The Role of a Church in Community

Awareness is the First Step

This week as I was reading Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life by Robert Lupton, I was really hit by how the local church population has changed so drastically over the past decades.  Thinking back to when local neighborhood was the primary social environment, the church was always a benefit to the local community because all the members were part of the local community and wanted to see it grow.  Now almost all churches have become commuter churches and people drive from miles away to come and have no invested interest in the local community.

In my opinion, the new look to churches is not inherently bad, it is only when we, the congregation, stop caring about the local community and only go to the church area to go to church does it become evil.  My church, for example, does outreach programing, which is a vital part of the church without a doubt, but it is clear throughout the Bible (Ezekiel 16:49-50, Matthew 25:34-40, etc.), that we should be providing for the physical needs of, first the church members, then the community.  We have, with some success, been able to provide for the church, but we rarely look out to see what our community needs, and I know this is a trend in many churches.

The first step and what I’m calling you to do to fix this is to be aware.  Don’t just drive to church and then drive home after.  Look around in the community and find out the needs of the area.  Start filling those needs, both physical and spiritual.  We are called to love, serve, and provide for those in need, so let’s start by becoming aware of how we can love, serve, and provide Biblically and practically.

-Joseph Nishimoto

Meet Our Interns: Michelle!

It was like a treasure hunt. An exciting, eye-opening, full-of-possibilities kind of treasure hunt. This is the best way I can think of to describe an exercise that Terri Larson had myself and other interns/community fellows participate in during training at Kingdom Causes Bellflower this past week. This particular exercise had each of us name nine of our “gifts” – three topics we are knowledgeable about (Head Treasures), three skills we have (Hand Treasures), and three issues/people groups we are passionate about (Heart Treasures). The treasure hunt came into play when we were asked to share our treasures with other interns/community fellows. It was so amazing to learn what each other was gifted in, and also to discover similar gifts in other.

                  Before I get too much further, let me introduce myself. I’m Michelle Cok, a summer intern at Kingdom Causes. A little about me – I am nineteen, and I attend California Baptist University in Riverside. I love camping and hiking, traveling, reading, being with friends and family, and doing what I can to further God’s kingdom, hence this internship! I have always been familiar with the city of Bellflower, having attended church in this city my entire life, and having gone to Valley Christian Schools my whole life.  I am passionate about this city and all the potential it has!

                  As I struggle to know what to include in this blog, I’ve decided to view it as a way for me to keep myself accountable throughout this summer. Maybe in this way, it will be a tool for me, as well as for all who read it. To that end, I’m going to describe what I hope to accomplish this summer, what my goals are, and how I hope to grow as well. I have some main projects that I’ll be working on and I’m really very excited about them.

The first project includes teaching a “MoneySmarts” financial literacy class to the men involved in Kingdom Causes Fatherhood program. The goal for this class is to help the dads feel confident in their finances and also to encourage them to get back on their feet and become successful. I’ll teach four sessions, in which I’ll be working with the men to go over banking, saving, investing, etc. My overall hope is to have the men, at the end of the class, come up with a solid plan to get themselves back on track.

My second project revolves around the “National Night Out” events.  These events are nation-wide and the goal is to encourage neighborhoods to get out of their homes, bond with one another, and feel safer in their own neighborhoods. I’m hoping to get about four of these events together, with the help of some of our community fellows.

My other projects include teaching E.S.L classes, helping with financial programs for residents at Margaret’s House, and helping with general bookkeeping here at K.C. Besides these projects, I really hope to make sure I help others discover their “treasures” and gifts and help them to foster growth within themselves. I hope you will all keep these goals in your prayers, and I will do my best to keep you all updated with what’s going on with them.J I encourage you to think about your own treasures, and maybe conduct your own treasure hunt with those you come into contact with, and see what you can all accomplish in your neighborhood and community!

                  

Intern Intro: Heidi

         

  “Why aren’t you going on a mission trip somewhere overseas this summer if that’s something you’re passionate about?”

            This question, just weeks before summer break, really threw me for a loop.  As a college student studying to become a math teacher, open to teaching wherever God leads – be it overseas, inner-city, poverty, undesirable areas – all I could respond with was, “Well, I’ve got this internship in my hometown working with the community this summer with an organization I’ve been connected with for a while.”

            As I listened to friends talk about their plans to teach in India, serve in Peru, or work in Tanzania, I seriously questioned my choice to stay local this summer.  Didn’t I need experience in other countries?  Shouldn’t I have given more thought to other summer options overseas?  What was I actually passionate about?  Was I taking the easy way out by staying home?

            It wasn’t until our second day with Kingdom Causes during the opening prayer that my anxieties about making the best decision for my summer subsided.

            I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  Job 42:2

            Throughout this past semester, God has proved himself to me over and over.  Each time I piled too much onto my plate, He provided a way out for me; 6 times assignments were ‘coincidentally’ postponed when I was overloaded with work, and as I almost daily posted Facebook status requesting prayers for tests that I had not studied enough for, results came in where the expected ‘C’ was actually an ‘A’ or one of the highest grades in the class.  Time and time again, God’s providence was made clear to me.  Yet even after a semester of miracles, I still questioned His plan for me.

I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  Job 42:2

At our orientation multiple waves of chills affirmed that God had put me in the best place for me this summer.  The truths about His Kingdom and the excited young people around me inspired and renewed a passionate spirit within me.  When Terri asked us at the end of the training to think of one practical thing we could take away, I chuckled to myself. Throughout the morning as ideas raced through my mind, I had already written down around 10 applications for myself.  Many of these applications reaching further than this single summer internship.
            In one week God already proved His faithfulness to me by showing me that this summer is going to be a summer of learning and equipping for the future in many areas of my life, not just some resume-building internship to give me more ‘job-experience’.  I have already been blessed and inspired by the community of people this internship has placed me in.  God truly is good, and I am excited to create with kids in an art class, build relationships with the elderly at the Friendship Manor, and grow from whatever else God presents me with this summer.

