Rural Justice (Part 2)

Two practitioners share the ins and outs of doing CCD in rural America

[In the first part of the series], we interviewed Rev. Tim Olsen of Summit House, part of Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. [For part two], we talked with Pat Vander Pol, ministry coordinator of Justice for All in Rock Valley, Iowa, about the joys and challenges of doing CCD there.

Pat first heard about CCDA back in the 1980s when John Perkins spoke at a college in the area. “The pastor of our church was pretty convicted,” she remembers. “We were going to rescue the world when we first went to JP’s ministry in Mississippi.” Justice for All gathers Christians from different denominations to share their time, resources, and skills for the benefit of poor people in rural Iowa and surrounding areas. In Rock Valley, a town of 4,000, JFA runs a warehouse that supplies good-quality food, clothing, toys, furniture, and appliances for distribution and sale through thrift stores in Iowa and elsewhere. JFA also supplies volunteers to do work projects all over the state and beyond, even as far as Montana.

‘A Growing Place’ is a successful urban garden planted at Lowell MST elementary school in Pettigrew Heights, South Dakota

Two practitioners share the ins and outs of doing CCD in rural America

[In the first part of the series], we interviewed Rev. Tim Olsen of Summit House, part of Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. [For part two], we talked with Pat Vander Pol, ministry coordinator of Justice for All in Rock Valley, Iowa, about the joys and challenges of doing CCD there.

Pat first heard about CCDA back in the 1980s when John Perkins spoke at a college in the area. “The pastor of our church was pretty convicted,” she remembers. “We were going to rescue the world when we first went to JP’s ministry in Mississippi.” Justice for All gathers Christians from different denominations to share their time, resources, and skills for the benefit of poor people in rural Iowa and surrounding areas. In Rock Valley, a town of 4,000, JFA runs a warehouse that supplies good-quality food, clothing, toys, furniture, and appliances for distribution and sale through thrift stores in Iowa and elsewhere. JFA also supplies volunteers to do work projects all over the state and beyond, even as far as Montana.

I read that Iowa has substantially lower unemployment than the rest of the nation. Why?

Many people in our area have kept their jobs but have had their hours cut down. So, many people are underemployed rather than unemployed. But this still hurts their ability to keep going.

What else is happening socioeconomically in northwest Iowa?

Traditionally this has been a community based on agriculture, with a strong base in steel manufacturing. The family farm is kind of dying because of the markets, so more kids are going to college and finding jobs in the cities. In the last 10 to12 years, there has been a large influx of Hispanics who have taken the agricultural jobs no one else wanted, as well as jobs in the steel plants, and they establish roots and homes here. The first immigrants are very close to achieving middle class status here, and have become involved as volunteers with JFA. We also have a number of Sudanese immigrants here, many of whom work in the meat packing plants.

What’s different about doing Christian Community Development in a rural community?

Lack of resources is the biggest thing. Other organizations and ministries can tap into foundations and other funding sources in the city. But we have recently found a place where we can submit grant requests.

There aren’t pockets of depressed areas like there are in the inner cities. A person can live in a house here for years and go to work every day, but until you get to know their situation you wouldn’t see the need. It’s not easily identifiable.

What does a commitment to reconciliation look like there?

Reconciliation in our community is getting to know our neighbors, bringing about understanding between cultures, finding out that we both have things to offer each other. There are some beautiful Christian leaders emerging in the Hispanic community here and they are making inroads in breaking down barriers. We do Bible studies and Bible schools that are intentionally integrated, not “This is the week for the Spanish Bible school, and this is the week for the English.” The new high school principal here is a bilingual Hispanic woman. I was with one mom who was arrested for not having the proper documents. She had kids in the school and was active there. It was awesome to see how people in the community rallied around her, put up the money to get her a great immigration lawyer, wrote letters on her behalf, and attended hearings with her.

Where are folks in terms of implementing CCD principles in your area?

We need to get people to the next level. There’s a lot of charity going on. We have to move their thinking to start looking at systemic issues. I buy CDs and tapes from CCDA conferences and share them with churches. Some are excited, and some are like, “That’s nice, thanks for coming.” God really showed me that this work is about advancing his kingdom, more than about anything I’m going to accomplish. So we’ll send ministries volunteers, but we want people to come home from the experience saying, “I see the beginning of the big picture and I want more,” not just, “I’ve hammered nails.” The CCDA Cafés are great because they are a place to come together, and it adds credibility to the issue.

You’ve attended many CCDA conferences. What impacted you most in the 2009 conference in Cincinnati?

What really struck me was the number of young people there, and their excitement. I really sensed a corner-turning with CCDA this past year. As an organization, we’re very committed to working with the colleges and hopefully the high schools too, and getting some students to the CCDA conference in 2010. I’m really excited about the CCDA Café that will be hosted in our area. We’re just 45 minutes from Sioux Falls so we’re really excited about attending.