Changes and Transitions

Two weekend ago almost all of us that are part of NieuCommunities San Diego (NCSD) went on a 2 day 'envisioning' retreat in Tijuana, Mexico. It was intense. It was a lot of work.  We are all about growing leaders and over the last 3 years we have done just that and done it well…so well that we have grown too leader heavy. So we needed to envision what God may have us do with this great problem. 
In short, we are going break up our ONE community to plant other missional communities that share and live out the Way of Jesus and they will be connected by our ongoing intensive apprenticeship (discipleship) hub. 
But let me share  my co-worker/elder and Directors, Rob Yackley's, words with you…he captured it well.   
 

Thanks so much for praying for our envisioning retreat in Mexico last weekend. God graciously shielded and guided us through an exciting but also emotional time for our community. As with the human experience of giving birth, the birthing of a new community is filled with both joy and pain. Seeing a new life emerge is amazing, but there’s also the sobering reality that life will never be the same once it happens. That’s especially true when you’ve really loved your life the way it is and you’re about to birth not just 1, but 2, or in our case, maybe 3 or 4 new communities.

Over the weekend we fought hard to lean into our future, to release one another to God, but also to tend to the hearts and relationships that God has lovingly knit together. We sensed we would need to be willing to transition from being a singular, self-contained community to becoming multiple communities that are uniquely different but somehow connected and mutually complementing, but we just weren’t sure what that should look like. But here's a picture of what I sense God is birthing:

Imagine a sunflower. At the center of the flower is a dark orangish brown eye, and around that center are lots of beautiful yellow pedals. Each part of the flower has its own unique look, texture, and function, but it's only whole when each part is connected. That’s a beautiful picture of what God is forming here in San Diego and perhaps how our communities will grow around the world. From what was once just a one-size-fits-all center, (our intensive apprenticeship), we are about to birth several missional communities all around us. Like pedals on a sunflower they will be more pourus and accessible to our neighbors and extend our reach into the city and even beyond it. Whereas the apprenticeship focuses on forming people for missional life, these missional communities will be more focused on living out that life in the neighborhoods they inhabit. And like the sunflower, the apprenticeship and the multiple missional communities that radiate out from it will remain intimately connected to one another and deeply rooted in the missio dei—the mission of God.

Rob

The Sheahan's position will change a bit. We are targeted to plant a "flower pedal"…I mean missional community in Sherman Heights as soon as God moves us there….yep, this is the place that housing is tough to come by. We will keep our eye open for a house but we really feel like it is important to keep our family a priority so at this point we plan to put off the intense push to move until Josh graduates from high school in June…but if that elusive home does pop on to the radar we will move forward. 

Meanwhile Maria and I will emphasis leading, teaching, coaching and mentoring the apprentice's (the middle of the flower) that we currently have and those will be are coming (there is a waiting list). 
We will also continue to be part of the "elder" team that will help encourage the new leaders that are heading up the new missional communities…I'm not sure that all makes sense but we are excited and will be busy taking on a bit more leadership as NCSD has a more profound and far reaching impact on San Diego and beyond. Of course our relationships in Mexico, the Refugees, our homeless friends and other assorted people that need to experience Jesus will still be a priority. 

We sure appreciate your prayers through this transition… 

Thanks,
Shaun and Maria 

Neighbors…Sheahan's

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Little Foot… really? Yep. Little Foot is a short energetic x-vet that lives near our home between Chula Vista and National City near and alongside the river. Homeless Little Foot peddles in front of our driveway several times a day on his way to ‘work’. There are 4 sections that the homeless occupy near the river. The Jungle (looks more like a forest to me), the Swamp (it’s definitely a swamp), the Ridge and the riverbank. Little Foot has been living for four and a half years in a tent on the Ridge. He’s a newcomer. Others have been there for 7, 17 and 35 years. Can you imagine? 

These homeless are different from the one’s downtown. Downtown has many rescue missions, shower options, free meal places, shelters etc. Little Foot and his 15 too 30 friends, have no rescue missions, food banks, free meal places, etc this far south. Once and a while a church will have free food days but that’s pretty sporadic. Mostly these Jungle/Swamp/Ridge/River people go out ‘canning’ for a living. They scavenge for cans and anything else that they can get to recycle for cash. They kill rabbits for an occasional meat dish. Many have bikes with homemade trailers they pull around to be their scavenged treasures on. Others hit a shift or two on the free off-ramps too. These guys are like modern Mountain Men living off the Urban land they roam.

They carry out their own justice too…most all these guys have been in jail at some point in their lives’, they know they don’t want ‘outside’ justice anymore. I assure you I would not want their form of justice either…those quicksand traps look pretty scary to me.

Fifty-year-old Little Foot comes from the ‘res’ in New Mexico. The tribes in the San Diego only deal with local tribes…he’s not local…he gets no help.

He actually works really hard at what he does. When he gets his break he wants to have a house and car, “you know, live normal” he says. The elusive ‘break’ is a common concept among most homeless.

He doesn’t drink or do drugs anymore…straight for 7 years he claims…I believe him.

These folks are real people with real stories and real daily lives. To have someone from the ‘outside’ just to  talk to and ask their stories is a pretty cool thing for them…it’s pretty cool for me too because Jesus always makes His way into our conversations… 

I'm reminded of Jesus question: 'and who is your neighbor?' For us, that would be Little Foot and his elusive friends...

Thanks for keeping us with our neighbors! 

Shaun and Maria Sheahan