Mission Bend UMC–Loving Neighbor In Alief

 Mission Bend United Methodist Church

Mission Bend United Methodist is a partner with TMO in our collaborative efforts to bring stability to families in Alief.  The following is a brief description by Carrie Leader, associate intern,  of the churches efforts in Alief.  We are proud of their continuing efforts to love God and love Neighbor.  Please pray for their continued efforts.

 

Mission Bend United Methodist Church adopted Holmquist Elementary School in Alief ISD as their primary outreach last year.  As we deepen this relationship, we are looking for ways to make lasting positive impacts on the families who send their children to this school.

We are committed to raising funds so that every child who is eligible for the Backpack Buddy Program can take home food each and every weekend this school year.  Last year, Houston Food Bank provided enough food for 50 children.  Holmquist had over 230 eligible children on their list.  We, as a church, created our own “bags” so that half of the children took food home every weekend.  This required enough food for 60 bags and we had over 20 faithful volunteers who contributed time every week to assemble the backpacks (which we also provided) and deliver each week.  We had volunteers pick up empty backpacks and we continued this cycle every week, beginning in December.  We had a number of other members who faithfully contributed monies and food for the initiative.

This year, we are proud to collaborate with Westside Homeless Partnership to bring self-sufficiency to ten Holmquist families.  This is a pilot program for WHP as they look to expand into Alief ISD and possibly into Katy ISD.  They have a tremendous success rate for the past twenty years they have worked in Spring Branch ISD.  With self-sufficiency comes stability for the children who have been subjected to frequent moves during their school year, disrupting their education and their social connections.

Have You Ever Played Chicken Foot?

One of my fondest memories of my grandchildren, was when one of them would come over to our house to spend the night and we’d all play chicken foot.  If you’ve never played chicken foot with a four year old you haven’t lived.  It’s about the most mindless game in the world that the whole family can play.  You can play it in about twenty minutes and when you’re playing with a four or five year old you’ll more than likely be making up new rules as you go along.

Working in the schools, churches and apartment projects in Alief has been eye opening in terms of engaging families.  Low-income families have many hurdles to navigate. Other than making enough money to make ends meet here are a few of the challenges:

1. They often do not spend quality time with their children.
2. They do not have a family or community support system.
3. They do not have a church home.
4. They may move as many as three or four times a year and may spend time as a “couch surfer” while living with an acquaintance until they have saved enough money to rent another apartment.
5. There is very little stability in their lives
6. They are not engaged in their children’s schoolwork or the school.

With many families having little or no support, we wondered how to engage them with the goal of creating a more stable community environment.  The schools have  family centers which is a primary way the schools engage parents.  But most of the schools have less than a dozen parents that attend regularly.   That’s not a condemnation of the Family Engagement program as much as it is a reality of working several jobs resulting in families not being able to attend functions during the day.  So, we decided that if the parents couldn’t come to the school, we’d go to them.  Thus, the family game nights.  So, what does a family night with board games have to do with creating stability?

1. We’re hoping that parents, along with their children, will be engaged in fun activities that don’t include television and video games and that will build a closer bond between children and parents.
2. We’re hoping that families will meet other families in their project that will be conducive to healthy relationships. In so doing, it is our hope that families will not move as much if there are community ties.
3. TMO and member congregations will work with parents to develop leadership skills among the parents and engage parents in discussing ways to build bonds with their children’s school and to affirm that these families are not victims but have worth.
4. It is our prayer that church members of supporting congregations will be able to be a positive and loving influence on these families.

For the next two Sunday’s Memorial Drive United Methodist Church is collecting gently used board games and puzzles that will take no longer than an hour to play.  Four Square Fellowship will be conducting the sessions.  This will be a continuation of their efforts at Alief Square Apartments which in the past has been primarily with just the children.   As is stated above. the goal is not just to play games but also will be to foster community and develop closer relationships with one another and the schools.  So far, there has been a wonderful outpouring from MDUMC contributing games.  So much so, that we probably will have the ability to do the same project with another apartment or two.  The only thing lacking to make that happen is to have supportive congregations or church groups to take on the responsibility of organizing and facilitating the program.  TMO will train facilitators and offer input and support.  And if you don’t know how to play chicken foot we’ll all sit down and figure out how to do it together.

