3rd Annual Clayton Kershaw Baseball Camp

Last month, we were blessed to host the 3^rd Annual Clayton Kershaw’s baseball camp at the Mercy Street Field of Dreams.  Clayton and Ellen Kershaw’s foundation, Kershaw’s Challenge is a “Christ-centered, others-focused organization that exists to encourage people to use whatever God-given passion, purpose or talent they have been given to make a difference and give back to others in need.” Kershaw’s Challenge has been a generous supporter of our baseball program by donating baseball gloves and hosting an annual baseball camp for West Dallas youth. 

This year, we had amazing weather and over 200 excited kids participate in the camp. It was an honor to once again have the 2014 National League Cy Young award winner and Most Valuable Player teaching and loving on our kids. The goal of the camp is to expose our kids to professional and collegiate baseball training as well as offer them and their families the hope of the Gospel.  

For the third year, the Dallas Baptist University (DBU) baseball team and coaching staff have offered baseball and character instruction throughout the camp. The year, we also partnered with Camp Gladiator who ran a baseball themed fitness and agility training station. Easton baseball provided several bats that our campers were able to use. Volunteers were provided by the Pro Players Foundation, Mercy Street Church, Pro Source baseball, the National Charity League Heart of Dallas Chapter and the Southern Methodist University Community Engagement & Leadership Center. Lunch for participants and their families was provided by Kiolbassa Sausage and the Pro Players Foundation. Active Faith Sports provided wrist bands for every camp participant.  We are extremely grateful for all of those who contributed to making the camp a huge success.  Versa Printing provided the signs and promotional material for the camp.

 

Clayton’s number 22 jersey was retired in honor of his character and the generous support that Kershaw’s Challenge has extended to Mercy Street over the years.  Clayton and a DBU baseball player shared how their faith in Christ has radically shaped their life.  Pastor Jerry Wagner of Mercy Street Church offered the hope of the Gospel and several kids acknowledged their acceptance of this transformative message.  Campers left the Mercy Street Field of Dreams encouraged with an autographed Clayton Kershaw baseball card. Mercy Street sports hopes to use the momentum of the camp to get coaches and players excited about the upcoming spring baseball season which gets kicked off after the first of the year. 

If you are interested in coaching with Mercy Street, please contact Lee@MercyStreetDallas.org. For more information on the Mercy Street baseball program, please visit www.MercyStreetDallas.org/baseball .

Welcome to Our Table

     With thousands of non-profits in North Texas and fundraiser luncheons trending, one could begin to live off them if they needed. On Monday you could enjoy a meal at the Anatole, Tuesday the Hyatt and so on, leaving little need to pack your brown bag anymore.  Just this past week Mercy Street held their annual fall fundraiser luncheon.  But, I sensed it would be a bit different when the Mercy Street team kept saying it was being held, "at the black building next to the bridge."  

     The old abandoned bus warehouse at the foot of the pristine white Calatrava bridge proved to provide the perfect setting for what would be an hour sure to disorient anyone.  Often headlines and newscasts can paint West Dallas as a place to avoid or at least as a place you are sure to confirm you actually did lock your car and hide any belongings.  But, as we pulled up to this warehouse, teenagers (or "leaders" as Mercy Street likes to call them) from the community swarmed us with a warm respectful greeting that told me my stereotypes would have to stay in the car for the afternoon.  

     Our table setting was elegant, feeling like the Anatole, but apparently somehow handmade by the Mercy Street team.  To further disorient me and my luncheon expectations, Mercy Street had selected a keynote speaker few of the guests had ever heard of.  Melissa Hill, wife of Mercy Street's founder, has never written a book or won a championship, but what she would share would quickly help the guests see why she was selected as the keynote.  

     Melissa and her husband helped make sense of why Mercy Street's luncheon was such a set of contrasts.  11 years ago Mercy Street was conceived as a contrast when the Hill family chose to move from the side of town everyone wants to live to the side most people avoid.  Melissa spoke of how God had deeply impressed on them that West Dallas was a place of beauty.  In the abandoned warehouses and low-performing schools and fatherless homes there was beauty to be discovered and celebrated.  

     This substantial non-profit (now 24 staff, 350 volunteers and $2 million budget) finds its underpinnings in this belief, that God wants to spark community restoration as his people engage in mutually transforming relationships with its future leaders.  The way the Hills open their home to the neighborhood has clearly become beautifully ingrained into what today is a non-profit with a love affair for their neighbors.

