My Apologies

My apologies to all my (4) followers for not blogging as promised. I have to admit that I've become quite overwhelmed with this bi-wkly task. Not really because I don't have much to say, cuz I promise, I've always got something to say. But right now between the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative, and what I am learning there, leading Urban Connection, being a wife and mother and grandmother, I'm so overwhelmed that I don't know where to start with what is going on in my world.

But what I know for sure is that I'm growing and changing at a rapid pace. So please stay tuned and don't give up on me as I begin to sort through all my thoughts.

For a little insight into my world here is what I've read since my last blog:

• Leadership and Self-Deception
• The Anatomy of Peace
• Beyond Jabez
• Unchristian
  
• and currently working on "The Fifth Discipline" and it's companion "The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook"

That's all for now. I have a meeting at 7:30am so I must go to bed now.

Peace...

The Journey Continues...

This week I am visiting my parent organization Central Dallas Ministries and giving a presentation to at the All Staff Meeting about what we are doing in San Antonio. I am showing them this video and thought that you all may enjoy it too. Some may have seen it before on our Facebook page or on YouTube so I hope you don’t mind seeing it again.

Thank you to Pastor Craig Grubbs, my husband, for making this video for us.

If you have time, come down to Urban Connection-San Antonio for a visit see it live and in person. I promise it will bless you.

Remember…

Since returning from the CCDA Conference last week this word remains to be on my mind. Remember. This has actually been the theme for this year within Urban Connection – San Antonio, to go back and remember what we used to do, how we used to do things because we have gotten so caught up in the daily grind of running a ministry that we have forgotten what makes us a viable ministry in the neighborhood.

Today while in my quiet time, I was reminded again to Remember. When I entered my office this morning the first thing on my mind was to clean off my desk and bulletin board, as I was doing this I came across a letter and a list of service ideas that were written in 2001, before Urban Connection – San Antonio even existed.

This letter was written to invite people to participate in the Mariposa Alliance which was the foundational group that Urban Connection was planted around. It was a group of social service agencies, neighbors, churches, and businesses that were interested in making a difference in the Lincoln Heights courts.

The letter reads:

“My name is Leslie Kelsie-Grubbs and I would like to invite you to participate in the Mariposa Alliance of San Antonio. Our meetings are every third Wednesday of the month at the Lincoln Courts Community room, 1315 N. Elmendorf, San Antonio, 78207 from 10 to Noon.

Mariposa began with a vision inspired by the changes in the welfare system. And how these changes would affect those living in public housing.

While working on the Westside of San Antonio, I would pass through the San Juan Homes housing projects every day, but wouldn’t see the boarded up building and deteriorating environment like everyone else. I saw well-kept yards, renovated buildings. Children playing together, neighbors talking to each other and helping one another, a place where people would be proud to live.

People were going to work, Mothers that enjoyed caring for children, running a child care center. Residents that loved to cook, providing meals for the children who were old enough to stay home and for the child care center. Those that enjoyed driving providing rides to residents that needed transportation. Residents providing a service to their neighbors, by providing housekeeping and laundry services. Those that enjoyed landscaping keeping everyone’s yard neat and clean. I also saw peer groups created for neighborhood support. The vision is so large that I cannot write it all. It was a community with pride standing up for itself. The “projects” was no longer a bad word but a place where individuals worked together, giving each other a hand up.

During a meeting in March 2001 with members of Innovative Concepts In-Home Counseling Service, while talking about the R.O.A.D. Center vision for the future, Mariposa Alliance of San Antonio was born.

Mariposa is a Spanish word meaning butterfly. The butterfly represents new birth and/or new life. The Mariposa Alliance works together assisting the residents of public housing in their transformation to butterflies. Presently we are targeting the Lincoln heights Courts on the Westside of San Antonio. As we become successful in this effort, Mariposa is to be integrated around the city in other housing developments.”

Reading this letter I was reminded again, of what we are here to do on the West End of San Antonio. We are not here to build a kingdom for ourselves; we are here to build the Kingdom of God by empowering, developing, inspiring, and encouraging our neighbors to do for themselves. We are here to assist them through the love of God to be the body of Christ, to be a community. Then we are to leave.

So today I am in a place of remembrance.

Friends

Friends
How many of us have them?
Friends
Ones we can depend on
Friends
How many of us have them?
Friends
Before we go any further, let’s be
Friends*

Is a word we use everyday
Most the time we use it in the wrong way
Now you can look the word up, again and again
But the dictionary doesn’t know the meaning of friends

And if you ask me, you know, I couldn’t be much help
Because A friend is somebody you judge for yourself
Some are ok, and they treat you real cool
But some mistake kindness for being a fool

We like to be with some, because they're funny
Others come around when they need some money
Some you grew up with, around the way
And you're still real close too this very day

Homeboys through the Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall
And then there's some we wish we never knew at all
And this list goes on, again and again
But these are the people that we call friends

These are the words to the 1990 song Friends off of the “Greatest Hits” album from rap group Whodini. It is one of my favorite songs from this group after, Freaks Come Out at Night.

