A Poem from a Graduate

Graduate Wendell Mass wrote two poems (one is below) to honor Advance and his classmates at today's graduation. He says he worked on his writing skills throughout his time in prison, constantly writing songs and poems. We're honored that he brought his creativity to graduation, and we're excited to see what Wendell accomplishes in the coming weeks and months. He is a smart and determined man.

I Appreciate You

There comes a time in everyone's life,

When you are lonely and friends are few.

As a part of Advance Memphis, my days are bright

I want you to know that I appreciate you!

I had begun to feel that no one really cared

Your commitment immediately changed that view

I am so thankful for the time that we shared

I want you to know that I appreciate you!

I am truly blessed that our paths did cross

You have helped to make my gray skies blue

You have made up for everything that I had lost

I want you to know that I appreciate you!

I will miss this class and the instructor's concern 

About my life and the things we go through 

I am so amazed by the things I have learned

I want you to know that I appreciate you!

Since taking this class, I have made new friends

Whose compassion is unconditional and true

With Advance Memphis help, I am sure to win

That is why I will always appreciate you!

This is Not a Success Story

We all love to hear success stories: A junky with a 20 year habit and a criminal record sheet that’s 6 feet long, struggling to eke out an existence with 9 kids on food stamps…one day enters the doors of Advance Memphis, meets Jesus, has all his guilt removed, gets a job, goes to college and has all his problems solved. What a beautiful story, we love to say -- isn’t God good!    

We love to tell these stories for obvious reasons, and for good reasons. We love to spread the news about people whose lives have truly changed. We love to dwell on the victories. 

But the truth is, for every story like this there are a dozen other stories that make you feel pretty dang hopeless.

Sometimes working at Advance Memphis is like getting paid to ride a roller coaster. We have really high, highs and really low, lows. The highs can last for a month or for a few minutes, but eventually, at some unexpected moment, the ride drops so fast that you literally feel sick to your stomach. 

This week was one of those weeks for me. I won’t go into all the twists and turns, but suffice it to say that I’ve had my share of whiplash. (A lot of bad news about people I really care about).  This week I’ve felt like my head was pounding against the padding of the cart and that I couldn’t take another moment of it. All I wanted to do was exit the roller coaster. Thank God it’s now past 5:00 on a Friday because that’s what I have the privilege of doing this weekend: getting off the ride even though many of our neighbors ride it every hour of their life 'til the day they die. 

My whiplash has reminded me just how much of an anomaly stories like the one above are. This week has also reminded me how much of a struggle it is for an adult from the inner-city to live a new life- a life free of anger, stress, crime, addiction, etc.  I often hear people tell me, “All I want in life is a steady job so I can provide for my kids” (When I start asking questions, I find out that this is code for, “I hate selling drugs to keep electricity in the house”).  When I hear this, I often think, “Really, is that ALL you want?” It’s because such a life seems so simple and normal to me, but in reality it’s a goal that is completely intangible to many of our city’s residents.  It seems crazy to me that someone could have this as their only goal in life and yet find themselves trapped in the same old routine.

This week I’ve found myself thinking about those 

who didn’t make it out of the streets... 

I’m reminded of my first experience with Advance Memphis, when Steve manipulated me (just kidding, sort of!) into volunteering as a Champion. One of the men in my small group was Lil Herman.  I remember the earnestness in his voice as he talked about getting out of the street life. Right after he graduated from Advance he got a job at McDonalds. Man, he was so proud to have this job.  The excitement didn’t last long though.  He never got full time hours and once child support was taken out of his check, he was living off less than a $100 a week.  Soon he was working two jobs: a burger flipper by day and a crack dealer by night.  He was completely honest with me about what he was doing, and asked “what do you think I should do?” Of course I advised him to stop selling drugs, but I didn’t have an answer for how else he could take care of his family. A couple days after he cried with me about feeling stuck, I heard that he was in a shootout and one of the stray bullets he fired hit a random kid walking by in the neck. Herman’s now serving a life sentence for murder.

I’m also reminded of Tyree. After he graduated he would come to Advance just to take out the trash and serve. He and his girlfriend cooked dinner for Haley and I and had us over for dinner. He’s now serving a 15 year sentence.