I’m also looking for Mexican Bingo.  I understand that this is a big item in the Hispanic community.   

Pray for us all as we embark on this innovative endeavor.

What Kind of World Does God Want?

This is an effort by Abiline, Tx. to develop and bring the community together to live into “loving God, loving neighbor. TMO has as one of its goals to create community where people can not only develop meaningful relationships, but in the process transform their communities.

I Lift My Lamp Beside The Golden Door

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

by, Emma Lazarus

Central American Children hopeful they can stay

Since humans walked upright and decided that there was a better home than where they were, there has been migration.  Not everyone agrees on when humans began migrating from Africa but it is theorized that the first effort to move was 1.8 million years ago.  The real migration came in waves starting about 80,000 years ago and continues today.  In most cases evidence shows that if the area was inhabited, this movement was disruptive to the environment and to other humans.

Immigrant children hopeful of being able to stay

As a result of poverty, oppression and lack of resources, this disruptive migration continues today.  And with conditions throughout the world today, there is little evidence that this will change any time soon.  Whether it was the drawing of new boundaries  in the Arabian peninsula by the English and French in the early 20th century or the support of oppressive regimes in Central America by the United States, history shows that this kind of disruption has far reaching results and is often impacted by outside influences.

Our current situation on our southern border with thousands of children coming from Central America seeking the American dream seems to be a problem with no solution.  For some the solution seems easy.  As one Facebook contributor wrote, “When you see them coming across the border, have your gun ready and just tell them to turn back, and if they don’t obey just solve the problem in the “Texas way”.  When asked what he meant by that, he was unable to give an answer, saying only that he didn’t mean that he would shoot them.  This is a complex problem and is not just the U.S.’s problem.  It was born in those Central American countries that developed an oligarchy culture where the rich hid behind high fences and had personal militia that allowed the cartels to act with impunity and where the politicians and the church were in the pockets of the rich.  And when that system seemed to be threatened, the U.S. aligned themselves with the oligarchies and came to protect what were perceived as U.S. interests which resulted in keeping the peasants poor and hopeless.

As we sit here today as Americans, we see the thousands of children streaming across the border.  We know that we cannot just send them all back without a plan that is based on some kind of compassion.  Maybe they keep coming because we’ve done too good a job of selling the world that we live behind the “golden door” and that it’s a land of opportunity.  And maybe our American poverty and lack of good education and healthcare for the poor is better that what they come from.  And maybe we should tell them that there are those who would still restrict the vote to our citizens.  But I’m not ready to advocate that.  As I look at Alief I see the positive possibilities of this wonderful land of opportunity, where immigrants came to America in small boats with only the clothes on their back, where persons walked hundreds of miles in the desert after spending years in a refugee camp, or as a young child riding on the top of a train for over 1500 miles only to be raped, kidnapped, or killed. Even with the diversity in Alief, it works, which gives me hope that what exists in Alief can work elsewhere.

The challenges of human migration have been with us since our human beginnings, but I hope that in our current crisis we acknowledge that we are all God’s children and that we are able to find solutions that show compassion for the sacredness of all human life.  We will not find a perfect solution but there’s got to be something better than the “Texas way”.   As a Texan, I’m  appalled  and insulted by that characterization.  We can do better than that.

