A slice of pie(good term)/A slice of life(good term).

One DAY/Bits and pieces of one DAY: How is it measured? What does it mean? Friday, last day of public school, May 28^th, 2010:

David Collins and I begin a morning walk at 5:30. The 45 minute walk takes us past many sleeping churches, and close to many others. At the end we take a careful sad “look” at the state of Bryan Street, at its falling down housing stock, often, but not always, a direct result of falling down people!

Our neighbor, Elaine Love, shows up with coffee for us, and we have a nice kitchen talk about how to better our neighborhood.

Quid pro quo---Latin---(this for that). Could it be that the “Quid Pro Quo” concept (something given for something received) matters? Could it be tied to dignity? A homeless man staying at our Salvation Army walks over. We had met him through David Ancil, who met him two nights ago. David gave him some hope, and we do too. (We gave him one of our new Bibles yesterday).The 19 year-old is trying to raise money to get back to California, so we put him to WORK. The Challenge House Movement is about loving people into Christ, about the importance of raising educational goals, and about Work-over-Welfare!!! This young man hand-cleans our floors, takes our nasty rugs outside and hand-scrubs them---then positions them in the sun to dry, and even cleans our ceiling fan. You will pay him a living wage for his labor. I’d bet my bottom dollar he feels good about this work-for-pay as compared to us just giving him money. William McAllister, Neighborhood Ambassador with Challenge House #II, works some with him too, and also helps him with matters related to selling some of his few possessions. He’s on his way to earning his way back to California. In the meantime, he’s feeling your love and your care, because it’s you whose help keeps Challenge Houses open, and the Challenge House Movement in the advance mode!

11:05 and I meet Terry Hoffman, a man who has a heart for the “least of these”, and who has close ties with our Emmaus Community. We share at our public library where he checks out a book authored by John Perkins, and then comes for his first visit at Challenge House #II on Bryan Street. Aida Vega, Challenge House Neighborhood Ambassador at Challenge House #I, shows up with a large tray of ham biscuits, left over from the last day of school at Holiday Park. Kids and adults eat off them all day long!

Lunch is at Second Baptist---Taster’s Luncheon---in support of Relay for Life. A wonderful meal, and good visits with so many I have not seen of late!

It’s early afternoon, and elementary age children are out of school for the summer and full of glee! Patricia Smithson Ludwig and sons, Jonathan and Jeremiah, had gifted us with flavored ice-treats, and we enjoyed sharing them with so many little kids who love to come to Challenge House~

Our Salvation Army friend continues to work.

Nikki Radford brings us leftover Chinese from a United Way lunch, and I decide to take a plate to Mrs. Smith, now 85, over in Durrrett Avenue. She so enjoyed it! I caught the Joy of the Lord from her, and feed off her daily.

The redhead kids show up, with two half-siblings---five in all---hungry. The Chinese meal continues to feed, and the kids leave with big smiles and faces needing washing!

It’s now 7:15, and Adam Humphries shows up to talk about a possible new program we would begin this summer, “Math Challenge”. (Jaquavion, age 9, sits at the computer as the rain storm “hits”, happily learning on the website:brainpop.com).

Adam and I talk for 45 minutes, and then decide to hit the streets. In no time we have 4 young males, all about to be in 11^th grade at HHS, sitting at the living room table at Challenge House #II. Adam just completed his junior year at Amherst in Massachusetts; he’s a math major. He wants to teach some inner-city kids this summer, and then have them help form a Math Club, so that next school-year we can have Math Night one night a week at one or more Challenge Houses, with students recruiting students!

I go to the kitchen and listen to them share their desire to be in a program like this, and quiz Adam about college! They eat ham biscuits too.

It’s 10 PM now, and I finally check email again. Harry Todd, Mr. Basketball in KY in 1958, has found my email address, and expresses interest in Challenge House, and how the Emmaus Community might help!

Time for bed, but what a slice of pie/slice of life DAY!---chocolate was my perfect flavor-choice at the Second Baptist Taster’s Luncheon. God inventedslice of  pie days---chocolate ones! Expect you agree~

One day: How is it measured? What does it mean? Friday May 28^th! Thanks foryour parts in this day~it “mattered” to a lot of people!

Wally Bryan   
270-886-8887
www.challengehouse.org

PS

If you want to read a national article just published about Challenge House, just go to: http://www.ccda.org/erestorer-may-2010-inspire

Hello again! The last report was December of 2009, so much has taken place this winter, and I want to update you with a few stories and many other “goings-on”.

A stranger approaches. I am out in the neighborhood, and he walks toward me. He says, “I really need a job”. We stand and talk. Suddenly tears stream down his face. He apologizes. I say, “no problem”. He says, “I lost my job; worked for a landscaping company for 13 years. I am out of hope”. He cries some more. We talk, and I learn that he is 42 years old and loves his daughter. We embrace and pray. I tell him about Jobs for Life classes, and invite him to the Salvation Army that night for the Hand-UP meal and preaching. He shows up with his 7 year-old daughter. I tell others about his landscaping background. 2 families have already said that they would give him some part-time work. He was disconnected and out of hope. What will his future be? I don’t know, but I pray that we will become neighbors, that our community will better learn the good that comes to all when folks of different races, income brackets, and educational standing begin to know each other as fellow sojourners. He has a name: Marlin Alexander. I like that name. We all have names. Oh to know more by name. The Shepherd knows names~

Our work is neighborhood-based. It’s about connecting with people; it’s about becoming good neighbors; it’s about pouring hope into people; it’s about re-building “community”. This is development work as opposed to quick and easy charity. We need more and more churches to partner with us.
Holiday Park School and MLK School both have tutoring days at Challenge Houses. Challenge House #II now has “Math night” on Mondays. HHS Principal Choice will be in the neighborhood this week ---maybe even door-to-door---urging parents to enroll their teens in Math Night and other tutoring offerings. The laptops are so used! Mondays at 4PM we have “Early Childhood Learning” for ages 3-6. Dr Elizabeth Toms, Sandy Cavanah, and Betty Smith help. One day a week tutors from Edgewood Baptist tutor. Community College GED classes and YMCA Jobs for Life classes are on-going at Challenge House #I. Living Hope Baptist continues its long standing commitment to Sunday afternoon Sunday School. Neighborhood Watch, 4-H, and Neighborhood Association meeting take place in our Houses from time to time.

AT 7:50 AM I hear a knock on the door. I open the door and a known drug addict stands there. He has a $5 bill in his hand. He says, “I want to donate this to Challenge House”. I ask, “why”. He answers, “I see such a change in neighborhood children”. He asks for prayer before going to his job that day. I am glad he felt comfortable coming to Challenge House; maybe this was one step in his journey toward deliverance.
A different neighbor comes over. He smells terrible. He has no heat or water. I ask if he would like to take a shower. I wish I could describe the look on his face after his hot shower. He used our GE washing machine to clean his clothes. This is your story! Every person who helps Challenge Houses in one way or another is a part of every story, and believe me, the ones I tell here are just a fraction of the many more stories!

As I type a graduate from Jobs for Life calls and agrees to meet me for breakfast to talk about his unemployment, and agrees to go to Mrs. Smith’s Bible study afterward. He offers, “I don’t have a Bible”. I’ll take him one, but we need some easier to read ones~

I look out the window, as I type now, and notice the usual teen boys in the streets, waiting for the school bus, smoking cigarettes for breakfast. I look forward to the day that we will better connect to them. The odds are so against them, yet we must find THE WAY to build relationship.

One female teen went to Crysalis, the teen version of Walk to Emmaus. We want more to have this experience. Yet, without much close by follow-up, will her life really change? We don’t know, do we?---or do we?

