Urban Ministry in Minas Tirith: Lessons from J.R.R. Tolkien for Christian Community Development

This weekend I attended Mythmoot III: Ever On, a Tolkien and fantasy literature conference hosted in Baltimore by the Mythgard Institute, whose President, Corey Olsen, is known online as the Tolkien Professor.  I have attended this conference every year since the inaugural conference in 2012.  Each year, it has been an energizing experience: joining a hundred other Tolkien nerds to discuss a vast array of topics, from Middle-Earth to Doctor Who to Irish Gaelic.  It’s a joy to let our nerd flags fly high and share our love and enthusiasm for these topics.

One of the other striking aspects of this conference is the diversity of its attendees in terms of what they do in their “day jobs.”  While the usual suspects – full-time academics and professors, aspiring writers, artists and musicians, etc. – abounded, these were by no means the only professions present.  Computer scientists, physicists, retail workers, marketing reps, and so on were also represented.  As were Latin American studies majors turned non-profit community development workers, ever divided between the two competing passions of literary nerdom and human rights promotion – that is to say, there was room for me too.  No matter how disparate our professions and backgrounds, we all found something inspiring and compelling in these works of fiction, and joined our different perspectives to form a more complex and compelling discourse.

So when John asked me to write a reflection on Tolkien and what we do at ECM, it seemed only natural that I could draw some connections.  Here, then, are some lessons from Tolkien for Christian community development.

1.      Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands must do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.  Peter Jackson’s film version expresses this same sentiment, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”  When it comes to the great work of bearing God’s light to the dark corners of our fallen world, nobody – not rustic, naïve hobbits, nor poor undocumented immigrants – is irrelevant.  Everyone, no matter how marginalized or forgotten, has something to offer, and we must never fall into the trap of trying to judge whose contributions are valuable and whose are not.

2.      I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.  A few months ago, Morgan wrote a reflection on the role of lament in ministry.  Seeing the pain and the need around us, allowing our hearts to break, and sharing that pain with others, does not mean that we despair or lose hope.  Tears of lament are not an evil, for they attest to our shared humanity with others, and the image of God that we all bear.

3.      Blessed are the legend-makers… It is not they that have forgot the night.  While fantasy literature and speculative fiction are often derogatorily dismissed as “escapist,” implying their lack of engagement with the real world, Tolkien believed that the escape offered by fantasy in fact offers readers a better means of approaching reality, not by denying its struggles, but by renewing readers’ appreciation for its beauties.  Community development workers, then, should not dismiss or reject the arts and creativity as a distraction from the “real work,” but rather embrace them as God-given gifts to strengthen us in this journey and build community with one another.

4.      All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.  It is easy to become discouraged when we see the enormity of the evils we face.  Be it the looming conquest by Sauron and the forces of evil, or the seemingly irrevocable creep of generational and institutional poverty, we often despair of ever being able to make a difference, and we fall back on questions of Why this?  Why now?  Why me?  But Gandalf reminds Frodo, and us, that those questions are, as they say, above our pay grade.  We may never know how to solve these problems, but we can still choose to act on the talents and opportunities we have received.

5.      It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door ... You step into the road, and if you do not keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you may be swept off to.  Ministry, like any endeavor to which God calls us, is an adventure – a dangerous business, one might say.  When you choose to say “yes” to God, be prepared for him to take you down unexpected paths.

6.      It is true that if these hobbits understood the danger, they would not dare to go.  But … in this matter it would be well to trust rather to their friendship than to great wisdom.  The work of community development is, without doubt, difficult and intimidating.  It will require patience and endurance, the hope to keep fighting even when the same needs continue to be felt, the humility to admit that we don’t know everything, and that sometimes we fail.  This line of work has never made anyone rich, and probably according to many, it is not a “wise” career choice.  But it is a choice born from loyalty and love, and it is the bonds of friendship that we forge in this journey that will see us through.

While there are surely more connections that could be drawn, these stand out to me at present.  Tolkien affirms throughout his creative and analytical works the capacity for heroism in all people; the idea that heroism is a choice to act courageously, rather than the possession of great strength or knowledge; the redemptive and revitalizing power of creativity; and the necessity of community and empathy.  These values are essential to the work of community development, and by engaging with fairy stories like The Lord of the Rings we come to understand these values on a deeper level, and renew our appreciation of the good for which we are fighting.

Namárië, tenn’ enquetielva.

