Boys of Baraka

I'm a little behind the boat on this movie...but now that I've finally seen it, all I can say is "Yep." It's an outstanding movie, but is nothing new to me. In each of the boys followed in the movie, I saw one of my boys. Boys of Baraka is the story of several inner-city boys chosen from Baltimore to go to school in Kenya, the transformation that takes place while they're there, and the struggles of coming home to the projects.

Here's a video clip of the first 5-6 minutes of the movie...a nice teaser for you!

all is not good in the hood

My last two posts have been about deaths, and I'm afraid that death is exactly what this one may end in. A shooting occurred today at 3:20pm (broad daylight!) outside a convenience store in Glenwood. Fox 8 News was a little dramatic tonight, calling Glenwood "one of the most dangerous communities in the Piedmont" (with their best dramatic voice...), however they had the most complete story of any of the other news stations, for the time being at least.

The young man was only 20 years old. I wonder if he was involved in some shady activity, or if he was just the unlucky one to stop by Andy's Pantry today. Neither is a reason for someone to get shot in the head. He is in critical condition, so your prayers for the Lord's will would be appreciated. We can rest assured that God is present -- we can prayerfully hope that the young man and his family would recognize that.

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In light of this post and the previous two, it seems that there are a lot of things being shaken up right now. There seems to be a lot of unrest in the neighborhood, even beyond the mourning felt by several families. Lord, I pray that your peace would be restored to this state, to this city, and to this neighborhood.

Another loss...

This young lady is a member of one of the largest families in my neighborhood. While I don't know her personally, I know at least 10 of her cousins, as well as many other family members. Your prayers for her family are greatly appreciated, as they try to grapple with the reality of the death of their 8-year old baby.

A Beacon in the Neighborhood

Wednesday night a few folks in Glenwood had a meeting with Grace's mission pastor, Will Dungee, to do a "status check" of sorts. It was nice to sit with him and just talk about how the neighborhood is doing, how we're feeling, what our vision is, etc. Diane shared that one of her missionary friends came to visit recently and made the comment that our house (and other believers' in the neighborhood) was truly a beacon in the neighborhood. I have definitely seen this to be true on a variety of levels, the most important one being that people always know where to come when they need something -- be it food or a friendly face. This rang true for me this week.

I saw a good friend Thursday night while on my way to UNCG for an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship meeting I was speaking at. My topic for the night was Dependence on God (more on this later), and I was definitely reminded of that during my conversation with my friend. While driving, my friend flagged me down. We made small talk for a few moments, then he turned to leave. As I started to pull off, he came back. He asked if I had heard about the woman who got shot in the head at the hat shop recently. I told him that I hadn't, and he informed me that it was his sister, the last one he had left. I asked him how he was doing, and he immediately responded, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Then switched gears to how he wanted to tune up my car. It breaks my heart that he lost his sister, but even moreso to know that he's not depending on God to help him through it. The "I'm okay, no worries" response is one I know all to well, one that basically means "I'm just going to pretend that it didn't happen because it's easier that way." So, instead of depending on the one who can truly love and support him through a time like this, Jesus, my guess is that he'll turn to alcohol.

Lord, I pray that you would bless my friend. You know him, and you know the pain he's in. Help him to mourn, and to turn to you when it seems unbarable. Help me know how to support him, and place some men in his life who can speak love and life into him.

Urban Youth Worker's Institute 2008, Baby!

Let me just tell you...I'm already super psyched about this!