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Although he grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Michael found himself in Texas addicted to drugs and living in a house frequented by members of the notorious gang, the Crips. After years of running with a pretty rough crowd, and several run-ins with the law, it was in 2009 in a county jail that Michael gave his life to Christ. He now lives in Visalia, CA, where he serves in a ministry home for children, and attends Bible college.

Michael engaging some personal development.

One of my roles as a team leader is recruiting like-hearted people to join us in launching young leaders, who will launch fresh expressions of church. For the past few years, I have been getting to know Michael. I’m always drawn to people like Michael, who don’t seem to fit the mold, have an insatiable desire for God, and a natural way of inviting others to experience the good news of Jesus.

Dayton’s Bluff is known to be one of the “rough” neighborhoods of St. Paul. By rough, I mean higher crime rates, people living around or under the poverty line, more rentals/less ownership, and multiple families/generations occupying one house. Dayton’s Bluff is home to our newest missional community, Ekklesia, which is being led by our teammate, Tony.

emˈbed/ verb - to fix firmly and deeply in a surrounding mass; to implant within something else so it becomes an ingrained or essential characteristic of it.

As our team has been preparing for the launch of Ekklesia, we often talked about being embedded in the Dayton’s Bluff community. We want Ekklesia to be fixed firmly and deeply in the surrounding community. We want it to be an expression of the Body that isn’t just in the neighborhood, but one that is of the neighborhood. A group of people ready to be/bring the good news, yet ready to learn from the neighborhood, and woven into the very fabric of neighborhood life.

Free Yard Sale

Knowing that Michael is someone who connects easily with others, especially those who come from “rough” backgrounds, we invited him out for an internship for the month of August. Our hope was that he would help to connect Ekklesia relationally in the neighborhood. During August, he lived in the core community house of Ekklesia and spent a majority of his time living alongside and getting to know the people of Dayton’s Bluff.

Michael did a great job helping to organize and host neighborhood events like National Night Out, where neighbors gather on their street to share a meal and get to know one another. He also helped organize Ekklesia’s Free Yard Sale. This event runs on the premise that “some are able to give from their excess, and others are able to give by only taking what they need,” and it was wonderful to see people honor the spirit of the event.

Some days Michael would set out with a lawnmower to bless the neighbors by cutting their grass, which often led to deeper conversations. One teary-eyed, single mother was amazed that this young man would willingly come and help her in this very practical way. And, finally, he simply lived daily life with those who live on the block, deeply connecting with one house in particular where an extended family of 17 people lived.

Some significant steps were taken this August in helping Ekklesia become embedded in the neighborhood. For Ekklesia, the challenge now is to move forward in these relationships that have been started, and to continue to presence the kingdom of God and bring the good news of Jesus in word and deed. Please join us in praying that this would indeed be the case.