Broad Street UMC News - August 6, 2011

Keeping you in touch with news and events at

Broad Street United Methodist Church

Greetings!

Peace, grace, and love to you this day. Amen.

The reading this week is from Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28. In this passage, Joseph goes from being a favored son to a slave, sold by his brothers. Though the story turns out well for Joseph and his family in the end, doesn't it parallel our own stories in many ways? Different visions, different methods, different outcomes. But how is God working in them all? ✝

Joseph dreams of power

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan where his father was an immigrant. ² This is the account of Jacob's descendants. Joseph was 17 years old and tended the flock with his brothers. While he was helping the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, Joseph told their father unflattering things about them. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was born when Jacob was old. Jacob had made for him a long robe.^g⁴ When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him and couldn't even talk nicely to him.

Joseph's brothers take revenge

¹² Joseph's brothers went to tend their father's flocks near Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, " Aren't your brothers tending the sheep near Shechem? Come, I'll send you to them. "

And he said, " I'm ready. "

¹⁴ Jacob said to him, " Go! Find out how your brothers are and how the flock is, and report back to me. "

So Jacob sent him from the Hebron Valley. When he approached Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering in the field and asked him, " What are you looking for? "

¹⁶ Jacob said, " I'm looking for my brothers. Tell me, where are they tending the sheep? "

¹⁷ The man said, " They left here. I heard them saying, 'Let's go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw Joseph in the distance before he got close to them, and they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ The brothers said to each other, " Here comes the big dreamer. ²⁰ Come on now, let's kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we'll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams! "

²¹ When Reuben heard what they said, he saved him from them, telling them, " Let's not take his life. " ²² Reuben said to them, " Don't spill his blood! Throw him into this desert cistern, but don't lay a hand on him. " He intended to save Joseph from them and take him back to his father.

²³ When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped off Joseph's long robe, ²⁴ took him, and threw him into the cistern, an empty cistern with no water in it. ²⁵ When they sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with camels carrying sweet resin, medicinal resin, and fragrant resin on their way down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, " What do we gain if we kill our brother and hide his blood? ²⁷ Come on, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let's not harm him because he's our brother; he's family. " His brothers agreed. ²⁸ When some Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

[The translation of the Bible used above is the new Common English Bible. You can read more about it here.]

Matters of the Heart and City

Dreams

Dreams matter.

Last night I sat at table with the Servant Leader Interns from our 2011 Freedom School. We enjoyed great food, lots of laughter, and shared a few dreams.

They each have dreams for themselves. They have heard and hold the dreams of the Freedom Scholars with whom they worked every day. They have hopes and dreams for the 2012 Freedom School. It is the dream of God at work in them.

Dreams matter.

Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a new day and new way. He declared it from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC in his "I have a dream" oration. It was the dream of God at work in him.

Dreams matter.

Joseph of our sacred story had dreams --- dreams of familial relationships that mattered when the going got tough. He saw his family leaning on him. It was the dream of God at work through him.

But his brothers interpreted the dream differently. They saw Joseph lording himself over them. Their differing interpretations led to conflict. Dreams often do.

Joseph's brothers beat him up and sold him into slavery rather than live into their interpretation of his dream. An assassin's bullet silenced Martin Luther King, Jr. His death seemed a better choice than their interpretation of his dream of equality for all. This week dreamers are conflicted over the future of our country and state.

Immigration restraint or reform. Increased revenue or decreased spending. Collective bargaining or executive decree. Peace or war.

I am praying for the dream of God and all the dreamers who carry it. May we listen to the dream of God coming to us through dreamers. May we learn from those dreams instead of silencing one another with angry shouts or violent actions.

I memorized Llangston Hughes poem Dreams in Junior High School. It still matters. I still remember it. It speaks a truth about the power of the dream of God for you, for me, for us, for our community, world, and creation.

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Dreams matter in the heart and in the city.

-- Pastor David

Service Project Transforms Residence at the Inn at Broad

Young Adult Perspective

On Friday, July 22nd, the Broad Street Young Adult Group participated in its first service project. Paul Christian, Kevin Hock, Kelan Craig, Josh Cullbertson, and Ken Schoon met to renovate one of the apartments at the Inn at Broad for a new tenant. We completed the work in four hours, including putting a new, fresh coat of paint in each room. We want to thank Marcia Miller, President of the Board, Carol Bellisari, Innkeeper, and Bob Skinner, Treasurer of the Board for helping to coordinate the event on the Inn at Broad side of things. We were excited for the opportunity to help a family in need and to partner with another ministry of the Broad Street United Methodist Church.

