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This was sent directly to our church host in Denver and was sent to the congregation in last week's email. Thank you Edmund!
Thank you: "I was a member of one of the youth groups that went on a mission trip this summer and stayed at your church, through DOOR Denver. I must say, I had an amazing time. The activities we did were awesome, the people I met were awesome, and it was overall just a great experience. However, upon further reflection, I realized that part of the great time I had was your church. The environment there allowed me to interact with new people, make new friends, and get closer with people from my group. This was mostly due to the huge meal room, and the large social room in the basement, both of which were friendly environments, where one could play music, hang out, and just generally chill. It reminded me to a certain extent of the buildings at an overnight camp, in that it was roomy, comfortable, and clean. I'm almost a hundred percent certain that without the way your building is set up, and the building itself in general, I would have never met the people I had met, never made the connections I did, and generally not had as good an experience as I did, in the end. So, I would like to thank whoever allowed that to happen for their generosity, their compassion, and their overall hospitality. If we could go back, I'd be back in a heartbeat. All the best, Edmund
The Denver Dwellers (year-long volunteers) are moved in, serving in their agencies and meeting the neighbors. Follow their reflections through their blogs.
Johanna Bontrager http://www.johannaindenver.blogspot.com/
Sarah Keller: http://supportmeinco.wordpress.com/
Megan Leatherman http://www.meganlynleatherman.blogspot.com/
Maegen Norman: http://myadventuresinchrist.blogspot.com/
Chad Pittman http://chadpittman.wordpress.com/
“Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am”
Parker Palmer,
Let Your Life Speak
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Please enjoy some reflections by our first two groups of the summer of 2011.
“One day this one kid went to Denver. He thought he was all good and going to spread the Word to poor people. He got there but saw it to be different. While there were people who needed it, there were others with much, much more. They had so much inside them that they spilled out toward him. He came away with so much more than he could have ever though. Jesus used him and others for him. The world is better because of this week”
“They gave with such passion and might
Who knew we would be the ones to put up a fight.
But God knew what was to come,
With our hearts pounding like a drum
We saw His love and grace through unexpected ways
And ultimately through unexpected ways
The clouds lifted the haze
To see God’s beautiful face.”
-Antonio
Summer Staff 2011
From bottom left to right : Missy Abeyta (Denver, CO), Manual Alvarez (Lakewood, CO), Davina Santovena (Denver, CO), Kyle Balzer (Denver, CO) Lakewell Gordon (Montebello, C0), Sara Abeyta (Denver, CO), Jesus Garcia (Denver, CO), Alyssa Rodriguez (Intern, Denver CO), and Kelli Miller (Mount Pleasant, IA)
Link to our new Official Page for DOOR Denver! Join our staff, alumni, participants and fans. We welcome your posts, photos, videos, comments, questions, and fun shout outs! March Westside Stories (It wasn't that long ago...)
by Antonio Lucero
WOW I can’t believe it! I am actually working in the hood that I grew up in: the Westside, the oldest hood in Denver. Gentrification is trying hard to take it over. But the heart and soul of the Westside is making it hard to do so.
It wasn’t long ago that I was riding my big wheel up and down Inca Street hoping I could burn rubber. Little did I know the wheels were made of plastic.
It wasn’t long ago me and my li’l homies used to steal rhubarb from back yards or light fires in the dumpsters.
It wasn’t long ago when I attended the Boys Club (Lincoln Branch) and get into fights with the other kids because they tried to steal my clothes.
It wasn’t long ago when my family had BBQ’s on Fourth of July at Sunken Gardens. My dad dropped me off at 8:00 in the morning with all our stuff to save a spot and not return with everyone till noon.
It wasn’t long ago my mom and I waited in line at the Denver Inner City Parish to get a big block of government cheese. That cheese was good! It made the best quesadillas and nachos.
It wasn’t long ago the immigrant neighbors and I played marbles for hours in the dirt. We would finally stop because the cuticles on our thumbs were too bloody.
It wasn’t long ago that we adopted one of these kids that I used to play marbles with. His mom, a Mexican prostitute, dropped him off at our house with only the clothes on his back. She told him she’d be right back.
It wasn’t long ago that my li’l sister and brother used to go to daycare at First Mennonite.
It wasn’t long ago that Cinco de Mayo was celebrated right in my hood on Santa Fe St.
It wasn’t long ago I would hear my dad’s whistle or a loud “AAANTHOONIO!” when he got home from work to call me home for dinner or a public discipline for not doing chores or running away for the day
It wasn’t long ago I would see used needles and crack pipes in my alley.
It wasn’t long ago I saw a girl get raped and couldn’t do anything about it because of fear I would be killed. But I saw justice take place on all the boys responsible.
It wasn’t long ago I got beat into the Inca Boys at my sister’s house on Inca St. That night I became part of one of the most feared gangs in Denver.
It wasn’t long ago a close friend of mine got shot to death in front of the Denver Inner City Parish.
It wasn’t long ago that I saw neighborhood brawls between drunks, druggies, and prostitutes almost every night in the summer.
It wasn’t long ago I gave myself to the Lord and started serving at His Love Fellowship.
It wasn’t long ago that I accepted a position at DOOR to become the new City Director. Now I can share my neighborhood and help lead young adults to “See the face of God in the City.”
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