Monday, January 28, 2008

CSM-Los Angeles Finds a New Home!!


LOS ANGELES, CA – In its 20th year of service to the city of Los Angeles, The Center for Student Missions (CSM) will be moving to a new housing site. For the last five years they have partnered with World Impact, an urban church planting organization, to provide housing to their groups. CSM will move their housing location from one of World Impact’s properties in the Pico Union district to another property (also owned by World Impact) in Southeast Los Angeles.
“This move will better meet the needs of our groups and free up our previous property to be used by the growing ranks of World Impact church planters”, said Rachel Hamilton, CSM-LA City Director.

Keep on reading the news release...

Friday, January 18, 2008

Is that sign for real??

In researching this month's City Highlight for Toronto I ran across a really cool blog post from Blog: Spacing Toronto. A local graphic artist has captured the attention of that city by posting official looking signs that bring attention to the community's (sometimes overlooked)homeless population. Check it out!

To learn more about serving with CSM in Toronto - head on over to our website.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Article: "Change Your Life, Your Mind in Homeless Ministry"

I recently stumbled upon a Threads article entitled "Change Your Life, Your Mind in Homeless Ministry" by Jim Johnston.

After reading it (which I hope you will, too!) all I could say was "Amen". One of our great hopes and desires as a short-term mission organization is that those who serve with us would "catch a vision" for urban ministry. We pray that God would speak to them as they serve Him in the city - that as they serve in elderly ministry, VBS, shelter ministry, tutoring, etc. they are able to see themselves serving full-time in such capacities.

This past fall I was talking with a group leader who had just returned from her week-long trip to Chicago. She was exhausted! Not from the trip itself, but from the ministry it spurred on in their church when her youth returned!!

They realized there's a large homeless population in their town, too! Her students and adult leaders began delivering sandwiches to homeless individuals, a prayer time where they invited their new friends to worship freely (without the pressure that may come from inviting them to "church"), and had even began the workings of a full-time homeless ministry that would involve multiple congregations in their community!

It came across loud and clear that not only did this youth group "get it", but they are going to "live it" as well. A passage from "Change Your Life, Your Mind in Homeless Ministry" challenges us to be changed by serving:

You begin to think about people the way God does. You begin to hurt for people the way God does. The hundreds of passages of the Bible that command us to serve the less fortunate come alive and knit themselves to your soul.

Our prayer for you is the same - that you'd be challenged to serve "the least of these" right there in your community.



Want to learn how you can serve on a short-term urban mission trip with CSM? Visit www.csm.org!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

"Away in a Stank Manger"

Great article by Shane Claiborne - author of "The Irresistible Revolution" and co-founder of The Simple Way in Philadelphia.


"The Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) visits us on occasion at The Simple Way community—to cut down our endangered trees, to fine us for cracks in the sidewalk, or to let us know according to city ordinance “it is illegal to invite guests into your home to eat.” (For the record, most of you readers are also criminals for the same reason!) It could all make for a great sitcom..."


Read on...