The Fire on the Altar Must Be Kept Burning–It Must Not Go Out

The other night I was privileged to be invited by my good friend Pastor Alaba Obiri of the Foursquare Church in Alief to attend the monthly meeting of Greater Houston Ministers Fellowship.  This group is composed largely of Ministers in Nigerian Pentecostal congregations throughout Houston.  There are over 50 of these congregations in Harris County.  Since I had never been to a Pentecostal service, much less a Nigerian Pentecostal congregation, I had no idea what to expect.  My purpose in going was to introduce pastors to TMO and invite them to a meeting on June 21 to discuss common concerns and see whether the group would be interested in working with and becoming a part of TMO.   One of the pastors offered a sermon based upon Leviticus 6: 12-13  which states “The Fire on the Altar Must Be Kept Burning–It Must Not Go Out; The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”  Even though I have been involved in the church most of my life, I cannot ever remember hearing a sermon based on this scripture.  It didn’t seem like it made much sense.  Most sermons I hear have a context for me to relate, but it didn’t seem like there was that kind of context.  As I drove home and reflected on the sermon, it struck me that the sermon was addressed to the pastors who live in an alien world far from their native home and who are called by God to keep the fire burning in their congregations.  That was the context.  To me, that would be an awesome and frightening experience.  And even though the context of my experience may be different, I share in the experience and understanding that we as creations of sacred worth, must acknowledge the supremacy of the creator God and keep the fire on the altar burning.  As Christians, we also accept that Christ was the supreme sacrifice and that through his sacrifice He makes us whole.  We may have differing views of sacrifice but most of us would agree that sacrifice is an act of worship, thanksgiving and praise.  Praise and thanksgiving was definitely in the sanctuary that night.  And when we accept Christ’s life, death, and resurrection we are called to “keep the fire burning”.   Possibly one reason the context of the sermon was not readily apparent to me was that today in western culture our tendency is to see ourselves as being entitled more than focused on sacrifice or worship and thanksgiving.  Acknowledgement of God’s supremacy and the importance of Jesus sacrifice has lost much of its meaning and impact.  For many, this affluence or the expectation of affluence, directs us from what the scripture is saying and we neither see the need for keeping the fire of God’s presence burning or the need for worshiping God, or giving  thanksgiving or praise.  This is the issue that Israel has had to deal with throughout its history and one that even we mainline churches, living in our secular culture have to face.   How do you maintain faith in the presence of the dominant culture that does not see the need for either recognition of God’s presence or for a sense of sacrifice?   For me, it was a good evening and it made me realize how important it is to practice our faith in different ways that express our traditions and cultural contexts.   But it also pointed out that if we want to live together in this world, we must keep the fire burning on the altar acknowledging the power of creator God.            

Who Is My Neighbor?

TMO builds relationships that enhance people’s lives

In Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan, he shows how one man, the Samaritan,  goes out of his way to not only give aid to the man who was beaten and robbed by thieves, but who went the extra mile to care for the man. We think that crime is bad in many of our cities and neighborhoods, but the Samaritan story shows that even in Jesus time crime was a concern.  We also know that this is not just a story about crime but it’s also about helping any person in need.  Coupled with the stories of the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus’ healings, we see that Jesus was not just about preaching God’s will but he was also using the example of relationality  to help us understand that the gospel is about community based on relationships.

Robert Putnam in his book, “Bowling Alone” laments that institutions such as churches, schools, community organizations, and fraternal organizations are losing their influence in our communities.  The reasons for this includes distrust of the other, radical individualism, social mobility, fear of change in our midst, and a desire to hold onto what has been in the past.  This results in isolation, fear and apathy.  He further states that in the past, power in these institutions existed due to “connections among individuals–social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arises from them”.  Putnam goes on to say that this ability to trust and work together, over time, requires a certain amount of person to person contact  to develop trust and mutual understanding.  It cannot be created instantaneously or en masse.  This is difficult, if not impossible, in a fluid society.  Simply put, we don’t know our neighbor.

TMO has been in existence in Houston for over 30 years and in some neighborhoods where we have had member religious organizations, they have moved through three or four iterations of change during that time.  In one community church, the congregation originally was all white, then it evolved into an all black church, then the community around it became primarily Hispanic, and later the neighborhood became a gentrified white townhouse community.  Some of the congregation did not leave the church, but left the neighborhood and moved elsewhere.  They now go to church in the church plant and after church they go back home.  As a result there is little interaction between members and the community at large.