A teen boy, 10th grade, knocks on the door at 8:10. “Mr. Wally, will you take me to school? I overslept and missed the bus”. Sure, I took him to school, and gave him a healthy candy-bar for his pocket. I also reminded him that most everything from the neck down is minimum wage, and to study hard in school to fill his mind with knowledge.

Challenge Houses serve as residential houses, but also fill the role of mini-House church, neighborhood school, and work-over-welfare center. I truly believe we have to go back to the neighborhoods to really effect change. Poverty of faith, poverty of education, and poverty of welfare dependence all breed more of the same. What are we going to do about that?

A neighbor comes over and shovels all the snow from our sidewalk! He won’t even let us pay. He fixes our broken stools. He won’t even let us pay. There sure are some fine people living in the hood!

Progress Report: Challenge House #III is a major renovation project; it’s located at 123 South Fowler Avenue over in the West Side Neighborhood. Heath and Paige Wilson will be the Neighborhood Ambassadors there, and Heath is the Construction Manager of the project. It will be ready to occupy in late spring.

Challenge House #IV is coming along nicely. It’s being built by the carpentry and electrical students at our Vo-Tec School. This House is being built onsite, and will be moved to the East Side Neighborhood.
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; a city is only as strong as its weakest neighborhood”, Steve Shields. We are trying hard to link this city with Challenge Houses, and to make it stronger. We need your help!

Thanks, Wally Bryan 886-8887

Stories, observations, and news bites:

Hammer and large nail: Yep---that’s all it took! We can be so wrong in the little things, and in the big ones too. Was this big or little? I really don’t know. With an affectionate voice I speak out to one of my teenage friends, “Juan, pull those pants up so your butt doesn’t show”! He looked bewildered, and then says, “My belt is too large”. He walks over and shows me his belt. Truly it was way over-sized. I had every emotion from embarrassment for both him and me, to gladness that we were about to “fix” the problem. I retrieved a hammer from the toolbox (one of the donations from the Frances Fairleigh Estate), a large nail, and headed to the back yard with Juan. Together we made a new hole in his belt; he smiled as he walked back to the street, pants at his waist! I hope that was relationship-building. A million times I’ve had that thought: “Pull those pants up”. From now on I’ll think twice~~Have you had thoughts like I did?

His brother is the young man who we helped birth a lawn-mowing business. You may remember reading in the May Report about the business venture where the young man gained a bank loan, went to Sears and purchased a new push-mower, and launched his business! Well, just recently the banker notified me that Jalen had repaid the loan in full, and now “owns” the lawn-mower! A pretty positive business experience for a 14 year-old!

Edgewood Baptist Church holds BackYard Bible Clubs at the two Challenge Houses, and both members and kids smile a million smiles!

MLK Elementary School leaders hold two separate events at Challenge House #II: one was Math Bingo, and the other was a follow up to its “Lunch Bunch” reading program held this summer. Parents attended too. Education back to the neighborhood----ummmmmm----a pretty time-tested idea!

August 14th—time 1:00 PM---notice two boys in the street! School Day! Signals go off in my mind! “Hey guys, come on in for a minute. What’s up”? The story goes that one over-slept, and the other is out early for a doctor’s appointment. So one hops in my car and I take him to Hopkinsville Middle School; hopefully the other went to his doctor. Later that night I come to realize that all 4 students in the family overslept and all missed school. Yes, let’s close the “achievement gap”! How is that going to happen when so many miss school for no good reasons? Sadly, I’ve seen this happen a lot for this young school year, and “yes” I do report it to the respective schools. Eyes in the streets! Yet another time-tested idea which is coming back! I’m very impressed with the cooperation between us and our schools.

“Read and Seed” is a tutoring program spawned by New Work Fellowship. Mondays from 4:15 to 5:30 adult women show up to help kids (5th grade and under)with reading, math, homework, and certainly they “seed” into them the love of Christ! “What if”? What if we had other groups come on other days? Such is the Body of Christ! Something kind of special about programs that lead to sustained relationship-building! Think about that~

The Sara Bell Bassett Sunday School Class at First Baptist takes it upon itself to provide pounds and pounds of drinks and snacks for Challenge House kids. I remember I was always hungry when I got home after school. Even an old brain remembers that! I think I remember reading where Jesus fed and shared. A pretty time-tested idea! Thanks be to God! There is something special about Christian hospitality~

Pastor Brad Fancher from Restoration House wants to meet with me. That makes me glad. We walk the streets, and what we see makes us sad. Maybe the “sad” will turn to “mad”, and more and more of us will enter this battle for the hearts and souls and minds of the kids and their parents. “We can’t change what we tolerate”; I’ll never forget the impact that quote made on me. Thanks, Pastor. Remember how we felt as we walked the steps of the nasty interior hallway to the second floor of that apartment house? Sickening~

Matthew Harris invites you to attend “Mrs. Smith’s Inner-city/Inter-racial Bible Study Mondays at 10AM. Guaranteed: Come once and you will never forget it!

William McAllister, Resident Facilitator at Challenge House #II, oversees “work for pay” at the house on Bryan Street owned by the neighborhood association. Solid relationships are built. Time-tested idea: work along side of someone and watch friendship bloom!

Forthcoming in a few weeks-Resident-Facilitators at House #I, Aida Vega and Christina Hand, will send their own report, and it will include pictures!

Challenge House #III will be at 123 South Fowler Avenue. I like the one, two, three address! Perfect for Challenge House #III. This House is behind the Subway on West 7th Street, at the corner of West 2nd and South Fowler. Heath and Paige Wilson will become Resident-Facilitators there. This will be a major renovation. I hope that many partnerships will form to raise the funds and carry out the work to bring this House to even more than “its former glory”! The first day I went there, to meet architect John Mahre for his ideas, two little children were standing on the front porch. Before we knew it, two teens were there too, looking for work, and a young mother strolling her baby, stops and talks, and leaves saying “I need my GED”. We can help make that happen!

A major Christian Community Development Association national conference will be held in October in nearby Cincinnati. Would you consider attending? Go to WWW.CCDA.org to read about it.

Thanks for reading this long report, and for your heart for this work here in America, here in Hopkinsville. Maybe someday this concept will travel to other cities. We are in it for the long-haul. We want to become “time-tested”. Thanks be to God!

Wb

www.challengehouse.org    

270-889-3395

Challenge House #III----Great News! We have been approached by a young couple, Heath and Paige Wilson, wanting to live out their faith from Challenge House #III. Guess what? We don't even have Challenge House #III yet. But, by faith, we say that we are headed toward finding it! So---instead of "Build It and They Will Come", as with the first two Challenge Houses, this time the process will be reversed. Heath and Paige will help us locate the neighborhood, then the house, then help with the renovation and decoration, and then move in! It's exciting to think about how they will be meeting neighborhood adults and kids as the entire process unfolds! Please be in prayer for them, and for the type of "faith in action" that brings substance to vision. Heath and Paige led the New Work Fellowship youth team, last summer, when they moved into Challenge House #I, for 4 days and 3 nights, carrying out: Bible Study, projects benefiting senior citizens, and fun times of music and play with neighborhood kids! That was their introduction to the huge needs here in our own community, and a new Way to "missionary".

Aida Vega is now well established in Challenge House #I, and Christina Hand can't wait to graduate her Christian college and join her in June. What a team these two will be!!  Aida now heads the Jobs for Life program, sponsored by our YMCA; Wanda Jones is right at her side in teaching this faith-based job readiness class. The latest class just completed it's second lesson, of sixteen, at Challenge House #I. Rosemary Bradley is busy teaching GED classes, now under the leadership of Hopkinsville Community College; more and more inner-city residents are finding out about her classes. I love to hear the "stories of hope" that are told by Jobs for Life students, and GED students!  Aida's thoughts are behind re-starting Jobs for Life support groups, which will begin meeting soon in both Challenge Houses: men at one House and women at the other. We are hopeful that these gender specific groups will boost people in the areas of faith, education, and employment. 