What God Writes on Our Hearts

     Occasionally, I greet my mentee, Jeroy, with a very solemn question: “What is the chief end of man?”  He responds with varying degrees of correctness, but usually recalls most of it: “To glorify God and enjoy him.” I always press Jeroy at this point. “For how long,” I ask. “A couple of hours? A day?” He looks askance, culling his memory. “Forever,” he says with satisfaction.

     That might sound like a brag, that I can casually elicit pithy theological statements from my mentee. The truth is Jeroy knows that answer because it is the first question of the Westminster Catechism and not the second or third or any question after that. I had planned to teach him more, as a way to bond and a good reason to meet regularly. But I was never consistent about it, so Jeroy retained only this one answer. I have mentored Jeroy for nearly three years now and am still trying to find that consistency. And Jeroy, now in seventh grade, is still showing me that he is a patient, forgiving young man in spite of my inconsistency.

     Jeroy is oldest of five. He has a passion for basketball and thinks my hook shot is one of the funniest things he has ever seen. Jeroy’s vocational aims shift a little every year, but they always target something artistic, whether shoe design or illustration. Today he wants to get into car customization, but only after attending college at A&M, UT or Tech. He currently attends middle school at Thomas A. Edison.

     Like a lot of kids in West Dallas, Jeroy is smarter than even he realizes. The problems of West Dallas do not escape his attention. The apartments, he says, need fixing and the poor need help. He is bothered by the amount of litter and thinks the banks of the Old Trinity River that snake through his neighborhood are a safety hazard. He sees the gangs too and, no doubt, the violence.  In short, he sees what the Apostle Paul says creation sees: the Fall. And Jeroy groans with all of creation.

     Mercy Street’s main charge is to raise up future leaders in West Dallas as an act of obedience to God. I ask Jeroy for his definition of that kind of leader. “Someone who helps the community,” he says. “And encourages other kids to complete their goals.” Jeroy mentions the litter again too. I think it is so apt that he does this. If a kid not completing his or her goals is a principled effect of the Fall, then litter is a tangible one. Litter is ugly. It gets blown everywhere. It invades. It speaks to a world in disorder. By his logic, a future leader is someone who sets everything in order, which includes the discarded plastic bottles and greasy fast food bags shoved into the curb.

If I wrote my own definition of a future West Dallas leader, I would say he or she is someone who works actively to combat the effects of the Fall in the community of West Dallas. Really, Jeroy’s and my definition are different parts of the same job description. Mine is the objective; his is the list of responsibilities.

     I am Jeroy’s mentor and so I have signed on to help Mercy Street realize their mandate of restoring West Dallas through godly West Dallas leaders. But I am also a contract-breaker. In November of 2011, I agreed to contact Jeroy weekly and spend time with him biweekly.

     I have not done that. And

Jeroy knows this, but he has not called in a lawyer to justifiably terminate our association. Rather, through patience and forgiveness, he greets me every time with warmth, a reminder that he’s not about to wield some Sword of Damocles in judgment. When I point out that he does this, Jeroy just shrugs, a lot like the baffled, righteous sheep of Matthew 25.

     I often fall back into the mistaken belief that I and mentors like me are here to mold the future leaders of West Dallas. But my relationship with Jeroy is a consoling reminder that God is the one accomplishing this, even through chronic transgressors like me. And Jeroy, by practicing virtues like patience and forgiveness, is already engaging in combat with the disorder that plagues West Dallas, as well as ministering to me. It would be a lie to say he always chooses the righteous kind of fight, just as it would be a lie for any one of us. But he is letting me see what quiet combat looks like often enough.
    

     We may never get around to covering the other 106 Westminster questions. Even if we did, I know that it is not what I impress on Jeroy’s brain, but what God writes on his heart, that will lead him in the paths of righteousness. The same is true of any mentee. The same is true for me.

Trey as Head Cheerleader

I love the fall. It marks the start of school and a regular routine for the family, it promises (often emptily) cooler weather, and most importantly a new football season kicks off. I watch far less football now than I used to, but I am a still football junkie. To me, it is the ultimate team sport. Though you have superstars that are big difference makers, no one player can succeed without the others doing their jobs well too. There are no “clear-out” plays in football. As good as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are, I have never seen them come to the line tell the linemen, “Step aside I’ve got this.” To succeed at football you have to play as a team.