I thought of this song while sitting in the Bible Study session lead by Dr. John Perkins at the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) Annual Conference in Chicago, yesterday. It came to mind when he spoke of Association. He said, “CCDA is a place for authentic relationships. CCDA is a place to do life together.”

I love CCDA. And I especially love their conferences. I love it because it is a place where I don’t have to explain myself. If I bust out crying they understand. We share the same joys, sorrows and frustrations. CCDA is about Kingdom. This is an association where we worship our God across denominational and racial, economic and political lines. It is a beautiful place. We are all here for the same reason, to be refreshed, to be safe.

The people here are my family and my friends because we share like experiences no matter where we live within the country. We all fight for the same causes. I can depend on the people here.

I wish I didn’t have to wait so long to get with my friends. Pretty much it is once a year. It would be great if my friends were closer, like in San Antonio. Wouldn’t it be great to have CCDA friends in San Antonio?

CCDA was started by a group of friends that called a meeting in the O’Hare Airport 20 years. I’ve only been a part of CCDA since 2001 when a friend took me to my very first CCDA conference in Dallas. Back when I joined CCDA there weren’t any member organizations from San Antonio. And I’ve been on a mission to let everyone in San Antonio serving in urban ministry know about this association.

No, they don’t have any money to give away. No, they don’t bring you to their conferences for free. The books aren’t free. Nothing is free. But I believe that I get everything I pay for by being a part of this association. I get camaraderie; I get love and friendship from like minded people that understand that our calling as Christians is beyond the church walls.

What you may not understand is that Christian Community Development is a very lonely profession. Most of the time people don’t understand it or it just plain makes them uncomfortable. Because to be in Christian Community Development means getting beyond one’s self and choosing to make friends with those outside of your comfort zone. It may mean going to a places where our issues confront us in the faces of those we serve. It means getting dirty. Christian Community Development exposes us for who we really are, it makes us realize, whether spoken or not, that we are not as loving and as Christ like as we thought. So, most retreat from this type of work and just do the charitable thing at Christmas and back to school and the occasional mission trip to the inner city.

Christian Community Development is a lifestyle. It is fighting for those that can’t fight for themselves. It is about living among the people, reconciliation, just distribution of resources, leadership development, listening to the community and empowerment and it is church-based.

Those that are in the dirt every day need fellowship. Periodically, they need a safe place to land. And this is where CCDA comes into the picture.

There is a small group of people that have been trying to make this happen in San Antonio. They are trying to get CCDA to San Antonio but they need your help.

This type of association can only happen with those that are willing to be a part of something bigger than their individual organizations and churches. We need those that know and understand that everyone needs support, encouragement, hope, family…a friend.

But we have to choose to do this. We have to decide for ourselves. Like the song says, Friends, how many of us have them, someone that we can depend on. And before we can go any further, truly be effective in the city of San Antonio let’s be friends.

Visit the CCDA website at ccda.org and leave a comment if you are interested in something like this, so that as we move forward on a planning a local conference we can get information to you.

The Least of These

The assignment to blog regularly has got me thinking about many things. But the thoughts aren’t anything new. They are just the thoughts that usually run through my mind but I never had to write them down for the public to see. And I really didn’t want to put it out here; because once I do I can’t take it back. And what will people say. How will my thoughts affect the ministry? Will they like me? Will they quit giving? I don’t know, but I can no longer be quiet, these thoughts are beginning to overtake me. So, here we go…

I am a pretty simple person, or so I think. I really don’t think of myself as a deep thinker.
I read a lot, but not a lot of history or political stuff unless I just happen upon it or my curiosity is peaked. But the nature of my life’s work seems to regularly lead me into discussions or thoughts on politics, and history, especially these days. And whenever I get into a conversation with someone on this, inevitably, history comes up, and what has happened in the past and how the future is gauged by it. Not that those ideas aren’t important, but the people that I advocate on behalf of, don’t know about that stuff nor do they care. What they see are, a bunch of rich (rich is relative because it is just more than what they have because it includes me sometimes and I am far from it), educated people that don’t trust each other, that are back stabbers, liars, thieves and murderers. They don’t want to be part of that group. Those living in the Lincoln Courts don’t have to get an education to experience that type of lifestyle; they live in the midst of it every day. They discern the mess and don’t want to have anything to do with it.

