Last night, both Immanuel Baptist Church and Sojourn Community Church came together to pray for our Shelby Park neighborhood.  It was a blessing to gather with our sister church and unite in prayer and concern for our city.  We encourage you to pray along with us as we seek to increase God’s presence and advance God’s kingdom in our inner-city neighborhoods.

Jeremiah 29:7

⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

The word Shalom or peace means much more than the absence of conflict.  The content of Shalom or peace is the presence of right and harmonious relationships that are full of delight and flourishing before the Lord.  Thus, shalom is present not merely when neighborhoods know no violence, but when they work in such a way that individuals and families might grow up, come to know Christ and flourish.  Peacemaking, according to Scripture, is about loving our neighbors – even in the face of tragedy, suffering and pain – exercising discipleship, and embracing Christian mission all while fueling our efforts with prayer and trusting in God’s promises.

As we continue to pray for the peace of our city – it’s leaders and residents – let us thank the Lord and lift up the following to Him:

• That David Tandy, our councilman, would stay strong in his faith, standing for what is right and seeking justice from his position of authority.  That he would not give in to fear of man, but would instead fear God, who is in complete control of all things.

• For Commander Maj. Steve Green and Lieutenant Brent Routzahn— Thank God for their leadership willingness to put their lives on the line for the safety of our city.  Pray that the police officers under their authority would have a heart to protect the residents, working hard for a safer neighborhood.  That they would stand boldly in a place where violence can strike fear into residents and create mistrust toward police authorities.  That God would protect our officers and their families from harm, violence, and fear that would keep them fulfilling their duties of keeping the city safe.

• That Sojourn and Immanuel members in Shelby Park would work for peace in the neighborhoods they live in, loving others without fear and trusting in the Lord’s provision and protection over their lives.  That they would be obedient to Jesus’ command John 13: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

• Pray that our churches would unite together for the sake of the gospel, demonstrating God’s love through sacrificial service and relationships that point to God’s love and redemption for us in Christ Jesus, so that God’s kingdom might expand and include the once lost, isolated, rejected and lonely.

Let us pray that we would follow Christ and embrace mission, so that our neighbors may know Christ and so that peace would be found in the city of Louisville according to God’s promises.

The elders of Sojourn have unfortunate news about another shooting in Shelby Park, one of the neighborhoods surrounding our in-town campus.  A member of our sister church Immanuel Baptist was shot late Sunday evening.  He was rushed to the hospital where he has undergone several major surgeries.  He is badly injured and is currently in a coma.

The pastors of Immanuel and Sojourn ask you to be in prayer for this individual, his family, his church, and the neighborhood.  We are reminded that ministry and mission are not always easy, comfortable or safe.  We faithfully affirm, however, that God remains good, gracious, and in control – promising that He uses all things, the good and the bad, to display his glory and advance his kingdom purposes on earth.

Now is not the time for us as a church to step back from demonstrating our love and care for our in-town neighborhoods.  Rather, we must faithfully seek the peace of our city, love our neighbors and show Shelby Park how God’s people trust and respond in faith to even the most difficult circumstances.

Immanuel and Sojourn invite you to attend a joint Prayer Service on January 6th.  Our churches will unite in prayer, fellowship and a short message will be given from a pastor of each church.  Please join us.

Date:

January 6, 2010

Time and Location:

6:30 pm – 7:00pm – Prayer walk at Shelby Park

7:00pm – 8:30pm – Indoor prayer service at Immanuel Baptist Church

8:30pm – 9:00pm – Fellowship

Hello Sojourners! My name is Jeremiah Taylor.  Several times a week Sojourners are building relationships with the kids in the neighborhood of Shelby Park after they get out of school. This is a recap of what happened this week:

Monday afternoon I picked up Kenny (who is a Junior in Quest) and took him to Shelby park. We ran into about 12 young men. Some of them were in High School and some of them already graduated or dropped out. We hooped it up for about an hour and a half. During the course of the games, we learned everyone’s names and a little about their lives. We had a great time playing and got a great work out.

Afterward, I was able to talk to a guy named John. He’s 18 years old and has his GED. He wants to go to college but doesn’t know how to apply in order to get accepted. In response, we’ll be getting together soon and working out that stuff (hopefully). I was able also to share with Him the gospel and he said he will be meeting me at Church this Sunday night! Praise God!

