Gardens in Miami, 2013 Apprenticeships, and a new book!

May/June 2013

The InnerChange Voice is a bi-monthly publication specifically for friends of InnerChange. In this issue, witness the transformative impact of gardening on our Miami team as well as around the world. Also, check out upcoming Service Opportunities and a recent book published by one of our members.

â€œThus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce...seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
Jeremiah 29:4-5,7

Our Stories: Resurrection Gardens in Miami

By Kristy Wallace

Our West Coconut Grove neighborhood is located smack dab in the middle of Miami. Native Grove residents often talk about how you used to be able to walk through the neighborhood simply snacking on fruit picked from the many fruit trees scattered throughout the neighborhood; coconuts, mangos, avocados, limes, papayas, Spanish limes (genips)...you name it, it all used to grow here in abundance. The fruitfulness of the land speaks to the fact that most of our neighbors find their roots in farming. Whether it be farming in the islands (Jamaica and the Bahamas) or farming in rural Georgia, most of our neighbors can trace their roots back to a farming culture. Unfortunately, the skill of farming has been largely lost in the generations who are a bit removed from the experience of immigration and migration. They have not gleaned the rich experience of farming from their ancestors who were pioneers in our neighborhood.

Five years ago, the Carter Street Block Club (CSBC), a community organizing initiative of InnerChange Miami, determined that they wanted to tap back into those farming roots; they wanted to grow vegetable gardens. This stirring of interest resulted in "victory gardens" planted on Carter Street. Interest continued to grow across the neighborhood. At the same time, an organization called Slow Food Miami approached our team, proposing a gardening starter project. Six West Coconut Grove neighbors would be given a garden (raised bed, soil, plants, and all) in their own yard as a community building tool and source for healthy food. When we surveyed neighbors to see whether we would have enough response to move forward with such a project, the response was overwhelming.

On the initial planting day in 2011, each new â€œgardenerâ€ crowded into my backyard for instructions; thus Resurrection Gardens was birthed. Our excitement mellowed out in the following weeks as we waited and waited. We checked on each otherâ€™s gardens and waited some more. Our waiting was not without incident. On many occasions I was called outside to help battle the platoons of tomato worms and other garden nuisances. The larger worms seemed to drink up my organic insecticide like it was Kool-Aid but diligent patrolling by friends and neighbors helped us win that war.

Before long, all six gardens began to show signs of â€œfruitâ€; tomatoes were budding, carrots were breaking through the soil, peppers were taking shape, and collard greens were stretching out their growing leaves.

These six gardens not only fed many households in our neighborhood, they also planted seeds of community and good neighboring.

In our second planting season, some gardens have changed hands as neighbors have moved in and out of the neighborhood and some gardeners have become proficient growers. The most exciting aspects of this season were (1) so much growing interest that we began planning for the installation of six new gardens and (2) neighbors truly taking ownership of Resurrection Gardens. One neighbor in particular, Monica, really stepped up to the plate. We already knew she had a passion for gardening but it turns out that Monica is also a natural community organizer. Her idea and initiation of the Resurrection Gardens Facebook has been very instrumental in helping us stay connected as a group. Monica and I worked together to solicit Slow Food Miami for funds for new garden installations as well as to prepare neighbors for the recent round of garden installations.

In InnerChange we continually try to work ourselves out of a job; persisting in the act of giving away leadership.

This is a rare practice in our upwardly mobile culture, however, it is a key goal of community transformation. The point is not the gardens or any of the other initiatives our team helps neighbors begin, but the resulting opportunities for developing mutual relationships and sharing Christ. This all results in the transformation of lives, families, and whole communities. As we release Resurrection Gardens to the capable hands of local leadership, we celebrate the end of our job in this role and the milestone it represents in the transformation of our neighborhood.

Kristy Wallace Co-Leads the Miami InnerCHANGE Team. She has a love for justice, a passion for family restoration, a vision for seeing lives transformed through the Gospel, and a desire to see communities live out biblical principles of community.

If you are interesting in contacting her about community gardening, she says you can email her at kristy.wallace@innerchange.

More InnerChange Gardens

Like Kristyâ€™s team in Miami, many of our members in InnerChange have discovered gardening in our communities to be a powerful participation in Godâ€™s redemptive work.

Click on the photo to see pictures from different gardening efforts around the world that have become seedbeds for transformation.

2013-2014 Apprenticeships

Experience life on an InnerChange team by participating in an Apprenticeship. Many of our teams, including Venezuela, San Francisco, South Africa and Miami, are excepting apprentices this fall. The application deadline for apprenticeships beginning in Fall 2013 is coming up - June 15th.

Where?
Venezuela
South Africa
Miami
and more!

When?
Application Deadline: June 15
Start Date: September, 2013

Apply Now!

For more information, go to www.innerchange.org/serviceopportunities

A New Book

Nail Scarred Hands Made New speaks from the trenches of a violent, Latin American slum. With deeply personal and theologically probing reflections, John speaks to the next generation of mission workers who feel compelled to lay down their livesâ€”in the surprising hopefulness of God's ability to use the good, bad, and ugly of our kingdom-seeking efforts to accomplish his restoration of all creation.

Click here to order the book!

John Shorack has lived in barrios of Carracas, Venezuela since 2002. He currently serves as Regional Director for InnerCHANGE Latin America.

Thanks for reading!
Have any questions or reflections from this newsletter? We'd love to hear them, please email us at ic.info@innerchange.org.

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