Penny Chewning continues her work on many fronts, including accepting donations of furniture and other items (which are used either in Challenge Houses, or given to neighbors to help them establish better homes for themselves and their children).

Some of us are in a serious mode of thinking and prayer as to beginning some kind of program this summer for inner-city kids; our focus is/will be work/study/mentor/shadow. We know that if we can connect these youngsters with real-world "work" opportunities, some of them will catch a dream for a life far better than had ever before been considered! In addition, we believe that it is crucial to find ways for these students to earn legitimate money. We all know the old saying about what kind of workshop idleness develops~

Warm weather is bringing hundreds and hundreds to our streets, most seem to have little guidance, direction, or hope. This is not a good prescription!

Our Literacy Council is bringing a wonderful event to both Challenge Houses and our public library, on April 25th at noon. The target audience is pregnant women and all mothers with children under age 5. The emphasis is on the importance of reading to your offspring, and how that so helps their young brains "stimulate"! Free books will be given to the parents and/or children. 

In cooperation with our Boys and Girls Club, Mary Beth Brand is teaching, out of Challenge House #I, a class focused on rhythm; the kids love it! 

Hillcrest Baptist has been involved in the Cash for Trash program, targeting proceeds to help inner-city youth. If anyone knows of church groups, or other organizations, who would like to help us earn money, please contact us. Hillcrest plans to start a Back-Yard Bible Club from Challenge House #I this spring/early summer.

Challenge Houses depend on partnerships, so hopefully other churches will begin to consistently reach out, using Challenge Houses as operation centers.

There is always need for help in reading and math. I don't have the answer, but I do so believe that most kids here waste most of the summer vacation---so reading, math, and all kinds of other outreach ideas are welcomed in advance! If we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we must engage students all year! Hopefully our computer availability will attract hunger for all kinds of neighborhood education. 

We continue to lead individual and group tours of Challenge Houses. The most recent group to tour was the Women's Circle from First Christian Church.

Recently, one of our neighbors, an addict, came here to ask for prayer as his day started. He does roofing, weather and job permitting. A few days ago he showed up with a lawn mower, and mowed our grass for free. What an example of our reason for being here, among so many talented people, many of whom meet the definition of "the least of these" (Matthew 25:45).

Afternoon Sunday School has been taught the last 3 Sundays from Challenge House #II. The first Sunday 18 kids showed up, none of whom had attended Sunday School, or Church, that morning. Easter Sunday 10 showed up, and last Sunday 8. The times have varied from 2 until 4, with no notice other than spur-of-the-moment word of mouth. I can really "see" this kind of meeting taking place, in time, at all Challenge Houses. The need is clear, and the harvest is ripe! William McAllister recently taught "Sunday afternoon" class. His quote is this: "Christian Foundations are usually non-existent within most inner-city homes, due to lack of knowledge, and the mindset of their surroundings. But it's evident that, from the consistent attendance of the kids, the hunger still exists---their willingness to participate, communicate, and give feedback on the message says more than words can express".

Wally Bryan   WWW.ChallengeHouse.org    270-889-3395

The Challenge House Movement grew from close association with our YMCA's outreach (Luke 15--"99&1") and the Local Development Corporation's "HIT Squad"--Hopkinsville Inner-city Transformation. 

The January 2009 Report was so long that I decided to skip February. I’ll do my best to keep this one short.

We are so happy to announce that Aida Vega will become the first Resident-Facilitator for Challenge House #I! Aida graduated from APSU in December with a degree in Social Work. She has worked with our YMCA here for years, in outreach. She is known for her heart to “reach and teach” children and adults. Her job at the YMCA will be to direct outreach, and her duties will include overseeing the Jobs for Life classes, held from Challenge Houses and elsewhere. What a joy she is to work with, and what a boost to the Challenge House Movement is her willingness and desire to move into Challenge House #I. Her maturity and proven track record make her the ideal person to manage operations at our first House. Aida will move in before this month ends; I will move to Challenge House #II and work with William McAllister there until we find one or more permanent Resident-Facilitators for it. Once that takes place, we will give serious consideration to establishing Challenge House #III. Our goal is to establish at least one Challenge House in 6 Hopkinsville inner-city neighborhoods.

More great news: Christina Hand has also committed to living in Challenge House #I beginning around June 1^st. She and Aida met for the first time the weekend of March 14^th, and hit it off instantly! They will be House-mates, and work together, especially focused on the Durrett Avenue (DA) neighborhood of Hopkinsville. Her family joined her for her second visit to Hopkinsville; what a delight it was to see their hearts for her new mission work. She will graduate from Huntington University in Indiana in May, earning a B. A. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. Her career objective was to find purpose “working with an Urban Ministry Organization”. She has a background working with children; her enthusiasm, education, and faith make her a great “fit” for Challenge House work. All of us are fully committed to helping Christina establish her roots here. Pray that more like her and Aida will join this movement!

Our GED classes, now under the direction of our community college, are going great. Seeing people walk here to study certainly is encouraging!

One Jobs for Life class just graduated 11; the other class will have its graduation ceremony either April 7^th or April 9^th. Every Saturday night Challenge House #I hosts a support opportunity for anyone ever associated with Jobs for Life classes. Troy Jent led the sharing and Bible Study this past Saturday night. It’s quite uplifting to see various students return for fellowship.

Warm weather brings much life to inner-city streets. It’s so heart-warming to see how so many children want to hang out at Challenge Houses. Yesterday I was at Challenge House #II on Bryan Street; probably a dozen kids came in and out, within an hour’s period of time. One little girl wanted me to know that she now lives at Sanctuary House (Spouse Abuse Center); I told her that I knew that was a nice place to live, and that I had heard good things about it, and that when I was real little, I went to church in that same building. They ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, played computer games on the Internet, asked for pocket size Bibles, read poetry, examined an encyclopedia, read a letter I had received from a former student, now in prison but turning his life around there, and almost all left with a back-issue of National Geographic magazine, and big smiles! Today at Challenge House #I, on Central Avenue, one young man walked by and asked for a job mowing grass (we will work with him, and others to share this work); two others came by for a candy bar and a drink, and for quick conversation.

The Challenge House Movement is an outgrowth of our YMCA’s “99 &1” program, based on Luke Chapter 15. We continue to partner with the Y, as well as the Boys and Girls Club, and many other organizations and churches.

We welcome your ideas and suggestions. The Challenge House Movement is a community cooperative movement, somewhat akin to “rebuilding the wall” as explained in Nehemiah!

Wally Bryan  270-886-8887

As the month of December draws to a close, and as the whole year 2008 ends, many thoughts flood my mind, heart and soul. So much more has developed this year than could ever have been imagined. I like that song, “Imagine”. There is so much we didn’t know, and so much we don’t know, but this we do know: a Hand far greater than mine/ours has directed us this month, and this year. Let me begin with a few quick stories:

A few nights ago I was showing a new friend Challenge House #II on Bryan Street. As we were leaving, a man walked out of a house across the street and over to my car door. I opened it, as he stooped in the street, so that he could talk to my passenger too. He said he was depressed, and that the occupants had given him a beer to calm himself. As he talked with us, about his Jobs for Life classes (before he stopped attending), and about other matters of life, he suddenly was inspired to reach into his pocket, pull out the bottle of beer, and pour it all out in the street. I think he was shocked at his own action, and so were we! We asked him to join us for supper at Applebee’s; it was fun to watch him enjoy his steak as we sat across from him, all 3 of us deep into wide-ranging conversation. He told us he would sleep in his truck that warm night, and with that “satisfied” stomach, I expect he slept well! I have hopes that his life will become stable. Who knows, maybe that “chance” meeting will be his “tipping point”! Of course, I don’t think for a moment that it was “chance”.

