Lafayette
Urban Ministry
525 N. 4th Street
Lafayette IN
47901-1004

Tel:
(765) 423-2691

Fax:
(765) 423-2693

E-mail:
lum@
lafayetteurbanministry.org

Office Hours:
M-F 8:15am-4:30pm

Homeless Shelter:
Open every night.
Check-in from
9pm-10pm

Camp Energy will energize LUM campers
LUM Camp 2006 will be the year of CAMP ENERGY! Not that LUM Camp and LUM Campers aren’t always full of energy—Hanging Rock Camp will be buzzing with traditional camp activities like swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, campfires and games again this year—but this year’s camp week will also focus on different areas of energy sources, our energy crisis and energy conservation.

From August 7-11, 80 campers will learn about our dependence on fossil fuels, alternate fuel sources, and conservation techniques. Activities will be led by experienced children’s educators from the area including leaders from the Warren County REMC High Voltage Program and the Purdue Energy Center programs.

Over 30 volunteer counselors will guide the children through the week, helping the campers develop new skills, overcome challenges and gain confidence. And there will also be opportunities for just plain fun, such as a magic show by magician Rick Deardorff.

LUM Camp has touched the lives of thousands of children over the years. This year will be no different. Please remember the children in your prayers that week. We thank everyone who makes this experience possible.

There is nothing quite like the victorious smile of a camper who has conquered the rock climbing wall, or the shared smiles of new best friends, or the smiles over ice cream sundaes at the end of a great day. We’re looking forward to the smiles generated by CAMP ENERGY!

You can be a camp counselor
Volunteer camp counselors make LUM Camp happen. They guide, encourage and support each child through the wonderful week of camp.

You, or someone you know, might be just the person to touch a child’s life this summer. Volunteers must be 18 years old, enjoy children, and be available for the entire week at camp. An air-conditioned cabin and a group of eager children await you!

Call Joe Micon at 423-2691 for an application, or download one from our website at www.lafayetteurbanministry.org.

How can I support LUM Camp?
LUM Camp is a very large undertaking that requires significant financial support. We’re in the process of registering 80 very special children for LUM Camp. They would not have the opportunity to attend a summer camp —much less a camp like ours—if it weren’t for your friendship and financial support. If you’ve already contributed, thank you very much! If you haven’t, please know that your gift of a full or partial $125 campership is still needed. Place your check in the enclosed envelope and return it today.

What is the language of the Gospel?
by Mary Anderson, Executive Director

My great-great grandparents were immigrants. I don’t know if they were “legal”—or even if such a term existed when they left home and family in Germany to come to Fort Wayne, Indiana. I know they never learned English; they attended German-speaking church, frequented German businesses and had German friends. Even my grandparents, two generations later, were raised with German spoken in their homes, learning their English in public schools but still attending German church. Apparently it was quite the family scandal when my “high-German” Lutheran grandmother married my “low-German” Lutheran grandfather.

My ancestors were hard working people. They worked on the family farm and ran large households. They were fiercely proud of their heritage, and it has been handed down through the generations. Although I don’t speak their language, I cherish their recipes and their traditions, and the courage it took for them to come to a strange land and begin a new life.

I don’t have the answers to today’s questions about immigrants and immigration policy. I know there are economic, legal and political questions that must be sorted out by minds more astute than mine. But I do know that all of us are diminished by the language being used in these discussions. The heritage of my relatives—and yours—is being dishonored by terms like “those people,” “illegals,” or “aliens.” Wherever they have come from, however they have gotten here, these are our brothers and sisters seeking a life that we take for granted.

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Jesus didn’t say we needed to ask for picture ID or immigration papers. Recently proposed legislation would have made it illegal for churches, individuals or organizations like LUM to provide food, clothing or shelter to undocumented persons. Our basic Gospel call to welcome, feed, shelter, clothe or give water to the stranger would have become a federal offense.

When I was about 10 years old, my family drove from Pennsylvania to Florida. For the first time in my life, I saw signs for “whites only” drinking fountains, and a warning in a hotel lobby that “we reserve the right to refuse service.” I had to ask my father what those signs meant; it was language that I had not heard before but somehow knew was hateful and divisive. I am proud that, publicly at least, most of that hate-filled language has left our vocabulary.

And I am concerned that I read and hear similar language now being directed at other groups in America. Whether it is the language of immigration issues, political discussion between rival parties or any matter involving those who differ from us, our words should first and foremost be words of respect, caring, and love.

“Politically correct” language shouldn’t be our goal. Christian-correct language, love-centered language, acceptance-based language should be. Let us all carefully watch our words, so that our actions may follow those words and be acts of compassion, grace and service.