common ground montgomery news and updates

"you don't know who i was"

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BY KEVIN KING

CGM Staffer Kevin King

CGM Staffer Kevin King

“Yeah, but you don’t know who I was!”

A man spoke these words immediately after I assured him that I was aware of his name and who he is.

He stood drunk in the middle of the day in my front yard with two of his sons and explained to me that he had noticed for years the role that I’ve played in the lives of young men in the community. This 40+ year-old man is determined not to have the dreams of his sons deferred due to a lack of guidance and bad decisions. His boys stood on each side of him as he placed his hands on their backs and gently pushed them in my direction offering them to me.

I was taken back and I said, “Wait a minute, man, these are your children!” His request had nothing to do with a parental transfer but a cry for help as he admitted to being an alcoholic who literally got away with murder at a young age. He said he has made a host of other bad decisions that led to a life that he didn’t want for his sons. He was once an athlete at a local high school with a promising future. He proudly told story after story after story of how many accolades he had received for sports when he was a teenager. After his short lived local fame, then followed children being born while still in school and other decisions that took him out of position to pursue his dreams.

I see others walking up and down the streets of our neighborhood who once had dreams. Everyone has an individual story and some had it a lot tougher than others, but at some point in their lives they personally defined the meaning of success and hoped for it one day. Unachieved goals, lack of direction, and tragedies for some weighed so heavy to the point that poverty, complacency, depression, brokenness, apathy, addictions, and hopelessness became reality.

The truth about all of those who have experienced this, and everyone else in the world, is the fact that God created us all in His image and likeness. We are all special; God loves us all; we all are worth more than what an individual can put a price on; Jesus esteems us all. 

We all have dignity. 

What if we all understood the essence of being made in the image of God and, through the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost, we actually lived this reality out together as a church and community? How many dreams do you think would not have been deferred and unfulfilled? How would we reflect the image of God even in the middle of our sin and mess? I believe The Father would flip the whole world upside down as He works through us to display His glory to the Earth. I pray for the man mentioned in the opening paragraph and others who dwell in the past by reminding others who they used to be. I pray that they would realize their value and live out their purpose right now while they still have breath in their lungs. As one old man answered me when I asked how he was doing: “I’m still on top of the ground… I could be underneath the ground”. 

lostness in the frailty of life

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It has been a heavy couple weeks in our community in terms of loss of life and violence. We send you this update so you can pray with us for our community and for the healing that is much needed in the days, months, and years ahead. Already, there are really redemptive things happening and beautiful examples of God's love and Kingdom. I will be writing about those instances in updates to come, but for now, please pray and help us bear up with others in this season. I am more convinced than ever that we are in the right place and that God really loves those who are suffering in our neighborhood. Below is a reflection from Matt Wolfe, our director of media.

Psalm 34:3,
Bryan Kelly

LilRodney "Falfa" Hurst, pictured far right.

BY MATT WOLFE

I usually refrain from writing as, even though I am on staff with Common Ground Montgomery, I am the most removed of all staffers; I don't live in the community and I am only required to be onsite once a week for a few hours for staff meetings. So I refrain from writing anything that might be attributed to me (after all, who cares what, for all intents and purposes I am, an outsider has to say - let those who are in the trenches speak), and I simply try to do my job of ensuring that there are venues for those that would speak. I handle communications for CGM, whether print materials or social media or the website.

But as someone who has one foot in and one foot out, I thought perhaps I might offer a small bit of insight into some of the recent violence and tragedy in the community that CGM serves.

Last week, about 100 yards away from the CGM main building, a store clerk was shot (and later died) during a robbery. Watching the surveillance footage that the police released you see the alleged shooter walking in front of a house that belongs to the staff of one of our partner ministries. When the alleged shooter leaves, it looks as if he's walking off behind these same set of houses.

A few days ago a young man - a former member of our After School Program, someone that had played on one of our youth basketball teams, someone that had grown up with many of our students, someone known by the nickname "Falfa" - died from a gunshot wound.

As I sat watching the high school students during a dinner in their honor of finishing out the school year and having three students honored more for graduating and moving onto the next phase of life, there was a palpable burden in the air. One of the high school girls covered her face for more than half of the presentation because she was crying. Another girl, a senior being honored, started crying towards the end, and her mom came up and hugged her and walked her to another part of the house. One student came up to me and asked, knowing that I'm the "picture guy" (I take all the pictures and shoot all the video for CGM), if I could look in my archives and find any pictures of Falfa.

