Summer Trip - Day 3

Monday was our group's first of two days of work projects through VOCM in Jackson, MS. Many of us were excited to return to Claiborne Park to pick up trash, trim brush from a large fence line, and mow the grass. Claiborne is a 16-acre park that was given by the Baptist Medical Clinic to VOCM for the purpose of making it a safe place for community events to occur. There are several walking trails and a few benches in the park. We met several people from the adjacent apartment complex. One young boy even offered to help with the project, which was encouraging.

The long and winding fence

Removing many of these trees required a group effort

Enjoying the completion of a job well done

The day concluded with a neighborhood BBQ at the Study Center house. Afterwards, we had excellent theological conversations among many in our group that lasted late into the night.

Chef Brett grilling up burgers and chicken

Enjoying sidewalk chalk and bubbles with new friends

Summer Trip - Day 2

This site is called koinonia. In case you're wondering what it means, here's an excellent summary:

"The Greek word koinonia describes relationships where people know each other well. From koinonia (often translated "fellowship") we get our English words common, community, and commmunion. Koinonia describes relationships of great depth where people mutually share their lives with one another. They share their time, thoughts, feelings, burdens, insecurities, joys, brokenness, and sometimes even their possessions. I deeply desire human relationships of this kind. However, the greatest and most complete koinonia relationship possible is with God's Son, Jesus, and you are called to a koinonia relationship with him (1 Cor. 1:9)

-- "Custom Designed: A Life Worthy of the Call" Wendy A.W. Berthelsen

Wendy is the aunt of one of the youth on our trip. Oddly enough, her niece was reading Wendy's soon-to-be-published book and came across this quote about koinonia...and, as irony would have it, she shared this quote with me while sharing a smoothie at the Koinonia Coffee Shop in Jackson, MS. The coffee shop was a condemned building located next to an abandoned church. Five years ago, a group from Windsor Heights Lutheran began work on transforming that house.

The inside of the house before it was Koinonia

Exterior of the same house

Today, the abandoned church has been transformed into the central headquarters of Voice of Calvary. The condemned house has been restored - the bottom level is the coffee shop, and the second level is where the owner and her husband live. It's an amazing change; one that has brought life into an economically depressed area of town.

The Koinonia Coffee Shop

The 2009 Summer Trip group outside of Koinonia

I reminded of the koinonia that is being created within our group of 23. I also reflect on the koinonia we have shared with Voice of Calvary Ministries. Over 75 sets of hands from our congregation have worked near this place in the past 8 years. In our attempt to be a blessing to the people of Jackson, WE are the ones who have been inspired and blessed by the ministry of our partners at Voice of Calvary. God is truly present in a special way in this neighborhood...and we are fortunate to be a part of the koinonia that this partnership brings.

Summer Trip - Day 1

Here are some fun pictures from our 16-hour road trip from Des Moines, IA -- Jackson, MS. We have 17 youth and 6 adults on our journey to Voice of Calvary Ministries (Jackson) and the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering (New Orleans).

Departing at 5:00 a.m!


Haley (left) has been working at camp all summer!


Pongo, the bobble-head puppy, is our dashboard travel companion


$600 of groceries and supplies at 1:00 a.m. in Jackson's Wal Mart

Infamous Amos

The lectionary text for this past Sunday included a reading from the book attributed to the minor prophet, Amos. I have to admit, I've not spent a lot of time with the last several books of the Old Testament...something that, I'm sure, disappoints my college Bible professors. That said, I was captivated by a couple of verses from the 7th chapter:

¹⁴Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, ¹⁵and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

A while back, I wrote a blog post about how we are called to "Be John". If The Baptizer is our New Testament role model, allow me to suggest that Amos is our Old Testament fella. Here's a man who doesn't appear to have any aspirations beyond taking care of trees and sheep. In other words, he's a man who is just trying to faithfully live out his vocation. When God comes calling, he doesn't put on airs or pretend he's suddenly become more important than those around him. He simply does what the Lord asks, forsaking the familiarity of what he has known his entire life.

