This has been a violent week on the east end of the city of Pittsburgh where I live and work. A 14 year old girl was tragically raped and murdered by a convicted sexual predator who had recently been released from prison on parole. The young girl had a troubled past (she often ran away from home and she had been in and out of foster care), and she had put herself in a dangerous position when the evil crime was committed against her. Still, she was a victim and my heart breaks every time I read any new details in the news about her death. Also last week, a 24 year old mother of two in East Hills was killed when three young men tried to break into her apartment to steal drugs. All three of the young men have been arrested and face the possibility of life in prison on homicide charges. Over the weekend a woman was shot in the ankle during a drive by shooting involving the Sin City motorcycle gang in Homewood. On Saturday night police arrested three men who opened fire during a large street fight on Susquehanna Street (the same street that I live on). On Sunday, a 30 year old man was gunned down in Garfield. He had been the intended target of a shooting in January where a jitney driver was killed instead. Early on Monday morning, two 17 year old boys were killed while they were attempting a robbery in East Liberty.
In response to the violence, the Pittsburgh Police have pledged to increase their work in the east end until there is a slow down in the criminal activity. The city recently rolled out a broad initiative called the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which is aimed at reducing violence in places like my neighborhood. I hope it works. An initiative like that is needed. I believe that the government and police should be working toward reducing crime in troubled neighborhoods, but the police response to the recent increase in violence in Pittsburgh is a reactive move. The police intervene when the peace has already broken down. The PIRC begins to act when crimes have already been committed. What role should the church play in responding to violence in troubled neighborhoods? What can we possibly to do the stem the tide of inner city shootings?
Christians can get involved after violence has been committed by caring for victims' families and visiting offenders in prison. That is an important role of the church, but I think we often neglect our responsibilities to get involved proactively before crimes are committed. How can Christians get involved proactively? Here are some suggestions:
1. Mentor a child! While violence soars on the east end of the city, I have kids between the ages of 9 and 15 on the east end who are begging me for a mentor. I just tell them, "Sorry, I don't have a mentor for you." Some of the kids have been waiting for a couple years for a mentor and they are about to age out of the LAMP program (meaning that starting at about age 16 they are too old to be matched with a new LAMP mentor). Maybe I should just tell them, "Sorry about all of the violence in your neighborhood recently. Good luck not getting caught up in it, though. I know over 3,000 people go to my church, but I just couldn't find anyone for you in four years of trying. Sorry." Meanwhile, 88% of kids who have a mentor go on to college. Kids who have a mentor are 33% less likely to hit someone, 53% less likely to skip school, and 46% less likely to use illegal drugs. Christians in Pittsburgh would make a HUGE dent in the amount of youth violence in this city if we would do one simple thing: just provide a mentor for the kids who need mentors.
2. Get involved! If you have enough time to watch the violence unfold on the TV news or read about violence in the newspapers or on the internet, then you have enough time to go do something about it. Pull yourself away from your television. Pull yourself away from the internet and your social networking sites. Pull yourself away from your smart phone. Pull yourself away from the many distractions that this world has to offer, and go to where the people in need are hurting and do something about it! You can't lead from your places of comfort. You can't make a difference from your couch. Many conservative Christians I know complain that the government is making poor people dependent on the state by offering so many social programs, and they complain that the government programs do not work to do things like prevent violence in inner city neighborhoods. However, I run into people all of the time who are working social services in Homewood. Do you know who I don't see in my neighborhood? Conservative Christians, except for some amazing LAMP mentors from North Way who have navigated through the mirky waters of social activism in order to make a difference in the life of a child. My point is that many conservative Christians that I know like to point out the many problems in neighborhoods like Homewood. They may send me articles about everything that is wrong with government programs. They may call into conservative talk radio stations to express their opinions about everything that's wrong with liberalism and poor people in America. But then they don't show up in the places they complain about, and they don't build relationships with the people they complain about. I'll sit and listen to conservative mumbo jumbo all day from a person who actually rolls up their sleeves and gets involved. If they don't get involved in my community, then I'm not really interested in their solutions to the problems that are plaguing the poor in our society. They have a big credibility problem.
3. Seek transformation! Now that I have challenged my conservative Christian friends, I can challenge my liberal Christian friends. Many people have been trying to "help" on the east end of Pittsburgh for a long time, but often things either stay the same or get worse. Often, programs are in the business of sustaining programs. I think that programs should exist to generate transformation in people and places. Everyone who leads a program, especially including myself, should be trying to work themselves out of a job. We should arrive at a point one day in the east end of Pittsburgh where we all celebrate and say, "It worked! Transformation has occurred. Lives have been changed forever. Neighborhoods have been changed forever. The east end of Pittsburgh has been transformed because violence is so low, businesses are healthy, housing is stable, children are being educated well, and the government has assumed an effective function in the area." ANY work that is done on the east end of Pittsburgh should be done in the interest of empowering people, not in the interest of bandaging them so that programs can be perpetuated. I'll sit and listen to liberal mumbo jumbo all day long from a person who leads people and places to transformation. If they're just in it to keep a program going, then I'm not really interested in hearing thier solutions to the problems that are plaguing the poor in our society. They have a big credibility problem.
4. Partner! Transformation in the east end will not happen with a bunch of heroic solo missions. If we all work together, conservatives and liberals, residents of the east end and nonresidents, caucasians and African-Americans, churches and schools, police and community members, and small businesses and corporations, then we have a significant chance of reducing violence in Pittsburgh. If we sit on the sidelines, or distance ourselves from others because of mission statements or demoninational beliefs or any other types of barriers, then I do not believe that transformation will occur in Pittsburgh. We must partner with one another.
Am I upset? Yes! Am I using strong words to push Christians to care and get involved in doing something about the violence in my neighborhood? Yes! Christians should not be able to read a news article about a young person being killed, and then throw their hands up and say, "Well, that's tragic. It's just too bad. But there's nothing I can do about it." I believe that I can speak on behalf of the young people who I know who are impacted by the violence, and say that you can do something about it. You must do something about it! Christians should be leading the way to transformation. God wants people and places to be transformed. We should model for the world how humans are supposed to interact with one another. Christians should be showing the world how to reduce violence in troubled neighborhoods. Will we mentor a child? Will we get involved? Will we seek transformation? Will we partner with one another? In the east end of the city of Pittsburgh right now, those questions remain unanswered. I hope the Christians in Pittsburgh will provide answers.
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