In the winter of 2015, a group of eight people gathered one evening during a blizzard at the chapel of Reservoir Church to hear the story of a friend of a friend who had been incarcerated. He shared about the trauma of separation from his family, the psychological toll of prison life, and the way he [...]Read More
En el Camino de los Sueños: La Parábola del buen Americano
Bajaba un hombre de Jerusalén a Jericó, y cayó en manos de unos ladrones. Le quitaron la ropa, lo golpearon y se fueron, dejándolo medio muerto. 31 Resulta que viajaba por el mismo camino un sacerdote quien, al verlo, se desvió y siguió de largo. 32 Así también llegó a aquel lugar un levita y, al [...]Read More
On the Journey of Dreams: The Parable of the ‘Good American’
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 [...]Read More
Our Journey Toward Social Enterprise
When I think about the thousands of families in my city of Fresno that are affected by unemployment and the cycles of poverty entrenched in our systems, I reflect on Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mohammad Yunus’ famous words. Poverty is not created by poor people but by the system we have built, the [...]Read More
Imitating Donaldina Cameron (and other saints)
I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. – 1 Corinthians [...]Read More
The Liminal Space
It had already been a long day at work in Akron, Ohio, when part of our staff gathered together in the back room of the Front Porch building for a strategic planning meeting. Though our days had all looked different, all of us had been embodying our mission at South Street Ministries: “Unlikely [...]Read More
John-Mark Hart’s Story
For a couple of decades I've been watching my friends and neighbors suffer due to our nation's broken immigration system. I was slow—inexcusably slow—to join the work of changing this system. But over time the accumulation of painful memories became too substantial for me to ignore, especially the [...]Read More
I walk for my son
We walked into the apartment and the air was thick and stood still. Everyone sat frozen, avoiding our eyes. His sister stared at the television, his step-dad worked vigorously at a spot on the table. His mom was the only one... eyes locked. "Ven, siéntate, necesitamos hablar," she managed. He [...]Read More