SUMMER 2011 & 2 YEARS @ SOURCE!

2 YEARS AND THEN SOME :)

As I'm writing this letter, I've been thinking about the first day that I came to Source 3 years ago for my internship and seeing how much God has grown & changed me since then. From there I made my 2-year commitment to work with Source and this past August marks a little over 2 ½ years of serving with them full-time. My experience has been one of learning and growing into more of who God has made me and discovering more of the heart that I have for serving, hospitality, the arts and sharing the love of Jesus with others....(and also learning to take on more of a leadership role and growing more out of my “shell” of timidness through all of my experiences.) I have been working with many different types of people, from the traveling homeless to many of my Somali & Hispanic neighbors to highly eclectic artists---all living within blocks of my Minneapolis home. I have poured out my heart to many and have made many feel welcome who don't know Jesus. I've been so grateful to be part of a ministry that values providing a place for those who are searching to know God and I definitely feel blessed to work alongside so many people who have a heart to serve and follow God with their lives. Alas, what you may have guessed by this point, I am approaching some upcoming changes...I have been praying & thinking about this for a little while (and some of you have been praying, too) and I have decided to finish my full-time position with Source as this summer has come to a close. As I have been talking with my director and his wife, I have been wrapping things up on my end. As the flow of the summer naturally has a break at the end of the summer, the timing of finishing up my time with Source made sense to conclude at the end of August. As I was approaching the end of my time serving alongside Source, the end of summer was busy yet still a very exciting time:  

I LEAD A CREATIVE WORKSHOP THIS SUMMER

This past summer involved many aspects of continuing relationships with many in the neighborhood who do not know God and continuing to have a Christ-like presence within the artist community of South Minneapolis. We also continued to pour into the initiative of the building the “Annex” & “Take a Number”: Traveling Art Exhibit (raising awareness through creative efforts and providing housing needs for women transitioning out of sex-trafficking). As part of this initiative, I lead a Women's Creative Workshop (survivors from sex-trafficking). As part of the evenings, we had a group of 20 women (volunteers & participants) take part in a meal that we provided, getting to know one another, a creative project and had a time to share and pray with each other at the end of the night. It was such a great experience and it was great to see so many women open to sharing and processing through some things while recognizing God in the midst of their terrible circumstances. I had such a great time getting to know some of the women and providing a welcoming & safe place for them to recognize God working in their lives!                                 

ART FEST, KIDS CLUB & COMMUNITY GARDEN!

 We also had a wonderful annual Art Festival this past July (you can see pictures on my facebook page here)! We had some summer staff come in to help out with our summer kids' club and I loved continuing to get know people in the community garden next door...  I was also involved with the planning of an art intensive (gathering of Christian artists to create together, pray together, and process creatively together!)...very busy, but I loved it:)  

AND NOW...

As for now, I am taking some time to spend with my family after an intense 2 years of ministry and seeking God's direction for what is next (and applying for jobs!). In case you are wondering and/or you have been financially supporting me...(and you're of course welcome to ask me more questions @ staciphilgreen@yahoo.com)...I am able to receive support through November 30, 2011 as Back Pay. Your payments (whether you mail in checks or you are enrolled in the automatic withdrawal program) can/will continue to go through Source through this date unless you would like to request to be taken off as a regular supporter before November 30^th. If you choose to continue to send in your support, this will help tremendously as I transition from full-time ministry to finding a full-time job. This has been an incredible journey and I appreciate all of the prayers & financial support & encouraging words that so many of you have given in the last few years! Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I walk through this transition period and taking the next step of trusting and following God for what is next :)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

-stacey

See New Summer photos on my facebook group page: Stacey in Minneapolis!

Source Annex updates: sourceannex.org

Source/Fallout Arts Initiative (I helped put together the website :): falloutartsinitiative.com

apRiL-MaY 2011 UpDate*

Summer has arrived and I have never been so excited to have warmer weather...winter lasted way too long...we had snow flurries on May 1:/ I was counting down the days for the snow banks to melt away, too. But alas, summer is here again and there is nothing like a summer in Minneapolis...the 70's are finally here!!!
(Source Golf Tournament...Mandy is working with us at Source this summer)

Okay, enough about the weather, here are some updates on what has been happening!

Disgrace: Good Friday Art Exhibit

We had our annual Disgrace: Good Friday art exhibit/interactive service April 22...We had over 100 people show up to view individuals' artistic representations of the stations of the cross before Jesus' death. People scattered the building throughout the night to watch, listen, and participate in visual art, spoken word, poetry, and music centered on the stations of the cross leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection. You can see more pictures on facebook!

