Urban Leadership Foundation

Title of the Book/ Article and the pages read

Key thought/ Quote

Reaction/Application

Cry of the Urban Poor by:Viv Grigg

Chapters 9-11 pp.133-153

“Compassion is the heart of the ministry”

In order to really reach and penetrate among the poor, a person should have love and compassion on them. One cannot reach these people if they don’t have love and compassion. Your ministry among the urban poor should be built by compassion on them and everything would just follow.

Cry of the Urban Poor by:Viv Grigg

Chapters 2-4 pp.22-81

“To understand the process of bringing the kingdom of God into squatter areas, we need first to live among them and learn their ways.”

All of us have our preunderstanding among the poor, but it’s not useful enough to bear and understand them. Though not totally to incarnate with them but just to live with and learn their way of living so we may clearly understand them, they we will be able to reach them and be effective sharers of the good news.

Cry of the Urban Poor by:Viv Grigg

Chapters 13-14 pp.163-193

“The home is the center of ministry in many cases of effective church planting among the poor.”

Love starts from home and all of us learn how to love at home. This is the reason why home is the very heart and center of ministry, once when ministry is started at home everything will turn out to be fine because everyone in the one is reached and thought by God’s love. The foundation of the family will be built by God’s love.

The Diary of Carolina Maria De Jesus, Favela Resident

pp. 464-470

“There are so many beautiful things in the world that are impossible to describe”

It’s very humbling for us that such a favela resident would appreciate everything beautifully in her sight. May we also imitate the kind of attitude that she has not only in the times when we are plenty but also in the times when we are in need.

The Salvation of Zachary Baumkletterer

By: George I. Mavrodes

pp. 13-26

The way he lives his life in responding to helping the needy people.

I don’t want to judge the way that he did. It maybe his conviction to do that and it may be his way of serving God. As I have read, though he got sick but still God is so gracious to give him the strength that his life may become an eye-opener, an encouragement or may be a testimony to others.

Drug Addiction & Prostitution

Chapter 19 pp.198-208

“We do not pretend to know all the solutions…Let us be men and women of action”

We are already know what is happening around us. We may come to encounter persons who have the situation that into it, we can be able to comfort them because it is the only way we can do so. Let us be honest that we can’t give solutions to all their problems but instead we must direct them to the Word of God who gives light and would free them from the bondage of slavery.

Walking with the Poor

By: Bryant Myers

Chapters 1-8 pp.1-244

Transformational Development

As I have read this book, only one thing the author wants to say that is to see transformational development among the poor in almost every area of their lives. We may be busy thinking of different strategic plan of action in our church planting among the poor but we should also focus on how will they transform through the strategies we may have offer them.

Cry of the Urban Poor

By:Viv Grigg

Chapters 1,5-7,17 pp.1-19;83-114;217-225

Knowing the context of the urban poor

It would always be the first thing to know before planning strategies of planting a church – that is to know the context of the urban poor people in a certain place or country. By knowing the culture, worldview, values, lifestyles, norms of the urban poor in a given context will enable us to make good strategic actions in our holistic approach of church planting.

Spirit, Kingdom & Post-Modern City

pp.1-19

“Holistic Discipleship”

I have learned that holistic discipleship comes from what Jesus exemplified through his way of life. God does not really require us to incarnate ourselves with the urban poor because not all of us can possibly incarnate themselves. God does only look in our hearts on what we can do for them.

Companion to the Poor

By: Viv Grigg

Chap.1-9 pp.11-125

“The Poor in the Scriptures”

All I thought before that the only meaning of the poor in the Bible is only needy. But as I study the Scriptures of the different meaning of poor, I found out that it tells of different meanings and poor can be classified into different categories.

Empowering the Poor

By: Robert Linthicum

Chap.1-6 pp.5-60

“Our exploration on empowering the poor must begin by understanding how power is exercised in the city and how it produces the poor.”

I came to wonder how important it is to empower the poor. But before I can actually do that in the urban poor I am presently ministering I should be able to know and understand them more so that I would be able to empower them by God’s grace.

A Theology as Big as the City

By:Ray Bakke

Chap.1-5, 11-17; pp.17-59, 95-139

“Evangelism includes both the spiritual formation of persons and the social transformation of places.”

I agree about the evangelism that will cause spiritual formation in persons but how come it will also form social transformation of places? The book does not explain about this but my view of this is that it may be some other aspect of social reforms that evangelism will bring transformation on places.

The Poor & Poverty in the Church of the 1^st Century & The Poor & Poverty in Jesus’ Teaching

pp.1-9, 1-5

“…a call to people to follow Him.”

Jesus demonstrated how he lives his life among the poor people. Though it may be difficult on our part, it takes to have passion, burden and a calling to reach the urban poor.

In Every Church Planting Movement

Chap.11 pp.171-198

Quality and Quantity

In every church planting movements quantity & quality goes together. There is so much we can learn from these, we just have to do our own observations to be able to attain the things we have to learn in church planting movements.

God and the Poor

By: R.J Rider

pp.1-14

“Only in incarnation can we begin dimly to perceive what God’s identification with the weak, oppressed and poor really means.”

Just as what Jesus did, for others sake He became poor. I may not totally agree with this principle but in some points it may really be applicable in some context and people group.

God So Loved the Third World

By: Thomas Hanks

Chap.1 pp.3-24

Oppression

There are also different meanings of oppression mostly in the Old Testament. Though it has different meanings and interpretation only one things is clear on me, that we have to open our eyes on what oppression has been doing among the urban poor here in our country.

The Other Path

By: Hernando de Soto

Chap.2 pp.17-57

Informal Housing

We cannot change the fact that informal housing among the informal settlers will definitely increase as time passes by. Though our country has already launched resettlement areas for them but still the urban poor would prefer to where they are settling.

Squatters: The Most Responsive Unreached Bloc

By: Viv Grigg

pp.41-51

Squatters

Though there may be squatters here in our country but they also share different cultural backgrounds and religions. This is also the reason why we really have to reach the urban poor people.

Planting Churches Cross-Culturally

By:David Hesselgrave

Chap.1-7 pp.19-117

The Strategies

As part in our study in one of our course here in ATS, this book gives a clear and simple methods in church-planting cross-culturally. Though it is really up to what the context of your own people group, still it also helps in strategizing. Some of the principles the author tells can also be applicable to the context of the urban poor.

Understanding Church Growth

By: Donald McGavran

Chap.1-6 pp.3-67

“God’s Will and Church Growth”

We must always remember that God yearns to seek and save the lost and it is for us to have burden and passion among the urban poor.

Street Children Letter

pp.1-3

“Because God has put in me the desire to love you. God loves me, the sinner that I am, and He loves you too.”

This was a statement of a worker among the street children that touch my heart. As God loves us, we ought to love other others too the way He loved us no matter what status in life they are into.

A Life Less Ordinary

p.1-2

The life of young couple

These young courageously face the life in slum areas not because they want to but because they are called too. Their lives brought example of simple, practical, heart-felt, hand-on and grass-roots care for these poor people.

The New Friars: Evangelical Youth Living among the Urban poor

pp.1-5

“It’s the call to Christ to live simple, communal life as a servant to the poor.”

Nowadays, many young people are called to be missionaries in different areas and tribes of the world. I could relate with these young lady that as young as she is, she had obeyed the call for her life. It is my prayer that God would send more young people as missionaries among the urban poor.

Total pages read:

1022 pages