About three months ago, a book began to make the rounds of some thinkers in Kinston. “Toxic Charity” was written by a guy (Robert Lupton) who has spent four decades in various inner-city communities of Atlanta working hard at community transformation.
That is, working hard to help the people in hard-scrabble places move past the “no jobs, no productivity, no goals, no future … no hope” reality of life, and into a new reality.
This new reality is a neighborhood mindset with a shared will to work, and all sorts of good things that follow: the dignity that comes from a hard day’s work and being able to “make your own way” (instead of depending on others — charity, government, family; the enjoyment that comes from the blessings and benefits of income; the satisfaction of being part of a neighborhood where folks are in this together.
Kinston is ripe for this kind of community transformation. I meet people who would love to have a different future than their current situation. They don’t know how to get there, and frankly, they don’t know how to imagine it.
If you are reading this newspaper, you are a thought-leader in Kinston. So, start thinking creatively. If you subscribe to The Free Press or read it online, you have a chance to make a difference. In fact, you have the responsibility to make a difference.
Communities always change through creative thinking and acting. These come as people ponder a tough present and an untapped future and ask “why not?”
Some creativity that I’ve seen recently in Kinston:
- Stephen Hill planting a brewery here, investing in the Herritage Street retail zone, and starting to build an artist’s community nearby. That’s creative. And, it’s encouraging others to do likewise
- The Gate of Kinston community center that turned an old bingo hall into a refuge for children and their parents, a place to get a GED, a place to be loved and confronted with the real issues of life … a place that continues to operate with broad-based funding from the community at large. That’s creative
- The Fuller Center which takes a home that really needs repair, and comes alongside the dwellers, who together fix the holes in the roof and so forth. The stakeholder is involved: The Fuller Center helps only as the resident helps. Pride in the work
- Churches working together (Erasing the Lines youth mission trips; a very strong ministerial association; ICOR crisis help; Prayer Walking the entire county)
- Local business owners really invested in helping the people of this community prosper (I’d love to recount the 10 instances I’m thinking of)
- Local teachers and administrators who pour their hearts into their kids — I’ve experienced it personally from elementary through high school
- Jobs for Life, a new initiative just getting off the ground here that trains people to only how get a job but how it — and change their lives. I heard about this from Randy Outland at Spilman Baptist Church
Some of the limits to creative forward progress are:
- Laziness and lack of imagination … on the part of those of us who can make a difference. We just keep to ourselves often because we don’t know how to help, or don’t think things will ever change. It’s just easier to think only of “my four and no more” as Miss Georgia used to say
- Laziness and lack of imagination … on the part of those who could work but don’t. Now, I’m not too hard on folks who receive government assistance without working for it. Because, every person in the world is the same: I, too, love to get something for nothing. Who’s teaching accountability, and calling folks to it?
- Lack of imagination in our social programs: I’m extremely disappointed in a government that treads people down by failing to call for investment on the part of recipients. Without a call to work or be productive in exchange for payment (i.e., government checks), we are short-circuiting people’s ability to learn the rules of the game in this country. This is a country where hard work is rewarded. The social programs need to learn that language and teach it to others. That’s a game-changer for generations. That’s the dynamism of America. Imagine 10 million new people working in new jobs buying new homes, new electronics, new cars, etc. There’s $1 trillion boost to the economy.
There are a million other great creative insights and real challenges in Kinston. As we make a start, we need three things.
First, we can’t give up in despair, retreat in fear or think it’s undoable. God is at work in this world; so, too, in our county. Call out to him every day to make a new future in Kinston. Pray for game-changing events and mindsets. Pray scripture back to him, e.g., Jeremiah 29:7 and 11 (which Allen Bingham constantly reminds us of).
Second, do something today. Today. Call Southeast or any elementary school and partner with a young child to help in reading. In every week, 45 minutes of your time means a chance at life for this little one. That’s a game-changer. (Not to mention, you might just fall in love with the child.) Call The Gate, the Boys and Girls Club, the Salvation Army, Caswell Center and see what miracles are happening there. Maybe you can help behind the scenes or in the programs. Time is money. Writing checks to help is good. How much better when we deliver the check in person with an investment of our time.
Third, read “Toxic Charity” or “When Helping Hurts’ or “The Hole in our Gospel.” Read the Hebrew Torah and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Expand your thoughts about Kinston’s future. Who knows what solutions are lurking in the back of your mind. Seriously. Jump in and join in. Think through angles of what works and what might not. Do this from experience, not an “ivory tower.”
And, watch God take Kinston from a place of toxic charity to a vibrant future.
Jason McKnight is pastor of Grace Fellowship Church. Reach him at Jason@gracekinston.org.