Sunday evening we drove the Train de Vie up to denver after giving it a little clean up, and made it to dinner at Scum of the Earth. And after service we drove approximately 3 miles from the Church in the City building to the future physical home of Scum of the Earth.
As we stepped through the front fence to reach the little lock box with keys to the building in it, we had no idea what we would be stepping into. To describe it accurately, I would have to say that I can't think of a better fit for the church "for the left out and right brained." In the 70's it was a church that held services and "dance parties," or at least that's what the locals say. And in 1997 an artist bought the building to created a livable space that could also double as a studio space for numerous artists. Then about a month ago, Scum of the Earth (the 8-year-old adolescent church) moved into a building of which almost every square inch has been customized and decorated. Every room has it's individual characteristics and sometimes even it's own theme. And while you can check out the video for the new building on Scum's website, no photos or videos can do the building any sort of justice in terms of aesthetic beauty.
While this building could easily be one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, the humor in our stay there comes from the fact that it still feels like the most bougie squat I've ever been in. In fact if it wasn't for the electricity or running water, the bare rooms, 5 people living out of backpacks in the upstairs-hidden-from-street-view room, and dog (now dubbed Beer instead of Bear) would make me double take at wether or not I was doing something "wrong."
To say the least, this building and its location in the arts district of Denver, fit its congregation more perfectly than I could have ever imagined. And my perception is echoed by the joyous response of the few neighbors we've met during out short stints in the yard. One man even shared his nostalgia for gatherings of people there, from his memories of the dances "back in '78." Once we told him the intended future of this gorgeous space, he was quick to say that he loved the idea of the building being put to use for large groups of people from the community again.
May the L-rd be praised for the blessing this is for our brothers and sisters in Christ at Scum.
7.29.2008
7.27.2008
moving into an abandoned church... kinda
we just had a wonderful time in colorado springs, spendin time with people who we havent for a while and getting to meet some of the folk who have been prayin for us and...
Scum of The Earth Church bought a new buildin'!
We, the bus crew were invited to move in and help fix er up with our friend josh peebles.
Well be livin in the church which is just south of downtown denver and bakin' muffins for the neighbors and tryin to fix some toilets and shmooze our way into getting the church rezoned so that it can legally meet as a church with 200+ folk in it. We're hopin to find work too, and our dear friend bailey shall be returnin to us in less than a week hopefully.
from there..... who knows?
we still plan on goin to christian summer camp, and I (Marcus) hope to make a trip out to michigan and then pennsylvania to meet a dear ol' friend of mine on her new farm house.
And depending on the church council's decision- we may be makin a co-op livin situation happen at the church more permenantly which would be good so that we could all be put for a minute and work on some projects for longer than just a few weeks. and the bus might get all fixed up or given away or used in denver to run a food redistributing program. who knows.....
and john most likely is still movin up to seattle after christian summer camp.
well, thats all i got for now.
thanks for the prayers and support. it has been a blessin to meet so many dear folk that have been prayin for us and it has been such an encouragement.
may my God bless you all and give everyone rest.
Scum of The Earth Church bought a new buildin'!
We, the bus crew were invited to move in and help fix er up with our friend josh peebles.
Well be livin in the church which is just south of downtown denver and bakin' muffins for the neighbors and tryin to fix some toilets and shmooze our way into getting the church rezoned so that it can legally meet as a church with 200+ folk in it. We're hopin to find work too, and our dear friend bailey shall be returnin to us in less than a week hopefully.
from there..... who knows?
we still plan on goin to christian summer camp, and I (Marcus) hope to make a trip out to michigan and then pennsylvania to meet a dear ol' friend of mine on her new farm house.
And depending on the church council's decision- we may be makin a co-op livin situation happen at the church more permenantly which would be good so that we could all be put for a minute and work on some projects for longer than just a few weeks. and the bus might get all fixed up or given away or used in denver to run a food redistributing program. who knows.....
and john most likely is still movin up to seattle after christian summer camp.
well, thats all i got for now.
thanks for the prayers and support. it has been a blessin to meet so many dear folk that have been prayin for us and it has been such an encouragement.
may my God bless you all and give everyone rest.
7.20.2008
Back in Colorado
Two days ago at 12:30am the Train de Vie pulled up to mother Hyde's house safe and sound. On our way from Kansas City, we made it to Junction City, Kansas and within two hours raised $200 dollars in gas money, and spent the night. The next day somebody donated another couple hundred dollars and the gas was paid for the six of us to get all of the way to Colorado Springs. We spent the night at Mom's and then headed over to our old stomping grounds called the WeUsOur (a collective house on the west side of Colorado Springs).
Today Marcus, Tiffany, Jake, Gary, Adam, Bear, Moss (tiffany's dog), and I went to First Presbyterian Church and visited a lot of old friends, and had the wonderful opportunity to meet a number of the people who have been praying for us on this journey.