Ken Schoon & Paul Christian

Inn Perspective

This has been an exciting month at the Inn. We had a family move out of the Inn after their two year stay. This past Monday a new family moved in. The apartment needed a complete makeover. The young adult group generously offered to take the apartment on as a group project. There was one hard day of cleaning the apartment. Then, on July 22^nd at 7:00 in the evening, they came ready with paint brushes in their hands to give the apartment a makeover. I was amazed that five people were able to paint and tidy up the entire apartment in less than five hours. The young adult group did a beautiful job and our new resident is now enjoying her fresh clean new home. Our Inn is a place where we find safety, peace, and serenity and the young adult group made it even more enjoyable by their acts of kindness. All of the women here at the Inn would like to say thank you for the hard work and wonderful job on the apartment makeover.

Carol Bellisari, Innkeeper

Board Perspective

The Inn is full thanks to the work of some energetic and helpful young adults who painted and prepared the recently vacated suite of rooms for the next resident. She has already moved in and has completed paper work that is expected of all residents. She has also met and become adquainted with the other resident and the InnKeeper. She will be joined soon by her son and the family will move forward together toward a new life.

Work never seems to end down in the Inn, but it is all so worth-while. Being partners with new families is so rewarding. So the work goes on.

Marcia Miller, President, Inn at Broad Board

Helping Refugees & New Immigrants Settle Brings Some Success While Others Still Struggle

Our church was a place of comfort for two Iraqi Christian refugees, Riad and Adnan, for the past year. They have had a very difficult time just keeping a home. Bob Furbee and I spent many hours encouraging them.

Through some poor decision making, they moved to Detroit, by way of Nashville, TN. Two weeks ago I was in Detroit and found them living in a barely livable home on a poorly kept street with other similar homes, Others were boarded up or burned out. Inside, their home was neat and clean but without a refrigerator. Still they served tea to my friend and me.

Adnan and Riad both lost part-time jobs recently. They have a car that needs a new license plate this month. They have not yet gotten Michigan ID's or food stamps (SNAPS). Adnan needs to apply for a Green Card. They need someone to constantly supervise and support them - like parents.

Their parents and one other brother were approved to come to the US several months ago, but they are awaiting a determination on another brother, whose application has been put on hold. I came back home and requested my US representative's office (with the help of CRIS, the refugee agency in Columbus) to inquire about the delay to see if it is possible he will be approved anytime soon.

While still in Detroit, I persuaded the two men to come with me to the nearby Chaldean Church Center to seek guidance. Riad insisted he had been there and was not able to get help. We met the priest who listened, took down their phone numbers and told us to go across the street to the Arab & American Chaldean Council (ACC) that serves the mental health needs of the nearby people.

With more persuasion, they went with me and were interviewed by Labiba, who spoke Arabic. She took their information and plans to help them through the processes needed to get them settled. Today, Tuesday, I called Riad and found he has his car license and a part-time job. Both have been seeing a counselor but they have not been able to get their Michigan ID's or food stamps.

Regardless of the best intentions of the Chaldean Church and ACC, these organizations cannot follow through as needed and these young men will be lost without parental help. They need prayers for successful settlement in this country.

-- Emily Schornstein,

Refugee Resettlement Coordinator

Broad Street History - 10 Years Ago

In 2001, Craig Vander Veen, of the Broad Street United Methodist Church congregation, spent eight months as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Guyana. An architect by profession, he had been involved with Habitat for about seven years in the US; and, as one of the counselors for the Broad Street United Methodist Church Youth Group had been on week-long mission trips to places such as Mexico and Mountain T.O.P., in Tennessee. But, he wanted to spend an extended period of time to see what it was like to live how 2/3 of the world's population lives. While in Guyana, for example, he was responsible for hauling buckets of water from an outside pump to the bathroom as they did not have running water.

Part of the consideration of making the trip was weighing the cost - travel, living expenses, having no income during the eight months away from his job. But, he wanted to have a time apart - "time for adventure and exploring," time to "fall in love with God." Although working on service projects, it became for him like an extended retreat. Fortuitously, while making the decision to go or not to go, he received an inheritance from his grandmother's estate which almost exactly equaled the monetary cost of the trip. It seemed like it was meant to be. Craig says, "God commands us to go... ."

