Discovering new music is as exciting as finding an m&m in the couch. I love it. Especially when you discover someone like Emmanuel Jal. I just received his CD last week and he’s my new hero (of sorts).
Jal’s music is provocative as it pierces the heart of oppression, racism, and drug/sex/violence driven musical culture. His new album, War Child, has some seriously disgusting beats and the fact that it was produced by a Bahamian explains it’s calypso sound.
Not only is his music great but his story is even better:
Emmanuel Jal was born in war-torn Sudan, and while he doesn’t know exactly when, he believes it was in the early 1980s. He was taken from his family home in 1987 when he was six or seven years old, and sent to fight with the rebel army in Sudan’s bloody civil war. For nearly five years, he was a “child warrior,” put into battle carrying an AK-47 that was taller than he was. (emmanueljal.org)
The dude grew up an uneducated child forced to kill, watched family members beaten and raped, was tempted to eat a dead friend while he was starving, and he doesn’t even know his age. Now he says that he is “still fighting but fighting another fight.” He fights for Africa and against oppression, racism, and the plight of black civilization. His autobiography, War Child, is soon to be released.
As I was riding my bike home from the Farmer’s Market in our community which I have been working an officer stopped me on the corner of our block. Evidenently there was a big drug bust or something in the hood and he figured I was part of the action.
He asked what I was doing in the neighborhood, where the market was at, how long I was there, why I was there, where I lived, and since I don’t look the part of pastor I’m not quite sure he believed what I did for a living and it sure is hard to try to explain to someone what you do when you’re doing what I’m doing. So after my frisk, finding only a cell phone, wallet (with nothing in it), keys, an MTA pass, and two dimes, we chatted about the neighborhood.
As awkward as it was getting a frisk on my block and in front of my neighbors I was simply reminded of the darkness which pervades so much of this part of Baltimore. The drug trade has torn apart so much of our neighborhood to the west of us.
Yesterday, as I was walking home from the Y, it hurt as I saw a homeless woman with her 9 year old daughter laying on a blanket next to her on a grassy corner, their trash bag full of belongings next to them.
There are 70-100 kids within a few blocks of me who have no parental structure and stay at the after school program until 8:30 or 9 each night. Their role models are on MTV, BET, and the street corners. Their hope is in their shoes. Unsung heroes and program directors named Terry and Edna are among the few adults who truly care.
After I saw the homeless women yesterday my eye caught the side of a church van driving down Eutaw which read something like “Don’t complain about the darkness, light a candle.”
So we light candles. We volunteer, we love, we give hope to the hopeless. And we challenge. We challenge those who have to give. And we challenge those who have been blessed with a childhood which taught them right from wrong to bless others; to give of their lives for the sake of others.
So getting frisked isn’t a big deal. I’m not sure if it was “lighting a candle” or not but at least I was able to connect with the officer. At least the officer frisked someone who turned out to be an okay dude (however shady I may look).
One thing you don’t expect to see in the city: a horse-drawn produce wagon. My friend Sean lives in the Sowebo (Southwest Baltimore) neighborhood and behind his house are horses. Yes, it’s great. An inner city ranch. Urbanite magazine just did a story on the place here. It’s a Baltimore tradition - horse drawn produce wagons. I guess they used to be all over however I had my first look at one as a horse clipped and clopped down our street last week pulling a wagon full of fresh produce.
Speaking of produce, I’ve been helping (hanging) out at a farmer’s market which another friend is trying to get off of the ground. It’s every Friday from 3-6 on the corner of Lafeyette and Druid Hill.
Speaking of Druid Hill Ave., we just joined the YMCA there, partially to work out and partially to connect with folk in the area and have already made a few great connections.
Speaking of making great connections, in the past week we’ve momalized a few volunteers and painted a Headstart building, put together 150 bags for kids to begin the school year, and begun taking care of the garden outside of Mt. Royal Elementary. Through doing so we have connected with people in so many ways.
Today I’m taking a “day off” from church planting (as if that’s possible). We took the subway to the inner harbor and spent the morning walking, reading books, and eating chinese food. We may head back there this evening.
About a month ago I met the “partners” (members) of Metanoia Church, a small church plant in Ellicott CIty. Adam Feldman, a friend of mine, pastors the church and he had us and the partners to his place to discuss a partnership with The Garden. Jess and I walked away from there knowing that we just experienced community. Such a warm and loving group.
Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to the Metanoia community as a whole. The experience was exceptional. There are few churches that I walk out of thinking, “man, I could join that thing.”
So, if you live in Ellicott CIty, get to them. They’re a great group of people.
I could write great things about all of my family members, which I may do sometime, but today it’s Jonathan. We really do need more people like him and his wife and here’s why: They want to make a difference.
When I was in Ohio a few weeks ago I met up with Jonathan and Brittany in a very poor section of Akron where they have been building relationships and investing in kids. His church ministers in this area and that night the bus would be picking up kids and taking them to a children’s program. I was told to show up at 6pm and I figured that it was the regular meeting time for all of his church’s volunteers to show up in the neighborhood. When I arrived it was only Jonathan and Brittany. They were regularly showing up an hour ahead just so they could play with these kids in the park. The kids LOVED them.
