Monday, May 23, 2005
Proposal
Part of the Word Made Flesh Servant Team is that I'm supposed to write a proposal for something that WMF could do in the future. Generally this means some new idea for ministry in the city you are in. The proposal doesn't have to be particularly long, but it does require some thought, research, and knowledge of the city. Those are three things I could probably handle, if only I had an idea. I only have two weeks left in Kolkata (plus one week on retreat elsewhere) and I have no idea what to propose. I feel like all I've really had much experience with is Nabo Jibon, and I don't see that there is a whole lot to propose for WMF to do at Nabo Jibon. Anyway, it's one of those things that's nagging at the back of my mind (while gradually moving forward) and I really wish I had some inspiration. I'll have a chance to talk with Kristin about it on Wednesday. I'm hoping she will have the inspiration I need. Please be praying for me. Oh, and if you have ideas just from reading my blog, please let me know. I wouldn't put it past myself to overlook something that's right there in my own blog.
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5 comments:
anything to be done in terms of job-creation for the unemployed? Education for the street kids? Orphanage/care for the street kids? Expanding contact health-care out into the city? Starting a non-resident health-care program? Ministry to prostitutes?
Thanks for the ideas Jon. Certainly those are issues I've been aware of, but not really involved in at all. I guess I feel like I want to write about something I feel like I've had enough direct involvement in while I was here to propose more out of that. Otherwise it'll end up being written on some highly theoretical level without much in the way of practical considerations. I mean, I could (and may end up) writing one of those, but it just seems like that would be less than I should be able to do after spending four months here.
An indigenous youth leadership development program though youth mentoring groups.
So…this is basically what Northwest Neighbors aims to do, and I thought of this in light of your last post, "kids helping kids". It would end up being a mix of well-adjusted, at-risk and possibly developmentally disabled youth, all being mentored together (both one-on-one and in small groups) to raise up the next generation of youth that will have the heart and the tools to see their city rightly and act appropriately according to God's heart.
Practically, not all the kids you raise up will become leaders, but with those few kids where it is possible, they will have a Godly perspective on the problems of the city and experience in working through those problems on a small scale through their mentoring groups.
This type of program seems important to me because fathering and mentoring (with longevity!!!) have deep significance in God's kingdom. It saddens me that such a small percentage of people have an earthly father to reveal to them the heart of our heavenly Father. Maybe this could be seen as reverse foster parenting for street kids (where the parents move to be with the kids, rather that displacing the kids to be with the parents)
I met a guy from Switzerland who was doing something similar to this in Manila, and it was very inspiring. I wrote about my initial responses here:
http://www.pomrehn.org/journal/2004/09/24/now-they-have-names-and-faces/
Thanks Greg,
I'll give that some thought. In talking with Kristin today she gave me another idea I may go with. I'm not sold on it yet though. I'll probably end up posting my proposal up here for anyone to read if they want. I'll certainly let you know what I end up doing.
The thing that jumped at me is the type of home for children that Tammy has, except in the city. In a way, it would overlap with Greg's idea of raising up the next generation of leaders. But what occurred to me, was that it would have father figures instead of just house mothers (also overlapping with Greg's idea). It might have to be for boys only, with adult men around. I'm not sure what the implications are in Indian culture.
But I know that loving father figures are very important in the development of a good image of God.
Love,
Mom
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