Love God, Love Neighbor

So, because of this isolation the majority of the congregation knows few of its neighbors. But, this lack of relationships is not just about isolation.  In Matthew 5: 13-16 Jesus speaks of his followers as being the salt that sustains the world and gives the world it meaning.  This saltiness is both individual and communal. We are called to be pro-active in our ministry which starts with our relationship to God and then moves to those who are also called but who have not been focused on Christ’s message.   And if the salt loses its taste it will be cast out and trodden under foot.  Jesus in these verses also states that we are the light of the world and not to hide our light under a bushel basket.  In our world, that more and more values relationships less and less, Christians are called into relationship, first with the community of Christ and then those others who need to learn what it means to be loved as a neighbor.

One of TMO’s goals is to build relationships within communities that will help provide an atmosphere where trust and reciprocity can exist; where persons can feel accepted and that are valued as children of God.  But TMO’s work is not always about Kumbaya.  Communities have tensions and stress.  And for a community to flourish  relationships need to be strong enough to endure the differences in interests. TMO offers people the opportunity to develop the leadership skills necessary to be full participants in society.  This  requires training and the development of leaders to focus on issues effecting the lives of persons in the community.

How then do we build relational community?  The primary way is for us to develop more relationships within our sphere of influence as well as across those lines of influence.  A few suggestions are:

1. Join an ongoing small group such as a Sunday school class, Bible study, school group, or civic association.

2.  Mentor a child or adult.

3.  Get to know your neighbor.  Have you ever noticed that people who walk their dogs have a whole set of acquaintances?

4.  If you live in an apartment project encourage people to have building get togethers.

5.  Develop ongoing service projects that require interaction between those who serve and those who are served.

These are just a few ideas and I know there are many more.  Give us examples of what you’ve done in the comments section.

The Church dedicated a peace pole on 12-22-13

With the school year winding down, TMO will be focusing on building more relationships not only in Alief but throughout Houston.  So far this spring we have had a very successful “pressures on families” campaign and we’ll meet on June 21 at 10am at Resurrection Catholic church at 915 Zoe to discuss our findings, particularly in the area of crime prevention.

In Alief, we will be expanding our relational footprint by visiting churches and civic groups to develop more relationships.  We need a few gregarious persons who like to meet new people to help with this.  For more information leave a comment or email me at franklinolson@sbcglobal.net.

Salvation Comes to Alief →

The Salvation Army, That Is

New Salvation Army center–Alief

In a number of articles about Alief I have lamented that their seem to be a dearth of strong Christian congregations that serve the people living in the Alief Community. As I have reflected on this, I realize that this is not completely true.  Among those making an impact are Higher Dimension ministry, Church Without Walls, several Catholic churches, several large Pentecostal churches and Santa Maria Virgen Episcopal church.  Several congregations such as Grace United Church of Christ, Mission Bend United Methodist and Four Square Fellowship are either members of TMO or have a close alliance to TMO and are actively working in the schools and other outreach to the community.  Memorial Drive UMC as a member of TMO has assumed a key role in working with schools in organizing and developing leadership among parents and churches.  In addition to these Christian congregations, there are several very influential congregations of other faiths including Buddhist, Moslem, and Hindu congregations.  Even though not a formal congregation, there is also the Chinese community center that serves not only the Alief area but also the entire Houston community.  I’m sure i’ve missed a couple that are doing some very fine work, and I apologize for leaving them out.

Salvation Army Dedication–Alief

But now there is a new congregation in the community that is already making a big foot print in Alief.  It’s the Alief Salvation Army center and church on Cook Rd. just east of Beechnut.  Yesterday, I went to the dedication and opening of the center and I was very impressed.  The center is multi-purpose with a worship center, a large kitchen and serving area, a gymnasium, about a dozen classrooms and a large area behind the facility for soccer or other field sports.  It’s all first class.

My prejudices about The Salvation Army goes back to my childhood when I would see the donation kettles in front of stores at Christmas with the uniformed bell ringer collecting for the Army.  I always thought they looked a bit funny.  I knew they were doing some good, but I didn’t know exactly what.  When I was a young man, our family business had a man who worked for my father.  He was from a very prominent family here in Houston and was a recovering alcoholic.  During the time he worked for us, he became my mentor and introduced me to parts of the underbelly of Houston that I had never been exposed.  Even though he never took me to a Salvation Army facility, he often referenced them by saying that their motto was “drop a nickel on the drum and you’ll be saved.”  This of course was a reference to their street bands that would play on the corners in seedy parts of town near their shelters.  Having never been to a shelter I didn’t know whether this was true or not, but it was always good for a laugh. However, as I got to know him better I learned that The Salvation Army had been a life saver for him when he was going through some pretty dark times in his life.

