Transformation on the West Coast of California
The Bay Area in Northern California is known for its beautiful scenery, innovative technology, liberal politics, sophisticated culture, immorality and strong anti-Christian sentiment. But if you look a bit deeper, beneath the “glamorous” surface, it is an assortment of communities facing many of the same challenges that communities everywhere are facing. The real story is what God is doing through ordinary citizens who are working together to confront these problems. Seeds of spiritual revolution that have recently been planted have begun to take root and grow. No longer are believers in the Bay Area sitting back in intimidated silence while their cities fall down around them, rather they are taking the presence of God with them out into their communities to make a difference. In the next three blog posts, I will tell you about three cities, Salinas, Vallejo and San Francisco, where people of faith are working together to make a difference. It is a new day for the California Bay Area…
Grapes of Hope
—Transformation in Salinas, California
Salinas, the hometown of John Steinbeck, the famous author of The Grapes of Wrath, is a city located in the California Bay Area roughly 100 miles south of San Francisco with about 150,000 people and a mainly agricultural economy. What to outsiders might appear a sleepy agricultural town nestled in a beautiful part of California is, in reality, a city plagued by gangs, violent crime and economic woes. The city has many challenges: 65% of Salinas is Latino, and half of those speak only Spanish which creates cultural barriers; the city had harsh economic problems halfway through this decade and the homicide rate is nearly three times the national average, due predominately to gang activity. In the midst of darkness, however, a light is shining because in the last few years those who believe in the city have come together to reclaim Salinas. Despite very diverse backgrounds, they are united and working together in a remarkable way.
In the first part of this decade, people were moved, they believe by God, to stand up and be a part of the solution in the Salinas community, but before they could do that their hearts had to be changed. Most people, including Christians, see themselves as powerless in the face of the negative social and economic trends that were overwhelming the city of Salinas. As Ed Silvoso articulates so well in his books Anointed for Business and Transformation, if believers will step out of the walls of their churches and homes and into every facet of the city, including government, education, the arts, business and agriculture knowing they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to effect lasting change, significant things can happen. Sparked by a variety of events, pastors and marketplace leaders in the city of Salinas came together and realized for the first time their collective role as spiritual leaders in the community. The old paradigm of powerlessness began to pass away and a new message of community transformation took root in its place. One of the marketplace leaders who has been used significantly to spark the current flame of reformation was Dick Renard. In autumn of 2004, at the invitation of Mr. Renard several community leaders such as the mayor, chief of police, local businesspeople and educators came together to pray for the city. They agreed to meet regularly to lift the city up spiritually, something they had been negligent in doing for so long. After coming together and believing for change in the city, they began to connect with local pastors and vocational ministers who welcomed their efforts with open arms.
The unity felt among those who wanted to bring positive change to the city spread to other individuals and institutions. For example, in the spring of 2007, two ministries with similar names and locations were brought together for the first time. Victory Mission and Victory Outreach sit a mere three blocks away from each other, and yet until Christians in Salinas came together and adopted a vision for transformation and unity, the agencies’ resources had not been fully utilized. What took place was a networking of 16 at-risk/transition agencies that could now share strength and resources, giving them a greater ability to serve the community of Salinas so that no one would fall through the cracks. As one real-life example, a woman in the city was severely abused by her husband when she told him she was pregnant and refused to get an abortion. Under normal circumstances, a battered women’s shelter would have been able to offer her just a safe place to stay. However, now that these agencies had begun sharing information, the woman not only had protection and shelter, but she was also able to get medical treatment for her unborn child and herself. In the past, such cooperation wasn’t possible as many government agencies have strict privacy requirements that prohibit the exchange of information. This woman may have been forced to go back to her abusive husband, and may even have given in to the pressure to have an abortion. Rather than having fifteen or sixteen independent agencies that operated with limited power, the agencies could now pool resources to more effectively serve the community. The vision of unity among the leaders in Salinas had the combined effectiveness of a whole exponentially greater than the sum of the parts. In the case of this one young mother it saved her life, as well as the life of her unborn child.
Salinas has been particularly hurt by the recent economic downturn. As the economy is largely agricultural, the first blow was the recent outbreaks of bacteria in lettuce, spinach and tomatoes. The second blow was the surge in oil prices, which not only increased production costs, but sent shipping costs through the roof. When the sub-prime mortgage crisis began and the housing market collapsed it was like kicking a man who was already down. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, more and more local business leaders are seeing their businesses as their ministry. They are inviting the presence of God into their workplaces, seeking to implement transformation principles in their businesses and continuing to invest generously into the community.
Churches are also partnering together to serve the city, crossing denominational borders that stood for decades. Ground-breaking programs are being developed to positively impact Salinas. Literacy programs for children were created, which will transform the schools of Salinas and in turn create a sustainable change that will be planted in the minds of children. Another such program is “Adopt-A-Cop” in which local churches are encouraging their people to adopt a police officer in the area and pray for him or her daily. There is a vision to adopt every police officer, firefighter, gang member, city block, and marginalized person in Salinas to drive out every bit of rejection that plagues the city and causes people to run towards hopelessness, violence and crime. From the beginning the people of Salinas have seen the Lord answer their prayers. For example when they first began praying, the homicide rate dropped immediately and dramatically. Between 2005 and 2007, the homicide rate in Salinas was its lowest in two decades. Despite the current rash of gang violence, which is the result of an intra-gang war, those in Salinas were greatly encouraged that their prayers were answered and believe the situation will be turned around so that Salinas will be known as a city of peace.
This next month, on March 11th, there will be a Mayor’s prayer lunch. People all over Salinas who are tired of watching the murder count go up will be exhorted to “adopt” a city block in prayer until the entire city is covered. There have been three prior prayer lunches similar to this where Christians have prayer-walked certain areas of the city. This time, however, there is much more awareness and far broader involvement so Salinans will be able to blanket the entire city in prayer, adopting every neighborhood and street to minister to and pray for. This is a chance for believers and non-believers alike to see great things happen when government and civic leaders work together to transform a community. A month later, on May 16th a city-wide spring cleaning, called “Serve Day”, is being planned where thousands of volunteers will take time to clean the city streets, physically reflecting the spiritual house-cleaning that God is bringing to their beloved city.
Salinans are certainly facing their fair share of challenges. But with God’s help, hope is rising like the morning sun. Leaders throughout the community are committed to working together to confront their problems, they have a united vision and are in it for the long haul. As Ed Silvoso likes to say: “He who gives up last wins.”
Coming Next: Vallejo City of God, read how Christians influenced a historic election in there city. Check for it the week of February 24th.
I want to hear form you, please share your comments below.
Ted
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