Day One: Fresno Urban Immersion

Everyone arrived in Fresno today, and we spent most of the day getting to know one another. Dr. Randy White lectured for a while today. He shared about how Christians can be engaged in the process of transformation in complex urban environments. He shared a lot about his personal story where he moved his family into a high crime and high poverty area of Fresno back in the early 1990s. His family had to learn how to work with prostitutes, homeless people, the mentally ill, gang violence, dysfunctional public schools, and a whole host of other issues. A great deal of transformation has occured in the neighborhood since they moved, but Randy does not take credit for it. God is moving here, and many people have contributed to how things are being turned around.

I've written a lot about urban ministry on this blog over the past couple of years, but I did learn some new things today. There are no experts when it comes to urban ministry. The problems are just too complex, and things change all the time in cities. Leaders may be able to develop some effective strategies that work in certain situations, but anyone who says that they have community development all figured out really doesn't know what they're talking about. Urban ministers must consistently reinvent themselves and learn new skill sets to take on a wide variety of complex issues. To be an effective urban ministry leader, you have to commit to three things. You commit to a feeling of being in over your head and off balance most of the time because that is your new normal. Second, you commit to bringing what you do have, and not being paralyzed by what you don't have. Third, you commit to learning what you don't know. Urban ministry leaders face many situations and tasks that they know nothing about, but they must have the willingness to learn about those things so that the good work can continue.

Tonight I'm spending the night with one of the thirty families who have moved here to the Lowell Neighborhood of Fresno. It would be amazing if that many families ever moved to Homewood. But the work of community transformation is not just about outsiders moving in. It's also about insiders, the people who already live in the neighborhood, also working together to improve everything. My roommate for the week is named Kieth, and he is a pastor from Florida. We have had a good time getting to know one another. I'm looking forward to a great week.