ATTENTION ATTENTION: New blog site

To make things a little easier we have changed our blog site. For all future updates check out:

http://pareacommunity.blogspot.com/


Thanks!

Big Changes Ahead!

Parea Community is growing and expanding! I am very excited about what has been transpiring in the last few months. We have had some very succesful outreaches where we were able to expose what we do on a consistent basis to members of The Gate church. It is always exciting to see how people respond to a more relational approach to serving the poor; sometimes it catches them off guard, but eventually it turns into a beautiful thing! Most people approach ministry as they approach life: distant, closed off and cordial. Parea takes those things out of the equation. We cannot be succesful at our goal unless we become transparent, loving and gracious.

Parea is also entering into a major transitional period. My wife Tisha and I have been praying about what God's will is for our lives since we were married last September. On February 1st, we will be moving up to Portland, Oregon to expand the ministry of Parea. We are continuing Parea Victorville and Daniel and Juliet Aul will be the point persons in the Victor Valley area. This is a tremendous opportunity to continue building the Kingdom of God among the poor marginalized of our society.

Tisha and I will be partnering and living in intentional community with some incredible folks in the Portland area. We will potentially be working alot with homeless youth and doing ministry oriented things in our neighborhood. Our bicycle ministry that we started in Victorville will be moving to Portland and it will hopefully be a lot more productive as Portland is Bike City, USA. There are literally hundreds of different ministry opportunities that will be ironed out and strategically discussed in the first couple of months we are in Portland. Stay tuned for some very exciting announcements in the future!!!

A Thankful Thanksgiving Celebration!

Saturday Nov. 22nd, 2008 Parea Community celebrated Thanksgiving down at Eva Dell Park with their beloved extended family. We served an amazing assortment of foods, such as turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, and lovely desserts all made with love and donated by various members of The Gate Church of the High Desert and other various persons and churches. Thank you so much to all that donated food or warm clothes and sleeping bags/blankets. Also, to those that came down to help serve and get to know some of the homeless in Downtown Victorville, we extend a special thanks!


Everyone had so much to be thankful for, especially full bellies and warmed hearts! Blessings!

(All photographs featured here were taken by Tisha Lynne Speelman)

Tony Romo Joins with Parea to Love Homeless

Some of you may know who Tony Romo is, some of you may not. He is a premier National Football League Quarterback. He is joining forces with Parea and many other people world-wide to show love to homeless folks. Just the other day, Romo paid for a gentleman by the name of Doc to attend a movie. When the man, who proclaimed to Romo he had'nt showered in a few days, walked into the theatre, he was waved over to sit next to the NFL star and his friend. When most people are afraid, self-conscious or just plain too guilty to even be within a few feet of someone they suspect of being homeless; this multi-millionaire super-celebrity, the boyfriend of Jessica Simpson, transcended the blockade of his social status and shared his life with Doc. Tony Romo loved Doc like Jesus would want him too... Romo did'nt preach at him, he did not offer him food at the expense of sitting through a long pointless service, he did'nt acknowledge Doc's social status: he just wanted to bless a person in need of a little love.
Check out the article for yourself:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8821264?MSNHPHMA

Now, join the revolution yourself!!! Next time you see someone in need, just love them.

Buy Nothing Month

This month, my wife and I (c.j. and tisha), are going to be embarking upon a journey. We are trying to live in a much more simpler way, without the bonds of consumerism, materialism and that pesky ol rat race. This is really one of the goals of Parea Community, and I believe, the Kingdom of God in general. Our specific goal is to limit our spending to absolute necessities like food and bills, thats why its called "Buy Nothing Month." We are doing this alongside some friends at YWAM Portland. They gave us the idea, and we really wanted to create a sense of unity with them. As a supplement to the act of not buying anything, we are reading the book "Freedom of Simplicity," by Richard J. Foster. From what I have read so far (the first chapter) this book is really going to make a huge impact on my life. It is very insightful in the practice of simplicity and being disciplined spiritually in general. It is very hard to practice simplicity while living in Southern California. We live in a very materialistic culture here: Las Vegas is 2 hours to the East, Los Angeles is an hour to the West. Both of these cities are world renowned for fashion, celebrities, sex and glamour. With all of that, there is a tremendous capacity for wastefulness and gluttunous consumerism. It seems like everybody is affected by this, that it is in the very atmosphere. Thus, I can already feel the struggle!

Please pray for Parea! We need the Lords provision with finances! The awesome thing is that we always have enough money to feed the homeless on Saturdays, but we really want to expand our ministry and that involves finances unfortunately:) We know that God will provide for these needs!

Update

Hey everyone! It is Spring again... I am very excited! New beginnings and opportunities are everywhere! Do you want to get involved with Parea? Its easy!!! Just DO IT!!!

I just wanted to give an update of what is going on here at Parea Community!

First of all I would like to thank our good friend Marilea, she prepared a delicious meal for about 50 homeless people on Resurrection Sunday, or Easter for all you pagans!!! (just kidding) The meal was absolutely wonderful... Ham, asparagus, buttered-up carrots, baked potato salad(yummy!!!) and desert... It is always so wonderful to be able to go a little above and beyond for these folks. They rarely get to eat anything nutritious or appetizing for that matter.

