Three More Spring Break Teams Visit Urban Hope!

From March 27 -April 11 we had three additional spring break teams visit Urban Hope for cross-cultural training and experience: Grace Brethren Christian School (MD), Hope Community Church (NC) and River Valley Church (IN)!

In addition to being trained in the background/culture of the city, how to talk to strangers and share Jesus, the group got some new experiences including: participating in a youth prayer rally at City Hall downtown (in reponse to recent mob attacks led by other youth in the city). It was incredible to see both teens from our community and the visiting groups partner together to pray for Philly. Even local news channels showed up for the event!

Another great opportunity to serve the community was something called "Bucket Brigade" where some of our teens and the visiting groups took buckets, sponges, windex, towels, brooms and dustpans and walked around the busy intersection of Kensington and Alleghney Ave. to serve local stores/shops by cleaning. While some of the students were cleaning others took time to talk to store owners and people on the streets. It was a fantastic experience and great way to love on our local community!!


Group from Hope Community Church at the prayer rally.



Teens from GBCS



Community kids with one of the group members from GBCS.

Spring Break 2010 Groups Visit UH

Over the past four weeks we have been blessed to have several Spring Break groups visit Urban Hope including: eight students from Cedarville University, two ladies from Hopewell Grace Brethren Church -PA, forty-two college students from UNI (University of Northern Iowa) and twenty-seven teens from First Christian Church -IN.

Each group received training in the ministry philosophy of Urban Hope, strengths and challenges to urban ministry, how to build relationships and ways to swing to the spiritual and share Christ. In addition to receiving training, the groups got to experience the city in fresh new ways. Some ministry opportunities included: traveling to a local Puerto Rican neighborhood, Chinatown and "Philabodia" to learn about the culture, visiting the subways to hand out meals and minister to the homeless, participating in a local ministry entitled "Breaking Bread" (which feeds and educates hundreds of homeless every Thursday afternoon), helping out with Urban Hope's weekly children's programs and nearby boys and girls clubs and cleaning the streets and lots in the Kensington community.

Collin Barrett of Cedarville University writes of his encounter with a homeless man and how he was challenged, "Vernon...is originally from Bermuda...though (he) has his struggles, like the rest of us, it was very evident that he is striving his hardest after Christ. He was recently offered a pastoral position, including compensation and a house, which he turned down! He sees his current situation as his calling...(he) has nothing but one duffel bag of clothes, but has an overabundance of joy in His Savior." As a result of this encounter Collin and the rest of the team were challenged not only to break their preconceived perspective of the homeless but also in their relationship with Christ and love for those less fortunate.

Cedarville students stand next to UH Logo.

The Cedarville Group.

The group from University of N. Iowa.

Posing for a pic in Love Park, downtown.

Cleaning up a lot.

Driving to Chinatown and "Philabodia"

TNI Students Challenged In Philadelphia

Over forty Grace College students participated in The National Institute’s Cross-Cultural Youth Ministry module at Urban Hope Training Center in Philadelphia this past week.

The class used the cities of Philadelphia and Camden as learning labs and heard from youth ministry leaders in their cultural contexts. Leaders from the African American, Chinese, Latino and Center City contexts shared about their unique ministry strategies and the challenges of working in their particular cultural area. The students were also able to observe juvenile court to see how the system works.

One of the highlights of the course was participating in Kingdom Kids and ROCK at Urban Hope and hearing testimonies of young adults and tentmakers involved in the ministry. Every evening the students had the opportunity to be out in the Kensington community talking with people.

Dr. Cheryl Fawcett spent the last day of the module teaching students about youth ministry from a global perspective. Her challenge for students to consider how God could use them in youth ministry around the world was an amazing way to end the course.

On the last night, students met together, overlooking the hustle and bustle of the city, for a final evening of worship and sharing behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. One by one the students opened up about deeply personal issues that God was challenging them with over their time in Philadelphia.

This educational experience became a transformational experience for many of the students who will never look at God, the world or the city, the same.

Pray for these students as they return to start a new semester at Grace. One of their assignments for the course is to build a relationship with someone from a different culture and seek to share Christ with that person or group over the course of five separate meetings. Think about the impact of forty students sharing their faith in the Warsaw/Winona Lake area! Praise God for a great experience and the brokenness of the students who participated.



Students in front of Urban Hope


Learning in class


Riding in the van


Riding in the van


Enjoying ethnic food


Good conversation over dinner


Students in class


Pastor Malcolm Walls from Great Commission Church


Harry Leong from Chinese Christian Church and the Center


Cheryl Fawcett teaching a class


Students enjoyed Liberty Square in downtown Philly


Brian Pfiester from Sweet Union Baptist Church


Pastor Zack Ritvalsky from Sweet Union Baptist Church

Summer Day Camp Week 1

This past week Powell GBC (OH), Waldorf GBC (MD), Origins Church (TX) and the Operation Barnabas Keystone team helped lead our first week of childrens day camp! When the teams arrived Sunday night they had little idea how pack-filled the week would be with the camp, park programs, ministry to the homeless, scavenger hunts and more. In the mornings before the busy day began, the groups took time to read a portion from the book of Colossians individually, then met in groups to discuss questions related to what they read. Afterwards everyone came together to sing praise and worship and hear from Brent, Jason, and James about the portion of scripture they read. The theme for the week was Living in the Truth -how the truth of the gospel and the person of Christ sets us free to live a godly life.

On Monday and Tuesday after the training sessions the OB team did manual labor projects and park programs while the day camp teams helped out with the childrens program. On Wednesday both groups came together to help out with the camp...all that to say we definitely had a full house!!

