Joys of Volunteering

I know that most people think that I volunteer for too many things and sometimes they are right. My heart is to be involved in the community around which I live. One of the things I have done over the last five years is to be on my HOA (Home Owner’s Association Board). This can be a thankless job because everyone is always mad at the property management company and assumes that the board is embezzling funds. Never the less, I am the president of my HOA’s board.

It has helped me better understand living in the urban area of Phoenix. I live in a relatively new housing subdivision, which is about 6 years old. The neighborhood looks new but there are a lot of rentals and section 8 housing. Next you add in the economic crisis and there is trouble in ‘Dodge’. So over the last year our community has lost lots of money due to many not paying their assessments and fines for violations. This has required me to learn how to be as Jesus describes as shrewd as a serpent and innocent as a dove. Because we live in a gang area there is always something going down where the police have to be involved.

My point in writing this is to reflect on the fact that life really isn’t much different living in the ‘hood’ versus living in my old neighborhood in the suburbs of Chandler in an area that use to be out in the fields and now is next to a freeway, three Starbucks, meg malls, theaters, autoplexes, etc… People are people we all have different biases, which at times drive us to do crazy things, i.e. get mad over dumb things or be the one on the receiving end of a criminal act. I have seen both the great things that people can do, i.e. volunteer to patrol our neighborhood, paint over graffiti, be on the board, do newsletters, etc…

The thing that strikes me, which is a bummer, is that most people always assume that someone else is going to clean up the mess. The church isn’t any different. Most assume that the pastor is their personal ‘slave’ who should be there for every little bump in the road. I get calls and e-mails screaming at me for having our assessments raised because we need more money or talk about tithing and commitment in church and you get the same response. Usually around 10-20% of the people do 80% of the work. We live in a world full of takers and the sad reality is there are very few givers.

Yet, one of the amazing blessings of New City’s birth is to see the average person stand up and get involved. We will paint a house this Saturday and have over 30 people help out. This means instead of sleeping in and getting coffee they will help a Hispanic family with little kids. What excites me the most are my group of kids from our different activities that are now learning that being a servant is the coolest thing in life. Yes, I understand that salvation is through faith based completely upon God’s grace but the evidence of this divine work is seen in doing incarnational mercy.

One of the passages that has always struck me is where Jesus has listened to the request of John and James about sitting on his left and right in heaven. (Yes their mom probably set them up to ask this question.) Jesus’ response as a feud erupts is that greatness in the kingdom is seen by being last, by being a servant and not seeking the spot light.

So please consider joining me in painting a house or mentoring a youth in South Phoenix.

Dave

Volunteers

I have to confess that I am still a rock n roller at heart who played in a rock band in High School. I had to go see ‘Taking Woodstock’ both to get a better feel for the setting surrounding this incredible event and relive a little of my teen hood. My wife and I trade off seeing Anne flicks and then seeing Dave flicks. One of the great songs that in many ways represented the mindset of my generation, at least in theory, is the Jefferson Starship song, Volunteers. I was barely a teen when all of this happened but lived for a few years in the shadow of Woodstock while playing in a band and then becoming a Christ follower.

As we start our second year both of doing our tutoring club and painting houses of low-income families I am humbled and amazed at how many friends I have who have volunteered to make New City Phoenix a reality. I admit to being a hyper type that loves multi-tasking but realize my limits. So God is teaching me about the miracle of multiplying the effort of one through many. We will paint a house of a Hispanic family in a week and will have around 30 people helping out. The morning will go by fast, everyone will get to do a little bit of work, make a new friend, get paint on themselves and leave a few hours later with the house freshly painted. The gospel will be visible to the family we have helped, to those who have helped and to the neighbors. Many will be shocked that you can have that many people in one place and not have a riot, leave trash or be totally too noisy.

I believe that one of the most powerful tools of the church is to catch a vision to be kingdom minded and see the church as more than your local fellowship. I love the diversity of the work that I do especially when you bring people to the hood from the suburbs. I totally believe that we can learn from each other if we are willing to rub shoulders and be humble enough to listen first. The sad reality is that we live in a vacuum where we shop at the same place, live and play in the same places and avoid anything that is different. The church has become totally homogeneous. The church in heaven will be multi-colored, multi-lingual, etc…. I personally want to experience that today!

My simple lesson is to see that the body of Christ is made up of many members who all are important. This last year I have been thrilled to see a group of kids help me do church and mercy work. They are incredible because they can set up for anything we do better than most adults. Yet, if I had chosen to exclude them and just do it on my own I would be missing out big time!!

