Community Meals Build Relationships

Throughout our city, and especially in the 38126 zip code, the end of the month is a particularly difficult time to put food on the table. Families usually run out of financial resources by the last two weeks of every month. In an attempt to address this need and demonstrate God’s love in our city, we have begun hosting community meals in the south downtown area. Three local congregations are joining together with MUM to provide a nutritious meal and time of fellowship three days out of each month: Sycamore View church of Christ, Raleigh Community church of Christ, and Grace Crossing Church.
Despite the cold weather, we had a great turnout each evening. The members from the area churches and local residents were laughing and beginning to build relationships with their new found neighbors. One gentleman came in to see what was going on and he said that he could feel the love in the place. Praise the Lord when activities that MUM initiates create opportunities for the love of God to be experienced.
Each night, we shared a meal with nearly a dozen families and around 50 individual people. One of these families had seven children under the age of 9. The second night of the community meals was Wednesday, January 28th. School had been canceled that day due to winter weather. Virtually all of the children living in Cleaborn Homes receive a free or reduced lunch. This means that when school is out, there is a strong likelihood that food will be scarce at home. At the community meal that night, families enjoyed BBQ chicken sandwiches, greens, corn on the cob, and peach cobbler. That night a few less children went to bed hungry.
We are so thankful to have Christians in the city who care about the hungry, and we look forward to all of the bridges that will be built between neighbors through our MUM Community Meals.

A Brighter Christmas

There were smiles on the faces of hundreds of children on Christmas morning again this year because of the MUM Christmas Stores and a new St. Nicholas Project effort. These activities provided a means for the love of Christ to be demonstrated and countless words of gratitude to be uttered to our God.
This year the stores were held on Saturday, December 20th, with locations at the MUM Hub Downtown, Raleigh Community Church of Christ, and Ross Road Church of Christ. A total of 1291 toys and gifts were donated and divided among the three locations. 451 kids from 228 families woke up Christmas morning with toys purchased for them by their parents.
Two highlights from the Downtown Christmas Store stand out. There were two families from the neighborhood that assisted with the store and felt a great deal of dignity in serving God and giving back to their neighborhood. Second, nearly half of the shoppers said that they were looking for a church home. This is a great signal to confirm that there are numerous people in the community looking for a congregation to call home. We pray that all of our ministry will continue to glorify God and lead our neighbors to become faithful followers of Christ.
This year was also the first year that the Ross Road Church of Christ hosted a Christmas Store location. The Ross Road congregation is in a time of revival and renewed energy. Part of the energy has been focused on reaching out and ministering to the community around them.
The St. Nicholas Project was born out of the sincere love of the Highland church for the children from our MUM Summer Camp. Several of these children would have had nothing to open on Christmas morning. Let’s praise God that we are bridging gaps in our community and demonstrating genuine love for one another.

Mack McFarland and Dorn Muscar

Vision for the Future

In Isaiah 61:1-4, God paints a vision of the future where the poor, the broken, and the hurting rise up and become the leaders, restorers, and re-builders of their community. Jesus declares God’s vision as His mission in Luke 4 when he reads from Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth. Therefore, God’s vision is our mission right here in Memphis. We see a future in Memphis where everyone has the opportunity to be in a saving relationship with their Creator through Jesus. We envision mobilizing an army through partnerships to connect poor families with the resources they need to live a life outside of poverty.
In this God-sized vision, we will renovate blighted properties to provide affordable housing so that the poor can have a decent place to live. Through partnerships, MUM sees a future where we strengthen families, raise up Christian leaders, create jobs, and provide micro loans. MUM’s vision of the future is to have greater resources to provide emergency assistance such as food, clothes, and shelter. MUM envisions having a full time social worker who will help families sort through the host of problems faced by people living in poverty.
Through MUM and our partners, God’s vision is already breaking into reality in Memphis. MUM has provided jobs through the Summer Camp at Downtown Church of Christ and the day care center at the Raleigh Community Church of Christ. MUM has served meals to the homeless and provided lunches for children during the summer. Through generous donations, MUM has provided school supplies, turkeys for Thanksgiving, and toys for children at Christmas.
Our God-sized vision continues where we see a renovated facility that is the inner city hub of operations for MUM that will be used seven days a week to serve one of the poorest neighborhoods in our nation. Inside the newly renovated inner city hub, we see a vibrant church that meets there and a daily after school program, recreational programs, and educational opportunities for parents and children living in the downtown community.
We invite you to envision with MUM a transformed community and with your continued support, this vision will become a reality.

(Jim Harbin)

School Store Serves Community

The Memphis Urban Ministry School Stores were a huge success this year. Both School Store locations (Downtown Church of Christ and Raleigh Community Church of Christ) served a combined total of 968 kids during the hours of operation.

Thirty minutes before the School Store at the Downtown church was scheduled to open, all the seats inside were full and many individuals were standing outside waiting to come in. Downtown Church of Christ minister, William Smith, noted the difference from last year when things were steady all day but never full.

Besides serving the community with free school supplies, the School Store provides an opportunity for us to minister to the hurting in our community. Kenny Allen, a minister at Raleigh Community Church of Christ, was able to pray with several who came through to receive supplies. One of those he prayed with was a Grandmother who was there to receive school supplies for her grandchildren. This woman has three boys and a daughter. Two of her sons had recently been captured by law enforcement and her other son was on the run.