We have been continuing all of our food outreach ministries which are totally relationship based. It is such a blessing to be able to go down to Old Town Victorville and just hang out with these folks. I have learned so much these last couple of years about patience and unconditional love. It is so hard sometimes because of how hard a lot of these folks live, I wish that I could just say a word to them and save them somehow! But I have learned that I have just as many deep-seeded sins, just as many problems that these people have, they just aren't as apparent to all the world as theirs are. I may not be addicted to a drug or alcohol, but my pride runs so deep and so strong that it holds me back just as much!

Recently I read the "Wounded Healer" by Henri Nouwen. It is a very amazing book for those of us who wish to minister to people. Very simply, the book is about Jesus, how He became sin for us, but as ministers or servants we very rarely come to the point where we are that dedicated to those we are ministering too. Nouwen used an example of a pastor or leader being willing to leave everything to go after that one person like the parable of the lost sheep. I believe, like Nouwen, that we must come to point where we have to re-learn ministry! The western mindset is such that we do not let our weaknesses show, we hide every thing away under a rug somewhere in order to save face, to protect our rank. In some ways ministry is a power struggle, a way for people to have control over peoples lives. This is a false and dangerous approach, though it is practiced far and wide. The most important concept that Nouwen discussed addressed this very harmful condition. In order to be effective ministers of the Gospel, we must minister out of our wounds, out of our brokenness. This is the only way that a world full of wounded people will understand the power of the Resurrection of our Lover, our Saviour, our King!

In the future, you will be hearing a lot about Nicaragua. I recently visited this Central American country for about a week for two reasons. The first reason was to go serve an incredible ministry called Maranatha Christian Missions. The second reason I went was to explore the possibilities of purchasing a plot of land that would be able to support a Coffee farm(yeah that's right) and an orphanage/ministry center! I have a very ambitious vision for using coffee as a revolutionary, anti-corporate, ministry opportunity. Please stay tuned... we(as in you and me: we) are going to change the world!!!

Community

Too many people come into community to find something, to belong to a dynamic group, to find a life which approaches the ideal. If we come into community without knowing that the reason we come is to discover the mystery of forgiveness, we will soon be disappointed.
- Jean VanierCommunity and Growth

Some of our Homeless Friends were in the Paper

Hey everyone!
Recently a couple of our Friends were featured in a front page article in the "Daily Press," our local newspaper. I am attaching a link for you to read the article; it is beautifully written and looks beyond their circumstances to show their love for each other. We know these two people very well and I am glad that the paper is taking an interest in the Homeless. The sad part of this whole article is that the reader comments on the internet are quite disappointing to me. They really show how angry and hateful we can be as a society. I hope that you read the article and the reader comments to get a good idea of how our area opperates!

http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/love_3784___article.html/life_tony.html

One Love!

C.J.

Homeless survey for San Bernardino County

Hi! i just wanted to share with you some data that is hot off the presses. It is a study done by San Bernardino county which is the country we live in and where we minister to the homeless. Although surveys like these are usually bureaucratic in nature, and are really about numbers and money instead of people, it still provides some important information and really makes the actual situations hit home in a broader sense. The crazy thing is that when you put these statistics into practice, and touch and see theses precious people it is really quite life changing! if you are interested please follow the link and see for yourself!

http://www.sbcounty.gov/csd/homelessness_in_san_bernardino_county.htm

C.J.

Mobile Bike Shop???

Hey everyone... you may be asking yourself "What the heck is a Mobile Bike Shop?" Well our little version of a "Mobile Bike Shop," pretty much consists of a rolling tool box, some random bike tools and a few miscellaneous parts. But the excitement is not in the actual physical expression of having a bike shop, cus who cares about that, its pretty easy to fix bikes. The excitment is centered around the fact that we will be able to use this little idea to impact the lives of many homeless people who depend on bicycles to transport themselvs around the city. Bicycles to the homeless in Victorville are very important! Obviously they do not have the money or the tools to repair their bikes! They certainly cannot afford to buy their own bikes. This ministry is two-fold: we want to give used bikes to those who are in need and to provide a free repair service! We are really excited about getting this under way and should have all our ducks in a row to begin bringing bikes and tools down to Forrest park during our already established ministry times on Thursdays and Saturdays! If you are interested in participating in this ministry at all: from donating money for parts, donating parts(anything really), donating bicycles(we are interested in all bicycles, even if they are really bad looking we can salvage parts or other things to use for repair) and most importantly yourself! Please consider coming down and helping out! Bicycles are revolutionary!!!
Pictures will come soon!!
c.j.

Wrecked for the Ordinary

I would like to take a couple seconds and thank an online publication called "Wrecked for the Ordinary." They recently asked me to write an article kinda showing what we do in Old Town with our Homeless friends. The folks at Wrecked are really trying to create an arena where people and communities who are trying to make a difference no matter how big or small, can express themselves and their vision. Please go check out their site and read all the articles and submissions that you can! There is some pretty inspirational and intense stuff! The article i wrote is featured in the Community section of the webpage and is displayed in two parts... please read it if you like! They also included some of the photographs in the second part, that Tisha took(also featured on this very blog)! They are amazing photographs and really tell the story of Old Town on their own!!!

http://www.wreckedfortheordinary.com

One Love
c.j.

