The Near and Far

    
     Amidst some really difficult days this past week, I have been lucky to experience and learn more about the meaning of "community" both here in Richmond, and also in S. Sudan.  This Saturday, I attended a day-long conference hosted by the CCDA Institute.  CCDA stands for Church-Based Community Development Association.  About 90 people gathered at a church on Northside to openly discuss the positive things going on in lower-income neighborhoods.  We brainstormed what it would look like to empower our communities in the long run, and CEO Noel Castellanos shared some encouraging stories about about low income neighborhoods that are providing jobs for former inmates, health care for the sick, and role models for young adolescents.  Some of these neighborhoods (like Lawndale Community in Chicago) seem almost too good to be true-- a Utopia that could never come to be in Richmond, at this stage in the economic crisis.
Here is a link to the Firehouse Community Arts Program that Lawndale has started to help youth.  
   Castellanos focused on the importance of living in these areas you want to help, that way you have the context to know what is best for those in the community.  It is too easy to get caught up in our own egos, doing what makes us feel most useful, instead of focusing on what will really help the community.  Sometimes the best help is to give up control and just exist in the neighborhood.  This seminar did have me think, "What about Richmond?  Isn't there work I can do here?"  There certainly is a need where I currently live.  I know some people have even decided not to support my work in Mundri because they think I should focus my efforts locally.  I guess we all have particular communities toward which we are drawn.
    It is easy to start questioning my work.  Do the people in Mundri even want me to be there, unknowingly seeping Western culture into their rural communities?  Luckily I have gotten to meet with some former Mundri residents and be affirmed in my call.
     West End Presbyterian Church in Richmond has a Sudanese fellowship that meets on Sunday afternoons.  I had the privilege of attending this past week and was welcomed with open arms.  The pastor, Shangwok, knew that I am in process of going to Mundri, so he asked me to speak in front of the congregation.  They instantly prayed for me and the work that is currently being done by the team in Mundri.  They were so excited that people are actually taking the time to go to their hometown and help it develop, thus providing more opportunities for the people there.  Joseph, considered by some to be the unofficial "mayor" of Mundri, works with the Sudanese fellowship at West End.  He tells me he can't wait for me to get over there.  He says I will love his home.
    Hopefully I can start alternating the services I go to on Sundays-- attending City Church one week and the Sudanese fellowship the next.  Maybe by the time I get onto African soil, my sense of rhythm and basic Arabic phrases will be greatly improved.