Paula and myself taking a walk in the city.( A little different from the back country roads ...)
O.K. Now this picture is for the benefit for my good old country friends. This is what you may see on a walk in my parts. This is how it is - our house then alley then a big ugly cement building then a street then the (name slips me -those people that come a pick up your trash) Then this ... It never ceases to amaze me to be walking on a road and to have a highway and train track under me and other bridge roads and downtown in the distance. I told Emily I've gotta take a picture of this!
Aaron and Emily speaking at the RTNI houseleader info. meeting last Saturday.
Guest speaker, James Brown. He's got 16 years of experience with urban ministry and community development. Also, a leader from among his own people.
Last Saturday was the Houseleader info. meeting for RTNI. It was here at the Starrs. We had a few out of town guests and some from Columbus came. Aaron and Emily have a vision to plant more RXN homes in urban/inner city communities. A RXN home is basically like theirs actually theirs is the prototype. So in the next few years we hope to see more ministry houses planted in our cities! It was awesome to hear Mr. James speak. He was a man who was once a drug addict and in jail. Then God rocked his world. A man helped train him in ministry and eventually left him to lead. This is a good thing. Our urban communities have become a oppressed people.(Especially, our black urban.) Many of the best-trained minds, leaders, good examples, have "exodus ed" the inner city - leaving a leadership vacuum. The key to helping people get out of a poverty mentality is developing leaders.Indigenous leaders. Any oppressed people must believe that they can "drink from their own wells".And lead themselves. This is no small commitment in developing leaders.It takes a long term commitment of living amongst the people, modeling a healthy lifestyle. It's a "Incarnational ministry" has John Perkins deemed it. Jesus. How did he love? Did He commute back and forth from heaven? No. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory"(John1:14) Jesus came to the earth and gave/showed us the way to new Life. So also, the most effective messenger of the gospel to the lost is him who lives among the people God has called him to minister. I am kinda hits all over the dart board here. Does it make any sense? One last thing, we can see that government and welfare programs have not worked. They simply perpetuate themselves. One example is the "Aid to Families with Dependent Children program" (something like that). It attempts to stabilize a mother without a father in the house. It assumes no family is in place and give no incentive for leaving the program. Getting this benefit has aloud single parent homes to become the norm... The world has tried its ways ... Simply, it does not work. But the church has the answer in Christ. The Church needs to rise up and give more than charity, which can be given at a distance. It needs to reach and touch "the leper" ... It needs to reach and feel the pain of the poor being willing to offer ourselves (changing the person for we are the church) bringing hope, dignity, transformation, and rest to the people. "Rise up Church with broken wings fill this place with songs again to our God who reigns on high by His grace again we'll fly. Shout to the North and the south sing to the east and the west Jesus is savior to All HE IS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH."Some of you might know this song.
Paula and myself taking a walk in the city.( A little different from the back country roads ...)
O.K. Now this picture is for the benefit for my good old country friends. This is what you may see on a walk in my parts. This is how it is - our house then alley then a big ugly cement building then a street then the (name slips me -those people that come a pick up your trash) Then this ... It never ceases to amaze me to be walking on a road and to have a highway and train track under me and other bridge roads and downtown in the distance. I told Emily I've gotta take a picture of this!
Aaron and Emily speaking at the RTNI houseleader info. meeting last Saturday.
Guest speaker, James Brown. He's got 16 years of experience with urban ministry and community development. Also, a leader from among his own people. 
Last Saturday was the Houseleader info. meeting for RTNI. It was here at the Starrs. We had a few out of town guests and some from Columbus came. Aaron and Emily have a vision to plant more RXN homes in urban/inner city communities. A RXN home is basically like theirs actually theirs is the prototype. So in the next few years we hope to see more ministry houses planted in our cities! It was awesome to hear Mr. James speak. He was a man who was once a drug addict and in jail. Then God rocked his world. A man helped train him in ministry and eventually left him to lead. This is a good thing. Our urban communities have become a oppressed people.(Especially, our black urban.) Many of the best-trained minds, leaders, good examples, have "exodus ed" the inner city - leaving a leadership vacuum. The key to helping people get out of a poverty mentality is developing leaders.Indigenous leaders. Any oppressed people must believe that they can "drink from their own wells".And lead themselves. This is no small commitment in developing leaders.It takes a long term commitment of living amongst the people, modeling a healthy lifestyle. It's a "Incarnational ministry" has John Perkins deemed it. Jesus. How did he love? Did He commute back and forth from heaven? No. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory"(John1:14) Jesus came to the earth and gave/showed us the way to new Life. So also, the most effective messenger of the gospel to the lost is him who lives among the people God has called him to minister. I am kinda hits all over the dart board here. Does it make any sense? One last thing, we can see that government and welfare programs have not worked. They simply perpetuate themselves. One example is the "Aid to Families with Dependent Children program" (something like that). It attempts to stabilize a mother without a father in the house. It assumes no family is in place and give no incentive for leaving the program. Getting this benefit has aloud single parent homes to become the norm... The world has tried its ways ... Simply, it does not work. But the church has the answer in Christ. The Church needs to rise up and give more than charity, which can be given at a distance. It needs to reach and touch "the leper" ... It needs to reach and feel the pain of the poor being willing to offer ourselves (changing the person for we are the church) bringing hope, dignity, transformation, and rest to the people. "Rise up Church with broken wings fill this place with songs again to our God who reigns on high by His grace again we'll fly. Shout to the North and the south sing to the east and the west Jesus is savior to All HE IS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH."Some of you might know this song. 
