Phoenix, AZ - Emerging Desert

Emerging Desert

1. Convergence DVDs
   Awhile ago, Donald Miller had posted a free "Convergence" dvd sampler set that I sent in my information for, and I received it today. I thought maybe we could keep the dvd in mind post-Rohr as we're trying to decide on what to do next. There are only three sessions on the sampler dvd:
   1. Frustration and False Gods: Living in a Fallen World - Donald Miller, Dan Allender, and Tremper Longman
   2. Spiritual Practices: How to Meet God in the Everyday - Donald Miller and Lauren Winner
   3. Breaking the Ice: Learning to Share our Stories - Donald Miller and Phyllis Tickle
   
   Here's the link to the website (obviously the sampler is a promotional tool to have groups actually buy the full dvd sets, but nonetheless): www.allthingsconverge.com
   
   The dvds are made for "small groups," though considering that Donald Miller is at the forefront and considering the people he is conversing with, the term "small group" is probably just the literal/denotative meaning (minus the emotional/connotative meaning some of us may relate to the phrase). Anyway, I can preview them and let you know my personal opinion if you'd like, or I can just bring the dvd to EmDes next Sunday, or everyone can ignore that I even said anything - it's all good yo.
   
2. Bridging Gaps
   
   Laundry Love - March 4, 2010

   It was very busy. Matt (the gracious laundry owner) said he didn't think there were as many people, but I'm pretty sure we were as busy if not more busy than any night before. We went through about $170 in quarters helping with laundry for 10-12 families and bachelors who are having a hard time making ends meet.

   Matt usually helps out with repairs and making sure we can get the machines working correctly, but this time he also jumped in helping to pour laundry soap and plugging quarters. My daughter Carolyn came along and mostly took pictures and played with kids, but was also getting into helping plug quarters in machines as well. You can find some of her pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153703&id=199692411247&saved

   We think about living paycheck to paycheck while these families bring in a months worth of laundry so their kids can have some clean clothes to go to school. I noticed while folding clothes with Marciella (mother of family that is there every month) that much of their clothes are permanantly stained, tattered, and just kind of things most of our kids wouldn't wear. And yet the kids and family are happy, and the oldest boy loves to talk and gets excited when telling about his favorite TV programs. Love those kids.

   At one point in the evening, Oralia (who doesn't speak much Spanish either) was attempting to connect with Marciella (who doesn't speak English). I'm not sure I understand why, but Marciella pointed at me and told Oralia, he speaks Spanish. I was amazed...in my dozen words of Spanish vocabulary, just attempting to be kind, sharing the work of doing laundry, and smiling thru it all we somehow communicated enough that she thought I was speaking her language.

   There were many of the usual families there, which we love reconnecting with every month, but some new faces as well like this young mother with cutest little guy named Ricardo. While Joy (who stopped in after work late in the evening) and I helped her fold her laundry, our daughter Carolyn pushed Ricardo around the laundromat in one of the carts. During the folding, she asks us "why are you doing this?" Searching for answers, the best that came to mind was "we want to help".
   
3. Thursday Night Movie
   (Posting on behalf of Tessa:)
   
   Are any of the ladies interested in a girls night?
   
   This Thursday, in celebration of International Women's Day, a few theaters in the Phoenix area will be showing a film based on the bestseller Half the Sky.
   
   This inspiring book (I am assuming the movie as well) chronicles women from around the world that are able to turn their tragedy and oppression into opportunity and empowerment. The film begins at 7:30 at the AMC Mesa Grand 24 on Stapley.
   
   If anyone's interested, leave a comment and we'll get in touch! Hope to see you there!
   
4. Community
   
   
   Monday night a group of about 12 of us gathered at the Bamford’s for a discussion about our EmDes community – what this term means to us now and what it may mean to us in the future. All of us were in agreement that EmDes has been crucial to our “spiritual development,” even though many of us are not quite sure what that means. We view the group as an embracing and honest community in which we can feel safe with our struggles and questions but admitted (I would say as a whole) that we could use more depth in personal relationships between individuals.
   
   While most of us connect at EmDes on Sunday, we would like to be able to develop, or at least encourage, more intimate relationships. The dilemma, though, comes when we have to try to figure what our “purpose” is. (I apologize for the words in quotes, but I can’t think of alternative words without traces of possible IC connotations, so I put them in quotes to make me feel less cheesy). Are we going deep or wide? We want to be welcoming to newcomers, but how do we do this and try to grow deeper at the same time? With the limited amount of time in the week, how do we work on developing more substantial relationships with one another? We didn’t come up with a solve-all-our-problems-in-five-easy-steps program, but there were some viable options: breaking into small groups of about 3-4 people once a month (at EmDes), having a few people share their stories during group, having a mid-week get together sometimes for whomever could attend, starting a group chain email to keep up with people throughout the week. I’m sure we’ll talk more about it on Sunday, but most of us are excited (I dare not speak for all of us.) about the small group option where we perhaps have some “focus questions” and take it from there, basically serving as an opportunity to connect to one another without falling into the surfacey chit-chat syndrome.
   
   During our conversation, we also shared what we felt we needed from the community, and while I won’t share everyone’s online, there seemed to be some common themes of desire for deeper connectivity, encouragement, and a general moving forward – past the bitterness and anger of experiences with the church and into a focus on developing a connectivity with God and what that may look like. We discussed the possibility reading through a book of the Bible for a future group “book,” which many people expressed interest in and is something we can discuss as a whole group. More pragmatic, but equally important, issues came up, such as sharing hosting opportunities once or twice a month, having someone else manage emails and blogs, and basic organizational restructuring, so those are also things we can discuss as whole group or people can volunteer to share/take over. I do dare to speak for those of us who were there in saying that we felt it was a validating and productive discussion that helped us understand better what we need and want from our community while also being cognizant of the limitations we face. And thus I end, abruptly because I can’t think of a better way to end eloquently, an extremely condensed summary of the EmDes “where is this relationship going” conversation.
   
5. Intriguing
   
   
   
   This and other intriguing confessions about church, faith, fear, grace and God at permissiontospeakfreely.com