Here's what George W. Coats had to say about Amos in a 1969 commentary:

Amos, a book of the Old Testament, is the third book of the Minor Prophets. It takes its name from the prophet Amos who lived c. 750 BC as a shepherd at Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah. It was to the northern kingdom of Israel, however, that his prophetic message was addressed. Writing during a time of prosperity, when a sharp contrast existed between the luxurious life of the nation's leaders and the oppression of the poor, Amos preached the urgency of social justice and the threat of impending divine judgment.

I'm hoping to encounter a 21st century version of Amos this week as I travel with a group of youth and adults to Voice of Calvary Ministries in Jackson, MS and the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, LA. The overarching theme of our trip is "Wealth and Poverty". My prayer is that our 23 youth and adults will be confronted with the chasm between the poor and wealthy in our world. I pray we will come to realize that the people our suburban Midwest group are almost always found among the rich and comfortable; whereas God is almost always found among the poor and oppressed.

Who will be our Amos this week?

Stay tuned...

Summer Fun

Some members of my family grow tired of blog posts about churchy stuff...they want pictures and cute stories of the kids. Fair enough.









I've uploaded some other pictures onto a Facebook photo album. You should be able to find them here, even if you don't have a Facebook account (Krista).

Mark All As Read

Back in the day, when I was a paperboy for the Waterloo Courier, people who went on vacation would have two options. Temporarily cancel their subscription until they returned from their trip...or, place a "hold" on their subscription. Holding meant that I had the opportunity to stack the customer's newspapers in my parent's garage until they returned. Once the customer was back in town I would deliver this large pile of papers to the subscriber's house where, I assume, they poured over the news of the days they were on vacation.

This never made sense to me as a kid. What's the point of reading old news?

Fast forward 18 years. I just got back from a week of vacation. Upon opening my Google Reader, I discovered 1000+ articles that were unread. I started skimming through the articles to see what all had happened in the world since I had unplugged. After spending 30 minutes, and barely making a dent, I did something I've never done before.

I clicked the "Mark All As Read" button.

I have spent most of the day since then wondering what I had deleted. What free youth ministry resource did I miss out on...what life-changing sermon did I neglect to read...what amazing application for Mac or Blackberry was left undownloaded?

Then it hit me.

I've become a "put-the-newspaper-on-hold" guy. And it drove me nuts to temporarily cancel my subscription (a.k.a removing these articles from me rss feed reader).

It turns out, I'm more intrigued by old news than I thought I would be. Maybe I'm just nosey...or I have an insatiable quest for knowledge...or, perhaps, I just like being in the know.

All that said, judging by the level of consternation I experienced today, I will probably not be hitting "Mark All As Read" any time soon.

Youth Gathering Tweeters

The 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering is taking place in New Orleans on July 22-26. Lots of people will be sharing their experiences and insights via Twitter. Feel free to follow the updates of these people:


ELCA Youth Gathering - @jjj09

Andy Sahl - @andysahl

Bryan Jaster - @bwjaster

ELCA Youth Min. Network - @elcaymnet

Michael Sladek - @mwsladek

papajoemc - @papajoemc

Jake Bouma - @jakebouma

St. Mark Lutheran - @stmarkym

ELCA Young Adults - @elcayoungadults

Andy Arnold - @adnyla

Erik Ullestad - @erikullestad

Tammy Jones West - @LutheranYouth

ELCA Youth - @elcayouth

Jacob Wayne Smith - @j8ke
(contact Jake with any questions about Community Life Events)

Andrew Yeager Buckley - @andrewyb

Thoughtful Christian - @TTCNews

Ed Kay - @edkay77

Kristen Baltrum - @thedeac962

Staci Aumann - @Spaci42

Raymond Hopkins III - @rahopkinsiii

Erik Mathre - @erikzred

Bridget Delaney - @kagomeshuko


Are you going to be "tweeting" during Jesus ~ Justice ~ Jazz? Leave a comment with your name and Twitter handle.