Perkins’ understanding of inequities and needs in Mississippi lead him to return to the community from which he and Vera Mae had come, to help the community develop. In these chapters we see Perkins’ call to ministry, both in vision for the work God was leading him to and the family’s challenge to understand and respond to that call, as well as the need for the Relocation principle, being in it with the people.
A few quotes jumped out at me this week:
The need: Equality in education.
“Of course, a root problem is that Mississippi has always been one of the poorer states in per capita income. So it naturally has had less money overall for everything, including education. With that kind of cash scarcity there never seemed to be enough money to provide a good education for everybody who wanted one” (89).
For more on the idea that there isn’t enough to go around, see Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities, written in 1991, including a chapter on Camden, New Jersey, where we’ll send a group of volunteers this Christmas Break. After researching urban, diverse America schools, Kozol concludes that the fear of upper-class, majority culture families is that their kids will suffer if they have to “give up” their advantages in order to provide equal, adequate education for all. It’s a challenging argument.
Vision for ministry.
“You see, I knew that if the Bible I was teaching could ever really do something there, it would have to be a visible truth. I knew that if I only had students, even lots of students, the whole thing could drift away like many other ‘religious’ programs. I knew that I had to develop fellow workers, not just Bible club students” (pg. 93-94).
Relocation: The importance of being with the people.
“My work as a Bible teacher and pastor didn’t just lean on whatever skills I had in class teaching; just as important was letting people know I was also involved with the needs of their daily lives. Our income, our life-style, our needs and problems matched a lot of these people’s concerns; we could live among them more like friends helping friends than like well-off outsiders coming to do good” (92).
For more on Relocation, as well as the other 7 big ideas of Christian Community Development, check out www.ccda.org/philosophy.
What about you?
Have you witnessed other examples of people responding to God-given vision by planting themselves in a particular community? Tell us about that.
What needs do you recognize in the ministry you’ll serve with in the coming year?
Relocation is a tricky endeavor for college students, who tend to be rooted to a campus and have constraints on their time. What steps will you take this year to get close to the work you’re doing, in pursuit of the Relocation principle?
The idea of relocation is indeed a tricky one. In one nook of my mind, I think "yes, what a beautiful way to live out incarnational ministry." And what the CCDA says about relocation: ..if you live in an area (& have kids), you will do eveything within your power to better the education your child will get. i whole heartedly agree. Even though I do not have a child, I can see in my life that I tend to work towards change when I myself/ people I love will benefit from said change.
ReplyDeleteCCDA also said that the idea of relocation is the 'linchpin' of christian community development. I don't know what a linchpin is, so i found it in good old Merriam Webster.
linchpin: locking pin inserted crosswise; one that serves to hold together parts or elements that exist or function as a unit
Living in the midst of the community you seek to be an agent of transformation in: the linchpin. Living together is what holds all things together. Living together bears a hue of integrity, of melding together all the parts of life so that they act as one unit. so that I can be integritous and the same person in all fractions of my life. Living together intentionally is inserted crosswise. This makes me think of work, how that last nail in something your building is somehow always the most difficult to drive in. But without the last crosswise nail, no bed frame or rocking chair will be stable, nor of any use. The linchpin being cross wise also makes me think of how reloaction seems to be in direct perpendicular fashion (opposition) to what my flesh desires. The crosswise life trades ignorance and potential comfort for beautiful enlightenment, meaningful relationships, and a drive to truly see the Kingdom of Heaven come more fully alive in a place.
I truly want to be able to make it out to more of the events that Neighborhood House puts on. This past spring, I was able to attend the play that the students we tutor wrote/produced, etc. It was such a great time to share with them, in their place. I loved how welcomed in I was. I also would like to change how I view time-- not as if right after tutoring, I need to rush home/ back to school. I hope to be fully present.
Thanks Owen!
Thanks, Jess!
ReplyDeleteThis is really helpful. You’re right on about the integrity piece and the idea that where you locate your family shapes how you advocate for a community’s needs.
The Relocation principle also has a very practical impact on our time. As a SPU student (yup – class of ’99, when you were very young…) I volunteered in White Center, then drove back to campus to eat, sleep and study. When we moved to White Center in 1999 and I started full-time youth ministry I was able to co-locate where I shopped, where I ministered, where I lived. Not having to commute to my place of commitment was a huge time saver as well as an opportunity to be able to talk about “our” community and really mean it. The workaholic in me had trouble balancing work and family life, but when I got it right, the ministry factor was really good.
(Some of you are wondering: "Where's White Center?" Thanks for asking! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Center,_Washington)
The time element also came into play when I started this job at SPU in 2003. Now that a significant portion of my time was devoted to ministry at SPU, outside White Center, it was difficult to be fully-committed in two locations. Though it was hard to release, the end of our youth ministry work in 2007 was freeing, and helped me better balance priorities. Now, living in White Center and working to connect people to ministry opportunities in urban communities like WC, my location provides context, awareness and connections, but I’m focusing my time investment more in one location. For the present, at least, that feels appropriate.