Urban Concern volunteering experience

I have been wanting to recap my experience with Urban Concern (2001-2008) but never spare the time to do it. This blog entry is to reflect that desire of mine :) I won't lay out all the details but I will elaborate several highlights of my time there. Here goes....

Urban Concern is a simple Christian ministry that is targeted to help alleviate poverty to the most dire area of Columbus, South Linden (SL), through community engagement. The population at SL consist of approximately 90% single African American families. Most of Kids in SL neighborhood end up as thugs and gang members. Worst of all, SL community was also known for a high school drop-out rate.

In 1991, Urban Concern commenced their service to the SL neighborhood. The team consist one of the South Linden born, James Brown, and a group of people from Xenos Christian Fellowship. What's very interesting and special from these group of people are the group from Xenos. They consist of Five white middle-class families who committed their lives to this ministry by moving into the neighborhood and mingle with the local neighbors.

I recalled one of the celebrations that I participated, a house warming party. The house had once been inhabited by a group of drug addicts. But, it is now occupied by sober and committed young Christ followers. It was one of the marks of Urban Concern 's accomplishment in the broken neighborhood of South Linden. The community worked together to get the house renovation done. The locals,African Americans, and the white-Caucasian American families, who decided to move into the neighborhood, worked hand-in-hand and built friendships throughout the process. Everybody contributed their skills, time , and money to accomplish the renovation. As an outsider, It was truly inspiring to witness their dedication and impact to SL community.

I joined UC as a volunteer replacement in 2001. My task was to help the child care group looked after the kids. They dedicated the house's , where the weekly bible study meeting was held, basement for the child care service while parents enjoy the bible study on the main level of the house. The child care session was rarely a peaceful moment. The volunteers had to constantly engage with the kids in such a way that the parents can enjoy the bible study without any interruptions. At times, the kids will not cooperate and the parents need to be involved to mitigate the situation. Nevertheless, It was still a joyous moment knowing that my service impacted the parents. The best thing of all, I gained not only many friendships with the parents and kids but also the experience to witness how God intervened and worked through this ministry.

Slowly in 2006, the child care service transitioned into a Sunday school program. This change will ensure that the kids receive spiritual food in addition to the fun activities provided. The volunteers played a huge role in making this Sunday school a success. The group of volunteers consist of 6-8 people, who are mostly college students. The volunteers will take turns in running the Sunday school namely: bible study teaching, food preparation, cleaning, and accompany the kids at the playground. In 2007, The Sunday school was again experienced another change of location since UC had built a high school in the neighborhood. The Sunday school service was no longer held at the house basement but at the school's gym and classrooms. It was amazing how UC developed from a small movement to a huge community movement. Knowing that I have a small part in the development, is a huge privilege for me.