So we hung out for a while. When I had finally had to leave, Jonathan and Brittany were taking off with the kids to go to Wendy’s to buy them a frosty (I have to mention here that Jonathan had been out of work for two weeks [darn economy] and they were/are nearly broke). As I was driving back to my parents house it hit me; here are two people in their early 20s who are giving up their evenings and ministering, not because their friends are, or they’re getting credit for it, or because it’s a great social time, or because there’s any physical reward - they’re not on church staff, “foolishly” spending their final pennies on frosties, having kids over to their apartment for a round of Guitar Hero; simply loving these kids and offering them hope and a relationship.
We need more people like them. I could use more people like them in Baltimore.
I love the Dumb and Dumber line when they had finally arrived in Aspen, snot frozen to their face, Harry frozen to Lloyd. Lloyd shivering exclaims, “We’re There!”
Well, we’re there.
I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long without blogging and I apoligize. We’ve had internet problems but hope to get that worked out soon.
Things are wonderful. I’m currently sitting in one of my offices, City Cafe, a short bike ride from my house. Speaking of bike, after our first week my bike turned up missing. That was nice…actually it was. As a result we connected on a deep level with our neighbors and are having one of them over for dinner tonight. Pray for us as we connect with the community.
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The family is doing great and loving it. Here is a picture of Jadyn on our front steps. She rode with me to meet with an Artscape coordinator at the Baltimore Office for the Promotion of the Arts. We got off the wrong floor and ran into Renee Zellweger’s taylor who is part of the team shooting the movie My One and Only here in the city. Kind of interesting.
Artscape is this weekend and I will be working at it each day - 12 hour days. It will be great. The Garden people will be volunteering on Saturday from 11:30-4 at the Family Art Park. Come hang out at the festival if you can. It is huge.
We have a team coming in for a day project next week to get one of our neighborhood schools ready for the school year. The connections we’ve already made in the schools are priceless.
The Garden community is coming along and we totally feel at home and at peace.
Today was my final Sunday as youth pastor at Greensboro. I will miss these people, this town, and this ministry.
I blogged three years ago about “The People of the ‘Boro” and spoke of my passion for this town. I explained to my students this morning that I still love the people here and look forward to the many ways GBC will be God’s people in this town. As the early church intentionally walked away from many that they love for the sake of a calling, however, I follow in that tradition. Richard preached a bang-up message on church planting this morning. Well done. It is hard to say goodbye but I know good things are in store, for both Greensboro and Baltimore.
I am very excited and ready to fully invest my time and energy into the city and take part in this new community which we’re calling The Garden. Come and visit us if you get a chance.
I youtubed Obama’s speech on Chrsitianity- the one afterwhich James Dobson proclaimed that Obama is “dragging Biblical understanding through the gutter.” Watch it here if you’d like and let me know what you think of the speech and Dobson’s comments (you’ll have to do your own research to find Dobson’s statement). Let’s not get on to the Dobson vs. Obama - I want to ask another question that came to mind.
In his speech Obama made it clear that we are not a Christian nation but rather a muslim nation and a buddist nation and a hindu nation and a nation of unbelievers. After the video clip I read the comments underneath the video on youtube and, among others, read the following:
we are a christian nation obama! and will always will be
Yes we are a Christian nation, osama-obama!
You who reject Dobson’s warnings will wish you had asked Jesus into your lives sooner. Your understanding will be in hindsight at the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those on the earth. For those who have ears, may God have mercy on you all the days of your life.
Evidently his statement that we are not a Christian nation made some people upset. My question is, “Are we?” I’m not defending Obama’s speech nor endorsing him as president however I simply think it is a valid question to ask.
Let me know your thoughts but here are my two cents:
Most but not all of our founding father’s held to Christian belief. Faith was certainly at the forefront. What then becomes difficult, however, is to distinguish between a “cultural faith” (one that is held to simply because of your local culture and practices) and a “personal faith.” Was the early Christianity a true and personal faith or mere cultural habit.
Also, is Christianity determined by our words or rather our actions? While the early Christianity of America claimed to believe in the Scriptures and Christian doctrine, they also endorsed slavery as a Biblical practice. As slavery in the U.S. turned it’s attention to Africa, a driving force in the enslavement of Africans was the belief that they were evangelizing these “heathens”, little did they know that many of these Africans already practiced Christianity in their own African context (Read United by Faith). As Africans gained their freedom Christianity and the Bible was then used to show that slavery is an abomination. And a couple hundred years later Martin Luther King, Jr. preached away racial divisions as Southern white Christian congregations frowned.
I could go on but many facets of the Christianity we were founded on are not necessarily the same manifestation of the faith we currently hold. And if it was a true faith when did it become cultural habit? At some point we began to clearly recognize nationwide that many who hold to Christianity actually ignore Christian doctrine and basic living. Within the last forty years we have clearly become what some sociololgists would call a post-Christian nation - and this I would agree with as I would add, “…if we ever were a Christian nation.”
Don’t misread my critical evaluation - I am proud of our nation’s history and the fact that we were founded on basic Christian belief. I will be waving my flag with the best of them this Thursday as we honor our history and celebrate our independence. I am thrilled to have a place in the same country where Christian men and women have stood up against the powers and made an impact; people like Abraham Lincoln, John Wesley, Benjamin Rush (of whom my friend named his band after), Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, and so many others. I don’t downplay this - but I am not convinced we are or ever were a Christian nation.
