A Politic of Hope

So every once in a while I read an article that gets me going about politics. I’ve become disillusioned with national politics a bit in recent years, especially because of our nation’s insistence on solving international conflicts with bombs and military spending, which is short-sighted and symptomatic at best, tragic in reality, and inhumane at worst. I’m tempted by skepticism and cynicism with national politicians, especially the host of characters who’ve been running for office, and to a certain degree I think many of our politicians have earned this attitude. Anyway, regardless of a politician’s affiliations and views, something that is extremely important, in this guy’s opinion, is a realistic form of optimism. Call it a politic of hope.  I’m not talking about inactive, nonsensical, naive, ignorant optimism, I am talking about a politic of proactive optimism. A politician has no business being in office if he does not think he can change the system for the better, or contribute to positive social change.

A previous Baltimore Sun article about the increase of drug trafficking in Aliquippa after the close of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company mentioned the current mayor of Aliquippa in this way:

Mayor Anthony Battalini said he does not believe the town will ever fully recover “unless some miracle thing happened here.”

To a certain degree, I think the mayor is correct. It will take a miracle to change Aliquippa, but the mayor seems to disbelieve in the real possibility of change for Aliquippa. His regime has been tarnished by allegations of corruption, a lack of compassion, and and apparent attitude of hopelessness toward this city. Aliquippa does need a miracle, but it also needs leadership that believes in the daily possibility of the miraculous. It needs leadership that empowers its people to change their city for the better instead of scoffing at them in public meetings (something I have personally witnessed certain community leaders do). It needs leadership that is on the streets working for change. It needs leadership above corruption, leadership that is a role model to its people. It needs leadership that is an accurate representation of the population, that cares about Aliquippa’s children instead of maintaining power. Aliquippa needs leadership that recognizes some of the grassroots movements taking place in Aliquippa and encourages the growth of these movements.

Good things are happening in Aliquippa and they are being done by people who do not believe in hopeless people, hopeless communities, or hopeless situations. John Stanley and Uncommon Grounds, R.O.O.T.S. Incorporated, Aliquippa Impact, the A.A.U.D., and many others are working hard to bring positive change to Aliquippa. Leadership should learn from community development organizers like the ones I have mentioned (and I am sure I have not mentioned every positive work going on in Aliquippa). Change can happen, Aliquippa may need a miracle, but it is far from hopeless.

Summer 2007

I did not blog this entire summer. I’m now paying the consequences for it. How do you explain an entire summer without being reductionistic or interminable? Thats the dilemna I am facing at present, and my proposed solution is the following eclectic summary of the summer’s events in Aliquippa. This is certainly not a holistic picture of my summer, but it is an attempt to cover those things most formitive, or at least of initial significance after this summer. In many ways processing the summer’s events.

Now that I am done qualifying…

Responsibility
This summer I was the Assistant Program Coordinator for Aliquippa Impact’s summer day camp program. I was the immediate staff supervisor to six full time staff members and six interns throughout the course of this summer. I was also, at times, responsible for the safety and order of day camp (45+ kids grades 1-6). Without going into detail, this was more responsibility than I have ever had in my life. I’ve never been in a real leadership position before. I liked it, but it was a huge challenge for me. Leadership is taxing. Just the mental burden of having so much responsibility can be a monstrous mental strain. I often found myself mentally asphixiated.

Teaching
Aliquippa Impact exists to help serve at risk youth and their families in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. One of the ways in which A.I. goes about this is by attempting to supplement the local school district with additional educational opportunities. Aliquippa Impact primarily focuses on acedemic areas in which the school district has been unable to pour money into, namely, arts and cultural literacy. This summer I tought the fifth and sixth grade class during the A.I.’s summer day camp program. Again, the thrust of this summer program was cultural literacy. Each week of camp focused on a specific region of the world. My job was to teach about these specific regions, as well as about some of the various countries and cultures located therein. It was a challenge to creativly educate students without turning summer camp into summer school. THere were times that I feel like I succeeded, and there were certainly times which I failed.

Perhaps the week that I will remember the most was the week that we focused on the continent of Africa. Even the most ethnocentric American is aware of some of the complex and tragic issues surrounding the continent of Africa including genocide, HIV/AIDS, malaria, starvation, etc. Even though many of our kids are from less than desirable economic situations, the students in my class really latched on to the idea of suffering in Africa. It was amazing to see our kids filled with compassion, frustration and anger at the world’s problems. They wrote letters to Representative Jason Altmire expressing their concern. They talked about and interacted with complex issues. As a class project we made a video to raise awareness about genocide in Africa. I hope to have it up on YouTube soon, when I do a link will be posted.

Without going to much longer, I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a teacher. I loved researching these issues and teaching them in a way that 10 and 11 year old children could understand them. Making things fun was a huge challenge, but all in all, I think the kids really learned this summer. One thing is for certain. I love teaching and I want to continue when I can. Starting in fall 2008 I’ll be co-directing an after school program with A.I. focusing on Global Education. I’m sure I’ll be posting more on that as research continues.

