The 14th Most Dangerous Neighborhood...

I spoke to my mother tonight. It turns out that we live right next door to the 14th most dangerous neighborhood in the United States. My sister alerted me to this when the info came out. The plan was to keep this from the folks to prevent unnecessary worry on our behalf. I hadn’t mentioned it on the blog before for that reason but we’ve been outed now so here it is. Turns out that (this year at least) we live adjacent to the 14th most dangerous neighborhood in the United States. Now in mother reckoning this is the same as living inside the neighborhood. To Mom’s credit we are less than ½ a block away from one of the bordering streets. And also to her credit is the fact that I can immediately think of at least two murders that have happened in our neighborhood this year. One of them was two weeks ago over $60 which I mentioned in Paying a Dealer’s Debt: Part II.


What Vic and I have witnessed from the violence in these neighborhoods is that they are almost always related to the drug culture prevalent here. If you participate in the culture you dabble in the danger. If you keep your nose clean, treat everyone with respect and compassion and watch your back you’re mostly fine. The 1 in 9 chance of being a victim of a violent crime in the neighborhood next door may be statistically accurate but the reality is that the crimes that are taking place are mostly between those involved in criminal activities on both sides.


But the reality is that these are desperately broken communities. Poverty, addiction and poor education have a choke hold on these inner city neighborhoods. In our neighborhood the first 30% of the population have a middle school education, the next 30% have a high school education but no diploma, the next 30% graduated high school with no college. That leaves 10% for some college experience but few graduates. .02% of that 10 have a master’s degree. That means that the choices available to many in our neighborhood are limited without the service of others who might open up new possibilities.


If we stay away because of fear those new possibilities are left unrealized. I believe that Christianity gives us powerful resources for dealing with fear. What are we the most afraid of? Stanley Hauerwas, a favorite theologian of mine (he’s the professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University) says that hospitals are the new cathedrals of our age in Western civilization. What he means is that our greatest fear is death and that we are willing to do anything to put it off. However, Christian discipleship, he suggests, is the art of learning to die young (not kill) for Christ and his Kingdom. The ability to do so well is rooted in how well we actually believe in Christ’s work on the cross and the promise of resurrection and the renewal of all things. If death does not have the final word what is there to fear? If God is for us who can be against us? Paul courageously mocked death proclaiming, “Oh death, where is your sting?” If death still has a sting for us as Christ followers then there is a very difficult question we have before us. But if death has no sting then where can’t we go and where shouldn’t we go as Christians? If the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the Church then why not plant one right in between them? I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen it happen in the bateys of the Dominican, in La Mosca, in the Hole and elsewhere. It opens up radically different possibilities. They’re opening in our neighborhood too.


The new possibilities start with courage, hope and faith. The courage is two sided, those with resources to offer hope and help need courage to do so. Those stuck in difficult life circumstances need courage to imagine a life that might be different from the only one they’ve ever known. I know this is true of “Al” who just recently made the first steps to turn his life around, imagining a life not driven by addiction. Al came to our community group the other night, not as one requesting aid but as a participant. As we read through a section of Hebrews he commented that he needed to read more of this and asked if Hebrews was in every Bible. I don’t know where this will go with Al. I do know that it is a beautiful picture of the beginnings of redemption and renewal, a picture that we would not have if it were not for other fellow Christians willing to choose to live in neighborhoods like the ones we’re in, living hopefully and faithfully, choosing to look upon tragedy through redemptive lenses and looking for opportunities to bring life and light to dead and dark places. The top 25 most dangerous neighborhoods in the United States should be the kind of communities Christians in North America should be looking to for spiritual and material investment. Paul said to live is Christ to die is gain. What do we really have to fear, what do we really have to lose?

Paying a Dealer's Debt: Part II

Several weeks ago we shared about the opportunity we had to help pay off a local user/dealer’s $50 drug debt. The guy he owed money shot his dog as a warning. Some guys from our community group took Jonesy and his dog to the vet that night. A $650 vet bill and 18 hours later the dog died. One of our community group members fronted the money. As a group we’ve helped him cover the costs.

One of our friends read the update we posted and was encouraged by it. He confessed to me later that he was tempted to be a little bit cynical. “Would that expense and effort really amount to anything?” Honestly, that’s a question we’ve asked ourselves regarding more than one relationship that we’ve had. But our responsibility is to be faithful to what God put’s in front of us, not guarantee outcomes to ourselves or anyone else. The Christian community is to serve in faith with unconditional love, putting off cynicism for hope even in the face of the stark realities of inner-city brokenness. We know that hope that is seen is no hope at all (Romans 8:24).

We did not know if or how Jonesy would respond to our redemptive help. Our own experiences in the neighborhood and with Jonesy left us with our own doubts. One thing was certain, though, that we had removed an immediate threat to his life. This was confirmed a few weeks later when a woman in her forties was shot to death over $60 about 4 blocks away from where we were that night. You better believe that collection threats are real in a drug culture.

So what of Jonesy? Any updates? Yes! Two weeks ago one of our community group members reported that he had accompanied Jonesy to a local church on two different Sundays. This is uncharted territory for Jonesy and us! Last week, he enrolled into a residential recovery program at the Jefferson Street Baptist Homeless Shelter where one of our community group members serves in leadership. As a community group we are sharing the cost for him to stay in the program for the next two months with the hope and expectation that he will get a job and pay his part for the following months. God has extended our opportunity to directly care for Jonesy as he struggles at this possible point of transition and transformation pointing him to Jesus.

Jonesy is by no means out of the woods. But he’s made steps that none of us have ever seen him take before. That’s encouraging. In fact, as a symbolic gesture, I suppose, he’s asked that no one call him Jonesy anymore but to call him Al, his middle name. Jonesy wants a new name. It’s a good start. Please pray for “Al” and his recovery, for his friendships in the shelter, for those from the community group that will be going to visit him on a regular basis. Pray that “Al” finds a job and sticks with it. Pray that through all of the efforts to serve him and love him that he encounters Jesus and falls in love with him.

Thanks for your prayers on behalf of our family and our work at G.O. and in the city. For those of you that partner with us financially, your helping us help give Al a new chance in Jesus’ name. Thank you! If you don’t partner with us financially and would like to Jeff would be glad to discuss it with you. Email him at or click here for more info.