Yet my life’s work is to try to get them to assimilate into “our world”.
But why? I don’t like it too much, myself, especially right now. All we do is argue about stuff that makes no sense. And I have to try and explain it to those living in the community why they need to cast their vote. Why they need to speak up. Why? We can’t even come to a compromise or gain understanding on things like:

Immigration - Just let everyone that’s here already, stay and set rules for those that are coming in and secure the doggone boarder. We have people living in fear in a free country. Let’s eliminate that fear so people can become productive and achieve the American dream.

The Economy – how about we agree to stop stealing from the poor and middle class, stop scamming on their dreams to get the rich. And by the way, the poor don’t want the rich people’s money, they want their own! And let’s stop protecting wrong behaviors and ideas out of fear that our lifestyle will change, because it seems to be okay when it works the other way and the poor, fatherless and elderly have to beg and go without.

President Obama - let’s get our foot off his neck. As a country we wanted change and I figure, with trying to work through all the “bad” stuff that he has supposedly put into motion, change is officially in motion for the next 8-12 years. And when does good leadership mean that everyone agrees with you or even likes you for that matter.

Racism? Yes, we have a problem with it in our country and everyone needs to take a moral inventory within before they go pointing fingers at others. We’ve made progress but have a long way to go before we are completely racially reconciled. There’s still a lot of talking to be done.

And yes, having a black President changed the playing field on so many levels. That is why LeBron James could make a deal to move to Miami without his team knowing. And yes, the owner was upset, because he “owned” that player. He was paying him millions, for goodness sake. “How dare he leave this big house that we’ve built for him!!” He wasn’t supposed to do that, he owed Ohio his life. Lol!! Are we really shocked by the response?

Oh yeah and the Mosque at ground zero? Not a good idea, but let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about peace instead of war and hate. How about reconciliation? How about we create a different history? Anybody tired of war?

This is not about democrats or republicans or even independents because all this nonsense happened on everybody’s watch. So let’s stop pointing fingers and get to compromising because the people that are really going to suffer are our children, seniors, the poor.

I am aggravated today and putting my thoughts out here because as a country, state and city we are worried about the wrong things. Again, I say, it’s not that these things aren’t important, but we need to work harder at a consensus. Time is running out. The damage that will be done will only snow ball and once it happens it can’t be taken back.

Local governments are cutting needed programs. But the issues faced by our children, elderly and poor, were not to be resolved by government alone. The church was supposed to be handling things. But the church bowed out. Why? I don’t really know. But the church hasn’t done their job, now they want to complain about the government. It’s time for the church to get past her denominational and doctrinal woes and begin looking outward to those that need her…

The fatherless, the elderly, the poor…the least of these.

When are we going to wake up and take care of business!!!

Well, these are my thoughts for this week. I know I just kind of put everything out there at once, but there will be plenty of opportunity to hit each of these thoughts one by one as I continue to blog more regularly.

The Jabez Prayer

The Jabez Prayer


On May 23, 2001, I began reading “The Prayer of Jabez” by Bruce Wilkinson. And I prayed the Prayer of Jabez.

On May 20, 2002, Urban Connection-San Antonio was born in partnership with Central Dallas Ministries. I quit my state job and began building relationships in the Lincoln Heights Courts community. I had seen grant funds run out and people abandoned time and again. So I felt that the only way to make a difference in the community was to get into the muck and mire and walk with its people. We would have to become the support system for this community. We could never leave them.

In making this statement and praying this prayer, I had no idea what would happen next.
In 2003, we went from the small Lincoln Heights Courts Community Room to leasing two empty apartments totaling about 1020 sq. feet. By 2005, we were occupying four empty apartments totaling 2000 sq. feet. In Sept. 2008, Urban Connection received its nonprofit status as a public charity from the IRS. In Feb. 2009, we purchased a piece of property at 1120 Menchaca Street, which is adjacent to the Lincoln Courts. In Sept. 2009, we received a grant from the Westside Development Corporation to purchase the adjacent lot at 1122 Menchaca, which was finalized Aug. 2010. Today we occupy a total of 7280 sq. feet on the property, which hosts a food pantry, clothes closet, Ethnos Missions Center, Camino Real Christian Fellowship, our administrative offices, and Kids Connection after-school and camp programming. And beginning Oct. 1, 2010, we will lead programming for children in the Frank Garrett Community Center, which is located across the street from the Lincoln Heights Courts.

Last month I was led to open “The Prayer of Jabez” and read it again after listening to a preacher on the radio give new revelation regarding the scripture. The preacher said that this prayer wasn’t some random prayer that Jabez prayed. He had to already be doing something for the Lord in order to have prayed these verses. Jabez wasn’t just an idle believer sitting and waiting. He was serving.

So, after reading the book again, I prayed the prayer…

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
I Chronicles 4:10

I have experienced the manifestation of this prayer in my life. God is no respecter of persons. What He has done for one, He will do for another.

If you have the courage, read the book, pray the prayer and watch God move in your life. You won’t regret it.