If you don't know MUM, they've been ministering to urban, poverty soaked areas of Memphis like Frayser, Foote/Claiborne homes downtown, and my neighborhood of Raleigh for years. Sure they've planted churches, but they've also poured themselves into neighborhoods by relocating their own families there. They've held day camps during the summer that not only gave kids a safe place to be, but also helped with life skills like reading and writing. MUM holds "school stores" where parents can purchase discounted school supplies for their kids and "Christmas stores" where parents can shop for Christmas presents for their kids. All with dignity and respect.
The first days of camp were rough as the kids tested me to see if I really did want to be with them. They always test for the first few visits, after all, there are a lot of people that come and go in their lives. And let's face it, Memphis isn't known for close relationships between whites and African Americans (after the 1971 court decision to force bussing in order to desegregate public schools, more than 30,000 whites left the school system, creating the largest private school population in the country. Yeah, you could say we don't always get along).
But after two days, things changed. Beautifully. Huge hugs from little girls. "Sit by me!" screams at lunch. "Can I ride shotgun with you?" during van rides. Suddenly I had a whole new group of little friends. Meanwhile, my wife had a bunk mate during the week. A little girl scared to sleep alone came to sleep with a camp "mama". Little kids just crawled up in her lap. And my boys fell right in with the crew - they basically made friends and disappeared for the week.
One of the highlights for me was watching Josh. Not my Josh, but Big Josh from camp. I don't know how long Josh has been coming to MUM camps, but I remember him and his sister from years past. Josh is now 14 years old. He wanted to be a counselor this year and was crushed when he was told "not yet". But leaders are leaders no matter what title they're given. The younger kids looked up to him and came to him for advice. In situations where many kids would have lost their cool, Josh kept his, no doubt because of the example he's been given. Josh is positioned to be a leader. He has the potential to lead a whole generation of young kids in his neighborhood to something different, with the help of MUM. But I can't imagine the pressure he'll face just in the next year to do things that could completely derail his future. I want to go to camp with Josh next year and watch how he uses the leadership God's given him.
Pray for Josh. Pray for Dorn and Jim at Memphis Urban Ministries. Support these guys as they raise indigenous leaders in urban communities of Memphis. And hey - GIVE to Memphis Urban Ministries. They've just launched out as a 501c3 and they need funds to continue being Jesus to the City of Memphis. You can give to MUM at http://www.memphisurbanministry.com/donate.html.
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