On Wednesday, we went to the park again and played some ball with about 10 guys. No conversations really, but that’s ok… can’t force it. I am hoping by our consistent presence, we as the body of Christ will be able to build relationships with some of these young men and point them to Jesus Christ. These first two times weren’t as awkward as I thought they would be. The kids are pretty cool and are way better at Basketball than me!

If anyone wants to come out to Shelby Park with us and get to know some of these kids/adults, I will be out there at the basketball courts every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 3:15pm-5pm. You can reach me at Jchristsetmefree@aol.com if you have any questions.

Godspeed,

Jeremiah Taylor

Relocation is a term thrown around a lot in the ‘urban ministry’ culture.  But what exactly is it?

John Perkins, who actually coined the three R’s of community development (relocation, reconcilation, and redistribution) explains relocation this way,

““Living the gospel means desiring for your neighbor and your neighbor’s family that which you desire for yourself and your family.” Only by joining a community do a community’s needs become one’s own. Living the gospel means sharing the suffering and pain of others, and relocation transforms “you, them, and theirs,” to “we, us, and ours.” “Effective ministries plant and build communities of believers that have a personal stake in the development of their neighbors,”

Michael Barkey, author of Models of Effective Compassion: Dr. John Perkins and the Three R’s of Community Develoment takes this idea even further:

“For some persons, relocation means “going back” to a community after growing up, receiving an education elsewhere, tasting success, and then responding to God’s call to return home with skills and leadership to give to the people there. For others, relocation means moving from the outside in, to uplift the people who live there. Either way, by having a personal stake in the success of the community, individuals relocating to a community often are able to provide the leadership and inspiration needed to rebuild the fallen community and prepare the next generation for a brighter tomorrow”(2000).

Relocation was always the hardest part of ‘urban ministry’ for me to accept, even though I knew it was one of the most important.  I knew that if we didn’t actually move into this neighborhood (Shelby Park) that our selfish nature would take over and we just wouldn’t really care about the poor of Louisville.  We knew we would intend to be involved in the neighborhood, but when things got tough, we would just not have a vested interest, because neighborhood issues just wouldn’t affect us.  So, we had to move here to even begin to care.  Thank God He can use us even with wrong motives.

Lindsay Eubanks is a longtime member of Sojourn, a wife, mother and Occupational Therapist. Lindsay and her husband live in the Shelby Park neighborhood in Louisville where they are trying to learn to be better neighbors and love God more.

Below is a compilation of stories and snapshots of the friends (kids) I’ve spent time with in the past few years in Shelby Park (Louisville, KY). Some are funny. Some will make you wonder why you complain that your king-sized bed is a bit hard. Some will just make you think.

LUCY – 11 years old.

“It’s beautiful! So Beautiful!,” Lucy delights loudly as we walk through the clear glass doors. I have to hold onto her jacket to keep her from bumping into people as she gazes up at the ceiling and takes in all the smells and sights her 11 year old eyes have never seen before. “I smell something good.” she says with longing as dinner time grows nearer. She begs me to ‘look around’ a little longer. It’s like she is seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. Maybe to her limited experiences, it is like the Grand Canyon. To me and the hundreds of other shoppers, it was just another trip to the Oxmoor Mall. Lucy talks about the time she went to the mall like I talk about my trip to Lake Tahoe.

CARLA- 14 years old

Carla is a freshman in high school. She lives with her mom in a rental house in our neighborhood. She told me how excited she was to move into a new house on another block. Why? Because she would finally have a room with a door.

DARLENE- 9 years old

Darlene is 9 years old. “Well, I lived with my daddy till he got in some trouble. Now I live with mam maw. This is the third time we’ve moved this year. I think I’ll be going back with my daddy after school lets out and he gets out of jail.” Darlene adds with a smile, “Oh, and his girlfriend is pregnant! I love babies.” Darlene also mentions to me that she and her 3 other sisters (6, 7, and 8 years old) are going to have their own room. There will be 2 to a bed she says. I ask if the beds are big. She says “they are huge.” I’ve come to learn that huge may mean a twin or full.

JD – 4 years old.

JD: Oh, what kind of bug is this?

Me: It’s a lady bug.

JD: Where does he come from?

Me: God made him. Do you know God made everything, even you?

JD: God made me?

Me: Yep. He made the ladybugs, the grass, the sky, everything.

JD: What kind of car does God drive?

Me: ?

Lindsay Eubanks is a longtime member of Sojourn, a wife, mother and Occupational Therapist. Lindsay and her husband live in the Shelby Park neighborhood in Louisville where they are trying to learn to be better neighbors and love God more.