I’m reminded of Dewayne who is probably the most fruitful relationship I’ve ever had. For about a year he walked to Advance at 6:30am to have 1 on 1 bible study with me. He got involved in the church I attended, spent the night at my house numerous times, met most of my extended family, and painted my house. He’s also being sentenced for 15 years in federal prison.  

I’m reminded of Karey, Lakendric, Parrish, Honey, Larry, and plenty of others who are currently in jail. And I’m reminded of many, many others who are headed to jail or in a casket if the Lord doesn’t intervene soon.  

These men are by no means innocent victims of their environment, unable to control their decisions; however, they all have this in common: they came to Advance desperately desiring to escape the streets only to find themselves back in them in one way or another.  I’m not going to pretend like I fully understand why this is the case; I don’t get it most of the time.  I’m also not pretending like I know all the practical solutions for guys like Lil Herman whose chief ambition is to have a place for his kids to sleep at night (“Get a job” always sounded like sound advice till I realized it’s not that simple when you’re a black man with a criminal record).   I wish I had all the answers, but I don’t.  I do know, however, that God has called me to “always be prepared to give an answer for the hope you profess; do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). And I know that I can’t fulfill this charge if I don’t get back on the roller coaster and carry some of their burdens. 

And so this is my resolve this week: Get back on the ride. Scream and laugh and cry with my neighbors as I travel with them through the twists and turns of their lives, all the while calling them to have hope, that there is a way out because of Jesus.  

Won’t you join me? You don’t have to have all the answers; you just have to be willing to get on the ride.  Are you willing? 

Andrew Vincent
avincent@advancememphis.org

Standing in the Gap

Seems like I have ended up in court a lot lately. For anybody waiting for Jesus to bring His kingdom in all of its fullness, experiencing the justice system in the “kingdom” of America always creates some tension. What does it mean to seek civil justice in light of God’s gracious kingdom justice? What does it look like to live in the kingdom of God, with all of its cheek turning, enemy love, and free forgiveness, while at the same time living in civil society, with its need for retributive justice, accountability, and safety? These questions have haunted me every time I’ve encountered the court system, but answering them feels like it’s far above my pay grade. 

God’s People Everywhere 

Recently, though, God has used His people to embody some of the beginnings of an answer. Two months ago, several staff members went to support my friend “James” in his trial over probation violation. In that court appearance, I knew the defendant, a public defender who counseled the defender assigned to my friend, one of the prosecutors from the courtroom, and the judge. One of the letters we sent to the judge had pictures of one of the prosecutor’s children in James’s lap at an Advance Memphis Christmas party! And while the entire proceedings gave me more questions than answers, it quickly became clear that in different ways and different places, each of these friends of ours were trying to seek God’s kingdom in the middle of this big, messy situation. 

For Lack Of Knowledge A People Perish 

But what about us? As a friend of defendants in two recent cases, I had been wondering about where those of us outside of the legal profession fit into all of this. And then last week I heard the judge (who I didn’t know) asking “Derrick,” a friend of mine, questions about his failure to comply with his probation by driving without a license. 

Speak to me in English! Look at me when you’re talking, said the judge. But what he took for disrespect I knew was fear and Derrick’s lack of confidence in his own verbal abilities. 

Why didn’t you just go get a license like everyone else when you turned 16? You just never bothered to do that? said the judge. But I knew that Derrick’s mother had never owned a car nor had a license, and that in our neighborhood it is far from normal to get a license at that age. Almost nobody does it. 

So you were living with your mom and her boyfriend and your girlfriend when you missed your probation. And none of them could drive you to your probation meetings to keep you out of jail? You couldn’t get a ride from any of them? said the judge. “No,” I thought, “Derrick’s mom doesn’t have a car. They live in the poorest urban area in the state. Very few people have cars, and if they do they aren’t reliable.” So while Derrick was totally responsible for failing to get to his probation meetings, the judge seemed to have oversimplified what truly was a serious obstacle him. 

You see, even though I believe this judge was really trying to do his part, and even though he works with folks like Derrick every day, he doesn’t understand anything about what Derrick’s life is really like. What seems obvious to this judge isn’t obvious to Derrick, and the opportunities that this judge took for granted were never offered to him. 

