Baltimore City?

I have a call to Baltimore City.

It doesn't make any sense. I grew up in a suburb outside of D.C. with virtually no exposure to the urban realities of America's cities until I was 18. I am an Eagle Scout and spent one weekend a month going camping from 5th - 12th grade. As I got older I got heavily involved in mountain biking, backpacking, and rock climbing. When College came on the horizon I wanted to go into forestry and ultimately live someplace where I could pursue all my outdoor related hobbies.

Jesus changed that.

When I was in college I had the opportunity to do street ministry in one of the worst neighborhoods in Harrisburg, PA. Why 12 white students from the local Christian college decided to go to the hood on Saturday night at 8pm to pass out tracks still baffles me. The administration must not have known where we were taking the college van.

When we arrived on the scene I got partnerned up with a fellow student who was a pentecostal. I told her I would be praying for her and she could do most of the talking. She wasn't even 2 steps out of the van and she was witnessing to a woman walking by. She told me it was my turn now. I approached a young man standing up on a stoop. He was looking down at me. Intimidated and full of fear I told him we were out talking to people about Jesus and asked if he had ever heard about him. He said he had just gotten out of jail where he went to a few church services. My fear heightened as I was now witnessing to an ex-con. However, in that moment the Holy Spirit filled me and I began to preach. I don't even remember everything I said. But I told him about God creating the world and Jesus coming to die for us on the cross. The girl I was with was stunned as she watched me speak. From that moment on I knew I was called to urban ministry. I didn't know where or how but I knew I was called.

The adventure continued.

From there I went on to complete my B.A. in Urban Ministry at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I got married and we had our first child 9 months later. We stayed in Chicago for a few years after graduation serving in a great church, Uptown Baptist, and working. It was there that God called me to preach and plant a church. God then led my wife and I to move back to Baltimore with no clear plan other than to live and do ministry there. God opened a door for me to work with the Baptist Convention of Maryland Delaware to plant a Church in Baltimore. So we moved to Pigtown in Southwest Baltimore not knowing anyone to begin planting gospel seeds. We did a ton of ministry and had many experiences that changed our lives. One thing we did was paint a mural on the side of my house with about 20 volunteers from the neighboorhood. It is still there (632 Scott Street Baltimore 21230).

However, after 3 years of work and not a lot of fruit we were discouraged and burnt out. God led us to connect with a church planting network called Acts 29 (www.acts29network.org) and they assessed me as a church planter but one who needed some more training and growth. So I made the hardest decision I have ever made in my life and shut down the ministry I had labored to build for three years to focus on my family, theology, and personal ministry growth.

He sent me back.

Upon receiving the advice from Acts 29 to shut down the ministry we were also invited by Pastor Shaun Garman to move out to Portland, Or and do an internship with Red Sea Church (www.redseachurch.com). It was a hard time for me as I was working out all my feelings of failure at planting a church and questioning my call into ministry. However, God slowly began to restore me and build up our family and ministry. We became an integral part of Red Sea and were deeply blessed by our spiritual family there. We were able to do alot of minsitry there and be a part of seeing the church grow from about 80 to 140 in weekly church attendance. I learned a ton from Pastor Shaun who became one of my closest brothers and my spiritual mentor. He is my "Paul" and I am his "Timothy."

During our year and 10 months there I wondered if I would come back to Baltimore. There were times when I highly considered staying in Portland where I had a great spiritual family and an opportunity to minister. But, God would always bring Baltimore back to my heart. There was a time when I was particularly frustrated and asked God for a clear "sign" on whether or not we were to come back. Then he reminded me of a literal sign 2 blocks from my house. "Baltimore Next Signal." The image above is an actual picture of a sign down the street from where we lived in Portland. What are the chances that we of all people would buy a house in Portland right near this sign? I think it was because God wanted to remind us while we were there that Baltimore was next. It was coming up. And it came up... because we are back.

Congratulations if you got to the end of this long blog. If you know Jesus, would you please pray for us and the ministry God has for us here.

Remembering Donta

I wrote the following article in a youth journal sometime in the spring/summer of 2005.' At the time I was church planting in Washington Village/Pigtown, Southwest Baltimore. I thought it was appropriate to put it on my blog after yesterday's post to show that the violence in Baltimore has affected me personally.

In Memory of Charles "Donta" Parks, 1980 - 2005

Recently God opened the door for me to do some mentoring in our community Middle School. Every Tuesday and Thursday you will find me at the school hanging out with two groups of 6th graders and one group of 8th graders. The staff is shorthanded so I actually come during school hours and take groups of boys out of class to mentor them. Through this outreach I have the opportunity to touch approximately 40 boys a week. We discuss a variety of topics in a group and I always make myself available to minister to the boys out of school or on a one on one basis.

Last week I asked the 6th graders a question, "How many of you have seen someone get shot, stabbed, or killed on your block?" About 80% of them raised their hands. Then I had them share their individual stories. If you had been there, your jaw would have dropped as one after the other began to share the acts of violence they have witnessed many outside their own front door. One sixth grader told us how a man got shot in the back and came to his door asking for help. While they waited for the ambulance to get there the man died right on this young man=s steps. Several of the boys had seen multiple shootings and knifings. One young man even saw his uncle get murdered and the gunman emptying all his bullets into his uncle's body.