Intern Intro: Joseph!

When I first interacted with Kingdom Causes, I never imagined me fitting into an organization like it.  The staff seemed extra-extroverted and were good conversationalists, of which I am neither.  But after applying for the summer internship and working closely with the people involved in Kingdom Causes, I can see that this is an organization I can not only work for, but also become a part of over this summer.

My name is Joseph Nishimoto, and I am a twenty year old studying accounting and business administration at Grace College in Indiana and will graduate spring 2014.  I think God is vastly underrated in my life and in almost everyone else’s I meet, and relying on God as the ultimate authority and Jesus’ death is the ONLY thing you can rely on for salvation. I am starting to become an advocate for entrepreneurship, but mostly I advocate for hard work and discipline.  I have lived in Lakewood since I was one and I enjoy the beach, volleyball, and playing most sports, and anything nerdy I will probably be into (e.g. accounting, video games, comic books, etc.).  Although I’ve been behind in politics lately, I am libertarian in political view, (which is why I enjoy Good Soil Industries, a virtually self-sufficient social organization!).  I am the summer intern working mostly with Good Soil Industries to help streamline and better organize this side of Kingdom Causes.

I love to learn, and I’ve been doing a lot of it over the course of the few weeks I’ve been at KCB. Everything from specific skills, like how to use accounting software, to more indistinct skills, like conversing with people that I have few areas of common ground.  Each learning experience is exciting and encouraging.  One of the more specific learning experiences was last Thursday when we learned about asset based community development.  In a nutshell, asset based community development, or ABCD, is developing what is inside of a community instead of injecting an outsiders view into a community.  Basically, instead of trying to go into a community and tell it what it needs, allow the community to figure out what it needs and then use its own resources and skills to achieve it. 

On the whole, the training was good, but I did have two questions after mulling the information over.  The first one I had to ask myself is: does this fit into my calling as a Christian?  And of course, it seems like it does, but I think the ABCD way of thinking has to be filtered because many communities aren’t Christ focused, which is fine, but then some of their perceived needs will be out of step with Christianity and people empowering the community must evaluate if they will support the changes that the people want.  The second was, “why isn’t the body of Christ using their assets to better further the kingdom of God?”  Knowing the church’s strengths and skills is invaluable to progress and growth and this has been ignored for far too long.  To start to remedy this, I have begun talking to the elders at my church and will discuss it with my pastor to see if/when we can collaborate and start mining our congregation for skills.

Overall, ABCD training was the tip of the iceberg of my training these weeks and I have enjoyed every second of it.  My coworkers, including the GSI guys and fellow interns, are all amazing people and I am excited to have this time to have good conversations with them and get to know them even more.

Introducing Shannon Turner!

Shannon Turner, KCB summer intern

I would consider myself an opportunist, not in a negative sense, but in the “kid who went on every school field trip” sense.  I thoroughly enjoy new experiences because they involve new people, new places, and new opportunities from which I can learn and grow.

When I was 16, I was given the opportunity to travel to El Recreo, Ecuador on a mission trip with four others from my church. While there, we stayed at a local church whose congregation was doing amazing things in the city. One of these things include outreach to a local community known as “The Invasion”,  a section of the city that is made up of people who are refugees through many different circumstances, but all live in similarly styled homes, made up of scrap materials and built on stilts to protect from constant flooding. While there, I helped lay a few bricks for a new church building being put in place, but I got to see so much more! Among many other incredible things, I saw puppet shows that teenagers held for the children living in The Invasion; I saw true joy come from such a sparse area, and as I was 16 and had never been out of the country, nor my comfort zone, before, this setting was engrained into my mind as the image of poverty.

However, as I traveled to Magdalena, Guatemala the next summer, I learned that poverty is not constrained to an image of meagerness. My experiences in Guatemala showed me that although poverty is an issue that is not necessarily easily seen, for the closeness of the family unit, the importance of spirituality, and the hope in God’s promise promotes strength and unity within the towns. In Guatemala, I was able to work with child sponsorship; this allowed me to visit schools as well as the homes of sponsored children. Being able to spend time with these children, whether it was celebrating a month’s worth of birthdays or entertaining them as they awaited dental extractions, I was able to see that the children in Guatemala were no different than the children I babysit at church.

After I returned home from Guatemala last summer, the lack of polar differences between the issues addressed in places such as Ecuador and Guatemala to those in my own city and those surrounding—homelessness, poverty, broken relationships, grief, etc.—made me question, if we are sending teams to different countries, who is working locally to build God’s Kingdom?

Meanwhile, I had been volunteering at Food Help Ministries in Downey for three years, and the neighbors I met and shared stories with drove my passion for not only being able to understand the underlying causes of homelessness in such a culture of excess,  but to know how to reach out to those who are not necessarily embraced with welcoming arms by Christians.

I stumbled upon Kingdom Causes Bellflower serendipitously. A few months ago, someone asked what my plans were for this summer. When I replied, I’m not sure, he encouraged me to apply for an internship position. After a little research, my opportunist nature kicked in, and, while I was unsure  if I would even be chosen, I figured, “Why not?”. Yet, one week into my summer as a volunteer KCB Intern, I have already learned more than I could have ever imagined. I am so grateful for this opportunity, for I know that being surrounded by genuine followers of Christ who have passions for what they do has already encouraged and inspired me to grow in my walk with God as well as to remember that my internship is not focused on all of the great tasks that I can accomplish. Rather, I know that God will be molding my heart this summer, and I am truly excited about learning as much and listening as much as I possibly can in the coming weeks.