Yes, there is a risk involved in allowing people to get involved who you don’t know and have different backgrounds. I believe that the benefits far out weigh any of the possible clashes. So make a new friend who speaks a different language, lives in a different neighborhood and loves food that you have never seen before. The Spirit of God is on the move to shake us up to see that Jesus isn’t a white dude or a black brother but all of the above. Heaven isn’t going to be decorated by only one people group.

So I will always remember the Starship’s song Volunteers of America as a backdrop in my life to see the church extend itself to connect with all different types of people. So volunteer, use your gifts, draws others into ministry that are afraid and discover the amazing blessing and benefit that happens in being kingdom minded!

Dave

Responsibility?

Do I have any moral obligation to pick up someone else’s trash along the side of the road? Often my precious wife will go out of her way to pick up trash while we are walking on the canal. She especially gets infuriated when a fisherman leaves his left over line and hooks. I know that my son will have a cow if his mom goes out of her way to help someone whose car is broken down. If I live in a family setting and someone else doesn’t clean up their mess should I take the time to rinse off dishes, take out the trash, etc… The obvious reality is that the answer to this question is seen readily by the fact that the trash in the parks has to be cleaned up by city workers. The person broken down on the freeway usually has to wait until the highway patrol stops, if there is any within their area.

Here is a more important question that deals with people, not trash, dishes and a pile of dirty clothes left on the floor. I had a great meeting connecting with the director of Prison Fellowship for Arizona yesterday. He actually contacted me and wanted to meet to find out about the type of work New City does. He was a very well dressed African American man who was very polite and polished. He brought his new assistant, a gal with a multitude of degrees who wanted to be involved in doing real life transformation type of work. William shared about PF’s in both a general context and also on a local basis. I was surprised to hear that there were only a handful of churches in Phoenix, a city of 3.5 million, helping with their ministry to prisoners, their families and then helping an ex-con transition back into the real world. Bill shared about the typical scenario of how someone will be involved in a Bible study in prison and have great fellowship. This person gets out and then in a few months is back in prison back involved with the same fellowship group worshiping, studying the Bible but back behind bars. Obviously something is missing is the make up of the discipleship or training that would see someone commit a crime after being involved with other believers behind bars.

My question I face all of the time is do I have any spiritual moral responsibility for the ex-con, i.e. sex offender, gang banger or drug dealer, who had been in my neighborhood but gets arrested, serves time and then is released? Here is a true story that brings this home to me and is scary but I believe is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. One of the houses we did recently painted, I won’t mention names, had a couple that were living with the family we helped. We got to know all of them over a month or so while we painted the house. They actually came to church a couple of times. I know that the gentleman who was living with the family who we helped had just gotten out of prison. Originally I was under the impression that this was for not paying child support. This is a horrible crime but for some reason wouldn’t be as difficult to handle then if maybe it turns out that he is a felon who was arrested for _____________. (This actually happen and we discovered through our block watch updates that he is a felon.)

Presently New City works primarily with young kids and teens that are mostly girls. So I have to be especially careful about volunteers and even circumstances around what we do. So as I listened to Bill from PF and shared my story which just reinforced in my heart that I am called to stand both for justice, the plight of the victim but also the plight of the offender whose only true hope is in Jesus Christ. I believe it is so easy for most people to walk by those in real need who are hurting and look through them. So what if I do give a dollar to a guy who goes out and buys another beer instead of a bottle of water or McDouble? (This week I had a New Testament handy to give to someone on the freeway off ramp in addition to a dollar and bottle of water.)

I share this not to say I have any answers or quick fixes but to express my own fears of being in the middle of circumstances that are bigger then me. This is actually a good thing because it forces me to trust the Father and ask for His Spirit’s empowerment. I know that at times I want to scream or hit someone who is be a totally zero when it comes to caring for a child who they are neglecting to the point of abuse. Yet, my heart doesn’t jump as quickly for the typical ex-con who abused or robbed some senior. Jesus help me see people as you do and be able to take steps to follow Micah 6:8 by standing up for the injustice being done in a way that shows your mercy and grace. The challenge is that I can do this to ‘show off’ and get attention for New City or myself instead of acknowledging your work in my midst.

Thanks Bill from PF for e-mailing and buying me a tall passion tea to listen, learn and be challenged about how I live today and tomorrow.

