NieuCommunities

Street art, South Park

Jon Hall — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:34:00 +0000

stay cool, San Diego

Jon Hall — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 21:34:00 +0000

A Son-ship

Gleaning the Unknown — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:36:00 +0000

This last month I have crossed the border and submerged into a different culture. I have been living with a Mexican family in Tijuana, Mexico. My initial hope was to become somewhat fluent in Spanish, which is coming along. I also desired to assume a posture of listening for whatever else God prepared for me in my new home. What I didn't foresee was a different border, below the surface, that He invited me to cross. To say my heart has been touched through my host family, who live off a dirt road, where the smell of pigs and cows permeate our home, is a gross understatement.

I have experienced the Kingdom of God in a light that is unfamiliar to me. This is but one out of the many stories in my experience with Lily, her husband Alex and their 3 kids….

A couple days ago a few of my friends from NieuCommunities visited my family and I in Tijuana. My host mom (Lily) cooked up some home made fish tacos and halibut with fresh salsas and tortillas for all of us. As we gathered around the table and broke bread together we laughed and enjoyed the adventure of navigating a language barrier. Maria, who works with NieuCommunities, is the only bilingual in the group and soon started translating.

My friends were very interested in how my host family's experience of this strange American with dreads living in there home was going:) Christiana asked, “How has your time with David been so far?” Both Lily and Alex expressed with sincerity how much they have enjoyed having me in their home, how they’ve grown to love me and how they’ve felt deeply loved by me. Then Alex said something I will never forget. “He’s a good son.” Tears welled up around the table. I struggled to hold it together.

The profoundness of Alex's response has left me imagining. Imagining my Heavenly Father's response to the same exact question, "How has your time with David been so far?" My hope, my longing, my desire is to hear the whisper of the Father, "He's a good son." These words are life giving for me. And this is the best part…I got to hear them audibly through Alex:)

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Ali Moving To My Neighborhood Today…

Matt — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:14:02 +0000

Today my (Muslim) friend Ali will be moving into our neighborhood.

He is moving to our neighborhood because he wants to be near our missional community. He doesn’t know most of them, but he has experienced being welcomed into community before (when we were in New Orleans) and that taste hasn’t left him.

Originally we expected him to be in San Diego for at least a year because of the job he got at USCD, but that job is no longer available to him due to complications with his Visa. His Visa is in the process of being renewed and there is a good chance he will get another position at USCD but he needs our prayers. He needs his Visa to be renewed quickly and for UCSD to confirm the position. At the very minimum, Ali will be living in our neighborhood (literally just a few city blocks from us…praise God for finding him housing!) for a few months. While he is here, he will be looking for clinical and residency positions across America, and he will be participating in our small house church on Sunday evenings as well as our common life together.

Will you continue to pray for our friend Ali? Please pause for a moment and intercede for him, where you are right now.

Crossing the Border

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:18:15 +0000

David and his host Family in Mexico

David is an apprentice with NieuCommunities here in Golden Hill. Both Derek and I have developed a meaningful friendship with David as we’ve walked beside him for the past year or so. We’ve seen him grow and develop in his spiritual gifting as he follows Jesus and is obedient to the things that God has for him.

For the past month David moved down to Tijuana, Mexico to live with a family, submerging into the culture as a way of learning and listening to God. Though we’ve been able to see David here and there as he commutes up for work and for our sunday night gatherings, he has spent the majority of his time getting to know a culture, a language, a neighborhood and a family with a posture of listening to God.

Before David moved, we as a community surrounded him in prayer, blessing him and sending him as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and an extension of our community here in San Diego. It was a powerful moment of empowering David and sending him to cross the border as an apprentice of Jesus.

A couple days ago Anika and I, along with Laurie and Maria from NieuCommunities crossed the border and visit David and his Mexican family. Maria is on staff with NieuCommunities and is originally from Tijuana. Over 20 years ago, Maria served with an organization that cared for Mexican children, mentoring them and teaching about the love of God, in hopes that these children would make decisions that would help them break out of the cycles of disfunction that most of them came from.

Lily was a young girl that Maria mentored. Lily now works for the same organization to care for and mentor young girls. David’s home-stay was with Lily, her husband, Alex, and their 3 kids.