The previous Sunday at 2am on May 8, 2005 (Mother's Day) my neighbor's son was stabbed in the neck in a senseless act of violence. That night I was awakened to some noise on the street and when I went to the window I saw Donta on the ground and his cousin yelling "call 911." When I made it downstairs and outside the paramedics were already there and Donta was being placed into the ambulance. There was blood everywhere. It was on the sidewalk, leading up my neighbor's steps, and in a large pool next to my car. So much blood had accumulated it was running down the street. Due to his tremendous loss of blood he was declared brain dead and died May 9, 2005.

So with this incident fresh on my mind and in my heart I decided to talk about what had happened. Several of the kids had heard about it. Some were definitely bothered. But none cried. Unfortunately this is nothing new to these kids. Children in Baltimore have to grow up fast as many of them are exposed to more violence by the time they are 12 than many adults see their whole lives.

The day after Donta’s death there was nothing in the news paper covering the story. No reporters came to interview the family. No news report appeared on TV. Why? Because almost everyday in our city a young black male is murdered. The media and possibly many of you reading this right now are desensitized to the killing that goes on in every American ghetto. I wonder what would happen if I were to come into your community school and meet with a group of six graders and ask them, "How many of you have seen someone get shot, stabbed, or killed on your street?" How many of them would raise their hands? More than likely not many would. Where is the Church of Jesus Christ? Where are those bothered by violence that occurs right here on our soil? Where is the justice for America's Urban Poor? What will you do for these children? Open your ears and eyes to see the poverty, violence, racism, and injustice in America’s Cities. Then in the power of Christ do something about it.

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor,
will also cry himself and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13, NASB)

Baltimore Homicides

It is no secret to America that Baltimore, Maryland is a city that has a high amount of gun violence, much of which leads to an unbelievable number of homicides every year. This morning when I opened the Baltimore Sun I read a disturbing article about more violence and death that had taken place last night. On November 11, 2006, 2 days before his 17th birthday, Shawn Robinson was shot and pronounced dead at John's Hopkins. Last night about 50 family and friends gathered to hold a prayer vigil in remembrance of Shawn and as a stand against the continued violence plaguing our city. Right before the vigil began shots rang out around the corner. Quickly, police and paramedics arrived only to pull out a man shot twice and who also was pronounced dead last night at John's Hopkins. For full story see...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-md.ci.vigil12nov12,0,1356936.story

As a memorial to Shawn, the streets produced another homicide victim on the same night and in the same community where Shawn was killed. The fact is that the killing in Baltimore goes on. Throughout the 90's our yearly homicide rate was over 300 hitting a high of 353 in 1993. In cities over 500,000 our homicide rate is only second to Detroit. In 2000 the city celebrated as it was finally able to get under 300 homicides. At a press conference on January 3, 2001 Mayor Martin O'Malley said, "The next big goal is to get it under 200." That statement alone is insane. How can 200 homicides a year be a "big goal?" How about zero homicides as a goal? But in Baltimore, that is a big goal that still has not been achieved.

Homicides are so prevalent here that we actually have a homicide map where you can look up your address and see where/when homicides have taken place in your community (see http://essentials.baltimoresun.com/micro_sun/homicides/) The fact that this needs to exist is ridiculous. Curious about my neighborhood I got on and found out that over the past year five men had been murdered within about a 5 block radius of my house.

1. Marcus McDowell (9) 5100 Harford RoadBaltimore, MD 21214. black male, 16 years old
Found on January 08, 2007. Victim died at Bayview Hospital, Cause: shooting

2. Antwan Askins (57) 2900 List AveBaltimore, MD 21214. black male, 27 years old Found on March 13, 2007. Victim died at Bayview Hospital, Cause: shooting

3. Ronald Daniels (85) 4700 Harford RoadBaltimore, MD 21214. black male, 35 years old Found on April 29, 2007. Victim died at scene, Cause: shooting

4. Gerald Smith (156) 4800 Herring Run DriveBaltimore, MD 21214. black male, 25 years old
Found on July 01, 2007. Victim died at scene, Cause: shooting

5. Mario Mauro (164) 3000 Rosekemp Ave.Baltimore, MD 21214. white male, 53 years old
Found on July 07, 2007. Victim died at JHH, Cause: blunt force

The friends of those killed have their way of honoring the dead. I took the picture above after getting permission from some young men in my old neighborhood. Seeing the make shift memorial reminds many of us removed from this that these are real people. The five men whose names are written above are men who I don't know but who my heart is broken over. Note their ages. Most of them were young men and more than likely many of them were fathers. These are just the homicides within walking distance from my house and I don't even live in a rough neighborhood when you compare our community with others throughout the city.
As of today November 12, 2007 our current homicide rate is listed at 256. I am sure it will continue to rise as we approach the end of the year. May we all be incredibly disturbed by this and may it force us to our knees in prayer and then to our hands and feet in action.