Ankle

For over a week now I have been laid up with a pretty bad ankle sprain. It happened while I was playing basketball last Sunday with my friend Cortez. We were just shooting around, I was still in my low-top (no ankle support) boots and went up for a reverse lay up and came down on my ankle which bent sideways all the way to the ground. I heard/ felt a pop and fell to the ground. I immediately thought it could be broken but it seems to just be a severe ankle sprain. I was in so much pain that we decided to go into a clinic to get it looked at even though I have no health insurance. We were expecting to pay over $300 for the x ray and visit but the doctor had mercy and charged us only $67 dollars for everything including the X ray. I was blown away! Over my 5 plus years working in hospitals I saw first hand the cutthroat, profit driven healthcare industry. I have a renewed hope that another world is possible through love. Now if only my ankle would heel so I can get off these crutches.





(P.S. sorry about the nasty ankle photos and yes I am a baby)

Minority

(written 2 weeks ago)


On Saturday night we attended our second Jackson State football game of the season. For those of you who may not know Jackson state is a historically black university and remains over 90% African American today. Emily took a class there last summer and plans to enroll full time in January. Emily and I both enjoy sports and I must be honest there’s nothing quite like attending a college football game in October. Thanks to a co-worker we were able to score some discounted tickets for ourselves and a friend who was visiting from Portland. When we go to the JSU games we are usually some of the only white people there. This past week’s game was a big one with over 50,000 people in attendance. We always arrive just at kickoff and enter into the giant stadium packed with people, energy and marching bands. It’s a different football experience for me. I grew up going to Boise State football games where the crowd was mostly white. As we make our way from the neighborhood where we park, through the huge parking lot of tailgaters and into the stadium its hard not to notice the looks that we get. This week even more so because it was not only Emily and I but also Elisha who was born in Korea. While we made our way through the crowd to our seats I overheard one man say to another, “look at these people, they are in the wrong place”. I turned the guy and said, “No, we are in exactly the right place. This is where the action is right?” He just smiled. The truth is I like going to places where others wont go because it’s my belief that we all need each other. Jackson has an enormous population of white’s who love football but I don’t see them in any significant numbers supporting JSU. We choose to be separate instead of engaging in each other’s cultures. I feel at home at the Jackson State games. I almost feel privileged to be included. To be a minority in such big setting gives me a greater perspective on what other minority’s feel. Being some of the only white folks in attendance reminds of the race issues that still exist in our city. We plan to attend as many games this season as we can.

Johnny


(Emily and Felicia (a parent of 2 of our afterschool program students at the game)

Bowling with the Boyz

Our boys club went bowling last Thursday and had a blast. Thought I'd share a few photos.


Mr. Ryan and Jimmy

Jumping Photos Really Catching On

Philly

Jacinda, Emily, and Sarah jumping in Philly


After our return from Oregon we enjoyed a week back in Mississippi before leaving for the annual CCDA conference in Philly. CCDA ( Christian community development association) is an association of people who live and work among the poor in cities all over the country. It was founded by John Perkins and Wayne Gordon and every year seems to grow.
We had a great time at the conference. Its always rejuvenating to be around others who are involved and passionate about the same things that you are. This was our 4th time attending the conference and we continue to learn from the amazing people who are a part of CCDA.
We were able to meet up with our good friends Matt and Jacinda from New York as well as Sarah from Mass. It was great to see and hang out out with our friends. One day we rode the subway out into north Philly with a new friend whom we met at the conference named Brian. Brian showed us his neighborhood where he is working to create economic opportunities for low income people.(check out the organization Brian works with here) North Philly is the part of town that wealthy white folks downtown told us to stay away from. It is also the place where The Simple Way is located. It was very interesting to walk around the community and to observe the social dynamics of the city.

We drove to and from Philly in a van with the Perkins center staff. It was two long 19 hour trips straight through. We actually blew a tire on our trailer right as we exited the freeway back in Jackson at 5:00 am on Monday. Luckily we were able to get the van back to the center.

We are back in Jackson now and ready to continue our work here. Emily and I are both working in the after school program. Emily has been doing a lot of research into grant opportunities as she prepares to become a grant writer for the foundation. Stating in January she is planning on enrolling full time at Jackson State University.
In the mean time we seek to love our neighbors and to invest quality time with the children we work with.


Johnny


Johnny and Matt try to out jump the girls



The girls strike back by adding a man from the street to thier jumping team


Matt wins

Music Site

Ive set up a webpage at purevolume for my music. If you are interested you can check it out here.

Update coming soon

We were in Philly last week for a conference and had no interenet but I promise an update is coming this week.
until then enjoy this photo. Boise State 5- 0 after saturdays whooping of Utah 36 to 3