God began to move, as He does... He's famous for moving."-David Palmer, Purposeful DesignMy friend, David Palmer, said these words at our most recent UNITE INDY forum as he described how God moved to help him provide needed jobs for men he had met at Wheeler Mission. But last week this quote appeared again at the end of a letter from an inmate at Putnamville Correctional Facility who corresponds with my wife, Nancy.She had sent him the transcript of that forum on the employment crisis in our inner city - which he devoured. He is so anxious for a time when he can be free to work and live a normal life as a child of the Most High God, whom he quotes constantly in his letters.His name is Jesse, and 20 years ago he did some bad things as a result of a wretched childhood of crisis and lack. But today he is a model prisoner who lives in the Honor Ward. He is full to overflowing with the Word of God, through the tireless work of prison ministr...
I gave my life to Christ in the County jail, was baptized in that orange jump suit..."-Kurt MooreKurt Moore is now a successful businessman, but years ago after college he came back to his neighborhood in Indianapolis and decided to make money the easy way. He was arrested and charged with selling drugs and in possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime. Kurt went to Federal prison for 13 years.But the baptism stuck, and according to Kurt he would not have become the person he is today without the trouble that broke him and brought him to his knees. Today, he runs his business and takes teens who have never been out of the neighborhood to camp where they canoe and swim and just get to be kids. He hires ex-offenders because without that first job he got after prison, he might have slipped back.He'll tell you, his jail-house conversion never left him...it is his faith that drives him, and he'll always be grateful for that.Blessin...
I'm so far past being angry and frustrated. I have to fight my way UP to those feelings. Leaching off family and friends is degrading when I should be, and want to be supporting myself."-Name WithheldWhile everyone in Washington is patting themselves on the back, touting the lowest black unemployment in years, there is still double the joblessness in the black community. Double that again in the poorest areas of our inner city. Then if you've been incarcerated, it is much worse. In Marion County alone there are around 140,000 ex-offenders who have almost no chance of finding work.They've paid their debt to society, but they cannot pay the debts associated with family responsibilities. Join us at the next UNITE INDY Forum: Indy's Urban Employment Crisis, May 15th at Brookside Community Church. It's a Tuesday, this is important. Register now."...With God, all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26
Father forgive them for they know not what they do."-JesusAs T. D. Jakes said, "The amazing thing about Easter is that Christ in his dying moments on the cross gives us the greatest illustration of forgiveness possible." This highest act of love came at the greatest cost to the least deserving of people and continues to this day. So, remind the children that Easter is not about a bunny, it's about The Lamb through whom we receive living hope and forgiveness daily.As Spring finally breaks through in Indiana, let's face our challenges with renewed energy, knowing God is on the throne and Jesus' love can still be made new through us as we respect, love, care for, and forgive each other.I am grateful for you all!Happy Easter,Jim"...With God, all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26
"God loves the hell out of us so we can love the hell out of others"-Colts Chaplain Ken JohnsonKen Johnson works to pastor some of the biggest men in Indianapolis. They are big physically and they make big money. As pastor to the Indianapolis Colts football team, he wants them to be big spiritually as well. To be men who put Galatians 5:14 to work in their lives, loving others generously and setting an example of what God's men and women do. Galatians 5:14 says..."For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself." Or, as Pastor Ken says..."Love the hell out of them." Hey, whatever works! Help spread the love of God. Email me. Work with us to UNITE INDY. I'd love to hear from you.God Bless,Jim"...With God, all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26
"We are in a State of EMERGENCY!!17 BODIES DROPPED IN JANUARY 2018 VERSUS 9 IN JANUARY 2017.Including: A woman shot and pushed from a car Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of an east side store."-Anthony BeverlyAnthony Beverly is a soft-spoken man. You'll recognize him as the tall guy with three or four young men he is shepherding around, being the strong Christian male role model he truly is.He heads Stop the Violence Indianapolis, an organization that empowers people to take action to overcome poverty and violence.The reality is that guns have replaced gangs and the impact is tragic.Today we celebrate all those who are already actively working in our city to end gun violence including: Faith in Indiana, Live Free, The Fathers Foundation, Circle Up Indy, Pastor Denell Howard, Ten Point Coalition, Stop The Violence, and many many more. Email me. Work with us to UNITE INDY. I'd love to hear from you.God Bless,Jim"...With God, all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26
"The hands of the Almighty are often found at the end of our own arms."-AnonymousIn this deep mid-Winter where cold and want surround, where pantries go without needed volunteers and children cry for absent parents, we find our place. "Send me," the hymn demands, but the army has yet to materialize. In truth, all we can send is ourselves. So to all whose Christmas was warm and comfortable, know you are needed. Do not allow God's hands to be idle. Every one of us has work to do. Find a place where God's hands can use your arms to bless someone in need and through this work, may you find God's special blessing in New Year!Unite Indy is connecting those who can help with those who are missionaries in our own city. Join us in this important work.God Bless,Jim"...With God, all things are possible" - Matthew 19:26
"My momma didn't send me to school to learn. She sent me to school to eat. I watched as people passed on their way to church as I dug through garbage cans for food."-Kevin BrownKevin Brown was born to a 15-year old girl and lived in an unheated hovel. His mother would have him sit on a milk crate with a "table" of a cardboard box in front of him an say "God will provide." But most of the time Kevin starved. "I would eat paper," he said, "and I'd eat dirt and try to imagine it was food. At night I would dream of eating."Against all odds, Kevin is now successful. He has dual master's degrees and is a teacher. But tears run down his cheeks and he can barely speak of the days when he could feel his stomach eating itself every day.We are all the hands and feet of Christ and there are Kevins all around us. In neighborhoods where poverty is rampant the church has the demanding and difficult burden of caring for those in need. Let us never pass...
"We are not called to sameness. We are called to oneness."-Jason Pettyaka "Propaganda"When I was invited to speak at Q Commons, a Christian think tank event held this month on the subject of "Healing a Divided Nation," I was blessed to hear the words of Jason Petty. He is a hip-hop artist from Los Angeles who grew up as the only black child in first, a Mexican neighborhood, and then an all-white suburb.Jason knows more on a personal level about functioning in a world of cultural and racial disconnect than most people on earth and the one thing he claims is that through Christ we are truly one.Here in Indianapolis, one of the 100+ cities where Jason's talk was heard, we at UNITE INDY are working to demonstrate the oneness that Paul wrote about in Colossians. We are not the same, we have different cultures, we are different colors, and we may not even share a language. But through Christ we can be and should be one people.Yours in Christ,...
"The prevailing methodology of urban ministry is that the very people we are called to serve are required to provide the support for the ones who serve them regardless of the fact that they themselves are in need"-Rev. John GirtonChrist Missionary Baptist ChurchPastor Girton's inner-city mission field has challenges similar to those in third world countries, but he and urban pastors like him do not receive support like those with similar challenges who work on foreign soil.Where are we if we lose these men of God because they cannot feed their families for lack of support? This pastor has a dizzying schedule of service, yet spends a month each year in a tent at 30th and Martin Luther King, Jr., interacting with the homeless, the drug addicted, and the needy, all with the support of his congregation which gives all it can, but still cannot afford the leadership they have or the needed roof repair on their historic church.At UNITE INDY we...