Salvation Army Dedication

As I looked at the audience at the dedication, many dressed in their military type uniforms, I wondered how many of them were like my friend Seymour who had been touched by Christ through the efforts and love of the Salvation Army.  At one point in the program the Women’s Choir sang “Thank You, Thank You.”  Not a one of them was on key, but they showed great enthusiasm in their spirit filled rendition that was sung in multiple languages that expressed the multi-ethnic aspect of the  day.

The Salvation Army was started in 1865 in London England by Catherine and William Booth.  It comes out of mainline Methodism and its mission is to help the poor, destitute and hungry.  Whereas Methodism has its roots in that ministry and continues to outreach to the poor, it has evolved into being more of a middle class church.  The Salvation Army has pretty much stuck with its original mission to the poor.  The new facility in Alief will be focused on the spiritual and physical needs of persons living in Alief which is not always true of other Alief churches whose congregations live out of the community.

Not only will it offer a worship experience on Sunday, the center will also offer Bible studies for children and adults, and programs  such as music, choir, martial arts, and after school programs for children.  The center will be led by Captains Stephen and Sujung Na.

Multi purpose facilities

This new facility will be a welcome addition to Alief and we look forward to noting their impact on the community for the spiritual and physical health of thousand of people.  God bless.

The American Dream is Alive and Well in Alief →

Alief Vietnam War Memorial

Each afternoon at Lee’s Sandwich shop on Bellaire in Alief old men and some not so old men gather to play a game that looks a bit like a cross between checkers, go, and dominoes.  Most of the men are Vietnamese and they spend hours talking, laughing and playing.  In spite of many of these men being in a new country since 1975 they still hold onto some of their past that  bonds them together as community.  For most of them and their children and their grandchildren  being in America is a blessing.  For most of them there is a strong belief in the American dream; that if you work hard you will succeed.  Success may not be interpreted like many Americans.  It may include having a home, a car and savings but the main indicator of success is that their children get a good education.  This is not just something believed and practiced by the Vietnamese immigrants in Alief.  I would suggest that for most of the 85 nationalities represented in Alief that hope for their children is the prime motivator.

Vietanmese men play this game for hours

In Robert Nisbet’s book “The Quest for Community” he asserts that twentieth century western literature and philosophy is dominated  by  ideas of disorganization, disintegration, decline, insecurity, breakdown, instability, and the like.  At first glance institutions such as church, family, and neighborhood are riddled with the cancer of isolation and disfunction.  At first glance we might look at Alief and make those same conclusions.  All one has to do is look at the poverty, crime and isolation to come to those conclusions.  Even though success for immigrants is a hard fought battle, for many the results are astounding.  One such story is that of Richard Nguyen, the city councilman for Alief.  His family came to the U.S. in 1975.  After going to school in Ohio his family came to Houston’s Alief.  According to him there were times in those early years when he was homeless but he finally landed a job in the Solid Waste division with the city of Houston and worked there for nine years.  He saved, made investments and was active in civic activities.  Last year he was elected to city council.  He continues to be the hard working advocate for his community by attending community activities and helping his constituents as best he can.

