The following is a copy of our Christmas letter that we sent out to family and friends (those we had addresses for) announcing Baby #3 and our decision to move to South Atlanta to join an urban ministry called Sub-Urban.

Dear Family and Friends,

dsc08409We hope this letter finds you doing well and enjoying this holiday season. We have some exciting news to share. First of all, we are excited to announce that we are expecting our third child in mid-June. We couldn’t be happier, especially big sister Kaiya who already knows what she wants to name the baby. Secondly, after several trips down south and much time spent in prayer, we have decided to step out in faith and relocate our family to Atlanta to join an urban ministry called Sub-Urban. In the paragraphs that follow we want to share more about the neighborhood, ministry and vision God has given us for this community.

Where

A boarded up houseThe South Atlanta community (originally called Brownsville) is a historic African-American neighborhood originally founded for freed slaves after the Civil War. What was once a mecca for the African-American community in Atlanta is now a neighborhood in distress, struggling with crime, gang-related violence, prostitution and drug houses.

However, to do justice to the community of South Atlanta, we have to mention that the above is not the entire story. There are neighbors that care and look out for each other in redemptive ways that we have not see even in our neighborhood in Michigan.

Why

Kids playingMany of the children growing up in generational poverty, having been oppressed, end up becoming oppressors – dealing drugs and participating in gangs. We believe that God’s heart is broken over the state of this community and as we’ve genuinely asked God to show us His heart, ours were broken for this community as well.

What

We are planning to relocate our family to this neighborhood to roll up our sleeves and join neighbors in working to strengthen the spiritual, social and economic vitality of the community.

A quote by an aboriginal activists group describes the posture we want to maintain: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

We need each other – we look forward to investing in this neighborhood as much as to the ways our neighborhood will invest in us.

We will be joining a ministry called Sub-Urban, which is part of a family of ministries under the umbrella of FCS Urban Ministries. We will not be alone in our efforts; we will be joining a team of people that we can learn from and work alongside.

The mission of Sub-Urban is to connect neighbors across race and class lines to transform neighborhoods. Three major areas of its focus are (with more details on Sub-Urban.org):

  1. Spiritual Rebirth: Prayer Vigils, connecting neighbors into our local church
  2. Social Networks: BBQs, Internships (Atlanta-London Merge), Collaborative Office
  3. Economic Development – Foreclosure Redemption Strategy and a future Farmer’s Market

Our roles with Sub-Urban

Andrej’s role is going to be a systems architect, neighbor, and activist. He is going to use his experience with web technologies and technology in general to help equip and empower the various ministries under the FCS Ministries family to live out their mission. In addition, Andrej will build street relationships while refining relational “systems” that help care for people in an effort to see spiritual revival and community transformation. Andrej will also develop and give oversight to communication systems that connect neighbors, churches, volunteers, and leaders into relationship.

Jessica’s role will be building relationships with other young moms in the neighborhood as well as giving oversight and planning to gatherings, trainings, fundraising events, and community gatherings among neighbors.

What you can do

We cannot do this alone. We need a giant prayer network praying for us, our children, our neighbors, and our efforts in the neighborhood.

We will also need financial support, both one-time/start-up costs and on a monthly basis. Andrej will work part-time for his web-development business, but in order to focus on the neighborhood transformation as a family we will need financial support to cover the rest of our needs.

We recognize that this is a lot to ask in this economy, but we didn’t want to stand in God’s way of providing for our family through generous hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We want to ask that you pray about what involvement you may want to take in partnering with us in South Atlanta.

Our goal is to move to Atlanta by the end of January but we will need to have at least 3 months worth of the 2009 support budget ($7,5K) in the support account before we can move. Our needs are:

  • Minimum Wage ($10,5K for 2009)
  • Insurance  ($15,8K for 2009)
  • Other Ministry Expenses ($3.5K for 2009)
  • Moving expenses ($2K)

If you’d like to join our prayer team or partner with us financially, please fill out the enclosed response card. All financial gifts will go through FCS Urban Ministries and are tax deductible.

Please contact us if you have any questions or if you know of a church or a small group that would be interested in hearing more about the work in South Atlanta.

Thank you! Love,

Andrej, Jessica, Kaiya, Tobi and Baby Ciho #3

Here is our response card you can print, fill out and mail to FCS Urban Ministries, PO Box 17628, Atlanta, GA 30316, 404-627-4304, Attn: Ciho/Sub-Urban Group