When we first arrived at the home of Lily and Alex, we were warmly welcomed and invited to their table. We enjoyed a delicious meal of fish tacos together and clumsily communicated through the language barrier. At one point I asked Maria to translate for me so I could ask Lily and Alex some questions about their time with David. First I told them how I’ve been blessed and encouraged by the stories I’ve heard about their family through David. I thanked them for loving David and embracing him into their family.

“How has your time with David been so far?” I asked. Both Lily and Alex expressed with sincerity how much they have enjoyed having David in their home, how they’ve grown to love him and how they’ve felt deeply loved by him. “He’s a good son,” Alex said.

There were many teary eyed moments as Lily and Alex described their experience of having an American young man live with them and touch their hearts in a profound way. They opened up more of their story to us and we finished our meal by laying hands on the whole family and praying for them.

I saw the light of Christ in this beautiful family. They love Jesus and they long for more of him. I got a glimpse of Kingdom of God in the lives of Maria, Lily, Alex and David and the way their stories all intersect. I was also filled with excitement and vision as I processed with David what it might look like for us to continue to invest in this family and others, empowering them as leaders in their own culture and context.

I think often the most transformational experiences in life happen when we obey God to cross the borders of our world and enter into experiences where God can speak to us in new ways. Its in these unfamiliar places where God use us in unexpected ways, changes us and ultimately show us the depth of his love for us.

I’m grateful to God for bringing Maria and her husband Shaun to our community in San Diego. I’m grateful for their 20+ years of serving God in Mexico. I’m grateful for the fruit of their ministry in Lily and for Lily’s faithfulness to follow God, to believe and to have Hope for what God can and will do in her life and in her family. And I’m grateful for David and his obedience to assume the posture of a servant, an apprentice, a son, a friend and a leader for God’s Kingdom come on earth.

Lily, Maria and Anika

August – Sheahanlife

Sheahan's Life — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:03:00 +0000

A little of Augusts’ News:

I assisted Matt in doing a 5 day Road Trip. Yep, a Road Trip not a mission trip.

Five people between the age of 20 and 30 joined us for a time of going deeper, stretching wider and reaching higher in the Kingdom of God.

NieuCommuites hosted a time and place to teach and to experience what is it to live a lifestyle of mission in community.

The goal and idea was to inspire our Road Trippers to go further into the Kingdom, get closer with God, and figure out a few more steps toward knowing where they fit into it all.

We showed them the best and worst parts of San Diego, had a neighborhood picnic with them, took them to Tijuana for the day, worshiped and shared our lives through our story and teaching times.

I think lives were changed. It was a great time for sure.

Top L to R: Matt, Shaun, Rob

Middle: Matt, Justina, Maria, Sarah

Bottom: Emily, Amy, Emily

Baby Shower:

Both Amy Chapman and Janny Huckins if NieuCommuites are due anytime.

So what better way to gather a crowd than have a co-ed baby shower with neighbors that need to be loved?

Can’t wait to meet the babies.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Finally: our time in Porvenir. The Great Reunion.

See my FACE BOOK for all the photos

They came from: San Diego, Porvenir, Ensenada, San Antonio, Tijuana and Alabama for a time of refreshment, encouragement and reveling in the Kingdom.

Our house was full.

Laughter and tears flowed.

Being a blessing and receiving blessings…God out blessing us all. You had to be there. Next time.

John, Lili, Alexis, Maria, David, and Alex (Shaun on the other side of the camera)

The Sheahan’s

NieuCommuites San Diego

Shaehanlife.com

PS. Jeremy will be leaving in 4 weeks for a 3 month internship working with the poor in South Africa.

Kaory will be leaving in 3 weeks for a 3 month intensive bible school and outreach in Austria.

Josh just started his Junior year of high school and is working toward getting his drivers license.

I can’t tell you how proud we are of all of them and how much we will miss the one’s leaving…at least we think we might miss them J

Pray for them if you think about it.

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Coming Soon… Baby Chapman…

Matt — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:47:32 +0000

(author: amy)

Only a week left until the due date! Most of you know how this goes: I am exhausted & uncomfortable, can’t stop “nesting,” can’t stop talking about all-things-pregnancy, eager for an early arrival… Lord, help me!