Alief’s a booming economic force

In Alief there are thousands of these stories that disprove Nisbet’s thesis of negativity.  So, why is this story the rule rather the exception for the immigrant in Alief.  The process of achievement is best witnessed in the area of education.  In a 2012 study by John Hopkins professor Dr. Lingxin Hao, et al, Hao made some conclusions about success of “first” generation immigrant children including Hispanic children about why they might be successful in school. There are several reasons why foreign-born immigrant children show these educational and social advantages, often referred to as the “immigrant paradox” by educators and sociologists. “The first factor is family,” explains Dr. Hao. “Immigrants who come to the U.S. are self-selective; they overcome difficulties to create a better life, and foreign-born immigrant parents transmit this motivation, values and expectations to their children,” she explains. Children absorb these expectations and their actions demonstrate a ‘mom and dad made all this sacrifice for me, I better do okay’ type of behavior. The second factor is the tight-knit interaction within immigrant communities. A low-income immigrant parent might not know advanced math or science, for example, but he or she will point to someone else in the immigrant community “who has made it,” explains Dr. Hao, and point that high achiever to their children, expecting they will do well. The third factor is not about the parents, but about the immigrant children themselves. Foreign-born immigrant children seem to benefit from the “dual culture” inherent in having been born in a different country, absorbing those cultural values, and then coming here and navigating a different culture. “The 1.5 generation is able to combine the best of two cultures to navigate the educational system and the labor market,” says Dr. Hao. The study also finds Latino immigrant children do not lag behind Asian immigrant children, provided some factors are similar. The more important factors are two parents versus one parent households, better-educated parents, and better school districts, including those which offer more advanced classes, lower class sizes and higher attendance levels. “We found children are very constrained by their educational context; some schools don’t even offer high-level courses, yet 1.5 generation children will still reach higher, even in underperforming schools,” says Dr. Hao.

Last year TMO did an informal survey of about 200 mostly Hispanic immigrant parents and asked them what their hopes and dreams were for their children and almost all of them said that they wanted their children to go to college and be successful and productive adults. Immigrants often come to Alief with nothing more than the shirt on their backs.  They also bring many of their customs, religions and traditions.  But most of all, they come here with them the dream of what the possibilities are, to be a part of the American Dream.  And so it is.

I am somebody and I am a success

Can Public Schools Close the Achievement Gap? →

For over fifty years, since desegregation,  our country has recognized that there was an educational achievement gap between white children and children of color.  In the past few years that belief has changed somewhat to say that there is a distinct achievement gap between those children who are above the poverty level and those children living in poverty.  States like Texas have addressed the issue in numerous ways using testing and associated educational interventions in order to move the needle to more successful outcomes.  But the only conclusion that we can point to is that affluence is more of an indicator of academic success than is race.  And in these years since 1960, we have tried numerous ways of combating drop out  rates, underachievement and deteriorating public schools.  As a result we continue to point fingers at such areas as teachers unions, poor parenting, lack of funding for education, etc. etc.  At the end of the day the one common denominator for lack of success seems to be poverty.

But there may be clues about school achievement among low income families that schools may or may not be about to address.  In a 2012 study by John Hopkins professor Dr. Lingxin Hao, et al made some conclusions about success of “first” generation immigrant children including Hispanic children about why they might be successful in school.

There are several reasons why foreign-born immigrant children show these educational and social advantages, often referred to as the “immigrant paradox” by educators and sociologists.
“The first thing is family,” explains Dr. Hao. “Immigrants who come to the U.S. are self-selective; they overcome difficulties to create a better life, and foreign-born immigrant parents transmit this motivation, values and expectations to their children,” she explains. Children absorb these expectations and their actions demonstrate a ‘mom and dad made all this sacrifice for me, I better do okay’ type of behavior.
The second thing is the tight-knit interaction within immigrant communities. A low-income immigrant parent might not know advanced math or science, for example, but he or she will point to someone else in the immigrant community “who has made it,” explains Dr. Hao, and point that high achiever to their children, expecting they will do well.  The third factor is not about the parents, but about the immigrant children themselves. Foreign-born immigrant children seem to benefit from the “dual culture” inherent in having been born in a different country, absorbing those cultural values, and then coming here and navigating a different culture. “The 1.5 generation is able to combine the best of two cultures to navigate the educational system and the labor market,” says Dr. Hao.

The study also finds Latino immigrant children do not lag behind Asian immigrant children, provided some factors are similar. The more important factors are two parents versus one parent households, better-educated parents, and better school districts, including those which offer more advanced classes, lower class sizes and higher attendance levels. “We found children are very constrained by their educational context; some schools don’t even offer high-level courses, yet 1.5 generation children will still reach higher, even in underperforming schools,” says Dr. Hao.

