Effects Locally: This has hit home in Miami, with a population of 400,000 Haitians.  There has been desperation to reach relatives, send supplies and/or go to Haiti.  Our hearts have been very heavy for the people and country of Haiti, but also for our many Haitian friends here.  People have been mobilizing in all kinds of efforts to help and we have been trying to discern the best ways to do this.

The Plan:

Urban Resurrection is joining with the McCormicks, who have been serving in Haiti for three years with Fellowship International Mission, along with other local and national organizations to carry out a plan of action.

The McCormicks live only 10 minutes from the Dominican Republic.  They are proposing is to raise funds, enlist people to help them in the D.R. to round up supplies and bring them back to Haiti. There is an airstrip on the border where planes could be loaded and flown directly into Port-au-Prince (PAP). Alternatively, supplies could be trucked to PAP. The goal is to get the right aid into the right places, relatively quickly. A number of people in the McCormick’s community can also be employed to help shuttle supplies to their fellow countrymen in desperate need.

[excerpt from the McCormicks blog, “Highway to Haiti”]-
“As we begin to find our niche in the relief effort, I need to explain how your help is critical to make this effective. Right now in Port-au-Prince the US military is calling all the shots. They have been given control of the nearly impossible task of getting emergency help and supplies to residents.

Through various networks, we are connected to hundreds of ministries in and around Port-au-Prince. Prior to the earthquake these ministries provided essential services to people with all kinds of needs. Due to the magnitude of the destruction many of these caregivers and service-providers are on the brink of evacuation. But, these people are among those best situated to provide emergency care at a time like this. We should try to do all we can to help them keep their doors open and staff in Haiti—a nearly impossible task as well.

Probably the most difficult aspect of dispensing aid is injecting the right resources, in the right places, at the right times. This is our “niche” in the relief effort—we want to simplify the logistics as much as possible, so follow along closely.”

How You Can Help:

If you are associated with a ministry in Port au Prince (PAP)—like an orphanage, medical missionary, etc., you have probably been trying to contact them to find out what they need. The problem is that getting anything to them will be almost impossible for you. So, we are currently building a supply chain that starts in the Dominican Republic, routes aid items into northern Haiti, and flies them into PAP.

Here is how we work together: Find our what your ministry in PAP needs. Don’t guess; they need to tell you. Get specifics on foods, medicines, hygiene items, etc. (Use the form attached here) At the top of their list is probably water and fuel. Water is becoming available in Port-au-Prince, and fuel will follow on the black market. This brings up a very important aspect of our effort. Since banks have been wiped out, your ministry is probably running out of cash and has no way of getting more. We could transport cash directly to them. The only thing they would need to do is find a way to meet us at the PAP airport.

So, by supporting us, you’re in effect supporting your ministries in PAP. We cannot do this without your help! Find out what they need, tell us who they are, and get us funds quickly. We are working on generating a form for you to use to streamline the logistics. Additionally, we still need money just to keep the supply line greased. If you don’t know anyone in PAP and just want to help, please donate to the Haiti Relief Fund. Every dollar in this account will go towards facilitating what I explained above and be accounted for by FIM.

-You can donate immediately by:
-  Going to www.fim.org
-  Going to www.urbanresurrection.org
-  Mail checks to: Fellowship International Mission – 555 South 24th Street – Allentown, PA 18104 (memo: Haiti Relief Fund)
or
Urban Resurrection – 3158 Carter St. – Miami, FL 33133 (memo: Haiti Relief Fund)
-  Call Matt McCormick  at 011-509-3900-3105 and 011-509-3663-6520or  Michael and Erika Philip at 305-562-7714  and 305-562-7716 or email at Erika@urbanresurrection.org to give directly to them (which would get the money to Haiti the quickest)

-Commit to pray for the people and country of Haiti and all of those affected.  Please let us know if you want to be included in a regular prayer updates.

By supporting us, you’re in effect supporting your ministries in PAP. We cannot do this without your help! Find out what they need, tell us who they are, and get us funds quickly. Additionally, we still need money just to keep the supply line greased. If you don’t know anyone in PAP and just want to help, please donate, pass the word, and pray.