I also love seeing great team chemistry. There is something kind of mysterious about it, but there is no doubt that good teams have it. They are unified around a common goal, they buy into the system, and they don’t let ego get in the way.

Why all the football talk? Because I am really excited about the team that we have assembled at Mercy Street. Like a good football team that requires everyone to play their role well, our Mercy Street staff is a group of really capable folks who are committed to their respective roles and the common goal of God’s glory and the mission of Mercy Street.

We have also made some leadership changes that I am really excited about. Here are some of the changes we have made to the team for this coming year.

Replacing a guy like Carlton Oby is tough, but what a blessing to have Garrett Smith, already a seasoned director from the staff, ready to slide over and fill the important role of Director of Leadership Development. Garrett served as Director of Mentoring for the last three years, but willingly and eagerly moved over to keep working with the students he had built relationships with over the last seven years on staff. His desire is to help them grow in their faith, learn how to succeed in life after school, and instill in them the desire to give back to their community.

Filling Garrett’s old role as Director of Mentoring is Jill Harmeyer. Jill has served as a mentor coordinator for three years and excelled in the role. As she says, “I feel like was born to be a mentor coordinator.” In her new role she will hopefully instill the same passion and processes that he used to help foster thriving relationships between the mentor and mentee. She will oversee the efforts of the other coordinators and she will continue to walk with a group of her current matches through graduation. Jill is a natural encourager who is very thoughtful in her approach.

Emily Walker will be assuming a new title this year too. She will be the Director of Operations. Emily has proven to be a valuable asset to the entire team and has served everyone exceedingly well in her role of Events and Communications Manager for the last four years. Emily is just one of those people who seems to have more hours in her days with all that she gets accomplished. She is really efficient and very friendly. In her new role she will ensure that we are improving our overall processes in order to do our work with excellence in all areas of the ministry.

Nicole Livingston is taking Emily’s place as Events and Communications Manager. Nicole has been with the team for four years as a mentor coordinator. Anyone who has been to one of our Annual Fundraising banquets or Eggstravagaza events has seen Nicole’s fingerprints. She has been instrumental in making those events happen the last few years. It will now be part of her main responsibility as well as the communications functions. She is a very creative person who is also incredibly detail oriented.

Lastly, Bill Farrell and Sam Flores are exchanging titles. Sam will assume the title of Director of Development and Bill will take the title of Associate Director of Development. Bill has been instrumental in the success and growth of Mercy Street from the beginning. As a development director from another organization once told me, “It is not fair that you have Bill raising money for you. When I go see folks, I go as a development director. Bill goes as a friend.” In his new role, Bill will be working part-time as he says, “for another year or two.” I’m pretty certain Bill is going to outlive me. Sam has faithfully served for the last five years in an assistant then associate’s role. He has used his natural gift of relationship building and networking well in his time here recruiting new mentors and fostering new donor relationships. In his new role he will oversee all of Mercy Street’s fundraising efforts.

At the risk of sounding a little like Jerry Jones (which no wants to do right now for untold many reasons), I really believe that we are positioned well for success in the near and far-term. We have a really solid leadership group and a very seasoned team. Everyone practices servant leadership. There is a real sense of unity of purpose and a desire to make Jesus name great here in West Dallas.

I have been trying to figure out exactly what is my role in all of this, and I have determined that I am taking the only role I’m qualified for--Head Cheerleader. 

Exciting Win for Amelia Earhart Elementary!

We just wanted to pass along some encouraging things happening at Earhart and in our neighborhood!

• Earhart has officially been taken off the "improvement required" category
• Not only that, but they received a special "distinction"  in reading after this past year. 
• In an article in DMN published on Saturday, Michael Williams, the Texas Education Commissioner, says “Earning a distinction is not easy ... any school earning one or more distinctions should be recognized in its community for the outstanding work taking place on that campus.” Click here to read full article
• Compared to last year, Earhart had a 16% increase for number of 3-4th grade students passing STAAR reading, while there was a 2% decrease in the 3-4th graders passing STAAR Reading for Pinkston-deeder pattern as a whole. 
• Earhart has had a 22% increase in number of 2nd-5th grade students reading at or above grade level over the last two years. Before, only 17% were reading at or above, and now 39% are!

While there is still plenty of work to be done when it comes to the educational climate in this community, let's celebrate the victories along the way!  We are so thankful what Christ is accomplishing through collaboration in West Dallas!

Bittersweet by Trey Hill

Bittersweet. That seems to be the right word for this announcement.