Standing In The Gap 

And so that’s where we come in. This same judge asked me, “do you swear to tell the truth” as I took the stand to talk about all of the obstacles Derrick had overcome, about all the hard work he’d put in, and all he’d accomplished above and beyond what his neighbors, friends, and the system had expected of him. And in reflecting on that question about telling the truth, something has become clear to me. Part of what God means when He calls His people to stand in the gap on behalf of the poor and marginalized is this:  

He’s calling us to tell the other side of the story. He’s calling us to recognize the image-of-Godness which is every human being’s heritage but which so often gets lost in the shuffle of poverty, marginalization, and brokenness.

And the body of Christ is doing just that. Over the last several months, we’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of staff and volunteers trying to come alongside those who are in prison or facing prison. Two of our champions have visited “Richard,” a JFL grad who was recently incarcerated, almost weekly for months. Another volunteer took the stand after me and not only pledged his belief in Derrick, but pledged his commitment to help him succeed if he was released. Earlier this year, Kashara Taylor, a woman in our community was killed by a gun shot by her boyfriend, although it was reportedly an accident. One of our staff, who was extremely close to Kashara, has not only written letters of comfort to the shooter but has actually visited him in prison. Elsewhere, another champion, himself a lawyer, took the stand to testify on behalf of his friend “Rodney,” a participant in our GED program.

Actions That Demand Questions
And God is moving. The attorney in Derrick’s case sent me an email thanking us for being willing to testify and assuring me that the judge would have been unwilling to extend mercy if he didn’t believe that the Advance program really would help the defendant make different choices. Another attorney, the public defender who represented James, pulled us aside and said:

"I can’t thank y’all enough for being here. You can’t imagine how many teenage murderers I represent, and two years in I’ve never met a single family member. Your presence here makes all the difference."

Imagine the impact it must make on Richard’s life to be visited weekly during his prison stay by two men from an entirely different world. Imagine the impact on our Rodney and Derrick’s lives when their Champions take time off work to literally take the witness stand on their behalf. And imagine the real overflowing of God’s justice that occurs when judges, defenders, and prosecutors alike hear firsthand the other side of the defendant’s story, when they’re reminded that though a person may be a criminal, they are never just that. They are first and foremost image bearers of God, and although the decisions they have made may mean that they can and should lose some of their rights, neither human decision nor the highest court in the land can take away the dignity that is their heritage as an image bearer of the Almighty God.

When the body of Christ works together to relationally engage with the poor and marginalized, it not only opens our eyes to the numerous layers of justice and injustice we never knew existed, but it also strengthens our ability to seek God’s kingdom justice wherever we are. And whether you’re the judge or the defendant, it’s the Spirit of God working through the body of Christ that will most powerfully call each of us to seek first Jesus’ kingdom and His righteousness, allowing everything else to be added unto it.

Michael Rhodes
mrhodes@advancememphis.org

Paradigm Shift

Dear Friends:

In the past, I’ve felt burdened to ask for money to keep Advance funded. Unfortunately, I have been approaching funding incorrectly. I have viewed you, our supporters, as a means to an end, the end being Advance Memphis’ existence. In doing so, I had the wrong goal in mind. Friends, the end is, and always has been, God’s kingdom. Advance Memphis is just a platform.  

Over the past year, God has used Transformational Giving principles taught by Eric Foley and Dr. Larry Lloyd to change my heart and Advance Memphis’s methodology. These principles have helped me shift my vision away from a concern for ministry funds and towards a heart for each of us to carry out the work of the Lord while moving toward full maturity in Christ.

While Advance will always need money to operate, my focus is now on finding brothers and sisters who will join me in growing to maturity in Christ through Advances’ Biblical cause: ransoming the captives. There are certainly other biblical causes (works of mercy), and one way to explore these in a focused way is by reading Eric Foley’s The Whole Life Offering. At Advance Memphis, we’re focused on ransoming the captive: seeking to serve the community in 38126 by setting them free from what enslaves them--poverty and unemployment.

“Ransoming the captive means the expensive day-to-day function of redeeming, or buying back, individuals taken captive...It’s about mirroring the character of Christ to the world.” Eric Foley

In scripture, I’ve found that God invites us to join him in fighting for these causes. Isaiah 61:1 states, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."

My prayer is that our supporters will attach deeply to the work of “ransoming the captives” that is found in scripture, rather than to this organization called Advance Memphis.  Advance should simply be a tool for this to occur in ALL of our lives, whether paid staff, volunteers, employers, students, or tutors.

