I am overwhelmed by the idea of writing about what I've been doing here in Memphis.
I love this city, I love the people of this city, and I love the work I've been able to do. I have experienced incredible hospitality and I am learning so very much. The people who are at work in Memphis have a deep love for their work and their neighborhoods and it is inspiring to see how deep love of community produces amazing transformation.

I don't have a common day-to-day experience. I worked at a day camp for one week, I took a class called "Transformational Leaders in the Urban Setting," and the rest of the time I've been spending my time at 3 locations around Memphis in addition to my "home base." I'll talk a little about the place I work out of, that seems like a manageable place to start.

So I'm interning with Amy Moritz, who is the Director at the Center for Transforming Communities. And she's amazing, which I'm not just saying because she might read this, but I'm saying because I want to be her when I'm grown up.  The Center does many things, it oversees the many smaller Shalom zones that are scattered throughout the Memphis area.  She trains and supports them.  She also oversees the Commons on Merton, which is a "shared space ministry."

The Commons used to be a United Methodist Church, but they couldn't keep their doors open anymore. Now it houses a small UMC missional community that has service on Saturday, a Burundi congregation, an outreach program to the homeless, one for refugees, services for families of incarcerated persons, the Memphis School of Servent Leadership, the office of an amazing woman who does work with reconciling justice and... actually that might be all.  But basically it's an "office building" in a church made of people doing amazing ministries around Memphis.  I love that model.  I love that all these amazing community leaders are in one building, that used to be a church and is still very much a house of God's work.

It looks like this:

Amy is amazing at helping guide people as they envision what they want for their neighborhoods, and she's also excellent about helping create action plans.  Although, what I really admire is that although she's very good at the "detail" stuff, she doesn't try to take over and micromanage each group.  She facilitates without forcing and it's a skill I'm hoping to learn from her.  I love being able to see the work of each Shalom zone around Memphis, the way they address the specific needs of the community, and the ways they all do so much of the same work.

Last night, we had a gathering for all of the Shalom zones around Memphis.  It was a time for some of them to share the work they've been doing and gather inspiration from each other.  It was such a blessing for me to be in a room with all of them, and I'm grateful that they are willing to let me work with them and learn from them.

I'm going to try to tak on talking about the Shalom sites themselves soon.  And also where I live, the woman I live with and HER amazing ministry which isn't through Shalom but is absolutely inspirational as well.

I love Memphis.  And it's hot and humid and miserable here so you should realize that means I REALLY LOVE Memphis.