Parea Community Members at the traintracks

On a Saturday in May, the same Saturday as the photographs below, which Saturday I cannot recall, some of the members of Parea Community ventured to the traintracks behind Forrest Park and took a stroll down to the bridge. Here are a few photographs documenting our adventure!

Photographs By Tisha Lynne Galvan

Saturday Morning Continued...

After a long delay... (Tisha gets her film developed in San Diego) Here is the rest of the photographs from that same Saturday Morning in May 2007. These photograph feature community members as well as extended family members from Forrest Park.
*All Photographs are by
Tisha Lynne Galvan

The Family drinkin coffee and hangin out on a saturday mornin

These are some photographs taken by Tisha Lynne Galvan a few Saturday mornings ago. Featured in these photographs are some of our beloved "extended family members" in the Forrest Park in Old Town Victorville.

Photos of some of the members of our community

Hey! these are some photo's that we took after we served coffee down at the park one saturday morning. The bittersweet thing about Old Town Victorville is that there is a beautiful set of train tracks that disects the neighborhood, the downside is that it disects the neighborhood... and because it is one of the busiest lines in Southern California, there is constant train traffic, with loud horns that blow throughout the night! but we decided to take some photos of us messin around on the ol tracks! Some of the community is not pictured here regretfully...

The thing about thursdays

One of the highlights of our week here at ol parea community, is thursday afternoons when we share burritos with our homeless friends!!! the fun starts on wednesday afternoon when i put the beans in the pot to soak, then on thursday the community gets together and cooks the beans and rice and wraps the burritos! then we drive down to the park where we are greeted by about 30 hungry, smiling, sometimes dirty faces!- c.j.

An Introduction to Parea

Parea is a Greek Word that basically means “circle of close friends.” When we chose that name for out ministry, we wanted it to embody who we were, not just to ourselves as a ministry, but also those who we encounter as we minister in Old Town Victorville. It speaks of our desire to make a long term commitment to people in a radical, relational way. Parea Community is all about relationship. We believe with all sincerity that Jesus will use us to change the world one relationship at a time! With that declaration, I would like to tell you a little story…

One day well over a year ago, after months and months of intercession and planning, a couple of us decided to plunge headfirst into the murky and turbulent waters of the homeless population along the Mojave Riverbed (no pun intended). We hiked down the side of the highway 18 bridge that spans the river and ventured under the bridge around the girders hoping to find someone who was camping out. Our hearts broke. Graffitied all over the concrete pillars and support beams were cries of desperation, loneliness and brokenness. We read poems written in permanent marker that told dark and sad tales of lost love, abandoned dreams. An insurmountable amount of old clothing, trash and broken appliances littered the entire area. My friend and I were completely overwhelmed, all we could do was stare and proclaim “Lord have mercy!” After a couple of minutes we saw three figures (two men and a lady) walking down the railroad tracks, waving at us. Quickly looking at each other, eyes saying “this is our chance,” we scurried down the rest of the way, dodging empty tin cans and beer bottles to have our first contact with the locals. After a couple of minutes, our paths crossed and after hasty introductions we began to share with them who we were and what we were doing. With a skeptical tone, one of the men offered to let us camp at his place, mistaking us for being new to the river. “Oh, we’re not homeless, we just wanted to come down here to help in any way we can!” I awkwardly replied. With a collective nod of understanding and a singular “cool!” the ice was broken. The other gentleman told us how he had recently come to be homeless. A week previous he had gotten out of jail (CDC drops off new parolees at the bus station on 6^th and D st.) and found himself with no money, no way of getting a steady job because of a disability (he has only one leg), and no place to lay his head. The night before our encounter he had slept in an abandoned building and almost froze to death, frost covered his un-blanketed body in the morning. The other two had been walking around town in the freezing winter night in order keep warm. The intensity of their stories gripped our hearts and we could feel the confirmation of our decision to begin to minister to these precious people. It seemed that we instantly formed close bonds with all three of these people, and inevitably this encounter has opened up the doors to a blossoming new movement towards the poor called Parea Community.

To many of the Homeless, it is imperative that they form close, tight-knit social networks that really resemble a sort of family. It is really hard for someone outside of the network to gain acceptance into the family, especially when they are not homeless. Although all of the member of Parea love and support the many ministries existing in Old Town, our homeless friends look on most of them with a wary eye. I too have noticed that while many of them meet very important needs, the one key thing that they are missing is relationship. We may be the smallest ministry with a microscopic budget, but somehow God has blessed up with the most meaningful relationships and loads of close friends, most of which do not have a consistent roof over their heads and struggle daily to exist in this world. The other day, a friend came up to me during our Saturday morning coffee ministry and smiled. Then he proclaimed “every time you guys come down here, you brighten up everybody’s day, its one big family down here, and you guys are part of it.” What a privilege!