We all know the best part about having a baby (yes, the baby). But, the 2nd best part? Watching friends and family rally for support. The last few weeks of pregnancy are hard, labor is a community event (especially in our case!), and the first few weeks after birth are amazing and wonderful, but even better with help! Without family here, we are privileged to be surrounded by people who are eager to make this process a blessing. We’ve been supported in every way – through prayer and encouragement, through extra help with Nolan, through help with projects and the every day activities, and through special gifts. One of those gifts was last week – a co-ed baby shower! One of the couples who recently joined us are also expecting (their first), so the community threw a party for both of us. I have had so much fun sharing this celebration of new life with someone else, especially since we are due within a week of each other. The party was great – a fiesta-themed event with food, games, and socializing. Matt and I were blessed with some much needed gifts… bottles, diapers, gift cards, etc, and some fantastic homemade gifts… wall art, a quilt, a diaper bag, and even clothes.

Now, just waiting for someone to decide that this baby is ready for the real world. Bring it on!

Please be praying for a smooth delivery and health for me & baby. We’ll post pictures and updates when it’s time! For now, enjoy these pictures of the big brother, our little surfer-man.

One joy expected, another given

Barbara — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:32:00 +0000

From C.S. Lewis' Perelandra:
"...it may be, one finds a different fruit and not the fruit one thought of. One joy was expected and another is given. But this I had never noticed before--that the very moment of the finding there is in the mind a kind of thrusting back, or setting aside. The picture of the fruit you have not found is still, for a moment, before you. And if you wished--if it were possible to wish--you could keep it there. You could send your soul after the good you had expected, instead of turning it to the good you had got. You could refuse the real good; you could make the real fruit taste insipid by thinking of the other."

"And have you no fear... that it will ever be hard to turn your heart from the thing you wanted to the thing Maleldil sends?"
"...The wave you plunge into may be very swift and great. You may need all your force to swim into it. You mean, he might send me a good like that?"
"Yes--or like a wave so swift and great that all your force was too little."
"It often happens that way in swimming," said the Lady. "Is not that part of the delight?"

My friend Sally, swimming in Thailand

Knowing place

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:04:31 +0000

I recently led a discussion with a group of Road Trippers visiting us here in San Diego, called Deep Culture. I’ve only given this talk a few times, but each time I find myself enjoying it more, and seeing the material (and through it, my city) with a new set of eyes. Culture has a profound impact on us all (and potentially we, on it). So much of it is sublime, affecting us and the people around us in ways we may be barely aware of. I continue to see more and more the importance of knowing (and becoming part of) the fabric of my community, it’s heartbeat, it’s triumphs and tragedies. More than that though, when I come to grasp what my community is really about, how it came to be, what it really is (not just above, but below the surface), and what’s it’s becoming, magical things start to happen.

It’s not as easy as it may sound. But powerful, it for sure can be.

So when I came across this post (thanks @jasonevans) on 2 Days to Exegeting a City, I was inspired. Check it out.

Texts to live by: Let Your Life Speak (Part 2 of 5)

Curtis Love — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:04:46 +0000

So I thought that I would share a few books that I have found helpful in my own life and perhaps pique your interest for considering them on your own journey. These book are primary around spirituality though perhaps at a later stage I will share some lists on theology or mission or philosophy or poetry or health. Here is part 2 of 5.

I have never met someone who has read this book and not counted it among their favourites. Parker Palmer is one of those rare kinds of authors. By his own admission (I am paraphrasing cause I can't find the exact quote) he likes to write himself into a corner and then see if he can get himself out. In a world flooded with information, techniques and quick fixes Parker's wisdom in "Let Your life speak" is more than a breath of fresh air for our stuffy souls.

With quotes like this:

Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what is truly about--quite apart from what I would like it to be about--or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.

That insight is hidden in the word vocation itself, which is rooted in the Latin for "voice." Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.

and this,

The soul speaks its truth only under quiet, inviting, and trustworthy conditions.

and this,

Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.

it is not hard to see why this book would find such a treasured place in so many people's journeys. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever had the (often menacing and not easily quietened) question rise in their soul "What is my contribution?" Writing this blog has inspired me to go and read through this book again cause i have just remembered what a great piece of writing this is.

Check it out.