6 Years in the Making

Bob’s first encounter with Spicy was 6 years ago when he first came to youth group. He jokingly put his foot in Bob’s face while he was driving and Bob pretended to throw Spicy’s Jordans out the window. While someone else might have gotten upset to have their shoe about to be taken, Spicy just pulled a roll of 100’s out of his pocket and told Bob he could buy as many new shoes as he wanted. Spicy was the local drug dealer at the time. A lot has changed in 6 years. Once he accepted Christ he stopped dealing but because he had a felony he couldn't get a job. So he has worked with Bob on construction projects over the years. He is also one of our most faithful attendees at Bible study. He has always actively participated but he never shares much about what he is thinking.

He is not cocky but he would admit he is stubborn. As he has grown in his faith he has stopped some habits that he knew God wanted him to give up. However, Spicy was adamant about not giving up smoking marijuana. We had lots of discussions with him saying it isn't addictive and has no negative impact on someone. Although we like to think we are the Holy Spirit, we gave up trying to convince him of anything different and knew he would have to hear from the Lord.

In January we were beginning Romans for Bible study and came across this verse: But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath…. God pierced Spicy’s heart with that verse. He sat and pondered it and when I (Susan) asked him what he thought he just said, “I can be stubborn.” He didn't elaborate but he has not smoked since the end of January! It has been amazing and I have told him how I can see the change in his countenance, he just seems more alive and he now acknowledges how addicted he was.

Now Spicy is seeing God bless him for his obedience. As I said he has not been able to get a job because of felonies. However, it has been long enough that he is able to get his record expunged (his felonies would no longer appear on his record ). He filled out the paperwork but was told by the court that the paperwork was wrong, however, they still took the $600 it cost. This was quite discouraging for him. But then In January he interviewed for a job at a local oil refinery, which provides good wages and benefits. However, after going through the entire interview process the oil refinery told him they didn't want to hire him because of his record. This felt like the final straw and he certainly wanted to smoke a joint (which was how he always coped with stress before) but he rejected that temptation as well as the temptation to start selling drugs again when someone offered him that job back.

A day after that happened he got a call from the refinery and they decided to hire him anyway! I wish you could see the joy on his face. At Bible study this week he was so proud to show me his badge and safety certifications he received. He hasn't even started work yet but he told Bob that he feels like a real man now.

We are so excited for Spicy and blessed to be able to see God transforming his life!



Spicy and Bob at a ministry conference

Starting A New Small Business Incubator

Launch with us.

March 2014

At Metro Community Development in Compton, CA, we are preparing to begin a new small business incubator here in our city. The time is now. Over 60% of our young people from ages 16-49 are unemployed. Even if this group was fully employable, the jobs do not exist.

Urban jobs need to be created and created quickly. For those in our community this is a matter of life and death. Now is the time.

We have launched several social enterprises and are connecting with others entrepreneurs and small business startups in our city. Now we want to create an incubator where many more young people will develop their entrepreneurial upbringings into a fully self-sustainable business.

If you are an entrepreneur, business owner, an employer or would like to work with us please complete the contact form below.

www.urbanlaunchlab.com

Opening Day ignites new Hope!

An article from our families December Newsletter.

Admittedly, I (Tonya Herman) was a bit skeptical when the Lord dropped this community organic garden on us. I am a big believer in eating healthy, in community development, and in ministry to the whole person. After all, Jesus fed the thousands and healed the sick -- who would we be to deem such things not important? But there was still that niggling voice in the back of my mind -- would we really be able to see spiritual development happen because of a garden?

Our team leaders had great vision -- of relationships we could build through the garden, of spiritual, life-filled conversations that could happen there. And as God kept providing and moving (sometimes it felt more like shoving!) us forward, it became very clear that this was on HIS agenda. I was excited as I saw the way God was obviously moving, but I still had my doubts...

The day of the garden opening was a beautiful SoCal fall day -- sunny blue skies and mild temperatures. Almost 200 people came out to celebrate with us -- ministry partners, volunteers, students from nearby universities, and most importantly -- people from the neighborhood! We had music and delicious food, face painting and crafts for the kids. We rented garden plots and sold t-shirts with “Compton Organic Community Garden” on them. The garden was spoken over, prayed over, and dedicated by a host of special guests who had invested financially, spiritually, and physically in the process (including our new mayor!).  It was a day full of joy and excitement and triumph.

As we were finishing the last of the cleanup, Betty (name changed) approached me. Betty is a woman who lives next door to the garden. In the city, those who have had life the roughest wear that truth visibly all over themselves. I don’t know many specifics about Betty’s life, but it’s clear she’s one of those folks. In that moment, though, Betty came with a huge grin on her face, tears in her eyes, and a request.

Could she become a volunteer? Could she water the garden boxes of those who couldn’t get there every day? Could she clean up around the garden? Could she keep an eye on the place and chase off any vandals? She was offering to help in any way she could -- she was just desperate to be a part of it all.

“You all have such a beautiful aura about you -- and it’s over this whole place! Every since you’ve been working in here -- and seeing all this happen...well, I’m out there, doing a lot of bad things. But in here -- this place -- it makes me believe that maybe I can get back to being the old Betty once again.”

It didn’t take long before Betty’s tears had become my own. We stood for a few minutes, her talking about her life and me sharing about mine. I told her that the hope she was describing had, in turn, filled my own heart with hope. That that’s how it is with God -- He uses us to bless each other, no one person being more important or “better” in His Kingdom, but all of us learning from and needing each other. This was the beauty she was sensing in all of us.

