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.