After eight years of faithful service and leadership at Mercy Street, Carlton Oby and his family are heading to Tyler, TX to lead a mentoring ministry called Gospel Village. He will be missed. That is the bitter part.

The sweet part is that this is a chance to spread “the Mercy Street way” and really allow Carlton to spread his leadership wings and have a big influence in a divided community.

See, Gospel Village was started by Grace Community Church four years ago and is modeled after Mercy Street. In fact, we have been consulting with them from the start. We have even sent some of our team to help train their folks in Tyler over the years. From the start, I said that they would reach a point where they would need to start a separate entity with a full-time leader. Well, they reached that point and called me to see if they could talk to Carlton about the job. I reluctantly said, “Yes.”

And Carlton reluctantly said yes too (he said no twice before saying yes). He will be heading to Tyler at the end of August.

Carlton joined the team as the first Mercy Street High School Mentor Coordinator in 2005, and later became the Associate Executive Director and Director of the Leadership Institute. In that role, he has crafted a program from scratch that very intentionally and intensively invests in students who demonstrate leadership potential. He also, on his own initiative, created a Mercy Street Alumni Association to track with the students after they graduate from high school and to help them continue in their respective journeys.

However, Carlton filled more than a role at Mercy Street. He represented what was possible to our young men–a young, African American man from the community who had graduated from college, was the faithful husband of one wife, and a great dad to his kids. It is something that was deeply needed when he joined the Mercy Street team. Carlton in many ways typifies what we desire for our Mercy Street kids—that they would come back to the community to make a difference. That is exactly what Carlton did. He made a difference.

Carlton has proven to be a faithful, loyal servant at Mercy Street. His dedication to the kids, his desire to see them come to faith in Jesus and grow in their faith has been unquestioned and relentless. His ability to relate to the kids and connect with them on a deeper level is truly admirable. I am truly grateful for him, his leadership, and his friendship. He will be missed, but not forgotten.

At Gospel Village he will be leading a city-wide effort to have mentors for every student in XX targeted schools. The groundwork has been laid for some really exciting things to happen. In fact, Gospel Village has the full support of the Tyler School Board and many of the prominent leaders in the city. Carlton will continue to build on that foundation and begin to implement a strategy to create “mutually-transforming relationships” in Tyler. He will be building bridges that need to be built in order for the gospel to flourish in both North and South Tyler. Hopefully his time at Mercy Street has equipped him with a few tools for that task.

So it is with happy/sad hearts that we say farewell to Carlton and his beautiful family. I know they will make a big impact for God’s Kingdom in Tyler.

We do have some exciting plans to continue the important work of the Leadership Institute and Alumni Association that Carlton started, but we will let you know more about that next month.

- Trey Hill
Executive Director

Made in the Image of God

by Stephen Painter

Genesis 1:27-31:

                                         So God created man in his own image,

                                  in the image of God he created him;

                                     male and female he created them.

   And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Peak of San Juan Mountain

   After five days of God considering his creation good (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25), God created something that made it all very good. He created us. He created the first man and the first woman. It doesn't matter that they were black, white, red, or blue. They were made in His image, and they were the piece that made Him consider His creation very good. How is it that God created the heavens, the mountains, the seas, the plants, and the animals, yet only called it very good after creating us? This is the question I pondered this past Wednesday on the peak of a San Juan mountain in the Colorado Rockies.

Mercy Street Interns and Guides

   Fourteen of us from Mercy Street spent the past week in Colorado on an exposure trip for second-year junior interns. This was an Adventure trip through Sky Ranch at Ute Trail. We split up into two groups by gender and rotated half of the week kayaking and half of it backpacking. This was sweet time shared in fellowship together with our Father and each other, and it was filled with challenges ranging from hailstorms to fatigue to being vulnerable with each other. The guys trip consisted of kayaking Sunday afternoon until Tuesday mid-day, then switching with the girls to begin backpacking until Friday evening. In my opinion, the most significant moment was Wednesday morning as I and eight brothers reached the peak of the Powderhorn Trail mountain. Our guides, Ron and Zach, took us to Genesis 1 for a peak day devotional. We discussed the beauty of the mountains before us, then contemplated what God meant when He created us and called creation very good. We discussed what it means to be made in the image of God. Personally, I found that this dialogue created a passion in me to understand more clearly the innate beauty in bearing God's image. Sure, the mountains in Colorado are one heck of a sight to see, but the greatest beauty of creation really lies in us.

