summer 2008.

HBD Emily

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Ember 2022

Hello, it's been a long time and if you are still reading this, we are grateful for your attention, thanks for still checking this out. Here's a few updates. 

+++ 

Ember is probably doing a slow restart. Of course, after the last few years, nothing is the same. So we are keeping in mind a few pivots to the way we operate. 

The first pivot is a preference to college age students over high school students. This is life stage stuff - I am getting older. The second pivot is less exclusivity when it comes to faith for people that serve with us. We used to think that everyone that was involved with Ember needed some kind of spiritual baseline. Our faith still informs why we do what we do and our experiences will still have guidelines, but we won't require the same kind of statement of faith. 

Part of this restart is also rebuilding the board of directors. A board of directors for a volunteer organization is a unique thing so let's see how version 2 goes. 

Our first project for 2022 is taking a small team to a European leadership summit in the Spring. Like with all things involving teams, travel and gatherings, we are holding this with an open hand and making sure to book refundable reservations. 

+++ 

I am indebted to Matt Maloy for his time of service on Ember's board of directors. Matt has recently stepped down and he was there even before the beginning when he helped with the leadership team of SPACE, which was a precursor to The Ember Cast. The Maloys have been /are/will be great family friends as well and Matt's influence on the board is incalculable. 

At every board meeting, Matt would ask me, "How are you feeling?" It was Matt's signal that he was my advocate, he was for me, he was on my side and wanted to make sure my soul was in a good place. Every leader needs someone like that. Thank you Matt for your service to the future. 

+++ 

I have not written about this here but in October of 2020, I took a job with Amazon Web Services. Even though my kids give me grief about Jeff Bezos almost every day, he has built a pretty incredible company. It's not perfect, but as a database technologist, I have loved every single day there. 

+++ 

I recently joined two nonprofit boards. The first is Communitas International, who we have done work with on and off since 2007. I've always loved their pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit and in the worlds of nonprofits, community development and church planting, this is a breath of fresh air and resonates with my gifting and interests. 

I also am contributing on the organization structure side of things with The Salaam Center, a refugee resource center in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore. Ember had done some work with the Center in 2018 and 2019 and it is one of the most interesting things going on around here. The board work here is up and coming and Reda and his family are very dear to us. 

+++ 

Our family is doing well overall. Deanna has been working a part time remote reading tutor job that has been great for her overall. The job has her involved with Baltimore City students and she has felt like her job has made an impact with elementary students in the city just down the street from us. Katie is going to graduate school at University of Southern California. Emily is in her second year at Biola. Both the girls are sharing an apartment in an LA suburb. 

+++ 

Thanks for reading. If you read this whole thing, I owe you coffee. Hit me up.

2021 in cities

01 - Harpers Ferry, WV, USA
02 - Jackson, TN, USA
03 - Austin, TX, USA
04 - Cambridge, MD, USA
05 - Fort Payne, AL, USA
06 - New Orleans, LA, USA
07 - Horseshoe Bay, TX, USA
08 - Fairfield, CT, USA
09 - Lake Anna, VA, USA
10 - Los Angeles, CA, USA
11 - La Mirada, CA, USA
12 - McLean, VA, USA
13 - Las Cruces, NM, USA
14 - Blythe, CA, USA
15 - Hacienda Heights, CA, USA
16 - Newport Beach. CA. USA
17 - Carlsbad, CA, USA
18 - Redondo Beach, CA, USA
19 - Washington, DC, USA
20 - Hollywood, FL, USA
21 - Providenciales, Turks Caicos
22 - Emporia, VA, USA
23 - Tybee Island, GA, USA



[2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 in cities]

HBD Katie

“Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.” — Lady Bird Johnson

Friday Burn

::: Why Fifty Percent of Messengers Voice Traffic Comes from Cambodia 

Link 

::: The Post Pandemic Church 

Link 

 ::: Each section of this map contains 10% of the world's population.

Link

Friday Burn

::: All the Health Risks for Global Traveler James Bond
Link


::: A Bitcoin Microeconomy to Help the Poor
Link


::: South Korea a cultural superpower
Link


Photo: Iguana Island, Turks and Caicos, October 2021.


Opportunity: if you are interested in serving at a Christmas party for refugees, get in touch.

Friday Burn

::: A Fewer Good Men

Neither the sex lives of young American men nor their relative rate of college attendance is that striking by itself. Except to the men involved. What should trouble all of us is what these statistics portend.

Link

::: The 2021 Most Powerful Passport Ranking
Look down the list if you are from the USA.
Link

::: An Interview with Robert Dunbar, of Dunbar's Number
Link

Photo: White Sands, NM. August 2021.

Friday Burn

::: Global Trends 2040

Link

::: Instagram and the Well Being of Teenagers

Link

::: 10 Spiritual Traits of the Pacific Northwest that Made Mars Hill Possible

Link

Photo: Joshua Tree NP, August 2021.

And a quick Ember update... exploring a slow relaunch. Reach out if you want to explore working on something together.

HBD Emily

Dear Emily, Well, welcome to your 20s! And of course, it seems like 2021 should be interesting just like 2020 was. I certainly don't have to tell you that we are all living in unprecedented times. 

My challenge for you this year is to push. Specifically, I implore you to push your faith and your worldview. You might push them together. You might push them apart. Push them to edges or push them to centers. Push them, together or separate, into a box or out of a box. The only thing I suggest you not do is push them out of either your mind or your heart. As a young person today, your mind and your experience is still fresh. You aren't old and tainted, bitter or skeptical. And because of that, it's a great time to explore these in depth. Of course, lots of people have told you this - college is a great time to learn and experience new things. Hopefully, Mommy and I have instilled that all of life is a great time to learn. 

But the combination of these two things - your faith and your worldview - and our current cultural moment - race, class, the pandemic, the state of institutions like our government, our churches, our country - seems like a great time to be thoughtful about what you believe and how you see the world. Dig deep and push them around. I'm pretty sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. We will be too because the world needs you. 

Love DAD