In faith and works,

The Haiti Relief Team; a joint venture of FIM, Kids Alive, and Urban Resurrection

Thanksgiving Festivities: The Saturday before Thanksgiving Day, the Carter Street Block Club hosted the “3rd Annual Thanksgiving Block Party.” The day was a complete success where many neighbors/families came out to enjoy the music, entertainment, food, and the company. It was especially nice see the neighbors on Carter Street not only come together to enjoy the event, but also come together to prepare for the day (i.e. cutting lawns, setting up tables and chairs, and preparing food). It was very encouraging to watch as neighbor cared for neighbor in serving food, watching after one another’s kids, and simply enjoying each other’s company.

A Typical Day in the Grove: As I was preparing to head home after Thanksgiving with my family in Georgia, my uncle asked me what a typical day looks like for me. Excited to share about ministry in Miami, I began to share, but by the time my brain fully processed the question, I realized that I had no idea how to answer. There literally are no typical days in my week. There are some activities such as prayer and learning community that are weekly interactions within our team, but the larger portion of my schedule is unpredictable. I could have long periods of uninterrupted administrative work, but most likely, I will spent chunks of time throughout the day resume building with community members or having a heart to heart on a walk to the corner store or learning the history of development in the community or playing with a friend’s son while she’s in a meeting or helping park cars or feeding a neighbor over conversation. There are so many people in the community with gifts, talents, and wisdom to offer that it is necessary to bend my time so that I am able to encounter them in the ways and places where relationship building can occur.

Sweet Home Chicago: “…that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ … So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:6-7) Although I didn’t grow up on Chicago, this city is especially endeared to me; it is the place where my memory stones stand. It is the place where God has grown me and molded me; it is the place where He has strengthened me spiritually; it is a place of spiritual refreshing for me. I just returned from a time of training and visiting in Chicago, so I tried my best to fill up on that spiritual refreshment while I was there. When I boarded the plane yesterday, I had the very same feeling that I typically have: there just wasn’t enough time. However, I believe that God orchestrated the limited interactions that did happen. There was coffee shop encouragement, strategic planning in pajamas, a laundry mat rap session, lunch room affirmation, updates in the office, commuter lounge reunions, catching up over dinner, and classroom prayer. God created various different opportunities in random places; just can’t put Him in a box. I left full.

For the Souls of West Coconut Grove: In 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul states, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” He was talking to the church of Corinth expressing his genuine and evident love for them. They ridiculed Paul for challenging them, yet Paul still counted their souls as worth the cost he would have to pay to see transformation in their hearts. God has totally convicted me in that I have not been willing to, “spend and be spent,” here in Miami as I have been serving here while my heart has been back in Chicago (something I thought I was past). I need to remember that God did not call me to Chicago; he called me to Himself the Alpha and Omega, Creator of all things, Savior of my soul, and Author of my future. In the past few days, I have contemplated what it would mean for me to, “spend and be spent,” for the souls of West Coconut Grove.

Please pray that God would:
• Show me how to “spend and be spent” for the souls of West Coconut Grove
• Help me to develop and execute an effective plan for support raising
• Show me how to pursue relationships on Franklin Avenue
• Direct Urban Resurrection as we navigate through the many layers of transition in this season

Thank you!

Kristy ~ Apprentice

The intention of our Change of Art program this summer was not only to teach the youth of the West Grove art forms such as hip hop, photography, street art and t shirt design it was created in order to empower the youth into forming entreprenurial businesses using those arts. By doing this we not only strengthen the youth’s skills we create and stimulate jobs in our community and build the over all fabric of the neighborhood. We hope to officially launch two businesses from the summer. These businesses will be under Urban Resurrection’s leadership and all proceeds will go back to the youth artists’ education and into the Grove itself.