Kayaking

   As we begin the final two weeks of the internship, my hope and prayer is that we as senior interns begin to see the beauty of God's image in ourselves, in each other, and in those we are ministering to. Know also that I pray the same for you. Why do we let ourselves be blinded to the beauty of those around us? What do we see when we look at other people? Do we identify people by our memories together, by the things they've done, by what others tell us, or by the fact that they are God's image-bearers? How do we see ourselves? And finally, how does the knowledge that both us and those around us bear the image of God change our worldview?

"The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen." - 2 Tim. 4:22

In Christ,

Stephen

Unbounded Grace
by Noemi Gonzalez

Have you ever been to a place and fallen in love with it? Is there a place that you would feel odd to be away from? West Dallas has become that place for me. I have been here for eight weeks and it feels like I have lived here forever. When I first started this internship I did not feel encouraged by many people. Family members would ask me why I was doing this and why I would volunteer for a position like this. I don’t think they understood that being here with my girls and new friends is payment enough. It is truly amazing how God works in our hearts. A few weeks ago I went back home to Houston and felt a void the whole time I was there. How could I be back in the city I grew up in and not feel at home? I loved that I got to see my family and hang out, but my heart and mind were stuck in West Dallas. I kept thinking about the relationships I was building with my fellow senior interns, but especially my huddle group girls.

This past week was one of the toughest for my group. Rumors and conflict overpowered the usual dynamic of our group. I feel that this week taught me so much about myself, my co-leaders and about my girls as well. In our senior intern meetings we talk about how we need to give grace. This topic troubled me more and more because we seemed to talk about it every week. When does grace become an enabler to lie and disobey?

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”

Romans 6:1

My sister and I talked about this verse and its meaning in my predicament. I ended up with my answer: tough love. At some point in our lives someone has showed us tough love. In this case, I believe that as grace is given so should tough love be given. If we, as leaders expect our girls and guys to learn to love the word and to follow Christ, we should not allow them to continue to sin only because we are graceful.

My co-leaders and I recently had a huddle group dinner at my house. We made breakfast for dinner, thinking it would be a great idea to get everyone together to talk about our dilemmas. Everything was going great until a few of the girls complained that the food was not up to par. Honestly, I was hurt. How could people be ungrateful for what they are receiving? It was truly beyond me. As the night progressed so did the tempers and attitudes. The girls were frustrated, but also letting off steam by telling each of us (their leaders) what they did not like about us. We had shown a lot of grace, but we thought it was time to show a little tough love. In my case, I realized tough love goes both ways. As we told them our problems, I heard things about me that were tough to swallow. I knew this experience was going to be hard, and so far it has been in many ways, but I did not imagine that God would use it as an instrument to show His grace to me.

As the end comes near, I have realized that although I expected to see deep change in them, the experience has also changed me. I can sit here all day and write the things that have changed in me, but to put it simply, I will not leave this internship the same person as when I came in. That’s how I feel God has shown me grace. He put me in a situation that was out of my norm, a little tough love, and showed me that He has so much more to teach me and I love every minute of it.

“Do not be conformed to this world,^[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”                                                      Romans 12:2

Visible Fruit

by Drew Salada

It’s amazing the transformation that can occur in an individual’s life in just a couple of months.  The change that I have witnessed in the junior interns has truly been thrust in my face these last few days, and it warms my heart to see the labor of Mercy Street bear visible fruit.  On Wednesday evening at Bible study, the students participated in a role-play exercise to practice defending their faith.  One situation was a friend coming to another friend and accusing them of taking “God stuff” too seriously.  Another was a boss forbidding one of their workers from talking about God.  Regardless of the scenario, one individual had to defend their faith in God as the other took shots at them.  It was so encouraging to see how the junior interns handled the role-playing.  Statements like: “I see everything in my life and know that is has to be because of God,” or “the Bible teaches that…” truly displayed their growth this summer.  They are growing more confident in their faith, and when called upon to defend it, they can!  But this was not an isolated event: evidence of the interns’ growth abounds everywhere I look.  Just this morning, as I met with one of the interns, he prayed that God would give him “the thing” he needs to “excel in the Bible and get in the Word.”  The students are not only growing, but they desire to continue to grow.  I love it!  With just a couple of weeks remaining in the internship, the students are stepping up and stepping out in their faith, and growing into young men and women ready to profess their faith in Christ to everyone they encounter.

Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”