Can schools provide this kind of environment?  Possibly, but only in a limited way.  In 2012-13 in Alief as well as other Texas schools only about 70% of children passed the STAAR test, the benchmark for a districts success.  The key component in Dr. Hao’s study is family stability.  How then, does a community address the issues surrounding family instability.  We have discussed some of these issues in this blog.  Such issues as raising the minimum wage, affordable housing, adult education, and community safety are key components.  But we also need to consider the spiritual component.   In TMO’s work in Alief we have noted that most people do not attend a church, mosque, or temple.  Families have few roots and connections to those institutions that can help create stability.  Religious institutions may give food and clothing assistance but offer little in the way of spiritual nurturing.  In some cases its as if the religious institution does not want the unwashed and dysfunctional to pass through their doors on the day of worship.  Families are isolated within the community with few connections.

These are a few of the reasons why TMO sees its role to not only address the achievement gap through strengthening the Family Centers in AISD but also developing relationships with other institutions such as congregations and bringing them together to address multiple concerns where developing constructive community power to act for change is important.  Emphasis should always focus on the sacredness of all life from our faith traditions, but to then address these issues that inhibit persons from achieving all the Creator has ordained.  This is a huge job and TMO is always looking for leaders and religious institution that are willing to study and consider this multifaceted challenge and see that acting together is in each of our interests and in the case of congregations is a part of our calling as a faith community.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep →

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Bless………….

Over a thousand children homeless in Alief this Christmas

As children, many of us prayed this prayer at bedtime.  Even after I was older and praying more mature prayers, I still prayed my “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. I knew it was childish and I’m embarrassed to say how long I held onto it but it held a very special place for me and gave a sense of safety.  I can remember that as a child I was very concerned about the sentence “If I should die before I wake.”  I can remember asking my mother whether I was going to die in my sleep.  Even with her reassurance, I still worried that I might die in my sleep.  Combined with my fear of the dark and boogie men it made bed time a bit uncertain.  Needless to say, at age 73 I did wake up in my bed and nothing got me.

Not all children can have the assurance that I did and that most of us who prayed that pray, did.  Over the years, in my work with TMO I have heard numerous stories of children who had to sleep in the bath tub because of guns being discharged in the apartments where they lived; or the stories of children who have had to move out of their apartment in the middle of the night to keep the landlord from taking the family’s possessions and then living in their car or in a cardboard box for days, weeks, or months; or the stories of children who are abandoned by their parents and not knowing where they will lay their head the next night; or the stories of children living in the villages and countries where we do mission work who are kidnapped at gunpoint and required to do horrible things to family and neighbors or made to sell their bodies and having no control over their young lives.

Children should not have to live like this! They should know without qualification  that they are loved by the adults in their lives and that they are precious in the eyes of God.  As we work in our communities in mission and outreach we need to remember that what we’re trying to do is to ensure that children are kept safe from harm and that each morning they will awake knowing that the adults in their lives will be there to protect and love them and that those adults have been ordained by God to provide a safe, secure and supportive environment to grow and flourish.

In Houston, more and more children are being displaced from their homes without assurance that they will have a consistent place to lay their head.  As neighborhoods change more and more substandard apartments are being torn down.  This in of itself is not bad, but where will these families go.  In other parts of town thousands of apartments are proposed to be built, but these projects are often unwelcome by the surrounding communities.  And even if they are built the prices for these apartments are out of reach.  Because of families not being able to find affordable housing rolling migration continues from one neighborhood to another.  At the bottom of this rolling migration are the families of the poorest of poor.  As a result children may move three and four times a year.

After I had said my “lay me down to sleep” prayer, I always did the blessing part of the prayer, which consisted of praying for my parents, my grandmother, the dog, friends and anyone else that I could think of to make the prayer stretch the time before the lights went out.  I wonder, whether as an adult you and I could say the “lay me down to sleep” prayer and at the end, what children would we pray for that would awaken in the morning knowing they are safe, loved and secure?