Every child who attended the School Store at Raleigh was also able to receive a free dental screening and a free toothbrush thanks to a partnership with the Firestone Dental Group.

We owe a big “thank you” to Mark Green and Highland Church of Christ. Mark is a deacon at Highland Church of Christ and each year coordinates the purchasing of the school supplies. He also donated all of Highland’s remaining school supplies to MUM to use in the Downtown community where several individuals had to be turned away when supplies ran out at that location.

Dorn Muscar weds Carolyn Crim

MUM staff member Dorn Muscar (Outreach Minister) and Carolyn Crim were married on Saturday, June 28th in Carolyn’s hometown in eastern Tennessee. Several from MUM and Raleigh Community Church of Christ were able to attend the wedding. Carolyn has been a big part of Dorn’s ministry with MUM and serving in her own ways at Raleigh Community. They now live in the Uptown community of Memphis. Congratulations Dorn and Carolyn! May God bless your life and ministry together!

Dressed with Love

One of the neat things about MUM Summer Day Camp is that many of our counselors and staff are made up of individuals who either live or have lived in the same neighborhood as the kids who attend camp. Having “walked in their shoes” gives our counselors a special understanding in how to relate to some of the challenges and obstacles that the kids face. Recently I witnessed a powerful interaction between one of our camp staff members and one of the campers that really embodies what we hope this camp can be.
Ms. Brenda has lived in Cleaborn Homes (the housing project across from camp) and is currently a member of the Downtown Church. She was also hired to be on the staff of MUM Summer Day Camp. Ms. Brenda has seen it all – she can tell you hundreds of stories about life in “the projects”. I believe that these experiences have given her the ability to love the kids at camp in a very special way. This love was recently made evident in a simple act of kindness between Ms. Brenda and one of our great young campers, Renea.
Renea has a wonderful personality – she loves to play games and is a great basketball player. Unfortunately, despite all of her great qualities, Renea doesn’t always see herself as valuable. She often isolates herself and is hurt very badly when someone picks on her. Last week was particularly tough for Renea, and she was just having a bad week. Ms. Brenda immediately noticed Renea’s sad demeanor and knew exactly what Renea needed.
Over the course of the next few days, Ms. Brenda spent some time at Renea’s apartment, talking to Renea’s caretaker. Ms. Brenda had noticed that Renea would come dressed in the same old clothes every day, and decided that she would take Renea to find some brand new outfits - these weren’t hand-me-down clothes or clothes from our clothes closet, these were brand new clothes! Ms. Brenda even decided to do Renea’s hair!
The following week, Renea came back to camp a completely different person – her smile now lit up the room. It wasn’t just the fact that she was wearing a new set of clothes – you could just tell that Renea felt accepted and loved. Today, I’m thankful for Ms. Brenda and grateful for the chance to see Christ through her compassionate love.

- Ryan Fowler

Impress it On Their Hearts

On Wednesday nights at the Raleigh Community church of Christ, the teen Bible study has really begun to grow. More than twenty teenagers have been coming, half of whom are not even regular attendees of the Raleigh Community Church Sunday services. We have a small room we call the teen room, but we have had so many kids in attendance that we can not meet there any more. Since the weather has been nice we have adjusted by meeting outside and the teens are enjoying that so far.

We have been discussing how God can help us over come obstacles we face in life, and on one particular Wednesday, I asked them to memorize three short verses. Out of 25 students about a third took it seriously and were successful in their memorization. Two particular young men stood out. Neither of them are members of our congregation. Nick is a 13 year old I have come to know over the past year and half and Jeremy is a 15 year old that I had only met for the second time.

I handed out slips of paper with the verses on them and anyone who could memorize all three verses could have a bite-size candy bar. I gave them a few minutes to look over the verses, and while some did not even attempt, Jeremy took his paper and stood at a distance from the group to practice. Within five minutes, he came up, stood in front of his peers and stated “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” and “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” This was incredible to see. Shortly after Nick came up and did the same.

Later in the evening as most of the teens were playing basketball, Nick was teaching one of his friends Brandon, another 13 year-old, the verses. He even came back the next week and said the verses perfectly from heart. He told me how he had gone home and practiced all week. Nick is a really special young person and his story is so compelling because his father was murdered when Nick was just a baby. This exceptional young man is a great example of the countless young men who need extra love and support because of circumstance that are out of their control. I pray that disciples of Jesus will pay attention to these young men and point them to Christ.

- Dorn Muscar; MUM Outreach Minister

Giving Honor

Romans 13:7 says that we are to give to each one what we owe them. We at MUM owe a great deal of thanks and honor to the youth groups of the Germantown Church of Christ and Great Oaks Church of Christ. These two youth groups came with the Spirit of service—cleaning, painting, decorating, sorting, and doing yard work—in the name of Christ, tag teaming to make preparations for the summer camp at the Downtown Church of Christ. The groups worked tirelessly June 2-6 getting the building ready. Great Oaks youth group painted, tore down moldy walls, cleaned the kitchen, bathrooms and made decorations. Germantown youth cleaned up children’s play area, decorated, sorted clothes, and cleaned out pantry. Several of the youth from Germantown also memorized the words of Jesus from Mark 10:45 "For the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many." Here are a couple of before and after photos of the work they completed.