Since that conversation, I have spent a lot of time thinking about Betty and how she sees the garden. Located in a place that is arguably one of the ugliest, most crowded and run-down parts of our city, the garden is becoming a place of beauty and life. And for people who see little other than their local surroundings day after day after day, beauty brings hope.

I am thankful for Jesus and His simple spirituality -- boiling it down to much more basic concepts than I want to create in my privileged American mind. I am thankful for what He knows about the people He has created, the needs that they have, and the places where He can best meet them. I’m especially thankful that, in spite of my ignorance, He lets me be a part of His meeting them. After all, those connections are the places where beauty, life, and hope shine brightest in my own life.

I look for Betty every time I visit the garden now. Inevitably, if she’s there, we end up having a spiritual conversation along similar lines to the one we had that day. She usually has a story to tell me about something that’s happened at the garden, and God will give me another chance to tell her how much He loves her. We shed a few tears, we hug, and I leave with a very full heart -- filled with the fullness of the love God has for this woman, and with the generosity she has to share her life with me. 

-Tonya Herman
Metro CDC

I love downtown LA. I don't get there very often anymore.

 But during our first few years here our Director and I developed an extensive walking tour to take mission groups through.

Tomorrow I get to do it again!

Check it out.

Craigslist opens door to ministry

Who would ever guess that God would use Craigslist to create a new ministry opportunity.

That is exactly what He did through an ad offering free use of an over grown vacant lot, as long as it was used for organic gardening. Our team had talked about gardening but never dreamed that we would have a free space or the knowledge. God has also taken care of that also! 

Our pastor’s wife happens to be a Master Gardener and is getting her PhD in Urban Organic Community Gardening. She needed a location for a garden so we are partnering together.

Our vision for the garden is threefold, to help create jobs for young adults, to promote health in our community and to create a positive place that draws people together and to the Lord.

Prayers at the Garden

With just one clean up day we have seen a positive response from the community. Several men who lived nearby were so excited to see something good happening that they stepped in and helped with the clean up.  We also met Dr. Mel. She and her husband have a church next door with a strong children’s ministry. She had actually been praying about growing vegetables. She has offered to partner with us, share her facilities and get her youth involved.

We also met some of the local prostitutes. The lot is located on Long Beach Blvd, which is a main street in Compton and is where the  prostitutes “work.”  We have long had a burden to reach out to them but we have never found a way to build relationships. However, as we cleaned up they came over to see what was going on.  One woman named Tina said ,“I work on that corner across the street and I’m so glad you guys are cleaning up this raggedy lot.  What are you guys going to do with it?”  We stood there and I (Bob) painted a verbal picture of the community garden we are trying to create.  Tina talked for the next 10 minutes about how she was from the south and she used to help her grandmother plant her garden in the country. “Most kids don't like to eat their vegetables but not me.  When you grow them yourself, that’s what you want to eat.”  When we let her know that this was a community garden and she would be more than welcome to plant her vegetables here she almost cried.  “You mean I can use this like everyone else and you’d let me grow food too?”  

Everyone is welcome at the garden, especially Tina.  We pray it will be a place where the community  comes together and creates something positive. We believe that as this interaction happens the garden will be a place where gospel conversations occur and lives will be transformed.

-Bob

A Health Food Desert

Compton is a health food desert. We have plenty of fast food chains but options for healthy food are scarce. Adult obesity rates are 51 percent higher for African Americans than whites, and 21 percent higher for Latinos, which are the primary residents of our city. In fact, Compton has the highest percentage of adult obesity in all of LA County (39%). We, like hundreds of neighborhoods across the country, find that nutritious, affordable, and high quality food is out of reach. Chrystal and Teresa, both twenty-four year old single mothers, are perfect examples of the difficulties in Compton. Chrystal was recently diagnosed with a fatty liver condition, and Teresa experienced a heart attack. Both have horrible diets and struggle with weight issues. Chrystal told us, “The doctor says I need to eat better and lose weight, but I don't know how.” This, unfortunately, is typical.

As part of our Business as Mission strategy this community organic garden will provide much needed jobs and and education that will impact our community health. We will hire a number of local young adults that have completed our Leadership Development classes and are being mentored by caring, trained mentors. We will sell the fruits and vegetables directly from the garden but also lease some garden beds to community residents for their own usage.


Additional facts:

• Nationally, low-income zip codes have 30 percent more convenience stores 
(which tend to lack healthy items) than middle-income zip codes.

• The typical diet of our youth and young adults are purchased from 
convenience stores (often soda and Hot Cheetos).

• Through a simple community garden we can help touch hundreds 
of peoples lives through healthy food, education and employment.

“I have never done anything like that before”

Recently, Jesse went with me to go fishing (Craig) but would never participate in our small City Church of Compton with his kids. That was six months ago and now Jesse attends regularly with his whole family.  Recently at our Easter outreach event the entire family participated.

In anticipation of that Glorious day, many of us gathered together and planned to go into the surrounding neighborhood streets and pass out flyers of invitation for Easter. As we were walking down the street I noticed burnout skid marks at one intersection and asked Jesse if he had ever done anything like that before. The answer I got was amazing. He had not been looking at the skid marks that I saw.  Instead, he said, “No, I have never left my house to pass out flyers for a church before today!” There was a joy in his voice as he spoke.

Easter came and Jesse volunteered to welcome people onto our church campus. He and his family are now attending our mid-week gatherings and Sunday services regularly.

Jesse welcoming people at the Easter service.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:26b)

-Craig