Dave

Laughing at myself

I usually consider myself as being in my ‘right’ mind most of the time. This morning I got up early to meet someone and because of cleaning our bedroom we slept downstairs and I go to put my shoes on as normal. Little did I sense that as I walked out to get into my truck in the dark that I had one sandal and a normal shoe on my feet. As I walked into a Starbucks and sat down I noticed my opps. I laughed at myself and my friend at first didn’t notice until we were finished and walking out. Yes, it is so important to step back and chuckle at times at yourself and the silly things we do that aren’t life threatening but could be.

I had a meeting with a couple manager types from my communities’ property management company yesterday and had the same kind of thing happen. I am always striving to be early to everything I do to known as someone timely but also I honestly enjoy some alone time on occasion. We were going to meet for lunch at one of my favorite places, Tradiciones. As I pull up early and am still in the middle of a conference call it didn’t matter to me whether the group would show up exactly on time. So I continue to talk with my friend and listened to his present life story and finally realize it is already time for these other people to appear so I politely tell my friend adios and pray for divine leading in his life circumstances. I wait an additional fifteen minutes only to discover no one shows. I am a little ‘miffed’ but continue with my other appointments for the day.

Later that night I e-mail the main guy I had arranged the appointment. I come home later after a date with my Anne and see an e-mail from this guy. He explains that he had left the company on Friday and that things weren't great. I then send another e-mail to the lady in charge to seek an explanation. She obviously is up late and gives the impression that this other guy is out of it and she didn’t know about the meeting. I go back and check my old e-mails and realize she might be right or realistically pretends that she didn’t know. So what do I do? Get ticked, do nothing or honestly tell her, which I did a little that regardless of what is going down that she should have contacted me and told me that the other gentleman was leaving and that any correspondence with him would be questionable.

Yes, I am learning not to get bent out of shape too quickly anymore even though I myself wouldn’t stiff someone without telling them as soon as possible.

As I was picking up one of our kids for church this last week I was able to talk to her mom while she was on her lunch break in the afternoon. She expressed how thankful she was for New City and the impact that it was having on her daughter. She is a single mom who has her grandma living with her who requires care 24/7. It was a breath of fresh air to have someone say a simple thanks. It made my day and helped me weather the misfortunes of others in the business world. Yeah it is good to laugh at yourself when you do something ‘dumb’ like put on different shoes without realizing it.

Dave

My friend Al Sanchez

It was almost a year ago that I got a call from Stella who had heard about New City painting houses in her father’s neighborhood. She explained how her mom had just recently died and that her dad ended living back in their original house that had been a rental but now became his casa. Unfortunately the house hadn’t been maintained much, so it was in great need of lots of TLC. I explained that I didn’t do roofs or repair doors but did paint the exterior of low-income family homes and especially seniors. Someone in the neighborhood had told Stella about Ramona and Jesse’s house which we had painted a year ago spring.

As with all houses I visit with the families and explain the who and what of New City and that our heart is to share the gospel in a tangible fashion and bring people together to love on their neighbors. I explained that we would be there in a couple of Saturdays with around 35 people and the house would be painted in about 3 hours. I got Mr. Sanchez a Spanish and English Bible as a gift from New City. We had a big group and painted the house in record time and Al and some of his 5 daughters were there that day.

This was the beginning of my friendship with Mr. Sanchez. As with all of our families we help we invite them to our monthly dinner. Al came to a couple of our dinners and I made a personal commitment to visit him once a week and bring him a taco or burrito. Over a couple months of time I notice that he was actually reading through his Bible starting in Genesis and just going page to page everyday. It was about 2 months after his house was painted that I get a call about him being in the hospital. I seriously think he mistakenly thought my number was his daughter’s boyfriend. Anne and I show up in the ER and there is Al in lots of pain but glowing to see us there. I visit again and he is released in a couple of days. I continue to visit, listen, talk and watch over the next 4 months. He does come to church occasionally and remember that he has difficulty getting around so he uses a walker or scooter. He loves to play bingo at the casino and actually wins on occasion. He was able to have a block wall put around his house because of his bingo winnings.

