Coffee at the Unleavened Bread Cafe

DO YOU DRINK COFFEE?

IF SO

YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS COFFEE

IT IS LOW-GLYCEMIC,

COMBATS STRESS-RELATED EATING,

AND MANY OTHER BENEFITS

IT IS BORESHA COFFEE

AN EXPERIENCE WITH A PURPOSE

 

YOU ARE INVITED TO A COFFEE PARTY

WHERE YOU CAN SAMPLE THIS COFFEE

AT

THE UNLEAVENED BREAD CAFÉ

3001 NORTH CENTRAL AVENUE

ON SATURDAY

JANUARY 30^TH, 2010

AT

2:00—4:00  PM

Bridges of Hope: A Community Conversation on Reconciliation

What does it mean when Paul writes, “God has given us the ministry of reconciliation“?  Come discuss its implications at this upcoming event!

Saturday, April 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

North United Methodist Church (NUMC), Fellowship Hall, at 3808 N. Meridian St., (free parking off of Illinois and 39th St., at back of the church)

This powerful workshop experience will be facilitated by Chris Rice, co-director of Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation and co-author of “Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace, and Healing.” We will be encouraged with the difficult work of serving as one Body of Christ in our community and world. Participants will include both laity and clergy from surrounding churches and non-profit organizations who are interested in healing the divisions that separate us from one another as people of God, including racial, economic, denominational, class, and other social barriers.

The workshop is free of charge, but we will accept a free-will offering for lunch from the Unleavened Bread Cafe.

You may also purchase a copy of the book, “Reconciling All Things,” for $11.

The registration deadline is Tuesday, April 14. Call the NUMC front office 924-2612.

Please invite your friends and neighbors to participate in this powerful conversation. PDF Flyer Here.

“I Made a Door!” Tab Youth @ Rebuilding the Wall

Tab’s recent work project with Rebuilding the Wall has already recieved some Internet publicity on the Unleavened Bread’s website. These are the reflections Beau Brown and Julia Buchanan Schwanke, a 7th grade student at Tab.

“I made a door!”  This is the exclamation I heard as I stood fifteen feet away scooping up ashes in a broken dust pan.  The person making the announcement? George Peyton, an 8^th grade member of TAB’s youth group.  I would recognize his voice anywhere.  What could be so exciting that an “all-points bulletin” was the only appropriate response?  I looked up, and there he was…sledge hammer in hand, surrounded by rubble, hole in the wall, and a huge smile on his face. 

Instead of the typical teenage Saturday routine of waking up at noon, eating junk food, and playing video games all day, a group of students from TAB decided we would rather do something really meaningful on March 7, 2009.  We worked from morning till late afternoon with a local not-for-profit called Rebuilding the Wall.  RtW can be described as “Habitat for Humanity with roots.”  This organization is committed to rebuilding families and homes in the near north side of Indianapolis, TAB’s very own neighborhood! 

Our project for this day was completely gutting a fire-damaged house.  We walked in this house on the 2400 block of McPherson Street only to see charred walls, ashes on the floor, busted out windows, and some less-than-welcoming animal droppings.  We could have been easily overwhelmed, but we saw potential (and maybe a little fun).  Before our youthful passion was released, the Site Leader, Antonio, introduced himself and gave a brief history of RtW and his involvement with the organization.  He told us that, while he loves rebuilding houses, he is more concerned with the relationships he has built through his work.  He said that he grew up in this very neighborhood and, as a young person, had never really met many people from “the other side of the tracks.”  Working with RtW helped him break down some of the stereotypes he had about “outsiders.”  After hearing this, we all seemed to have one of those light bulb moments…”Maybe this is about more than just ripping apart houses!”

Subsequently, in our usual gung-ho style, we began working, tasks got divided, and everyone became focused on their parts of the project. Sometimes, disparaging comments are made about the laziness of the “youth of today.”  However, there was no such laziness in this particular group of students.  With gloves on our hands, masks on our faces, and tools on our belts, we were off and working.  Beau and Amber even had to force some of us to take intermittent breaks for rest and water!  While the adults at the work site said they were impressed by our work ethic, they were even more impressed by the friendliness our group displayed to the other folks at the work site.  Like Antonio said, this really is about much more than working on houses.

At the risk of sounding too sentimental, let’s return to George’s proud exclamation: “I made a door!”  This was perhaps a more profound statement than George would imagine.  Indeed, there are walls built up in our society that keep people apart, and God’s people can “make doors” in those walls little by little.  However small it was, a door truly was made during this time of volunteering.  Let’s continue to pray that more doors would be made through our work here at TAB!

Upcoming Sunday School speakers

Dick Gilroy mentioned our upcoming Sunday School class in one of the comments on a previous thread, and I wanted to make sure everyone could see the upcoming speakers for the Tab: A Beacon of Hope in the Heart of the City class:

Sunday, Feb 8 – No Class. (Congregational Meeting at 10:00am)

Sun., Feb 15 – Unleavened Bread Cafe

Sun., Feb 22 – Oscar Clavel

Sun., March 1 – Kit Danley, Neighborhood Ministries

(Also, don’t forget this year’s Tab @ Home retreat, Feburary 27th – March 1st)