Traveling Art Exhibit: Human Trafficking Awareness

MayDay & Demand Change

May Day was a great success this year! Check out our facebook pictures from the event...We recruited/created art to be part of a traveling art exhibit to raise awareness and benefit sex-trafficking victims in the midwest. We had several pieces created based around the fact that these women have to “take a number” to wait in line to get help to transition out of abusive situations. The focus is to spotlight statistics based on the domestic issue of sex trafficking, prostitution, and the lack of opportunities for these women to get out. This show made its initial appearances at the Minneapolis May Day festival and the Demand Change events in May 2011. (View the event that we joined as a creative awareness project from the awareness art pieces from Breaking Free's Demand Change awareness weekend!-Raising awareness of the many victims in the midwest of commercial sexual exploitation).

Annex Construction & Women's Creativity Night

We've had lots of volunteer groups coming through and helping out with the renovation of the annex, the home we are preparing for women transitioning out of sex trafficking. While we are providing more housing as well as Christian community to surround these women, we are still partnering with Breaking Free, an organization providing education and services to women who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation (prostitution/sex-trafficking) and need assistance escaping the violence in their lives. We will be opening up the home in the fall! I'm also excited to say that I will be leading a creativity night with some of the women that will be moving into our transitional housing through this project. The evenings will consist of a meal, creativity, and prayer time for one another. We had our first gathering, getting to know one another, creating self-portrait collages, and sharing them with one another at the end of the night...I will share more in my next blog!

Community Garden

So the house that I'm living in has been located next to an ugly, empty lot that mostly just collected trash from passers-by, but this summer it has been transformed into a community garden! We're really excited about it because it's going to be another great way for us to be involved in the neighborhood...the Fallout has a garden plot that we are going to keep up and involve our kids club with as well.

*Please continue to pray for me as I prepare for the summer and as I continue to build relationships within the community, from the people in my church, the homeless in my neighborhood, the artists that we host, the Somali/hispanic families that I see everyday, and the gardeners that I meet next door...and the Women's Creativity Night :)

February-March 2011

It has been a tough season readjusting to the winter weather of Minnesota after spending Christmas in the southernmost part of the U.S...But the last couple of months at Source we have been hosting our annual spring break groups to immerse college students in the realities of urban outreach (what it looks like to serve in the homeless/artist community of the diverse neighborhood of South Minneapolis). This is one of the times each year that we focus on training other individuals for serving in the city. As part of the urban immersion, we also held an awareness seminar on homeless youth and sex-trafficking in the city of Minneapolis, as we have been renovating our Source Annex building (building that will be set up for women getting out of sex-trafficking-we will be working together with Breaking Free, an organization dedicated to educating and providing services to women and girls who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation (prostitution/sex-trafficking) and need assistance escaping the violence in their lives). The students expressed how the spring break trip altered the way they viewed reaching out to the homeless and marginalized and how they want to continue to share the love of Jesus with the marginalized in their city.
I am also helping organize a traveling art installation that will raise awareness and benefit Sex Trafficking Victims in the Midwest. We hope to have a variety of visual and multimedia art work. The focus is to spotlight the domestic issue of Sex Trafficking, domestic Prostitution, and lack of opportunities for women to get out of this cycle of violence. This show will have initial appearances at the Minneapolis Mayday festival and the Demand Change Events in May 2011. The hope is that it will also travel to galleries, community centers, colleges, & churches over the next year and will accompany awareness presentations and prayer vigils.
Thank you for all of you who have been praying for us. God is continuing to bring those that are searching for you...we visited a shelter again last night where we were able to invite several to come to our church on Saturday night...They were so excited after coming, expressing that they could really sense the Holy Spirit within our church and how they were so encouraged by that!
Please continue to pray for me as I work with artists that are hanging shows in our Fallout Urban Art Center art gallery. Many of them are art students from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design across the street. Another staff and I have also begun a women's small group on the MCAD campus for a few believers that live on the art campus...we're excited to see God encourage these women as they are wanting to pursue God more:)

Minneapolis Winter Fun (I tried ice-fishing and cross country skiing for the first time)

JanuarY 2011 UpDate: Ocala, FL Outreach

There is a completely different world out in the woods that most people don’t realize. They call them Rainbow Gatherings. Many young adults travel down south from up north during the winter months because temperatures are much more tolerable there. They flock together because they want to find family amongst each other. It’s a mixture of young, homeless traveler and present-day hippies. Some of them live from “gathering” to gathering. Others have a home that they sometimes go back to. They even have their own rules set up while in the woods. Everyone must provide their own “bliss-ware”, otherwise known as you must provide your own eating utensils….keep them on you at all times because you never know where you might be getting your food for that day…maybe at one of the kitchens, maybe at someone else’s campsite that brought food in. They also don’t know when they’ll be able to wash their clothes next, but they also don’t have many clothes because they must travel lightly. Wearing the same thing over and over again is the norm. Looking dirty is expected. No showers available…not much of anything. The hottest commodity is having clean socks---clean socks are always wanted…and dental floss…it seems that dental floss is the product of choice to sew up holes and tears in clothing. Some had tents, some just slept out in the open, some had tarps. They all kind of look out for each other, trading items, giving things away, helping set up camps. They treat each other like family—most of the time. They also have different “camps”. We were known as JESUS CAMP. Despite the name, we were really looked up to and respected. So many said they felt a peace around our campfire that they didn’t feel anywhere else. There was also a camp called Front Gate…they acted as the protectors, checking who came in and keeping out people they don’t want there. But, they also are the camp with the alcohol. It’s funny because most people there didn’t want alcohol near their camp….you could go to certain spots if you wanted it, but it was an unspoken rule that alcohol was not wanted around just any camp…they had seen too many fights and disruption---they really did talk like hippies…wanting peace, love, and everyone to get along.

