A group of us from the "Faith Community" were invited to come to the table in a community discussion. The conversation was about troubles in our public housing. We had been invited because a group of us had collaborated to reach out to the housing project. I arrived with one other ministry leader and immediately felt out of place. Not only were we the "religious people" but were also the only white people in the room. The public officials passionately pleaded to our group about the need for change. He leaned over the table and pointed at our group of Christian leaders that have been working together and said, "Our schools are chaos… YOU are our ONLY hope."
After the meeting, that fiery Latino leader cornered me. He told me that if it wasn't for a "God fearing white man," he wouldn't have made it past his 20's alive. Before this conversation I wondered if we had the right to be working in the projects. I'm known as the tall, skinny, white guy and we were trying to start a ministry not because we had the answers but because God has opened our eyes to the need.
The followers of Jesus Christ ARE the power at work against the onslaught of evil. It's true that our world is a mess. Forces of poverty, addiction, gangs, violence, broken homes are at work to steal the youth of our generation…. And yet I have hope!!!
- Jesus is the answer! The love of Christ compels us to make steps to change our communities! Paul reminds Jesus' followers of their calling to be ambassadors of Christ's reconciliation. It's not optional.
- Churches and ministries are uniting together in unprecedented ways to create communities of hope that will rally to counteract darkness and despair! If you are not part of one of these leadership communities, FIND or CREATE one.
- Officials are asking the faith community to step in and help change this world! They DO NOT have answers. They only have a microphone. They believe that a speech will lead people, but the truth is that it will only temporarily inspire. The foundation of leadership is relationship.
- Jesus followers are ready to serve! A person recently came up to me and said, "I'm in a position where I don't really need a salary. Where can I serve??" A business owner recently told me, "We need to use this space for the Lord!" Paul Fleischmann writes in Better Together, "God may use to set in motion a whole network of people who will come alongside, but first there is that one person who leads the way."
- We are the hope the world is looking for! NNYM is convinced that in order to build a Community of Hope, youth workers and church leaders bring the most powerful element for change in affecting the youth in the community in Jesus. We know that the issues of society are soul issues and not social issues.
The need to take action cannot is not someone else's responsibility. We don't have to look far to see the needs of our communities. Spoiler alert - you are not the solution to the needs of your community but you are part of The Body that IS the solution.