By Mo Scarpelli

At the Christian Community Center in West Baltimore, a familiar chorus is heard every day across the playground area: “Mr. Tom! Mr. Tom!”

More than 50 kids show up at the community center at any one time, where they take Bible classes, play on the jungle gym, and this past summer, spent time with senior high Experience Mission volunteers.

“This is the best summer I’ve ever had here,” said Tom Homans, director of the Christian Community Center on Hollins Street. “Experience Mission has been such a blessing. The kids especially love the one-on-one time.”

One-on-one time is something Homans, or “Mr. Tom,” has had trouble giving all the children that attend the Community Center since he stepped into the full-time position almost exactly five years ago.

And although the kids in West Baltimore have a laundry list of needs, Homans says their need for meaningful relationships should be at the top of the list, even if it’s somewhat new to them.

“You can tell from some of the kids, the way they act, they just need attention,” said Homans. “They need someone to come in and hang out and listen to them. ”

This kind of ministry can be new to some volunteers, even if they’ve been on the mission-field for years.

TJ Speer of Peqauannoc, New Jersey spent a week in Arizona in 2006 and then another in Gary, WV in 2007, working under Experience Mission. He says he spent most of his time building and repairing homes.

This summer, Speer got to see a different side of mission work in Baltimore when he spent a day at the Christian Community Center.

“Just having the chance to interact with them on a more friendship basis than a service level has been really meaningful,” said 18-year-old Speer. “It’s very important for them because some have troubled backgrounds. They get to see that people care about them and they take on a positive uplifting spirit.”

Sleeping just around the block from the community center and passing by old row houses every day, Speer noticed that West Baltimore is not the safest place for a child.

Homans says drugs and alcohol are a constant temptation.

“The kids in the neighborhood are out 24/7,” said Homans. “Some of them have been through some rough stuff, they want to be happy, so they can’t say no to drugs or alcohol.”

Actually, that was Homans’ brothers’ story. Before Homans considered himself a Christian, he watched his brother become addicted to crack cocaine.

“I thought I’d get a call that he’s dead, even though he had a wife and kids,” said  Homans, thinking back to just six years ago. “I didn’t think he’d ever get clean.”

But to Homans’ surprise, he did. Furthermore, he found God in the process. And then he told Homans about his faith, and instilled a sense of conviction in his brother.

“My brother - he helped me know God’s power,” said Homans. “God got a hold of him and one night, he just started witnessing to me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

Homans started pursuing his faith and volunteering with youth ministry at his church in “the County” (what Baltimoreans call the suburban area around the inner city). He heard about the Christian Community Center in Baltimore through his girlfriend and started stopping by to help out twice a week, when he wasn’t working.

“I felt called to work with kids and the church was a great place but my heart was really here,” said Homans, sweeping his hands to show his small office in the middle of the Community Center’s ground floor.

The Center first opened its doors in the fifties, in partnership with the Helping Up Mission, a drug rehabilitation center for men. In 1992, the Center became an independent institution, owned and operated by Betty and Charlie Horn, who still live in the area.

EM teams tour and help serve lunch at the Helping Up Mission, where volunteers get another shot at relational ministry - this time with adults trying to overcome their addictions with their faith.

The Helping Up Mission boasts a recovery rate of 67 percent - more than twice that of the average drug rehabilitation center. Mission employees attribute this to implementing faith in recovery.

Homans feels certain that faith helps everybody, no matter how hard the situation seems. After all, he was introduced to a living faith through his drug-addicted brother.

“If they don’t have the Lord, there’s not much you can do to help them,” said Homans of children and adults alike. “Around here, the temptation is so great to find pleasure that everyone needs the Lord.”

Experience Mission is facilitating mission trips to Honduras and Belize for Summer 2009. To learn more, visit <a href=”http://www.experiencemission.org”>ExperienceMission.org</a> or call the EM office at  360-732-0986

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to go to a homeless community in the heart of Baltimore.  I wouldn’t have expected it, but the park where the homeless gather is right next to the Metropolitan Police Station and lies on the property of St Vincent de Paul’s Catholic Church.  Initially I couldn’t figure out why they chose to stay in the place they were, but after spending some time with the people there, I realized that they had nowhere else to go.  In fact, they are still facing a forced move from the city and government officials.

As I talked with the men of the homeless park, I could see the hurt in their eyes and their desperation for food and water.  Although I was able to take a case of water with me, I still felt like there was so much more that needed to be done. I don’t know what that is in all honesty.  I’ve been thinking about what it looks like to help the poor and needy, but it’s a pandemic that is so much bigger than me.

The backgrounds of the people at the homeless park were so vast, I struggled to understand what their old lives were like.   Many of the men and women at the park left homes and families for one reason or another.  I knew there would be people who were evicted from their homes, caught up in drugs, and those who left for domestic disturbance reasons, but what was most shocking were the people who were so hopeless that they just simply didn’t care anymore.  They didn’t have motivation to live.  Perhaps the most tragic moment in a person’s life is that moment when purpose of living is lost—when the mountain of having true life in  Christ is so distant that life loses meaning.