About 2 weeks ago I decided to walk my afternoon newspaper down to Mrs. Smith’s. She enjoys it, and I enjoy seeing her---usually daily. If you don’t know about Mrs. Smith, go to our website(ChallengeHouse.org) and read “Face of God”; it’s in the past news articles section. As I neared her home, I noticed a 24 year-old male in the front yard of a humble little home. I was moved to go over to speak to him. His eyes were glazed. I talked with him about Jobs for Life, the faith-based job readiness program our YMCA provides. As the short talk ended, I handed him my business card, and asked him to call me if he was interested in becoming more job-ready. He called at least twice. The next class does not begin until up into January, so I felt no sense of urgency. We spoke once, and he left a message at least once. He was reaching out; I was coasting. I placed his name and number beside my phone. I thought: “I’ll take him to breakfast or another meal one day soon”. Yesterday afternoon I heard this on the radio: _________ Anderson has been arrested for robbery at Kmart. I felt sick. I felt so like I let him down. This time of year is all about “stuff”, and he didn’t have any. A young man with few, if any role models, was reaching out for help, and I was busy with Christmas. There is something wrong with that picture. I hope I learn from it, and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will receive visits and letters from me and other Challenge House and Jobs for Life workers. I will so hope that this time of “mandated order” will become a time for him to begin seeking real and deep inner-change. I have faith for him. Only time will tell~~~

Well, I’d better fast-pace this letter from here on out. Just a few things I must mention:

Shiloh Baptist Church decorated both Challenge Houses for Christmas, and included neighborhood kids---the outreach element! Olivet Baptist held a Christmas party, including the pastor sharing the real Christmas Story. Perhaps as many as 100 were in attendance; it was “sardine” time at CH2. First Christian Church held a smaller Christmas party--- targeted at beginning a reading club in January---mostly ages 5-9; the pictures show the kids are hooked already!

First Baptist sent a small crew to take care of some deferred maintenance needs at both Challenge Houses.

Actually, as I think back over the last year, there must have been a dozen or more churches that associated themselves, in one manner or another, with Challenge House outreach! For this we are so grateful! We need more church involvement, and we dream of future Challenge Houses in other neighborhoods of our city!

December 10^th was a huge day for The Challenge House Movement, or rather for the adults and kids who reside in Challenge House neighborhoods!

AT&T provided us with the announcement that we would be given 18 brand new Dell laptops, and two wireless routers, one for each House. Cornerstone Information Systems, as a part of this joint-venture, has provided two brand new HP printers, which will network to the laptops! ConnectedNation and ConnectKentucky administered the grant, and Mr. Renee True emceed the ceremony, which was held at our Boys and Girls Club. Public schools have been gradually ripped away from the older neighborhoods, and at a huge cost to our city. It’s sad, but it’s fact. On the bright side, we have received the promise of serious support by both our new superintendent and our college president. Clearly they are onboard, as are our workforce development folks!

After the ceremony ended, we held Christmas Open Houses at both Challenge Houses, with many outer-city folks and many inner-city folks joining together for good conversation and food. Thanks to Grace Episcopal Church for coordinating the “welcoming” and food service at both Houses.

HELP! If you have time, talent, or ideas---we need them! 18 new laptops are great for the kids and adults, but it one big added “Challenge” for us. You can only imagine!

December was great in that we had two impressive women visit us from out of state, one on December 12^th and the other on December 26^th. Both came here to explore the possibility of becoming a full-time Resident-Facilitator of a Challenge House. Resident-Facilitators will serve somewhat like neighborhood chaplains; we will always focus on kids, on education, on character, and on jobs. It’s exciting to think about the boost that will take place as individuals and families intentionally relocate to live more close to those many who reside in our rundown neighborhoods. I stand amazed at how many want to go to the Peace Corps and foreign mission fields, yet never consider our own hurting country. Well---guess what? That’s changing, and local missions are beginning to take on “developmental charity” instead of only crisis-relief charity!

We continue to lead many tours of the Challenge Houses, and the neighborhoods surrounding them. It’s so motivating to “see” the looks on people’s faces as they come to understand this work! It just makes sense.

Mrs. Smith is in a Nashville hospital, so the last 10AM Monday Bible Study of this year will be held at Challenge House #I, instead of in her home. Our utmost respect is with her, and our prayers. She has been the glue that has kept us together. She definitely has that “Onward Christian Soldier” mindset!

We will never be like the TV preachers. Our fundraiser efforts will be low-key and rare. If any of you WANT to help with a year-end check(or year-beginning check), it will be fully tax-deductible. Send it to:

Challenge House Incorporated

PO Box 462

Hopkinsville, KY 42241

The money will be used to reduce debt on a Challenge House, and/or for operational expenses. I take no salary, and do pay rent.

Cheers to you all, and Thanks be to God! Wbryan  270-886-8887

Hello to you ALL! Everyone who has prayed for our inner-city conditions, and the people who reside here, or who has given time or money is in one way or another a full partner in the stories I tell, and the information I share. There was not report last month, October. This report is different, in that the bulk of it is composed of a "Letter from Jail" that I received not long ago.

Before we get to the letter, just a couple of short stories: Yesterday I drove to the deep inner-city to take my newspaper to Mrs. Smith (the lady who
holds weekly inter-racial Bible Studies in her humble home), and to pick up a 10th grader to bring him to Challenge House #I for tutoring in geometry. Deon was not there --- had already walked toward Challenge House via a different path, but there was a young boy(AJ) in the yard who came to my car to talk. He was the first little kid I met when I moved here about 4.5 years ago. He's much taller than I am now, but still has a kid's smile. Sadly, in most cases, this changes around 8th to 10th grade. This is what was on the shirt he was wearing, in large print: "If you see the Police Coming, WARN A BROTHER". Can you imagine allowing a child to wear a shirt with that message? So sad~~~

Yet, the other story is so positive: Deon King, the 10th grader, walked to Challenge House, and there, Adam Humphries, a mathmatics major at Amherst College, near Boston, met him to tutor him in geometry. Adam had tutored him at HHS the last day of school before Thanksgiving, and here Deon is back for more help, this time on a day when there is no school. Deon had called Challenge House about a week or so ago, asking
if we knew anyone who might help him catch up with geometry. Marlin Anderson also volunteered to help, so when Adam leaves KY soon, Deon
still has support lined up. Deon is so on the right track; AJ may be so on the wrong track.

Below is a letter I recently received, from the Christian County Jail:

“23 Nov 08

How are you doing Mr. Bryan? I’m doing a little better since my head has cleared. I really appreciate the card because I knew it was from your
heart. I don’t know what I was thinking when I committed those crimes. I wasn’t thinking at all. I remember taking a Zanax and drinking some gin, and after that I really can’t remember. Just bits and pieces. I finally realize that I am an addict and an alcoholic and I need help bad. I’m also depressed a lot and suffer from Post Tramatic Stress Disorders. The combate in military brought all of that on. I want to deal with these ASAP. I’ve always dealt with things alone and reject positive help. Positive help (The Challenge House) was staring me in the face and I was too proud to accept it. From now on I won’t reject positive help. You guys are helping people change their lives through God’s grace and mercy. I can remember always being a part of something positive every since I was a young fellow. Playing Bud Hudson Football, Varsity Football, and serving my Country. Those things I will always cherish. I want to be an essential team player at the Challenge House.