I get a call from Stella telling me that her dad has had some serious health things happen, possible stroke, colitis and ??? So I search my way through Good Sam Hospital and eventually find his ICU room after getting lost a couple of times. He is in horrible shape and the doctors and the daughters don’t give him much hope. I sit and listen to the family dynamics between five daughters, a sister and others. Lots of lively interaction is taking place about the practical side of life if dad dies. As we are talking and I am listening it becomes clear that Al has become a Christian over the last year since we have painted his house. Our giving him the Bible has been a key to his heart and mind being open to the gospel and understanding God’s love and forgiveness for him. Now, please remember that Al is 81 and still a crusty ol man who when I first met was more concerned about the fact that his heart medicine stopped him from taking the ‘blue pill’.

A miracle does take place and Al actually starts to improve and his failing kidneys start to work and his overall appearance goes from almost dead to ‘I’m alive!’. I eventually get to see him at home and to my surprise he screams at me for taking so long to come to see him. I have obviously endeared myself to Al. Over the last month or so he continues to improve and it gives me real justification that the work that New City is doing is truly a ‘God thing’! He actually gave up a slightly used swamp cooler to help someone else whose house we have painted so they don’t die during the horrible summer heat.

My last visit with Al was yesterday and because I had been on vacation it had been over a week since I saw him last. He did lovingly scream at me and asked ‘where the hell have you been’ as he smiles and gives me his mano to shake. God is a work in Al’s life and whether he lives to be a 100 or goes home to be with Jesus tomorrow his life has impacted the lives of his daughters and grandkids. I am thankful for God bringing Mr. Sanchez into my life this last year.

Dios Bendiga – Dave

I forgot to mention that Al's last big win at the Bingo table he gave to New City.

Go Figure

I am getting use to seeing the police squad show up in my neighborhood. Today I was talking with some of my grandmas in my painting neighborhood. I had brought donuts and was recruiting grandkids for our tutoring club that starts in a few weeks. I hadn’t seen one of the ladies for a few weeks and realized she had a huge bandage on her hand. After asking her she explained that she had part of her index finger amputated because of it being badly infected.

I have spent significant time with these ladies over the last 7 months and am learning about life in South Phoenix. As I am talking with one of them I see not one but multiple police cars pull up with six officers walking up to us. It was obvious they were looking for someone and came equipped to get him. The grandma I was sitting and chatting with responded to the sergeant’s request whether she knew the location of her son. The officer was polite and to the point. Just as quickly as they appeared out of nowhere they also left and said they would be back. This brought the rest of the family and neighbors out to talk about what was happening and who was in trouble. Then the talk started to flow about a house that had been abandoned that had an assortment of ‘hot’ items inside in addition to drugs.

I have started to feel comfortable around this neighborhood and the interesting choice of language still bothers me, which is good otherwise I will start to mimic the trash talk. I continued to listen to the story about the man who was soon to be under arrest because of some poor choices he had made for friends and roommates. I stood next to the fence and listened to the saga of many of the kids who are now adults with kids. As I am listening another car pulls up with policemen who are dressed in normal attire who are looking for one of the older ladies who had recently been in the hospital for an infected finger. After watching the officers ask for this lady she obviously knew they were coming and disappeared. They were like the other officers very polite and to the point and then left. As they left my one grandma friend explained the real circumstances that this lady had cut her finger with a crack pipe and had to have part of her finger amputated because of a serious infection. Wow – as I come back down to earth I begin to realize what God had put me in the middle of a typical neighborhood in South Phoenix.

After finishing our normal Wednesday night dinner and study gathering I was taking home our kids to the different neighborhoods. One of the gals, an older teen, lives in this same painting neighborhood. She began to mention that the night before there had been a drug bust and that a few of the gang bangers had been arrested. We talked a little about her neighborhood and what was going down and why people were so brain dead to get hooked on crack or other drugs.

My night finishes talking to another college student who is part of what we are doing and had just returned from doing a six month internship at Disney World in Orlando. We were reflecting on some of the teens in our group and how to help them figure out life, avoid trash talk, fighting and ultimately ending up like these gang bangers in our neighborhood.

The journey continues - Dave

Crazy Day!

A Crazy Day

I always get a lot of questions from people about what actually does a pastor do and especially in the context of doing a multi-cultural church that has a passion for doing mercy and justice work. Let me give you a snapshot of just a Friday night to a Saturday night.

We are blessed to have a Somali neighbor who lives a couple of houses down from us. She is an amazing lady because she juggles having six kids and a husband who is unemployed but going through training. She very graciously has taken in a 10-year-old boy from her kid’s school. He does have a mother who does have a house in our larger neighborhood. The sad fact is that the mom is on drugs and has essentially allowed our neighbor to care for her son the last month. He for all intents and purposes lives with our neighbor and seldom sees his mom or sister.