I believe as we, as the Body of Christ, reach out this community and welcome them with loving arms, we can restore hope to a people who have none and share with them the true life of following Jesus.  I’m looking to go back soon and meet with these wonderful people again…very soon

For all of team Baltimore,

Blaine

The mission trips have started. Our first group of teams finally arrived in Baltimore and they are so excited for the week ahead. As we wrapped up orientation, Katherine, Kelly, and I really feel a sense of excitement from each one of the team members for the community and a passion for the people that they will serving.  As we approach our first day at the work sites, we’re beginning to see the incredible stories that the people of Baltimore have, and we couldn’t feel more blessed to be living life with and serving these people this summer.

One of the primary sites we have been working with is the Baltimore Christian Community Center.  The outreach of this place is absolutely incredible and it is moving to see the impact that it has on the local community. Tom Homans, the director of the center, welcomes kids from all over the inner city to the outreach to give them a place of joy and peace in a city that is so broken and poor. Right in the heart of the low-income district of the city, The Christian Community Center offers a place of refuge, fun, and spiritual encouragement to kids’ lives—many of whom have suffered more heartache than most people witness in their entire lives.

I was speaking with a young lady the other day that lost her brother to street violence a number of years ago. As she told me her story and began to share with me the hurt she has gone through with such an event, my heart broke. Even in all of the sadness however, there was something so beautiful about her story.  As she was talking to me about her brother, she shared how through such a devastating event, that she came to know Jesus and has given her life to Him. The joy that this young woman had was that of nothing I have ever seen—that even in heartache, something beautiful happened and changed her whole life. She has long been attending and still regularly attends the center to this day and will be going to Bob Jones University this fall. The impact of her story on me has been incredibly powerful ever since that day.

This is just one of the many beautiful stories that come from the people of the Christian Community Center and the city of Baltimore. Tom and the young lady that I spoke with are the true heroes of the community.  This summer isn’t about us as interns and what we can do as an organization, it’s not even about “doing missions;” this summer is about the people of the community—those who’s stories have yet to be told. We’re here to tell those stories as we work with teams from around the country.

For all of team Baltimore,

Blaine

Team Baltimore has finally arrived in beautiful Charm City (Baltimore that is).  It was quite a trip for all of us to make it out here.  Katherine drove all the way from Kansas and picked up Kelly in Ohio along the way.  I had some beautiful flights from Minneapolis to Atlanta and then a crazy delay from Atlanta to Baltimore.  Needless to say, it was a very interesting experience for all of us to get out here, but now that we have arrived, we couldn’t be happier. The summer mission trips are about to start.

For our first week, we are staying at a cabin of a friend of Experience Mission Executive Director Chris Clum.  The stay has been an experience in and of itself as the cabin is in the middle of the woods roughly 30 minutes outside of the downtown area.  Nevertheless, it has been a great retreat after all of our travels and work.

This week, we’ll be preparing for the teams to come next Sunday night–which we are extremely excited for.  The anticipation for the groups coming keeps building with every day.

Even with all the work that we have in front of us this next week, we aren’t worried or stressed about a thing; God has given us a great peace about everything to come.  Over the next few days we will be visiting the various ministry and outreach sites as well as hashing out all the detail work involved on the logistical side of things.  There is still so much to be done before the teams get here, but we have had a blast doing it.  Plus, we have had the blessing of having Sarah Tibbot, one of the lead Experience Mission staff members, fly out here with us and get our feet planted in Baltimore.  That has been huge for us as it has given us a lot of insight into the city, the ministries, and the people we’ll be spending a lot of interaction with. The next big step for us is to check out the sites we’ll be working at and later this week…grocery shopping.

Until next time, God bless!
 
Team Baltimore (Katherine, Kelly, and Blaine)

Training has just wrapped up for all of the ’08 Experience Mission Interns in Lawton, Michigan, and the teams are about to leave for their communities in the coming weeks.  Over May 24-28 we, along with about 30 other college students, made our way to Miracle Camp for a completely immersive training in the arts of first aid, wilderness training, and community training.  While there was little sleep, long treacherous days of learning in a classroom, and camp food involved in our excursion, everyone truly bonded over the 5 days and we’re all totally stoked to pour into peoples’ lives this summer.

With another new year brings about a new community for Experience Mission and we are proud to be a part of the new Baltimore community.  We (Blaine Brennecke, Katherine Lewis, and Kelly Chippindale) feel very blessed to be able to serve the mission trips and take part in being God’s hands and feet to the city of Baltimore.  Along with a new community comes new adventures, experiences, and joys and we are ecstatic to see what God is going to do through us as we take part in sharing His beautiful love with those in need.  Although there will be difficulties and moments that will stretch everyone, we are certain that lives are going to be changed as we reach out express the love of Christ with our lives.

This past week of training was exciting, tiring, and educational on so many different levels, but the greatest realization is that we have all come together from across the country (and Canada) to take part in something that is so much bigger than anyone of us.  It’s God’s amazing story unfolding around us and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of this chapter in history and share with you the powerful stories of the lives that are changed as we serve people who are involved in the mission trips!

There are bigger things in store for the community, us as interns, and the teams then I can comprehend, but I’m excited to share all of it with you as this summer unfolds.

For all of Team Baltimore, peace out!

- Blaine