Panta Ta Ethne: Making Disciples of All Nations Stories
Urban Hope is raising up generations of young heroes – who are beating the odds by the grace of God – through creating safe places in our neighborhood to grow together into wholeness.
Urban Hope is a year-round inner city initiative of The Navigators, focused on bridging spiritual and economic resources to youth and families in the Walltown neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina. Our desire is to empower Walltown youth by developing their God-given potential through academics, sports, life skills, discipleship, and financial literacy while maintaining a foundation centered in Christ. Navigator, Bahari Harris is Urban Hope’s Executive Director.
One of the guiding philosophies of the Urban Hope ministry is “Productive People”. The ministry team wants to see neighborhoods filled with productive citizens. They are teaching youth to care about their community and their neighbors. They are being trained to incorporate the values of faith, hope and love in all that they do. The name "Urban Hope" was inspired by the book of Jeremiah (29:11) which focuses on God bringing hope to a people living in despair. Urban Hope wants to bring hope to a generation of young people that many have given up on. The ministry continues to expand and Bahari is excited to see God’s hand on making a permanent difference in the lives of under-privileged urban youth and their families.
Dancing Our Prayers - Lessons Learned from the Wiconi Pow Wow
Backing In: There is a story about a herd of elephants coming to a waterhole only to find another herd already there. The second herd arrives and backs into the water hole very slowly. As soon as they make physical contact with the first herd, the first herd makes room for them. If the second herd had charged in, a battle would be inevitable. Because they backed in there is mutual sharing at the waterhole. Backing in for our team means going to serve, learn and love.
Embrace our First Birth: God loves culture because He created it. He loves that cultures are unique. He planned for each of us to be born into our parent’s ethnic culture. Our Native friends are teaching us to embrace our “First Birth” as a gift from God. As we experience the joy of celebrating our first birth we are released to embrace it and discern how God is using it for His glory.
Dance Our Prayers: For First Nations people worship and prayer are physical as well as spiritual acts. In the Pow Wow circle we dance our prayers, we drum our prayers, we sing our prayers, and we offer sage smoke as a purifying prayer. There is a connection between the Creator God and His Creation that is very proper to express in this physical way. This has given us a bigger picture of God. He lives outside the walls of the church. He is alive and surrounds us with His beautiful creation. He is inviting us to enter into this beauty.
Asian American Ministries has been serving and learning at the Wiconi International Family Camp & Pow Wow since 2005.