So let’s join each other in:

•     Searching scripture to see where God calls us to live out the mercy we've been shown.
•     Ask ourselves how God has ransomed us.
•     Ask ourselves how we can participate in ransoming the captive in Memphis. 

We want you to be involved in Advance’s mission not only financially, but also with your head, hands, and heart. Please forgive me when I fail to lead us all in this, and join us in becoming owners of this cause and growing to full maturity in Christ.

Sincerely,

Steve Nash

And They Have No Comforter

Photo credit: Gretchen Shaw

1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: 
    I saw the tears of the oppressed— 
        and they have no comforter; 
    power was on the side of their oppressors— 
        and they have no comforter. 
    2 And I declared that the dead, 
        who had already died, 
    are happier than the living, 
        who are still alive. 
    3 But better than both 
        is the one who has never been born, 
    who has not seen the evil 
        that is done under the sun.
                        (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3, NIV)

This passage speaks to the utter despair and loneliness that many poor and oppressed persons experience. 

In verse 1, we are confronted with the fact that those who undergo the deepest forms of suffering and experience it the most frequently are also those who have the least support to cope with it. Their miseries are severe yet no one seems to notice, no one sees their hurt. We also learn that while the poor are the most common victims of injustice, they have no comforter because those who have the power to help are the ones benefiting the most from the broken systems that keep the poor in oppressive circumstances. History affirms this truth: the dominant culture in society has always been naive to the way things work against the lower classes. 

As unsettling as the description of verse 1 is, the author makes a more shocking statement in verse 2.  Here he states that those in the grave are better off than those who continue to exist with oppressive burdens. On the surface, this seems like an awful thing to say.  Doesn't the Bible teach the sanctity of every human life, no matter how lowly one may appear to be? However we interpret this verse, we cannot dismiss these words as being flippant (12:10); they are the result of seeing the anguish that is common to the poor.

The wise Teacher draws our attention to the fact that oppression and heartache are simply the facts of life for the poor. However, I don't think that this is the main point in the passage. The real evil that this passage draws our attention to is the unawareness and/or apathy of society’s mainstream toward the despair of the poor.  In other words, it’s bad enough that the poor are made to suffer so often, but it is far worse that they are suffering alone with no one to comfort them.  The writer states this truth in a matter-of-fact tone; we as believers should be scandalized by this reality. 

We have a High Priest who is able to sympathize with us because he sacrificed his comfort to identify with us in our struggles (Heb 4:15).  In addition to dying for our sins (something we cannot imitate) he also became “familiar with suffering (Is 53:3) and “carried our sorrows” (Is 53:4). 

• How are we doing at demonstrating the empathy of Christ?  
• Are we aware of all the heartache of our neighbors? 
• Do we mourn with those who mourn? 
• Or have we segregated ourselves and our families, pursuing comfort and safety to the extent that we have isolated ourselves with the poor out of sight and out of mind? 

“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, 

and you listen to their cry” (Psalm 10:17). 

Andrew Vincent

avincent@advancememphis.org

Confronting Racism

Dear Friends:

I can do nothing but share what my dear brother in Christ, Ken Bennett, told me he heard in worship this past Sunday.  Please join me in rejoicing, repenting now and continually for our individual and institutional sin of racism and classism. Also, praise our Father in heaven for His proclaimed truth found in His word!

Remember the Lord almighty says:  “if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14,15  

Dearest Lord, please give each of us courage to examine our individual hearts, repent, and make changes that are more reflective of your Kingdom design for our individual lives and all institutions in our City and World!

Maranatha! Maranatha! Maranatha!

Steve Nash

Executive Director

Steve is referring to the sermon preached at Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, by Senior Pastor Richie Sessions on Sunday, May 13, 2012. 

TO LISTEN TO THE SERMON, CLICK HERE and choose the May 13 sermon. 

Kashara

Kashara Taylor at her Jobs for Life graduation, with her brother Keith. 

Advance lost a friend last night. Many staff members were close to Kashara; she was one of those students who grabbed onto every opportunity, determined to do her best. 

Please pray that staff will be able to minister to the hurting community, even as they are hurting and mourning. 

Please pray that our neighbors who are hurting and angry will have the opportunity to see Christ and that more violence will not come from this.