Center for Leader Multiplication
The CLM is a new non-profit emerging in Aliquippa Pennsylvania. You can read more about it at the CLM website www.leadermultiplication.org. Starting June 1, 2008 I will be working as a CLM associate in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Each CLM associate is responsible to plant an organic, self-replicating church in Aliquippa over the course of their tenure with the organization. I will be working in conjunction with Aliquippa Impact starting art-based community programs while working as a church planter with CLM. I’ll be writing about this a lot more as time progresses as well. One of the first things I will be working on is art-based street presence. I’ll be defining that in a subsequent blog.

The Holy Spirit
The most misunderstood, and mentally challenging aspect of Christianity might just be the work of the Holy Spirit. Over the course of my time with Aliquippa Impact I’ve had the great opportunity to dialogue with people about the work of the Holy Spirit. While this is certainly not something I have reached total understanding of, I have become certain of two thing: (1) The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to live everyday and (2) the Holy Spirit manifests in the believer in supernatural and sometimes miraculous ways for the sake of the gospel.

“The age of youth was created for heroic service and not for pleasure.”

This quote hangs in the living room of our staff house on 829 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa, PA. Although it has been there all summer, it hasn’t always held significant meaning for me. As the summer began, five weeks ago for me, I was excited to be here in Aliquippa doing something familiar. Working with the summer day camp (which currently constitutes Aliquippa Impact, Inc.’s main ministry) last summer was a joy and a challenge. Despite the summer’s vast challenges, on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a pleasure to be with the kids most of the time. It was in the anticipation of this joy that I was looking forward to City Camp 07.

Well this summer has been different. I’m working a similar position with a bit more responsibility. Staff has changed, but everyone is totally reliable and competent. There are a lot more kids involved in the program this summer, and that has definitely added to the challenge of day camp.

Challenge. Challenge is probably the best way to describe this summer. Last summer was a challenge for me, but somehow I think if this summer had been just like last summer, it would not have been a challenge for me. It would have been to predictable, to comfortable. Prior to this summer I never knew what it felt like to be tired, exhausted and hopeless. It seems like challenges are at every turn, like there is always something else to remember or to do. It seems like there is never enough time to get everything done, let alone sleep and rest. I’m wiped out most of the time.

But somehow, there is no other place I would rather be. This is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done with my time and life. But, I hate it most of the time. It doesn’t make sense at all, but somehow through this hardship there is joy, peace and contentment. But those things are not feelings. Somehow my feelings are the exact opposite of what we often think of as joy and peace and contentment.

Somehow this is what is meant by heroic service. There is no feeling of pleasure associated with it. Granted, sometimes my feelings do seem to be pleasure when I am working at day camp, but those feelings come and go just as quickly. This summer, most of the time my feelings are quite the opposite of pleasure. But, I know I am still serving, and I know somehow God is still using what I am trying to do. Most of the time God is using me even when I don’t want to be at day camp. Its as if just by being present at day camp God is using me. Some days I feel like all I can do is show up, I don’t have the energy to do anything else.

Is what I am doing heroic service? I don’t think so. I don’t think we are really doing anything spectacular here. But God is working through us, and in spite of us. And I’m more content here than I have ever been even though I am more tired and more miserable some days than I have ever been…

As I browse the Facebook’s of my friends from high school I am reminded of how rare this idea is. Its easy to see that many of the kids who sat with me in class are pursuing pleasure. They may even find it sometimes. But those feelings are so fleeting. Feelings come and go so rapidly that I know there must be more to life than them. Somehow true peace and joy are choices that go beyond our temporal feelings. Somehow heroic service IS what we were made for.

Back in Aliquippa

I’m back in Aliquippa again for summer 2007. Actually, I guess I’ve been here three weeks now. The staff for Aliquippa Impact City Camp 2007 has just finished our second week of training, and I think we are all itching for day camp to start. But we don’t have to wait very long, it all starts Monday.

Since writing my last post, I’ve discovered something new about service. I mentioned that last summer was the first time I was ever involved in service that really required something from me, that required real sacrifice. I was expecting this summer to be similar, that is, I was expecting to be doing the same things this summer as I was last summer. But this summer I know what to expect. I’m familiar with day camp; I’ve been there, done that, so to speak. If I just did the same things I did last summer, worked in the same way, encountered the same challenges, would that still be sacrificial service? It certainly woulnd’t be as sacrificial, or “over-my-head-ministry” as last summer was because I am familiar with it, comfortable with it.

But God has a way of making things uncomfortable for those who wish to serve him. Isn’t that interesting? So this summer I have found myself in a place of discomfort. I’m once again in a place where there are challenges I did not anticipate. I still am doing many of the things I did last summer, but now there are additional challenges that I did not anticipate.

Without going into details about these challenges (I’m still processing them in my own mind), I think that this is part of what it means to