Street Cred
Planting deep roots in a transient community.
One of the main reasons I chose to participate in the Latin American celebration last week (even though most of those in attendance speak only Spanish and I do not) was because of the relationship that I have developed with Cherry, a Garifuna1 leader (and for those reading along, I have dropped in a footnote about the Garifuna people) in the Bronx who is working hard to reconfigure his traditional church gathering of seventy people into a cluster of church families who meet regularly in their homes to eat the Lord’s supper and build one another up by bringing their own reflections on the gospel, and together figuring out how to process their lives through it.
Cherry brought three young men from his church to this symposium, so that they could better understand what he is trying to accomplish and can assist him in making it a reality. He is working to develop them as leaders in the church.
In one of our discussions, someone asked them what their impression was of this symposium, and they expressed that while these ideas were new to them, they were excited to continue learning together and that it was their strong desire, to shape church communities that are effective at breaking the cycle of violence and fractured relationships in the tough neighborhoods they live in and help bring healing to a broken community. Their desires were sincere and well-intended, but it adds even more questions for them to answer. What will this require of them? How will they bring the gospel to bear on their situation and truly make a difference? What will this require of Cherry? The simple answer is a total life commitment and a prioritizing of relationship with these young men, if he is going to build Jesus’s family in his context.
But now it is time for them to focus on building their own strategy around Christ’s plan that will get them moving in that direction. This will also take the input of some of us who were in the room that day, making sure we continue those conversations with Cherry, teaching, planning together, and encouraging one another.
I can’t wait to see what Jesus’ Spirit continues to do in their situation, in the midst of the significant challenges they face.
Scott Canion is based out of the NYC area and is part of the METRO equipping team, a network of leaders who are establishing churches that are families… patterned after Acts.
How the Garifuna migrated:
1. Africans escaped slavery or survived a shipwreck and arrived on St. Vincent.
2. They intermarried with the Island Caribs, forming a new Afro-Indigenous people.
3. After conflict with the British, they were deported in 1797 to Roatán, Honduras.
4. From Roatán, they migrated along the Caribbean coast of Central America, forming the communities still present today.