Mosaic Life Church » steve

My Initial Reflection on CCDA

admin — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:27:43 +0000

Last week, myself and two others from Mosaic Life/Grand Rapids Dreams went to the annual Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference. CCDA has been around for 20 years, and exists to help organizations do community development. It was great to learn from people who have been doing community development, community organizing, and community transformation for years in a variety of different settings. If I could sum up the conference in one word, it would be “listen”. CCDA talks a lot about Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), and that starts with listening to people’s hopes and dreams, and then using the assets that are already in the community to realize those hopes and dreams. This comes from the understanding that people know their communities and know what their communities need. Once projects or initiatives have been put in place, it is important to listen to the community to find out how well the projects are working.

In addition to being educational, the CCDA conference was a very inspirational event for me. It was wonderful to hear the stories and experiences of those who have been in this field longer than I have. It was encouraging to know that we can make a difference in the community. It was uplifting to know that even when we face setbacks there are many ways to push through them or work around them. It’s such a blessing to know that there is a wealth of knowledge out there from those who have gone before.

This was the first time that our tribe has had a large group at the CCDA conference. It’s great to know that even in our own tribe, we are not alone in seeking to transform the communities in which we’re present.

CCDA is also a great place to meet people. I reconnected with a lot of people that I know from other conferences or other encounters, and I met new people who have the same passion and dreams as I have. I know that as my network continues to grow, I will have a wealth of people to draw on for support and insight. I look forward to supporting others who are doing kingdom work and sharing my insights with my friends doing community development.

If I have one bit of advice to share with anyone, no matter what context they’re in, I would say “be present”. Be fully where you are, that you are able to hear what the people around you are telling you and that you can feel their emotions. Being more present in all aspects of life will help all of us as we seek to follow the example of Christ and show love to those around us.

Blessings,

Steve

this is cross posted at www.grandrapidsdreams.org

you can learn more about CCDA at www.ccda.org

Harvest for Heartside

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:22:37 +0000

We’ve been invited to participate in a ministry called Harvest for Heartside. This ministry provides underprivileged members of the Heartside community with fresh fruits and vegetables. Please meet us at Southgate Garden (Wealthy and Sheldon) this Thursday evening at 5:45 to help share these healthy food choices around Heartside. If you have any produce you would like to donate, or know someone with a large garden or small farm that would be willing to share, please help us out. If you have any questions, contact Steve W. at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with people in Heartside and share some love (and food) with the people there.

Thanks,

Steve

Harvest for Heartside

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:49:34 +0000

We’ve been invited to participate in a ministry called Harvest for Heartside. This ministry provides underprivileged members of the Heartside community with fresh fruits and vegetables. Please meet us at Heartside Park this Thursday evening at 5:45 to help share these healthy food choices around Heartside. If you have any produce you would like to donate, or know someone with a large garden or small farm that would be willing to share, please help us out. If you have any questions, contact Steve W. at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with people in Heartside and share some love (and food) with the people there.

Thanks,

Steve

Painting!

admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:23:06 +0000

We’re doing some more interior painting to help out someone in our community. We’ll be starting Saturday morning at 10:00. We’d love to have you there, even if you can’t show up right away. Contact Steve at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org for more information.

Midtown Community Celebration

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:39:46 +0000

We’ve been asked to provide kids’ activities for the Midtown Community Celebration on August 18th. We need volunteers from 5:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m. These are really easy jobs that anyone can do, and it’s a great chance to show the community we care and to share Christ’s love with others. Contact Steve W, Lissa, or Shandra if you’re able to help out with this. You can email Steve at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org.

National Night Out

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:28:39 +0000

The Eastown Community Association has asked us to provide kids’ games and activities for National Night Out on August 4th. We need volunteers from about 5:30-8:30. This is another great opportunity to show the community that we care. Contact Steve W, Lissa, or Shandra for more information. You can email Steve at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org.

Harvest for Heartside

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:10:55 +0000

We have been invited to participate in a ministry called Harvest for Heartside. This ministry takes produce (some of it comes from the garden we help to maintain at Heartside Park) and distributes it to the transient population along S. Division Ave. We’re going to start doing this on a regular basis, and would love to have people who can commit to joining us weekly for a couple of hours. If you’re not able to make a weekly commitment, we’d love to have you whenever you can make it. We don’t have a set time for this, so if you’d like to become involved let Steve Wiltjer know what time works for you. We are also looking for additional produce to distribute. If you have a backyard garden or know someone that does, we would love your contributions. If you know someone that has a local farm and would like to contribute, that would be incredibly helpful. Contact Steve at stevew (at) mosaiclife.org for more information. This is a great way to make a difference for some of the underprivileged in our city, and to establish relationships and show Christ’s love.