Dear Friends,

South High School

Recently we’ve had the great privilege (and adventure) of seeing our community development focus in the Park Ave neighborhood extend its reach a bit deeper into the neighborhood of South Omaha (for those of you not familiar with urban Omaha, the neighborhoods of Park Ave and South Omaha border each other and share many similar characteristics). Much of this has come about naturally via a budding relationship with St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, located directly across the street from South High. The initiative emerging from this relationship is a comprehensive project dedicated to supporting the teen parents, comprising approximately 80 mothers, who attend South High.

A truism that has been proven time and again through our experiences at MCD is that Christian Community Development not only builds community for those in need, it also builds community among us, the Church. In the words of Fr. Ron Whitmer, pastor of St. Martin’s:

It is this mission that has drawn us together, to make available our various resources and talents. It is this mission that may also be opening us up to a deeper dimension of our action, to awakening in us a sense that we are embarked upon a work to become “community builders, the ’seed carriers’ of the new culture….” It is the sense of mission that will guide us and sustain us as we proceed.

Prior to South High’s Principal identifying their need, we were isolated from not only the teen parents and their families in their situations, but also from one another. We were then like bits and pieces, fragments, in waiting.  However, once the articulation of this need was presented, we had an opportunity for coming together, for a mission and for being a community in formation.

Thank you for being a part of “transforming communities through community” with us. Our prayer is that you too would experience a deeper sense of community among the ever-growing body of Christ through your partnership with us in this work!

Christian Gray, Emissary

The Vine

Why do I live in Omaha? That’s the question I often ask myself…for various reasons. A few years ago I couldn’t believe I was actually putting some roots down in the city I promised myself I would never live in, having grown up nearby. After traveling off and on for a couple years, I was confident that all signs were pointing to me living elsewhere. And then a couple of years ago, as I was sitting in 1316 Jones St. on a Sunday morning with one figurative foot in the Omaha door, and one definitely out, my pastor said something that forced me to consider forcing that door shut. He said that God knew before my birth that I would be here now, and that He has me here now for a purpose. A purpose of living where I am, right now, to bring Him glory and to seek the coming of His Kingdom.

The past few weeks, we at the Vine, along with local church Coram Deo, have been studying the Theology of the City, seeking to understand how to glorify our King in the here and now, right where we are, where He has led us. To consider what it means to be a follower of Jesus living in and for Omaha.

Reading through a segment the Old Testament (1 Samuel through 2 Chronicles) in the previous couple of months, I see myself in the pages of the Kings who generation after generation failed to live for God’s glory, and instead built, worshipped and served their own kingdom. And I see our God who stands by in heartbreak, aching for His children to return to His covenantal love and to seek His Kingdom first.

Loving our city is clearly integral to pursuing the Kingdom of God, as well as an inseparable component of loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). In his book, The Beloved Community, Charles Marsh sums up this call and struggle well:

But I can and should struggle with my obligation as a Christian to view the city in all its forms and conditions through the eyes of the stranger, the excluded, and the poor. Christian reflection on the inner city must emerge out of relationships: the bonds of commitment to Christ and his peace for the poor. In Christ’s fellowship with the poor, in his identification with the depths of suffering through the cross, the cries from the depths of the inner city are also his, and the plea that all things might be made right becomes a yearning in the Spirit of God for God’s reign of peace.

Jodi Cooper, Community Coordinator

Special Thanks!

We want to extend great appreciation and thanks to Robyn Charles and her friends who sent in squares to compile beautiful and warm blankets to hand out to some of our friends here at MCD! We appreciate your creativity and generosity. You can visit Robyn’s website here and if you are interested in helping make some more blankets, she is going to begin collecting squares in July, so please contact her for more information.

Additionally, eBay Foundation recently awarded a GIVE Team grant of $5000 to Mosaic Community Development. The grant was made possible as a result of Amber Paulsen, an eBay Inc. employee, who recommended the organization for funding. Funds will support the Life on the Brick and Together Forward ministries!

Amber Paulsen and Christian Gray

eBay Foundation’s GIVE Team program encourages employees to become involved with and advocate funding for nonprofit organizations that work to improve the quality of life for all. A competitive program through with grant decisions are made by an employee committee, eBay Foundation GIVE Team grants are only made to organizations recommended for funding by the local committee.

Thank you Amber, for recommending us, and to Amanda Chipman, for compiling and submitting the grant on our behalf! MCD plans to update our meager kitchen by purchasing a dishwasher! We know all of you who have worked in our kitchen will be just as excited as we are.

Upcoming Events @ The Mosaic

March 20th, 7:00pm: Concert w/ The little Nasties, Eastern Turkish, and Trash.

March 21st, 7:00pm: Concert w/ Officially Terminated, Youth and Tear Gas, and the Shidiots.

March 28th, Noon to 6:00pm: Craft Mafia Art Show

April 3rd and 4th, 7:00pm-10:30pm: Illumination Street Art Auction