After getting a leave of absence from his employer, Craig departed with two suit cases, two-weeks worth of clothing and a narrow focus. The whole experience "... was intimidating, but freeing." To document his experience, he kept a daily journal. The accompanying sketch of the Habitat office in Georgetown was taken from his journal. The photos are of a typical Habitat House and a collage of other scenes taken while Craig was in Guyana.

While in Guyana, he worked primarily out of the national headquarters for Habitat

in Georgetown. He used his skills as an architect to develop plans for prototype houses. Using his background of organizing mission trips in the US, he also was coordinator of international work camps - orienting and planning activities for youth groups from several nations coming to Guyana to work on various projects. Guyana is a small country, about the size of the state of Kansas, on the northeast coast of South America. It was a British colony prior to receiving its independence in 1966. The capital, Georgetown, is on the Atlantic Ocean. Craig says, "I could walk to the shore from my office during lunchtime." The climate is tropical.

Having worked in an environment with specifications and zoning codes, it was disconcerting to find that such governmental regulations as these did not exist in Guyana. The prototype designs of two and three bedroom houses to be built by local affiliates were made with consideration of native materials and the skills and equipment available to the natives. For example, most of the country is a rain forest, lots of wood; but also lots of termites, so wood is not the best construction material. Plans for the prototype house were reviewed and approved by Habitat Guyana and Habitat International. "Habitat built over 20 safe, decent, affordable homes during my stay in Guyana. That's over 20 families who have now been able to sleep for 10 years in safe homes where the roofs do not leak and children have grown."

While in Guyana, Craig received support not only of prayers from the congregation but material supplies as well. He says, "There was typically never more then a single ream of paper kept at the Habitat office. So in August, when two large boxes of office supplies arrived from Broad Street United Methodist Church, it was as if Christmas had come early!!"

Thank you Craig for ministering in our behalf and for sharing your experiences with us. We all benefit and are enriched when we hear stories of how others around the world live.

Sources:

Interview with Craig Vander Veen on 26 July, 2011

Photo and sketch courtesy of Craig Vander Veen

-- Jim Barbee, Historian

P.S. Lowell Fauver, another member of the congregation, travelled to Guyana to work with Craig and others during the time of Craig's mission with Habitat in Guyana.

2001 West Ohio Conference Cooperative School of Christian Mission

Chris Clough and I attended the Day Sampler program on July 16^th, held on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. This was the first time attending for both of us. The leadership team included Dean Rosetta Schaffner, and Assistant Dean, David Meredith. This year's program theme was "All Things Made New." We arrived Friday evening, in time to attend evening Vespers in the chapel. We spent the night in a campus dorm so we could arise in time to participate in Saturday's activities. Following breakfast in the dining hall, we gathered in the chapel for uplifting morning worship, led by Deacon Katie Wilson of Dayton, with lively music and inviting participation from Music Director Sheena Phillips of Summit UMC in Columbus. Special offerings were taken for United Methodist Women and West Ohio Connectional Ministries missions. The morning program was "Forgiveness and Reconciliation" led by Rev. Darryl Fairchild of Dayton, including a scripture study of Genesis 32.

Our chosen afternoon program was on the people, history and culture of Haiti, led by Rev. Karen Shepler of Toledo. The class included hymn singing, news articles and videos, group discussion and calls to action to help the people of Haiti rebuild in the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 2010. Chris added much to the conversation from her recent mission trip to Haiti. Between classes, we visited the program resources room that offered a variety of study books, and shopped from a beautiful selection of hand crafted gift items from SERRV (www.serrv.org). There was much to see and do, the day was sunny and warm, and the ONU campus was great for walking or taking a golf cart shuttle ride, which were plentiful!

In addition to the Day Sampler, the school offers a 3-day weekend and a 4-day extended study program. Next year's programs include Living Sacramentally and Walking Justly, Haiti (Part II) and Poverty. We encourage anyone interested to please join us for next year's school, to be held from July 9-15, 2012. The week program will be July 9-12, the weekend program will be July 13-15, and the Day Sampler, July 14.

Shelley Hobson, Outreach Cluster Chair

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