Bethany Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids

Bethany Lutheran, CR 2013 Urban Plunge (Love God, Love People)

On April 19 & 20, 15 Bethany members, ages 16-50+, caravanned to Des Moines, IA for an “Urban Plunge”. Our reasons for going may have varied person to person but overall our goal was to see how Des Moines serves those in need, and be inspired and open to how God may use Bethany Lutheran to serve others in our town. So we left the comfort and safety of the known and experienced ministry in the inner-city of Des Moines. We were given hands-on experience with six different faith-based social service agencies in 28 hours. Pastor Steve, Missionary for Des Moines with Christ for the City was our guide for the weekend.

The services we learned about were varied but mostly served those in poverty. An after school program we visited, Trinity Methodist Los Americas Kids Club, serves kids meals and helps the community stay safe through other programming. One visit the group made was to Don, a homeless person in his late 50’s who has a “tent” near the railroad tracks/river/bridge. We heard his story of drugs, abuse, and imprisonment. The Lord has provided a job for him at the nearby homeless shelter and regular fellowship with men in an area congregation. Joppa Homeless Outreach is an agency that provides for the needs of the area homeless.

Saturday morning found our group at The Dream Center, where we helped package 700 bags of groceries and then assisted with delivery of these groceries to people in need at Evelyn Davis Park and Bates Park. Some of the agencies we saw were started by people who began by giving out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or because of a tragedy that had occurred.

The Urban Plunge group ate lunch and visited with people in need at Connections Café/Reggie’s Place in downtown Des Moines. There we also heard Susan’s story- a 59 year old who doesn’t qualify for many benefits because of her age and lack of addictions.

Herb, a veteran and resident at the Central Iowa Shelter & Services was our tour guide at CISS. This facility is equipped to provide expanded emergency shelter to 150 people; expanded transitional housing for Veterans, and 38 Project Based Section 8 Voucher efficiency apartments. CISS also provides an on-site health clinic, food pantry, clothing closet and classroom. Finally, it was on to Freedom for Youth Ministries where we took time to do a prayer walk around the neighborhood and then learned about the opportunities immigrant kids have by working in the wood shop, bike/small engine repair shop and craft shop. The group ended our plunge by enjoying an ethnic meal at an El Salvadorian restaurant.

The following Sunday a number of people from this group gathered at Redmond Park in Cedar Rapids, and did a short prayer walk. Filled with God’s love, we are now exploring ways to plunge into our own community to share that same love in Christ Jesus.