Soul View was established to empower the youth ages 8-18 in Coconut Grove through photography. Soul View nurtures fresh individual perspectives of Coconut Grove through the students’ eyes and creates a passion for the community through photography. Soul View hopes to establish a legitimate creative platform for the young photographers that the community and local neighbors can see by publishing and displaying both collective and individual media. Ultimately, Soul View would like to see community transformation through redeeming a hopeful perspective and sustaining growth in the young community.

So with that in mind our crew headed out to the DAC event and the youth were able to share their perspective with many of Miami’s urban dwellers and allowed the U Rez staff to network and share our vision with many of the organizations and businesses that were represented there. We were even offered 6 new venues for the “impressive” youth of Soul View to showcase and sell their photography.

If you would like to see some of their photos or order them (they are all for sale)  please email us at info@urbanresurrection.org and we will get you some samples of their work. Also if you are interested in helping us with some start up capital for the Soul View business please contact Elaina Vazquez at Elaina@urbanresurrection.org OR donate on line via the GIVE button on this website.

Oh and we want to give a big shout out to Downtown Athletic Club for their hospitality and eagerness to help us out!

Skilled artists will be teaching:
-Threads (T-shirt designing/creating)
-Hip Hopology (Hip Hop writing, mixing, producing, etc..)
-Street Art (murals)
-Soul View (Photography)
-The New Entrepreneur (starting artistic businesses)

Each class will include:
-History of the art form
-God within that art form
-Using that art form for social justice/change
-How to create jobs using that art form

We, our teachers, and the youth are excited about this BUT
IN ORDER TO DO THIS WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We need both monetary and in-kind donations.
Here is the list of what we need:
-12 point and shoot digital cameras (3.2 megapixels or more, including chargers if rechargeable)
-Journals/sketch pads
-Computer and Monitor (22”)
-Projector
-1-3 Manual Cameras (Canon Digitial Rebel or Higher quality
-Lenses for cameras (Tamron 18-250mm, Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Sigma 70-300)
- 12 Pocket-sized dictionaries/thesaurus
- Black books (for sketching)
- Prisma pencils
- Quality Spray Paint (ie,rostoleum krylon)
- DVD: The Future of Graffiti
- Spray paint caps
- Masks (disposable to cover mouth and nose from paint fumes)
- Plastic gloves (surgical)
- 10 silk screening units
- 10 squeegees for printing
- Silkscreening fabric paint (that comes in jars)
- Transparent sheets of Acetate, either roles or already cut down sheets (8.5×11, 11×17).
- Plywood (8×4 ft.)
- 2×4’s (12ft.)
- Screws
- Paint and brushes. Variety of paints (indoor/outdoor house paint, acrylic paints)
- Brushes (variety of sizes)
- Rollers

To donate any of these items or money for them, please contact me at: Laurie@urbanresurrection.org or give through our site link “Give”.  Just add a note designating it for BEATS.

20th Annual Conference

Christian Community Development Association (CCDA)

October 22–26

Hyatt Regency and James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami.

Visit CCDAmiami08.org

CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) is the premier US organization of church-related community-serving programs. It is an ethnically diverse, national network of thousands of Christians, both individuals and groups, who work together to mobilize spiritual and physical resources in and for their communities through the church in a community-determined way that is redemptive.

Each year at our annual conference, CCDA members and others of goodwill gather to learn from each other through teaching and workshops, discover new resources, network among friends and new acquaintances, worship together and visit ministries to see what God is doing locally.

As hosts for the Conference, we would like to welcome you ahead of time to our city and to let you know that we will be working diligently to make the 2008 CCDA conference meaningful and fun for attendees.

I was also able to go to the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative 2nd National conference. I (Michael) am a part of this initiative that pours training into young emerging leaders in the urban ministry settings around the USA with the idea that in doing so they will reach more effectively into the urban centers and strengthen leadership therein got the future. I am one of 12 nominated and then chosen from Miami there are currently four other groups taking the 15th month course and they are from Cleavland, Chicago, South Chicago, and Indianapolis. It was a great time and one that really give practical ways to improve your personal and ministry lives.

Don’t worry I will be putting some pics on here soon I am sure you all want to see the kids more than my ramblings.