Day Two: Fresno Urban Immersion

Wow! What a day! This morning started out at Randy White's home. From there, we walked all around the Lowell neighborhood. We met people that he calls strategic neighbors. They are folks who have moved to Lowell to help to transform the community while living in Christian community with one another. Our walking tour of the neighborhood was encouraging and discouraging at the same time. I saw many signs of hope and also many signs of need. Many Christian community developers have been working in Lowell for the past twenty years or so, and there is still so much to be done. That's why it is so important for people working in inner city communities to understand the nature of the process, and not necessarily landing on an obsession with outcomes. It's important to learn from mistakes, and plenty of mistakes are made. It's also important to learn from what is working, and do our best to replicate those efforts. Still, the work takes time.

There are many signs of need in Fresno. Today we experienced the ramifications of extreme poverty, prostitutes, boarded up homes, violence, graffiti, spiritual warfare, mental illness, homelessness, drug addiction, gang activity, immigration, and much more. I saw many signs of hope, such as amazing collaboration, strategic partnerships, missional churches, tutoring programs, computer and job training, youth drop in centers, new playgrounds, and community gardens. These BGU courses really do a great job of exposing urban ministry leaders to the realities of the urban lab. I see many similarities with my neighborhood in Pittsburgh, and also a lot of differences.

Christian community development is a process that empowers a community to achieve increasing levels of shalom. Shalom has a broad meaning, and it would be impossible to find a single English language word to describe it. It involves the health of a community on many different levels. Anybody who wants to make a difference in their city must first have their heart break for what is going on there. This happened to Paul in Athens in Acts 17 when he described how he was deeply influenced at the core of his being by what he saw. Just like we did a walking tour of a city today, Paul did a walking tour in Athens and it helped him to understand the dynamics of the city. In my context in Pittsburgh, there are many people who want to try to impact the city without taking the risk to go and walk around in the struggling urban environments. Outsiders can only help so much. People must take the time to enter into the context that they want to impact when it comes to transforming cities.

What are the systems in Pittsburgh that are undermining shalom? There are breakdowns in a lot of systems in Pittsburgh that contribute to cycles of poverty and brokenness. The government does some good things, but they also contribute to problems. Whenever I call the police about incidents in Homewood, they probably only bother to even come out maybe one out of four times. There are some great things about the school district in Pittsburgh, but there are also many problems that they are working very hard on reforming. The steel industry leaving Pittsburgh led to a huge break down in the economic systems that still impact life today. Again, people are working hard to adjust but the process takes time and people in power are not always willing to upset the status quo. There are plenty of slumlords in Homewood, people that are trying to make money on real estate while crushing and taking advantage of the poor. A lot of the slumlords in Homewood actually live in places like New York and California, but they also live in affluent parts of Pittsburgh and the suburbs. I wonder if they go to their churches on Sunday morning and tithe off of the income they make off the backs of the people who they opress in Homewood? And some churches contribute to the systemic break downs in Pittsburgh by avoiding complex urban problems, running away from the issues, or actually endorsing the opressive structures that keep people living in cycles of poverty. Thankfully, there are some churches and Christians in general who care about the shalom of the city and are engaging in meaningful efforts to restore the community to health. Christians sin when they fail to act when it comes to injustices and systemic opression.

We drove to many ministries this afternoon, including the No Name Fellowship, Fresno Intstitute for Urban Leadership (FIFUL), Youth for Christ, Fresno Street Saints, Neighborhood Thrift Store launched by a megachurch called The Well, and a homeless ministry called Stewards, Inc. Each of the site visits presented us with different examples of Christians living out a calling to reach the poor and marginalized people of the city through strategic outreach initiatives. I was most interested in the Fresno Street Saints because their leader, Brian King, was a former gang member in Chicago before accepting Christ and settling in Fresno to reach kids and their families affected by street violence. That ministry is impacting many people, especially a lot of tough kids that are similar to some of the kids in Homewood.

I will apply a lot of what I learned today in Pittsburgh. I got some great ideas from Street Saints with regard to helping parents get involved in the work that is affecting their children. Also, they started a recording studio because so many kids want to rap. But, if the kids want to use the recording studio they are not just allowed to go in there and say anything they want. They have to pick a topic that the leaders give them. They have to write the raps out before they record, and if they can't write then tutors are available to help them. They have to learn how to use a lot of the equipment, and also learn how to take care of it all. In the end, the kids get to rap, but it is also an educational experience that empowers them and teaches them responsibility and the power of positive words. In Homewood, the kids are always asking me to record them rapping. Now, I have a strategy for how to make the experience more transformational for the kids than just mixing beats and trying not to curse in my living room. It's going to be fun to try when I get back.

Today was incredible. To think, the last time I was in Fresno I was in the high places playing professional football at Selland Arena, earning a Masters Degree at Fresno State University, and hanging out with friends in the nice and clean affluent parts of town. For the past couple of days I've intentionally gone to the parts of Fresno that many people try to stay away from. I spent today in parts of the city that experience extreme poverty, and I wouldn't trade the experience for any of the things I experienced when I was here in my twenties. I can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!