I walked away that night, not saying goodbye to any of the students; after all, what could an outsider offer beyond a tiny bandage on a gushing wound. As I left I saw another student sitting by herself in the driveway. I don't think I ever saw her sad until that moment. She had the look of lostness with a quarter smile.

For all of you reading this, perhaps you might say a prayer (if you're the believing sort) for the friends and family of Falfa and of the store clerk (his name was M.B. Manik).

For those of you reading this and that are affected by these deaths because you knew them, because you loved them, because you were loved by them, because you were in class with them or saw them when you were buying something from that convenience store, take heart in your loss. The depth of that feeling of loss and emptiness presupposes a deep fulfillment, too. There is more yet to come.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

(Revelation 21:1-4 ESV)

And if even that is too much to bear, or are words that have no meaning to you, then I humbly offer this line from Gandalf (of the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King): I will not say do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you would like to help the family of LilRodney "Falfa" Hurst

An account has been set up at Guardian Credit Union. You can give at the credit union or online at www.myguardiancu.com. The account is in the mother's name, Monica Johnson in care of LilRodney Hurst. The account is #38368. The routing is #262276410.

The funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday,May 28, 2014, at noon at Freewill Missionary Baptist Church. Pastor Edward Nettles is graciously officiating and accommodating this family. E. G. Cummings Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements. Common Ground Montgomery is coordinating the Repast.

Please send all monetary contributions to Guardian Credit Union or E. G. Cummings Funeral Home. There are still many other ways you can serve this family, such as food, printed funeral programs, etc.

For more information on how to help, contact CGM staffer Ken Austin at 334-398-0467, or at ken@cgmlife.org.

connectedness

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Often times at CGM we only write and talk about the kids in our program, or what affects them, like the community they live in, the circumstances we see them in, etc. But it would be utter folly to think Jesus limits our ability to see His hands and heart solely in this community outside of interacting and connecting with the body, His bride, at large. So here's a story about our connectedness.

BY AVA CONLEY

At Common Ground Montgomery we welcome volunteer groups from all over the country to visit our ministry. Many groups come with churches or organizations and serve our ministry. We get an amazing opportunity to meet people from all over the world with amazing stories, gifts, and hearts for Jesus!

A few weeks ago we had a family group from a church in College Station, Texas, come in. As the week went on, I was able to meet many of those serving with the group. One day at lunch I started to connect with a woman who had many family members in Oklahoma. Being from Oklahoma, we threw around some names to try to connect on a deeper level but none of my people knew any of her people; still, we were both excited that we had a little connection to Oklahoma! I started to talk with her more about her family and come to find out, she has an adopted son! Those of you that know me know my heart for adoption so this was very fun to connect with her about her adoption!

As we talked more I discovered that her son was adopted from Albania; and not just any place in Albania, but the city of Tirana. At this point I was freaking out a little bit! In 2007 I went on my first short term mission trip to Albania and in 2009 I spent a summer in Albania. Albania is a small and, perhaps, not well-known country in Europe - so to hear this lady speak about her son being adopted from there was so exciting to me, and more so because I had even spent time in Tirana! Well, after many more connections and lots of happy tears we found out that I spent time at the VERY SAME orphanage that her son was adopted from! AND, not only that, I was there during the period that he was living in the orphanage! (Don’t worry; if you are crying by now, I am as I and writing this!) I could have possibly held her son in my arms!

We spent the afternoon looking through old photos from my trip to see if he was in any of the photos. I also had a sweet friend who spent a long period of time working in the orphanage who got to love on her son while she was there as well. I can’t tell you how many times I think about those children and wonder where they are now… if they are still there… have they found a forever home? To meet Mrs. Marian and to know that Noah had a forever family brought so much JOY to my heart!

This moment made me realize how amazing God is and how he has uniquely ordained every moment of our lives. He guides every step we make and every interaction we have. So often I seem to forget this simple truth about the Lord. God knows us deeply and he is concerned about EVERYTHING we do and go through as we walk this side of heaven.  So as we live this life, I am encouraged to LOVE deeply and to make every word, action, and interaction count. God knows the plans that he has for us and they are good, they are to give us a future filled with hope!

Through Jesus, Noah’s family and I have an even deeper connection than I could have imagined! I am so grateful to meet Marian and to know that Noah is blessed by an amazing family who truly loves Jesus. There is so much more to this story that won’t fit in this small blog post, but I want to encourage you to remember that God has an incredible path for you! Every moment matters in the Kingdom of God! And as cheesy as it sounds, we have more common ground than we all realize!