Confessions of a baby grant writer

I started working with ECM at the beginning of November, and these past two months have been full of activity and new experiences.  The primary focus of my position is grant writing, and before coming to ECM, I had only ever written one other grant (during my Nicaragua internship in the summer of 2013).  So I feel like I'm learning a lot of this as I go, in terms of figuring out what goes into writing a grant proposal, how to approach foundations, etc.  I have to admit there are times when I feel insecure and unqualified.  But then, there are times when I feel like I am growing and learning and finding a groove.

On the other hand, I feel like this position uses a lot of my skills, and that my past experiences have prepared me for it.  I like writing and feel that I'm pretty good at it, so this is just learning to write in a new way.  My internship in Nicaragua introduced me to grassroots community development work and the importance of actively maintaining a community-driven perspective.  I love being able to speak Spanish with my coworkers and community members, and continue refining my conversation skills and learning new words.

Throughout this learning process, I’m discovering some of the interesting aspects of being a grant writer.  First, I get to have kind of an overhead view of the organization and its programs.  I get to see what everyone is doing, hear everyone’s vision for where they’re going, and help them dream and scheme about how to get there.  And I love that.

The other side of that coin, though, is that my particular tasks aren’t very interesting to tell about.  I mostly sit at a computer all day, writing and editing proposals, researching foundations and grant opportunities, updating my spreadsheets of information, meeting with program staff to learn their vision and priorities, etc.  I like writing, and I like using language in different ways to communicate what we're doing.  But the program staff – Lidia, the Clinic Director, or Morgan, the Urban Farm Manager, or John, the Executive Director – are the ones with their hands directly in ECM’s projects.

The other odd aspect of this job is the constant waiting that it seems like it will entail.  We submitted a short proposal to a family foundation last week, and that felt like an accomplishment.  I’d been writing and revising the draft, and meeting with Lidia and John, for about a month, so it was gratifying to check it off my list.  But we won’t hear from them until February, so it will weeks before we know if they will approve it or not.  And based on the research I’ve done, a two month response time seems relatively quick.

I love being here at ECM and getting to be a part of their work.  Since my job isn’t too noteworthy on a day-to-day basis, in the coming weeks I’d like to tell you all a bit about ECM’s different programs.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season (for those who celebrate, whatever you celebrate), and thanks for reading!

New opportunities, new adventures

Hello again, Internet!

It’s been a while, and I never told you about the end of my internship in Nicaragua, for which I apologize.  Since my last post, I concluded my internship with FSD, finished grad school, and moved back to my beloved hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I’m back, and resurrecting this blog to tell you about two new exciting developments.

First, after several months of job searching, at the beginning of November, I began working with an organization called East Central Ministries.  ECM is a faith-based community development organization located in the International District of Albuquerque.  The organization serves a low-income, predominantly Hispanic/Spanish-speaking population, and focuses on partnering with the community to develop sustainable and creative solutions to their needs.  I love ECM’s approach to ministry, in that they invite the community members to become agents of change in the process of neighborhood revitalization, and the community members are the ones who define their greatest needs and goals.  ECM carries out its mission through a variety of projects, including a low-cost health clinic, a community food co-op, an urban farm social enterprise, an affordable housing community, and youth programs.

My role at ECM primarily focuses on grant writing (beginning with the clinic), and may extend to include other communications and volunteer coordination tasks.  This position is a really good fit for me, my skills, and my interests, because I get to write, use my Spanish, and work promoting human rights in the city that I love.  It’s a joy going into work every day, and I’m so excited that this gets to be my first post-school job.

Thus far in these two months, I have

• Read through dozens of old documents and grant applications to get my bearings
• Assembled a database of around 80 grant opportunities we can consider applying to
• Written and submitted two proposals
• Interviewed the clinic staff to understand their roles and perspectives
• Written new content for the website based on those interviews to better express the current operations of the clinic

If you’d like to learn more about ECM, you can visit their website at www.eastcentralministries.org. 

The other update I’d like to share is a trip I am taking with a group from my church, Sandia Presbyterian.  We will be travelling to Guatemala this January with Living Water International to help dig a well and conduct hygiene classes in a rural community outside of Antigua.

I’m excited about this trip because it will be an opportunity to build relationships of service and compassion across cultures, and to see more of the diversity of the Body of Christ.  I like Living Water’s model because they have a team permanently stationed in the communities where they work to ensure the long term sustainability of the well projects, and because they involve local community members on their team and in the coordination of their projects. 

I’m actually currently fundraising (until December 18) for this trip, so if you’d like to donate, you can do so here.  Anything you can give would be much appreciated.  Prayers and encouragement are also much appreciated!

Anyway, I will be sure to give an update on the Guatemala trip, and I hope to be giving some updates on my work with ECM in the coming months.

As always, thanks for reading, and take care!