There were a lot of kids who had a church/Biblical background and knew scripture really well—several of them were even pastor’s kids…so many of them had been hurt by the church or by “religion” in some way and were very skeptical of being of followers of Jesus. Some of them agreed with Jesus but couldn’t get past some of the other things in the Bible---some just had bad experiences in the church. We came into the woods to show Jesus’ love. Not just love for love’s sake, but to love as Jesus loved. We set up a KITCHEN where we could serve meals to large groups of people…the JESUS KITCHEn that we went in with has been doing this for many years. It’s a great way to connect with people—and we were highly respected as well. We also set up a PRAYER TENT—equipped with Bibles, hanging candles in the trees, papers to write prayers on and clip in the trees, sheets, to create a little privacy, and prayer times with others and for others. As we stayed in the woods we prayed together as a group 3 times daily, morning, midday, and evening. It was a chance for our group to pray together, but also to invite others in to pray with us, and also to pray for others that wanted prayer. We also read scripture aloud together. It also brought up opportunities to share more about Jesus with others as well as creating a safe place for others to ask questions about Jesus and what we believe. We also made a large puzzle mural-a community mural that everyone could contribute to. We also brought extra socks, toiletries, hats, gloves, scarves, and Bibles to give away. People kept showing up and we had lots of conversations about Jesus through the week, prayed for so many as well as having a BAPTISM at the end of the week! We ran into a girl that we had prayed for 2 years ago in the woods—no one had seen her since then, but it just so happened that our campsite was set up right next to hers! After she had received prayer last year, she explained that she kept running into other “Jesus People” and accepted Christ into her life a few months after that….she had still been living the same lifestyle, but kept coming around to help out around our campsite. We were able to pray with her some more throughout the week and asked if she would like to be baptized now that she had a new life in Christ!...She said yes, so we dug a hole in the ground, placed a tarp in it, filled it with water, and !voila! we had a baptismal! It was one of the most beautiful nights I had ever been part of. She was sharing her testimony around an orange-glowing campfire as many sets eyes and ears were intently listening to her story. It was so incredible because she had such an amazing story to tell and there were so many there listening that either didn’t know God or were at least trying to run away from God in the middle of the woods…but God found them in the woods—so many of them needed to hear her story-so many needed to hear that God is real and that He longs for a personal relationship with them. It was also the most celebrated baptism I’ve been to—there were so many people there—some watching from afar, others gathered as close as they could to the baptismal pit. There were probably around 100 people there that night. She was then able to return home with a group to be part of discipleship training in Chicago.

God also taught me through some of the people in the woods—through the many conversations and just watching some of the lifestyles of the people out there, I realized how important it is that I share with people the love of Jesus. It is not enough to just do good and nice things for people…If it were so, there would be no difference between followers of Christ and people like we met in the woods, people just wanting to form a peaceful environment, but lacking reason for doing what they do. I am learning that I can’t hold back the reason why I like to serve people—I need to speak up more and not be afraid to say why I do what I do. I was also very humbled because some of the people we met had nothing and yet they were so willing to give away what little they had. It challenged me so much because so many of them didn’t even know God…

See more PICTURES on my facebook: Click Link at TOp of this Page

See how much more should I be willing to serve others in the name of Christ?

OutReach Trip: Ocala, FL

For those of you who would like to know what to pray for...We are leaving to go on an outreach trip to Ocala, FL tomorrow.

HOMELESS YOUTH: Outreach Trip to OCala, FL

To live with, serve, and love on Homeless Youth, Travelers & the Marginalized

We will camp in the woods for a week, host a prayer tent, kitchen (make 100's of meals), Interactive Art, Daily Prayer, & Worship Times.

Every year during the winter, thousands of homeless youth, travelers and marginalized migrate south and gather in the Ocala National Forest in Florida.

Our team will be entering into a sub-culture that is extremely skeptical of the Christian faith and anything that looks mainstream or religious. When you spend a week living with people in the woods offering friendship, food & prayer you are able to see incredible obstacles overcome. We are able to make contact and gain trust in a short amount of time.