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We can help each in all kinds of ways. I need all the help I can get. I still have dreams and goals that I want to accomplish but I have to take care of my issues. I want to go to the Volta Program and after that a after care plan.  Nobody has really helped me do anything like this so I’m asking from the bottom of my heart. I know you’ve heard people cry out for help before just to get out of jail. I’m trying to save my life and I’m not playing. Being here has shown me the light. Before hand I would just do my time and go on with my life. This is different. I’m older and realize a lot of years of addiction has ruined some of my best years.  I’m 40 yrs old and I want to soldier for the Lord for whatever years I have left. Tell Gary Adams I said hello and be patient with me because I’m a great leader but I need guidance right now. I go to court 26 Nov 08. Hopefully things will work out but I’m willing to accept what happens. Please don’t give up on me. You guys are great and I really appreciate you. Sincerely, _______________”

This concludes the November Report. Your suggestions, advice, and help are always wanted and welcome. W Bryan 270-886-8887

Tim and Dave taught bicycle mechanics to inner-city kids; I am certainthat Tim and Dave received as much or more from their association with thestudents as the kids did from learning more about bikes. That’s just theway it works! I am certain that the New Work Fellowship students and adultsreceived as much or more from their association with the inner-city kids andadults who they befriended during their 4-day/3-night stay at Challenge House#I as the adults and kids gained from meeting them. That’s just the wayit works! I am sure that those from Living Hope Baptist Church who hosted anice cream social (and one week later a Vacation Bible School), at ChallengeHouse #II, gained as much from meeting the adults and kids of that neighborhoodas the kids and adults from the neighborhood gained from their ice cream,teachings, and other kindnesses. That’s just the way it works!

In the business world there is a saying: “No contact/nocontract”---meaning that business success is closely tied to newconnections. Challenge Houses have always been about breaking down walls andbuilding bridges, about the good things that happen when Christian hospitalityreaches beyond the walls of church buildings. Another saying from the businessworld: “The bee that gathers the nectar that makes the honey is the beethat gets away from the hive”---meaning those salesmen who get away fromthe office and out among the people are the ones who earn the most income. Jesusseemed to spend most of his time out among the common people. The above storiesall illustrate the good that happens when we venture into new territory!It’s win/win!! Go to ChallengeHouse.org to read more about how God isusing Challenge Houses to connect the citizens of our city.

No telling what I’ll leave out, but since I last wrote, these aresome of the “goings-on”:

Angel Food Ministry continues to use Challenge Houses as two of itsmany ways to get the word out----a food bargain where $30 buys about double thegroceries! Contact Kurt and Susan Anderson for more information: 886-9848.

A Sunday School Class from First Baptist has used Challenge Houses forfree vegetable distribution.

Mrs. Smith, who teaches the inner-city/inter-racial Bible Study, overclose to Challenge House #I, enjoyed her 84^th birthday!

The Bryan Street Neighborhood Association decided to use ChallengeHouse #II for its monthly meetings.

Our YMCA continues to offer job readiness classes out of ChallengeHouses; Jobs for Life is more than midway through its 4^th class, andthe 5^th class has begun! Each class is headed by Gary Adams, andconsists of 16 two-hour sessions, followed by the issuance of Certificates ofGraduation and a banquet! These are faith-based in content, and we havewitnessed transformed lives! Romans 12:1 and 2!! One of our graduates hasdecided to enter the community college, and another has decided to re-enterhigh school with the goal to change from past ways and achieve graduation! Manyhave gained employment.

One Saturday night, not too long ago, Matthew Harris, who resides inChallenge House #I, heard little stones hitting against the downstairs windows.It was deep into the night/early morning but he went outside to tell the boysto stop. They ran. Later they regrouped, and this time tossed a beer bottleagainst the brick. Matthew called 911 and the police caught some or all of theboys. Matthew suggested that the police just take the boys to their homes andexplain to the parent what had happened. We have no desire to see kids placedinto detention centers. This incident points out that we have much to do toreach young teenage boys, and girls too. We have made some good inroads withthe younger children, but need more positive contact and outreach to the olderstudents. We need and want your ideas/involvement.

The Workshop is under-utilized. It’s a huge asset. We need yourideas and involvement.

Upcoming Open Houses: Challenge House #I will host a neighborhood“Meet/Greet your new Principal” as an opportunity for students,parents, and citizens to meet new Hopkinsville High School Principal, DemetriaChoice.

This will take place from 5-7 on Monday August 25^th.

Challenge House #II will host a neighborhood “Meet/Greet your newPrincipal” as an opportunity for students, parents, and citizens to meetnew Hopkinsville High School Principal, Demetria Choice. This will take placefrom 5-7 on Tuesday August 26^th.

Principal Choice wants to get out into the neighborhoods, right whereso many of her students reside, to champion the importance of study and studyenvironment. We are so hopeful that these open houses will be well-attended,and that they will pave the way for more education outreach from other leadersand/or groups. These are “neighborhood only” events; not enoughparking spaces to make them community-wide. Both of the Challenge Houseneighborhoods feed HHS.

Living Hope Baptist plans to stay in touch with the kids and adultsfrom the Challenge House #II neighborhood with continued activity---the firstbeing Christian movies.

Hillcrest Baptist plans soon to start a youth Bible Club out ofChallenge House #I.

Cathie Buck, Julie Antee, and Lisa Bond plan to soon begin readingclubs out of both Challenge Houses.

A Sunday school class from First Baptist Churchplans to meet soon at Challenge House #II for its regular Sunday morningsession. The class members will “see”, first-hand, what theChallenge House looks like, but more importantly, how it can be used for theiroutreach dreams. Would your Sunday school class or youth group like to meet atone of the Challenge Houses?

Sometime in September or October we plan to implement some kind ofwork/study program for middle or high school age students. We envisionextracting some of the concepts taught in Jobs for Life classes and teachingthem to the students of the neighborhoods where the two Challenge Houses arelocated. Further, we hope to engage the students in some actual work, and somevideo teaching regarding good study habits and how to learn. We are thinking 7hours of instruction and work, over one Saturday, or two. The students wouldeach earn about $7 an hour, or $50.00. We have received a small grant fromAT&T for this work/study initiative. We think it will be good to put somemoney into the pockets of the students who partner with us in this work/study venture!

Challenge Houses are about:

Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ through relationship-buildinglove

Teaching that continuing education is a key way out of poverty

Work over welfare

Christian Hospitality---love thy neighbor and connect with him/her

We need more foot-soldiers. Will you, individually, enlist to help inone way or another? Will your Sunday School Class or your Church?

WBryan    886-8887   Please forward to those on your list who will beinterested in this work~~~

Continuing appreciation to our YMCA; they birthed the “99 &1” outreach (based out of Luke Chapter 15) which led to the birth of theChallenge House Movement. Glory to God! May we Christians bond together for Hispurposes. 

The YMCA newest outreach effort, “Jobs for Life” began its first class at the end of March 2008.  On July 8, 2008 the 4^th class of Jobs for Life began.  The class has presently 10 participants with the possibility of one additional person.  Presently there are two classes in session at the Challenge House on Central Avenue and South Side Church of Christ is conducting Jobs for Life classes at the
Christian County Jail. The word has been spreading and the interest has increased. We have seen great change in many people’s lives.

Not only are they gaining employment, they are renewing their faith in God and making changes in their lifestyles. A young lady that completed the course had many roadblocks in her life which includes a felony. She now has a new commitment to the Lord, scored very high on her TABE test and obtained a job at a large factory in the industrial park. Another participant’s mother at a graduation expressed her thankfulness for turning her daughter’s life around. A young man that graduated was hired by the YMCA and is an excellent employee. A retired schoolteacher that is graduating with the 3^rd
Class will start teaching Jobs for Life classes in the near future.

  There is a team effort by many organizations to help restore people’s lives. Kentucky Work Force Development along with the help of the Hopkinsville Chamber of Commerce provided a grant
for $5,000 for clothing, footwear and gas coupons for graduates.  The program has brought more awareness to Hopkinsville of the needs of the poor and underprivileged. There has been collaboration and interface among many agencies.

The Aaron McNeil house has agreed to host a class in September of this year. Referrals have been coming from the Salvation Army, Sanctuary House, Drug Court, Juvenile Justice System and other agencies. A majority of the participants find out about Jobs for Life through those that have either taken the course or are associated with it.