In the evenings the teams spent time in the neighborhood around Urban Hope talking with the people, went on a scavenger hunt on South Street, and ministered to the homeless. For many of the teens/young adults it was their first time experiencing the diverse cultures within the city. Throughout the week several students would share how God was teaching them to love, care for and share their faith with people more often.

One visitor from Texas, Brian, shared how at first he kept asking himself what he was doing on this missions trip and how he felt so inadequate to minister to the inner city kids. However, by the end of the week, God gave him a new perspective and taught him that it doesn't necessarily matter how "competent" or "incompetent" you may feel, as long as your heart is in the right place. If the heart is humble, teachable and willing to serve then Christ will use that person mightly -no matter how vast the cultural barrier!

By: Brent Saba

Block Party Weekend!

This past weekend we were thrilled to have another Block Party after having the Spring Carnival the weekend before! On Friday afternoon three teams arrived from different parts of the U.S. to help for the weekend: Lyndon Bible Church (VT), Hope Community Church (NC) and Community Cornerstone (PA). After arriving, the groups had orientation to the weekend then headed to South Street for a Scavenger Hunt. The purpose was to find different types of people through starting conversations. So while it was a fun experience, it was also a practical training exercize in how to start conversations with people.

On Saturday, we had our block party from 1-4pm. It was different from the week before in that while we did not have the Carnival-like atmosphere (moon bounce, dunk tank, etc.), instead we hosted a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for the children and teens, opened up our youth center for a massive dodgeball game, and provided all sorts of food and refreshments. It was great to see so many children and teens show up from the community -even with how hot the temperature was! The best part was the opportunity that some people from our church (as well as the visitors) had to time and talk/hang out with some more of the neighbors in our community. Later that evening the groups headed for south Philly to grab Pat's cheesesteaks then drove to center city to spend time with the homeless in the subways, at Love Park or Logan Square. It seemed like it was a neat experience for the groups since only a small handful had ever done that before!

On Sunday morning, two of the groups departed for home (since they lived further away) while the PA team stayed to help out with our Kingdom Kids program in the afternoon. Even though it went by fast, it was an amazing weekend and the teams were a huge help with our block party. Many thanks for their servant hearts!

You can see more pictures of the Spring Carnival in the Training Center Photo Gallery.
By: Brent Saba

Spring Carnival 2009!

It was a very full couple days here at Urban Hope. On Friday afternoon, Maranatha GBC, Valley Community Church and Winchester GBC arrived eager to learn and participate in the weekend festivities. After getting unpacked and organized, they met for a quick orientation followed by a challenge regarding the homeless in Philly. Shortly after, they grabbed their brown bag meals and headed off for center city. For the next hanful of hours they spent time in the subways, parks, and streets handing out meals and praying for people. The neat thing was that (in many cases), some of the students from the groups were more blessed than the homeless! They encountered people on the streets who would openly share about Jesus, recite the scriptures and ask to pray for them. For many students, it came as a surprise to see such strong faith even though they had less. What a lesson of faith! In addition to learning about the faith some of the homeless had, the groups were also challenged to reach out to those who society constantly pushes out. As Christ followers, we are to love as Jesus loved, especially those who may be (or seem) different. As the Scripture say's in 1 Samuel 16:7b, "...The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

On Saturday morning the groups met up to clean the street and sidewalks and set up for the Carnival that afternoon (1-4pm). After a couple hours of organizing and minor set backs, the Carnival was ready to go. Some of the activities included: a moon bounce, jousting, three-on-three basketball, spin art, a dunk tank, face paint and more! The best part was the awesome weather God provided. All in all it was a ton of fun and great to have so many from our community show up. Many thanks to the visiting groups who helped make this happen.

You can see more pictures of the Spring Carnival in the Training Center Photo Gallery.

By:Brent Saba

Spring Break Teams Visit Urban Hope

It has been very active at Urban Hope the past couple of months! Since the end of February we have had several teams visit including: Hope Community Church (NC), Cedarville University (OH), Manchester College (IN), Lititz GBC (PA), Grace Brethren Christian School -GBCS (MD), Brighton Chapel (IN), and Rittman GBC (OH).

Whether they were here for a short weekend or an entire week -each group was a blessing to have and work with. Some of the ministry training included: developing a greater heart for the lost and the city, how to build relationships and share Jesus, the strengths and challenges of urban ministry, and gaining a greater appreciation and understanding of what holistic ministry can look like in the urban context. Other than the training the groups received, they were able to participate in various ministry experiences such as homeless ministry in the subway's, scavenger hunts on South Street, cross-cultural exercizes in Philly neighborhoods, visiting local boy's and girl's clubs, Yogi Bear sidewalk sunday school and more.

Here are a few quotes from some of the visitors:

Hannah Leitch (Cedarville) - "Hey! I'm so glad we were able to visit! It was definitely one of the best weeks I've ever had. I'm so thankful for how available you all are and for your hearts! I will definitely let you know if there's anything you guys can do. I'm really hoping to come back and visit Urban Hope again! Thank you for helping us to see God in new ways. I know that I will never be the same after experiencing what I did last week. I'm still amazed at each experience God allowed me to have. I am keeping you all in my prayers!! God is definitely working in Kensington!"

Emily Loufik (GBCS) - "...you guys are definitely in my prayers...and I will be back as soon as possible we were already starting to talk about a summer time reunion...i had the greatest time ever and i learned so much and met so many people that encouraged me and hopefully i encouraged them too..."

Rob Gable (Rittman) - "I'm hearin' all about how much we missed out on brother! Next time we're stayin' for at least the whole week!"

You can see more pictures of the visiting teams in the Training Center Photo Gallery.

By: Brent Saba