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Enriching the Neighborhood
Group Home
Last August, students and faculty from Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University began constructing a new Habitat for Humanity house just down the street from their urban campus. Last month, CCU President David Faust presented the key to Te’Anna and Curtis Jones III with an official welcome to the neighborhood.
Citi Foundation and Westfed Coalition joined CCU as sponsors, and all three organizations participated in the August kickoff. CCU students have continued to work at the site each weekend. In total, approximately 175 CCU student and staff volunteers donated 1,700 hours to the building project and other volunteer assistance to Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.
CCU also gave $25,000 to the effort.
The school is committed to serving others in the Cincinnati area, offering more than 40,000 hours of community service each year, and continued its partnership with Cincinnati Habitat by hosting a banquet on its campus. CCU was recently recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
www.ccuniversity.edu
Stop Trafficking
Two leaders from First Christian Church (Phoenix, Arizona)—lead pastor Jon Taylor and prayer and small groups pastor Scott Pixler—traveled to Washington, D.C., last month for a gathering organized by human rights agency International Justice Mission (IJM). Taylor and Pixler were among 100 people from 25 states participating in meetings with U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, and Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain. Participants met to build support for The Child Protection Compact Act of 2009, which aims to end the trafficking of minors into forced labor and prostitution.
“The trafficking of persons is the third-largest criminal industry after drugs and weapons, and the fastest-growing criminal activity in the world,” says Pixler. “According to UNICEF, there are nearly 2 million children in the commercial sex trade worldwide.”
However, IJM has seen marked improvements; in just under two years of collaboration in Cebu, Phillippines, the number of child prostitutes has been reduced 70 percent.
“When it comes to fighting human trafficking, a relatively small amount of money goes extremely far because authorities can leverage the impact of the law,” says Holly Burkhalter, vice president for government relations at IJM. “This can change the entire calculation of crime in that community.”
First Christian Church also participates in a coalition working to combat child rape for profit in Phoenix.
www.fccphx.com
Safe House
“So many women just need someone to talk to and can’t afford counseling,” says Kathryn Leonard, pastor of women and spiritual formation at Crossroads Christian Church (Cor-ona, California). “We created Sorority House to provide a safe place.”
Crossroads just launched the ministry this spring and, despite its name, currently offers Sorority House in one room at its building.
“We hope to eventually have an entire house, open every day,” Leonard says. “But we’re starting with one room, open each Thursday, and already so many women have visited.”
Beyond physical expansion, Leonard dreams of other possibilities.
“We’re building liaison relationships with community agencies so we can refer women to specific contact people for more help,” she says. “We also hope to create an after-school program for teenage girls so they can drop by the house, make cookies, hang out. Many girls need a mom-figure who will support and encourage them.”
The new ministry also offers help to Crossroads’s male staff members, who may feel unequipped to minister to some needs.
“Now our staff have a place to refer the ladies who need more personal attention,” Leonard says. “It’s such a blessing to connect a woman in need with people who have cleared their schedules and are completely available to listen and pray.”
www.crossroadschurch.com
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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