It is a blessing to watch people restore their lives through faith in God and gaining the confidence and abilities to be successful in life.

I am Rosemary Bradley and have been a Christian County Adult Education instructor since the fall of 2007.  When I asked the director, Bev Thomson about locating another community satellite location at Challenge House #1, she didn’t hesitate to give the okay.  Along with the off site locations of Oak Grove, Family Circle, and Woodland Heights, the Challenge House GED class would reach into a location where transportation to Adult Education classes at HCC is difficult. 

Even though this second story does not involve one of the Challenge House students, it does have a Challenge House connection.  Before starting the GED classes at Challenge House, the first week of May, I had been teaching at Family Circle located at the Head Start Center.  One of my students there was a young man who was paralyzed from the waist down and rolled himself in his wheelchair over a mile to attend GED class there.  Sadly, Family Circle closed its doors permanently on May 28^th.  Most of those students transferred over to the Challenge House GED class.  That was not possible for the young man in the wheelchair.  He was a very bright student who scored well on every subject except math.  He was signed up to take the June 21^st GED but really needed more math review in order
to pass.  That’s where the Challenge House connection comes in.  Adam Humphries, a young man who had helped Sara Small last year with Challenge House #2, had contacted Wally. Adam, a math major and home from college, wanted to help teach GED math.  I contacted Adam and he totally took the ball from there.  He picked up the practice GED math books and worked with our student every day until the test day.  When the results came in and I saw the word, “PASSED”, I couldn’t have been more proud, proud of the GED student who persevered through incredible odds, and proud of Adam who dedicated his time and knowledge by going to the student’s public housing apartment in order to teach our student. 

I am pleased to report that even though the Christian County Adult Education is going to be under new leadership with Hopkinsville Community College, the desire to reach out into the community with satellite locations such as Challenge House is still there.  The current plan is to start Challenge House’s second GED class some time after Labor Day. 

Please remember our inner city neighbors as you plan your remodeling projects or clean out storage buildings and attics. This is all a part of our 'neighbor helping neighbor' philosophy.  We have many talents in these neighborhoods and we have already seen a plumber helping install fixtures; a carpenter lending a hand; a seamstress reworking draperies and a roofer helping his neighbor!!  Please help us as we try to find a way to empower these folks by offering ' a hand up, not a hand out' God bless you all.

PLEASE FORWARD TO ANYONE WHO HAS AN INTEREST IN FAITH-BASED ACTION AIMED AT LOVING THE POOR AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM. CONNECTIONS BETWEEN OUTERCITY PEOPLE AND INNERCITY PEOPLE IS WIN/WIN! THERE IS GOOD NEWS, AND WE ARE COMMISSIONED TO SPREAD IT!

Christian Community Development, as defined by Dr. John Perkins(CCDA.org) is much about some Christians in this country intentionally moving closer to the people who are disconnected and poor, so as to build everyday and lasting relationships. From those relationships spring racial reconciliation, and distribution of faith resources, educational opportunity, and employment connections.

Two Challenge Houses are not completed. These are houses that were only a step away from the HIT Squad(bulldozer) but now are ready for singles, couples, and families who, rather than heading overseas to the Peace Corps or foreign mission fields, choose to stay in America and live out the Gospel among "the least of these". I have written 60+ local pastors asking them to help us find Resident-faciliators for these two Challenge Houses, and we are also looking into out-of-town avenues for finding occupants. If you have any ideas, please contact me.

It's true! Our YMCA is conducting the Jobs for Life classes right out of Challenge House #1 on Central Avenue. It's amazing to witness the changes taking place among the students as they begin to "see" a better way of living, and a better way of seeking employment(and keeping it!). This is a job readiness course, and it's being offered at our county jail too. Nationwide, thousands are taking part in Jobs for Life classes(JobsForLife.com).

It's true! Beginning May 6th, GED classes will be taught right out of Challenge House #1 on Central Avenue. Rosemary Bradley will be our lead teacher, and we may need a few tutors.

It's true! Soon Challenge House #2 will begin to offer neighborhood bonding opportunities and programs. There is no way to describe how hungry so many are to improve their lives, and the lives of their children. Special thanks to Jim Wisby and to Lucy Catlett for the lead roles they have played with Challenge House #2, spawned by vision and fundraising from Sara Small of Richmond, Virginia. So many here have helped too. There is just no way to name everyone, but it's definitely a community project now!

We have way too much crime in our community, and way too much poverty. We can't change what we tolerate. We must not tolerate further decline of our people and the neighborhoods in which they reside.

In my February Report, I mentioned getting ready to walk from Challenge House #1 to the Post Office, and how I would take a path that highlighted housing disrepair. On the way back I noticed this little boy running out of a house and away from me. I hollared "hi" to him, and he stopped to look at me. Instantly he ran back into the house, shouting this to his family or friends, "Come out quick, the Challenge House Dude is here"! I got a huge laugh, and thought to myself how wonderful it will be some day when other folks associated with living in Challenge Houses will be refered to as "Challenge House Dudes"! That's my dream, and I hope it's your's too.

Just a few days ago, at night, as I was leaving Challenge House #1 to go sleep at Challenge House #2, I stopped to ask a man walking if he needed a lift? He got into my car, eyes blurry from alcohol. Amazingly, when I asked him where he was going, he said he lived on Bryan Street. Suddenly he recognized me as a former mayor, and said, "I want to thank you, you gave me a job tearing down old houses when you were mayor. I was just 14 or so, and I was able to buy my school clothes with that money". I was stunned, and now blurry-eyed myself. This young man is 29 now, and he remembered working in 1991. These kids want to work, and so do the adults. As we exited the car on Bryan Street, at Challenge House #2, he hugged me, and we talked about Godly wisdom taught in the Book of Proverbs, and he shared that he loved to read First John. There is hope for this young man, and for so many others! We must build lasting relationships with them, right where so many "stay".

Gary Adams and I took a walk in the neighborhood just a few days back. We stopped to talk to some little boys playing basketball on a goal with no net. Gary took them a net just a few minutes later. Once again, just little acts of love building foundations for big future changes.

We bought an old-fashioned push mower, rotating blades with no motor. We pay young kids to mow the grass at Challenge Houses. We want them to understand the relationship between work and pay. It was so neat to watch the bounce in the young man's legs Friday afternoon, as he held the check in his hand and headed away from the yard he had just mowed!

wbryan

This monthly report is early, but December promises to be a busy month, and I have some things on my mind and heart~

New Work Fellowship provided Challenge House with tickets to One Bethlehem Night, it's dinner/play production. Aida Vega rounded up 5 guests to take, and I rounded up 3. As I drove there, one of my passengers, eight year-old CaPaul, asked: "Can blacks go to your church"? He lives here in my neighborhood and has figured out that Challenge House is a good place. He normally attends Hillcrest. Why he asked that question is beyond me, but he did. We had a wonderful time at the play; I honestly believe that several of the kids we took actually thought they were eye-witnessing the birth of Jesus! We stopped by our YMCA for a little play-time prior to driving to church at New Work. One of the girls under my care stepped on the scale. She's probably less than 5' tall, 10 years-old, and weighed in at an even 160. I was absolutely shocked and lost it with her. I warned her of bad food choices, diabetes, and more. I was so ashamed of myself. She lives in terrible poverty, right here on my street. I hope and pray that some loving woman can teach her the ways toward good physical health. She is worth it. Maybe I'll get around to this, but I probably won't: one of the children mentioned that he asked his mother about a Christmas tree, but she said, "No, my money is going to have to go for Christmas presents---not a tree". Most of us have so much. Most of us stay disconnected from folks of poverty and/or different skin tones. Why? Maybe because it's so painful to be up close and personal. Maybe it is fear. When we do address issues of poverty, it seems it's usually with a quick-fix, and seldom with the one thing these "least of these" need most: personal long-term relationships.