The challenge has been as to whether or not to call CPS or the Phoenix Police to have them intervene in a difficult situation. This situation came to a head when the mom continues to come over and use our neighbor for food, get money, which usually is from us and to continue to live on the wild side. She has threatened our neighbor repeatedly that if she calls the police she will have her boy friend beat her up. The problem arouse when our neighbor took her to Circle K to get some food and realized as they were walking out that she had shoplifted a bunch of candy. Our neighbor rightfully protested and didn’t want to drive her any where without her taking back to stolen goods. The lady screamed at our neighbor that she would scream and both of them would get in trouble.

Now after a busy Friday after a 4-day vacation I was ready to collapse and veg that night. Instead our neighbor knocks on the door and obviously is totally unglued about allowing the lady to shoplift and put her in a situation that she might get in trouble. After about an hour of discussing the situation I finally said let’s go to Circle K and talk to the manager and tell him about the lady and ask for his help. Our neighbor wanted to do this but was totally scared. So we drove around the corner after praying and was pleasantly surprised to see the same man on duty. He was quick to greet our neighbor and go out of his way to say he knew she hadn’t done anything and that the other lady had stolen repeatedly from his store. The man gave our neighbor a free drink and took down a description of what she had taken.

We drive back to our house and I again bring up the subject that we need to call the police and file a report about the mom continuing to abandon her son and also make repeated threats against our neighbor. I made the call as our neighbor was literally shaking. We reassured her that she had nothing to fear but that she was doing what was right and standing up for the little boy who deserved better. After talking to the non-emergency person the officers arrived about an hour later. It was great to have two officers come to our house. They both listened intently and took notes and explained that they had to talk with the boy and then call CPS.

We walked them out the front door and waited for about an hour. They came back and explained that the little boy had broken down and said he was tired of his mom’s way of living. They officers assured him and our neighbor that his life would change. It had been a long day as I looked at my iphone to see that it was midnight and I had to get up early in the morning for a car wash with our youth. Just as I was going to bed I checked my phone to see a txt from one of the kid’s mom asking if I would help her go to the bank and get her delinquent rent check to the manager so as not to get evicted.

As I pulled up to take my friend to the bank it struck me how most people in the urban centers of cities live this way, hand to mouth. I had never heard of someone paying their utilities by paying a machine at a grocery store. Everyone pays a couple of dollars at a time to keep on their power. The different power companies in the area allow customers to do this especially when the summer heat is horrible. As we pull up to the bank my friend gets out to cash her check. I then make a call to someone in our church that is having a baby with special needs. I connect with the dad and he quickly shares about what is presently happening and that his wife is in the process of going back to the hospital and that the baby might come in the next couple of hours. My friend comes back form the bank with a forlorn look on her face; she needed two forms of identification and had forgotten to bring a second ID. So we drive back to her apartment to get her other ID and go back to the back, get the money and then have to go to a Circle K to get a money order to pay the back rent.

I was so glad that I had done most of my sermon prep during the week and really only had to finish my outline for the keynote presentation. I join my friend who then takes her cashier’s check to the apartment office and then hopes that she doesn’t have to go to court. The lady assures her that bringing the check stopped the court process and then has her sign something else that explains what else she has to pay and when to become current on her rent. A big sigh of relief came from my friend as we walked out of the office.

The weather had been on the rainy side, which is unusual for Phoenix so we ended up canceling the car wash until the following weekend. So I came home and actually kicked back and did a little reading of Les Mez and listened to some music on my ipod. I eventually had to get ready to oversee a table at the downtown ASU campus’ fall opening. This was an opportunity to connect with of the new students and potential recruit a few for doing New City Mercy Projects. I also brought a long a couple of the girls from our South Ranch Tutoring Club. They had proven themselves to be accomplished face painters. So we spend a couple of hours handing out free candy, painting a few faces and talking about New City. My gals end up talking with someone else helping with the table. After one of them asks the Episcopal whether he is married and what it is like to be a priest. The priest proceeds to explain that he is gay and not presently married. This began a discussion that lasted a couple of hours as we walked around the campus and drove home about whether there can be lady priest or if being gay is a sin.

I come home to my Anne, who had also been at the downtown campus and our son and his girlfriend abandon us so we eat something from the hole in the wall restaurant around the corner. The close of a busy two days that taught me much about the life of the typical person in South Phoenix.

Dave