Abre tu boca por los mudos, por los derechos de todos los desdichados." -- Proverbios 31:8 I met Evelyn when she walked into my theatre class five and a half years ago. At that time, I did not know how much she would give to me, those students, or their school. Now I know that she dedicates herself [...]Read More
Brad and Kim Bandy’s Story
We're in a world where phrases like 'elevator pitch' and 'return on investment' land deeper than business plans and seep into our spiritual beings. We find ourselves surfing the waves of social issue to social issue—trying to stay afloat, never letting ourselves be immersed with the understanding [...]Read More
Reconciliation & Transformative Friendships
I have known a guy named Butch for years. He is like a lot of guys I know on the street: sometimes he is homeless, often he is addicted, and usually he is pleasant. Some years ago he was lucid and made an effort to fight his demons. Butch is an unlikely poet with a beautiful voice for singing. But, [...]Read More
Defending the Vulnerable
As two Southern California leaders living out CCD in our communities, we are intimately aware of the issues surrounding the broken immigration system. Robert is both an immigration attorney and professor of Chicana/o Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Erica has worked in youth development [...]Read More
Patience and longsuffering
Patience and longsuffering. The essentiality of patience and longsuffering during this Advent season may be just the discovery Christians require as 2016 comes to an end. It has certainly come as a much needed discovery in my own life as the insidious beast, known as depression, debilitates [...]Read More
Anticipation
Anticipation. It’s a positive re-frame for the simple fact that we wait for things. We wait in line to buy tea or a snack, we wait for a friend to return a phone call, we wait for our day to end, or our day to begin. We anticipate what’s coming next, and in doing so, we wait. In fact, sometimes [...]Read More
A new vision for the city we need
Michael Mata, John Liotti and Mary Nelson recently represented CCDA at the Urban Shalom Project prelude to the UN Urban Habitat III gathering in Quito, Ecuador. The hope was to articulate the value added voice of Christians to the vision and work of just, sustainable cities at the UN Conference, a [...]Read More
Cultivating generative friendships among practitioners of CCD
"I am CCDA." "Dear Familia..." We use these phrases and descriptors a lot in our CCDA circles. Both reveal the essence of who we are as an association. I am CCDA, speaks to being a community of practitioners doing Christian community development. What you and I do as we live out the key components [...]Read More