Today I went to the funeral of the young man who recently died while in our jail. His dad, the Reverend Perry Greenwade, preached his son's funeral. First Street Baptist was standing room only. I suppose that there might have been 8-10 white folks there. I don't know if there was even one white pastor present. Our pastors don't even know each other across racial lines. Perry preached Luke 15 about the father looking at great distance and seeing his son return: the grace of God. An invitation to accept Christ was given at the end of the service, and it looked like 5-10 young men and women went forward. Will they join a live church and be discipled in the Word? The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. Many are realizing that the street culture is dead-end, but will there be enough non-scared Soldiers to our streets to rescue them? It was hot in the church today---it was SOOOOOOO crowded. Funeral directors gave out little fans; they included advertising from a Pay Day Loan Company. How stupid can people be? My fan even had a website printed on it: www.checkintocash.com. A city with PayDay Advance Centers so plentiful is in trouble. A brilliant marketing idea: pass out fans where the poor are congregated and hot! Does not our faith deplore injustice?

Did you read about the pro football player for the Redskins who was murdered recently? 4 young suspects are in custody. All, or most, of them had "My Space" Internet postings. It made me sick to see them with huge wads of money in their fists, and money laying all over them as they stretched out. Their postings were all about pagan street culture, materialism, and (indirectly) disrespect for women.

Every inner-city in America is in trouble, I suppose. Young black males seem to be sucked into bleak circumstances in droves, but it was a white young man who "snapped" in Omaha. Our country and our city are fragile: my opinion. We are cutting our fingernails while we are supposed to be at battle. No wonder we are losing. When will we wake up? What happened to the Onward Christian Soldier mindset? Is there a David Wilkerson preacher somewhere? The Cross and the Switchblade might be a good book for many of us to study together. Miracles CAN happen HERE, just like in his true rendering!

I know a young man who almost lost his job because he stank. I decided to try to find his home, and check it out. I knocked and a man let me in. "No, he's not here---didn't come back last night". I looked around: clothes all over the floor, house in need of thousands of dollars of repair. I returned several days later. This time his mom was at home. "I just returned from up north, I think he's at my sister's". I decided to discuss his body odor issue, to see if there might be a chemical imbalance problem. She assured me that it was just an issue of washing his clothes and body hygiene. I found him at his Aunt's duplex, and brought him across town to his job. I so hope he keeps it, and presses on with his educational challenges. I need help. I need for others of you to think about how you might be more closely associated with relationships with the kids and adults I write about.

Restoring At-Risk Communities is first and foremost about people. We can no longer accept the disconnect we have here in our community. We MUST come together. Our challenges are of great magnitude. It will not be easy to stay positive with the on-going crime news that so often is headlines in our paper. But news is news. Who knifed to death the white man at Pennyrile Apartments? Why did the young man from Bryan Street shoot the young man on East 2nd Street? What has happened to valuing human life? What can we do to put character and education back on the front-burner?

Paul Watts, Gary Adams, Becki Wells, and I recently met at the Chamber of Commerce. The topic was a program we are learning a lot about, and hope to bring here to Hopkinsville. Go to JobsforLife.com to learn about it. We really need the churches of our nation to "see" that we help the poor most when we help them achieve job readiness.

The "Purpose" statement of The Challenge House Movement is "to make it easy for persons, couples, and families to live out their faith within an under-resourced neighborhood, and while there to share not only their Christ-centered reason for relocating, but to also help connect kids and adults to opportunities of education, employment, and life skills". Do you know any Christians who have wondered about the Peace Corps or foreign missions, but are not out of country? Folks who might want to live and work close to those at the bottom here in our own country! If so, please call: 270-886-8887 or 270-889-3395. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves to allow our beloved city to fall any further. Together we CAN overcome these challenges, and be a beacon of light to cities, small and large, all across this land! Be a part of the Challenge House Movement. With all of my heart I believe it's part of the solution!

Have a Merry Christmas, and let's buckle down in 2008 and make it the year to remember: the year when splintered groups came together, communicated, and fought for Victory over poverty, crime, and decline!

Sincerely,

W Bryan

There is seldom a dull day living at Challenge House #I until permanent singles, a couple, or a family commits to this inner-city work. I am thankful for having Matthew Harris as a co-occupant here.

I check the Challenge House phone for messages: "How are you doing, Wally Bryan; this is ___________, _______'_ brother. I was trying to call to talk to you----I really need to talk to you---it's very important. Wally, you know what I'm saying, I used to be in the streets ripping and running and getting into trouble, but I'm just trying to change; don't want to run the streets no more. I've been doing good since I got out; I'm working at a Day Care around kids----and I don't want to do it no more. I'm looking for a new way of life and I really need some support---so if you could, would you please call me at ______"?

I dial the number. No answer.

Later, after being away, I check the phone for messages again: "How are you doing, Wally---this is ___________. I just got out of church and I see I missed your call---if you get a chance, will you please call me again. Again, I'm trying to change my ways Wally---I've been working at a Day Care and I just want to do what I can to help out in my community. I want to stay out of jail and stay out of trouble and I'm turning my life around and like everything going on with me. I could use your help and I'm willing to so whatever I can. Please give me a call again".

I called him, and he was home. He lives close to me, but it's raining. I drive to his house and bring him back to Challenge House to meet Matthew Harris. It's dreary outside, but the paint colors and light make it feel warm inside, and I did adjust the thermostat too! Instantly it's easy to see that our new friend is open and honest and seeking. I met him a little while ago while I was watering the new grass at Challenge House. I gave him my phone number. He followed up. Most don't.

He has worn an ankle bracelet since his release from our jail on October 4th. His street friends don't like to be around anyone wearing an ankle bracelet, so they leave him alone for the time being. He likes the routine of work and church, and indicates that the ankle bracelet has made him more responsible. He is age 28 and has 6 children. After a good talk, Matthew prays as we give him a used Bible, and mark the books of James and Philippians for his reading. He's been playing church volleyball, and smiled as he told us that his church played the Jailer's church recently, and competed against him (Brad Boyd). He has a sentencing hearing December 5th. I asked him if he was interested in taking part in a Bible Study about work: Jobs for Life. He said "yes". We will see~ This is a ground war. It's all about door-to-door, person-to-person, relationship one with another. Challenge Houses establish footholds for good, right close to where so much is bad. Christian hospitality works! People are hungry for a Better Way.This is not about me, or about Matthew, or even about our new friend. It's about how so many bruised people are hungry for hope and change. Can you imagine the domino effect of just this one life changing for good? It could happen over and over again! I love the people over here. They love back. There is no reason to be afraid.

Feel free to forward this to anyone you want to. ChallengeHouse.org is our website. Thanks for your interest in this work. We like to give tours, and we are always looking for new ideas and people who want to help us. The number here is 886-8887. We appreciate every single person who has helped us!

Sincerely,

W. Bryan

I will always appreciate our Local Development Corporation for supporting the HIT Squad (Hopkinsville Inner-city Transformation) and our YMCA for supporting the 99 & 1 outreach (Luke Chapter 15). Out of their patience and encouragement, the Challenge House Movement was born.
 
It's like a puzzle: sometimes you take the piece and put it where you think it needs to go, but it does not exactly "fit" so you remove it and in time you find the piece that fits that gap, and in time you rejoice as you see the picture on the box finally taking place at the puzzle itself! So it is with the Challenge House Movement. We have worked with the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, the Inner City Residential Enterprise Zone(IC-REZ), many churches, businesses, organizations, and individuals, AND WILL CONTINUE TO!
 
Challenge Houses are much more about rebuilding lives than about rebuilding houses. They are also all about building permanent quality relationships that will enrich lives, certainly including the lives of those who choose to relocate to live in the Challenge Houses. The Christian soldiers/servants occupying Challenge Houses will serve as important links to the children and adults residing in our older neighborhoods, providing friendship, spiritual truth, educational awareness, employment opportunity, and life-skill training. People will begin to regain connection and hope, and THEN we will begin to see neighborhood pride and stability reemerge!
 
Yes, there have been conflicts, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings. The only people who don't experience these are those at the cemetery and those who are not part of the battle. Battle scars go with this territory, but let us reconcile and unite the best we can. The mayor had his Unity Breakfast. Hopkinsville really is divided in many ways, disconnected in many ways. The Challenge House Movement is all about bridge-building; it's all about realizing that we all journey in a ship named "Hopkinsville". Many are realizing the perils of paddling alone, the perils of paddling in different directions, the perils of not knowing our neighbors. Our Chamber of Commerce and Human Relations Commission did a good work with Study Circles; some people got honest and some unity came forth. Like Henry Snorton coached us to chant: "We want to unite"!

After living 40 months at the apartment, I am finally fully moved to Challenge House #1. Matthew Harris has proven, as a former resident of the Durrett Avenue neighborhood, to be a very valuable House-mate, getting out into the streets and mixing with his old friends, many living failed lives. I/We will move on one week's notice once the right set of singles, the right couple, or the right family is selected to become permanent occupants. In the meantime, rent is being paid to help offset expenses.

Challenge House #2 is still in the construction phase; we all look forward to its completion later this year. Sara Small's connection with so many of our youth played a big part in 50, or more, young people(along with their Youth Pastors and other adult leaders) working in our inner-city over Fall Break; Boys and Girls Club and Challenge House #1 served as their home bases. They earned $500 for Challenge House #2. Emerson: "When duty whispers low----'you must'---youth respond 'I can"!
 
The Christian Community Development Association conference in St Louis was wonderful. I brought back many ideas, including a most interesting job readiness program: go to jobsforlife.com to read about it. We will be ordering video of some of the sessions, and will try to get it into the library section "Community Development" (over by the computers on the first floor). Hopefully some of you will visit there to read the books of Dr. Perkins, Bob Lupton, and others. It was good to have new "Challenge House Movement" literature available to share there in St Louis, and it's good to have it for here too. It's informative literature, and more and more are "seeing" how the CCDA.org model will work for our beloved city.
 
David Smith at Cornerstone Information Systems has helped us set up an affordable website: Go to ChallengeHouse.org to check it out. It's a work in progress~
John Mahre continues to always come through with architectural help. Margaret Galloway and her Workforce Investment Act (WIA) young workers have played such key roles. John Cotthoff at Westate Construction, Inc recently gave us such a boost. It seems never-ending as to folks stepping up!

Let me know if you need a speaker for a small or large gathering, or if you have ideas, or suggestions. I am very upbeat as we enter this Fall Season. Thanks to you all who are so with us. We are always looking to enlarge our TEAM! Come aboard!

Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested in this work.
W. Bryan

99 &1 is an outreach of our YMCA---based on Luke 15
HIT Squad (Hopkinsville Inner-city Transformation) is an element of our Local Development Corp

I want to share a few recent stories; they are personal, and I share them NOT at all to say anything about me, but rather to give you some pictures of what could happen on a much larger scale if many more of us would learn more about the Christian Community Development Association's model of how to employ new strategies to connect with the people who live more towards the bottom. Please go to CCDA.org, or call me at 886-5685, to learn about the October Conference in St Louis. How I hope and pray that many of us will attend this meeting. The approaches taught there are the best hope I've seen anywhere of how to really change a neighborhood/a city. Poor educations, crime, poverty-----they so tug a community downward.

This morning a very committed black man knocked on my door. He wanted to know if he might work with others to begin a men's Bible Study at Challenge House #1.

This morning a weak-minded neighbor asked me for a ride to the Court House; she had overslept and might end up in jail if she missed her court appointment. Many times in the past I have given her rides. This time I said "no". I don't know if I did right or not. I told her to walk in the heat. She was not happy. I was too busy. Again, I don't know about my rejection; I don't feel good about it but I reason that at some point she needs to understand responsibility?

Last week a neighbor in this 8-plex where I live asked for a ride to the Walmart Distribution Center to pick up his check------much reduced by child support withholdings. I took him, this for the second time. I told him that next time he needed to plan ahead---that if I take him again I may charge him for time and gas. I did not feel good about that. It's not easy to know what to do. He has a car, but it's been "down" for a long time, and he's behind on rent, and just truly struggling day-to-day. I am glad he works, and feel good that he is working.

Last week one night I drove my car over to Eastside(Attucks, Booker T Washington, the old Cayce Mill Supply area) and just rolled my windows down and talked to folks outside. Everyone was so nice. There is so little reason to fear. Fear may be one of the emotions that so keeps us disconnected. I talked with a woman who was so thrilled that she had recently been hired as a janitor at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. elementary school. She has no transportation, but definitely had the mindset that she would ALWAYS find a ride to work. I sure hope she does. I talked to another young man and asked him if he had a job. He said, "Yes, you told me about the Job Fair and I went to the Convention Center----I have been working several weeks already". I had no recollection of telling him about the Job Fair, but I do remember riding my bike all over town and passing out flyers for our Chamber of Commerce. I am not excited that I was a link to his job; I am excited that he has a job! I gave him a business card, and told him I'd like to take him out for a meal sometime----to talk about how to manage the new income---and to build a new friendship. I doubt if he'll call, but at least it was a positive encounter.

I received a call yesterday from a youth pastor, informing me that the students from his church had been so impacted by their outreach work this summer, and that they and other churches are now talking about a big Fall Break outreach, to help the poor and elderly within our older sections of town, and perhaps do some youth-to-youth work too!

Last week I was walking early, and came face-to-face with a young man walking toward me, toward a school bus stop. I stopped him and wished him a good day at HHS. To him I must have seemed mighty old. And what's this guy doing over here? And why is he talking to me, and wishing me a good day at HHS. And why did he point to his neck and ask what is this? The answer to him was this: "this is your neck--------study hard today, and remember that everything below the neck is minimum wage---------study hard and earn a much better income down the road----get that knowledge into your brain! It's no longer a muscle workplace". Maybe he will study just a little harder than he would have?

Last week I was driving my car and heard a woman shout at me. She came over to the car when I slowed it. She's in her 30's and needs to be able to pass her driver's test. She wanted to know if someone at Challenge House would help tutor her for the written part of the driver's license exam. Sara Small just gained her license in Virginia, and has arranged to meet with her to tutor her. I hope that she is able to pass the test. She's not been successful with past attempts. Maybe Sara's tutoring will be her tipping point, and maybe not?

We hired a neighbor to mow/weed-eat at Challenge House. He smiled big when I passed him $20.

I was driving and a young boy threw his empty water bottle in front of my car. I stopped and demanded that he pick it up, that "we are trying to keep our neighborhoods less littered". My guess is that he went down the road and tossed it again. I should have asked him to hand it to me, that I'd be happy to place it in a Herbie Curbie later, and "did he need a ride". I blew that one! I could have created a positive relationship. Maybe I'll learn from that mistake.

This morning while walking a woman asked for a job-----she is proud of her ability to cook. Maybe we can help connect her to a restaurant?

Challenge House #2 on Bryan Street is really coming along.

We really really really need to find folks who might be interested in living in one soon, or in some future one. If you have interest, or ideas, please let me know. Everyone can't go into the Peace Corp, or into a foreign land to mission----some of us can do it right here at home! It's been HOT, and there is still so much to do---so many loose ends---so much complexity as to how to really help people, and not to enable them.

Thanks for your interest, and please, some of you/many of you--------think about the St Louis Christian Community Development Association conference.

W. Bryan