Needless to say we are more than grateful to have been blessed with such abundant provision, that we could never have asked for. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to experiment with living out, what Tony Campolo calls, the red letters of the NT.
Tonight we are going to see our friend Josh Peebles speak on St. Francis at Scum of the Earth in Denver. And after that we will spend the next few weeks here to save up some money for bus-veggification, and to finish paying of the cost of two new tires.
Tiffany and Jake will head back to California until Christian Summer Camp at the end of August.
May the L-rd be praised for the mercy he extends upon us every time we ask for it.
Today Marcus, Tiffany, Jake, Gary, Adam, Bear, Moss (tiffany's dog), and I went to First Presbyterian Church and visited a lot of old friends, and had the wonderful opportunity to meet a number of the people who have been praying for us on this journey.
Needless to say we are more than grateful to have been blessed with such abundant provision, that we could never have asked for. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to experiment with living out, what Tony Campolo calls, the red letters of the NT.
Tonight we are going to see our friend Josh Peebles speak on St. Francis at Scum of the Earth in Denver. And after that we will spend the next few weeks here to save up some money for bus-veggification, and to finish paying of the cost of two new tires.
Tiffany and Jake will head back to California until Christian Summer Camp at the end of August.
May the L-rd be praised for the mercy he extends upon us every time we ask for it.
7.15.2008
goin out west, goin home.?.
well we are still in kansas city tryin to figure out moneys, but we's is gonna start the driven tommorow mornin (hopefully, but probably sometime way later than we intended)... to cross the great flat state and try to get to the springs of the great square state.
hopefully well make some money along the way.
once we get to colorado we will be workin to pay off some debt and hopefully bailey will be able to join us once again.
from there- god only know the future. I think all of us are feeling a need for a change. what change? the change.
i'm just kidding. i dont know what that means. but i think things are going to change and the future will probably look alot differently for john, bailey, gary and I- and for the bus too. I dont know what that will be and i think were all lookin forward to be in a place where we can post up for a while and figure some of that out. And i'm lookin forward to bein parked infront of Scum of the Earth's new building.
As for now were all prayin for a way to get out there and for direction. And were spendin our last night in KC watchin japanese movies and eatin ice cream- the most spiritual things i can think of.
animal of the day: patagionian cavy
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=7161&rendTypeId=4
Word of the week: Jankum.
http://mantarctica.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/poop.gif
quotes of the year:"Don't plant your days they turn into weeds"
and
"eat meat"
hopefully well make some money along the way.
once we get to colorado we will be workin to pay off some debt and hopefully bailey will be able to join us once again.
from there- god only know the future. I think all of us are feeling a need for a change. what change? the change.
i'm just kidding. i dont know what that means. but i think things are going to change and the future will probably look alot differently for john, bailey, gary and I- and for the bus too. I dont know what that will be and i think were all lookin forward to be in a place where we can post up for a while and figure some of that out. And i'm lookin forward to bein parked infront of Scum of the Earth's new building.
As for now were all prayin for a way to get out there and for direction. And were spendin our last night in KC watchin japanese movies and eatin ice cream- the most spiritual things i can think of.
animal of the day: patagionian cavy
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=7161&rendTypeId=4
Word of the week: Jankum.
http://mantarctica.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/poop.gif
quotes of the year:"Don't plant your days they turn into weeds"
and
"eat meat"
7.10.2008
On the way....
Cornerstone Music Festival ended July 6th and Corey, Nicki, and Bailey decided to take some trips of their own for a little while. And rumors are that our friends Ben and Corey may be buying a pre-converted bus of their own to join the ever growing numbers of people who feel called to practice more of the nomadic lifestyle of some of the forefathers of our faith. So please pray for them in this process.
After two days of staying at the JPUSA owned grounds, which host the festival, after the festival to help pick up trash Gary, Marcus, Adam and I were ready to embark on the venture towards Denver, Colorado. On the way we gave our friends Destiny, Liberty, and Neil a ride to the St. Louis Area so they could fix up their bikes and ride back to Kansas City, MO. (They had ridden their bikes to PAPA fest and then Cornerstone from Kansas City.) We also took three other friends with us. Our friends Tiffany, Taylor, and Jake were on their way back to California and decided it would be better to ride with us to Colorado and then find their way to Cali, than ride the greyhound back the whole way. And this has been one of the biggest blessings to us, to get to share our bus with these people in our separate and yet similar treks across the country.
The 7 of us made it to Columbia, MO before we ran dry on gas and money, and decided to spend the night at one of their 9 Wal-marts. Luckily we had been blessed by all of the festival attendees' leftovers, and so had the most overstuffed pantry I've ever seen.
And after a night of sleep and a few hours of "flying a sign" we were blessed with about one hundred dollars, so we made our way back to Kansas City. And despite the hardships Marcus, Gary and I faced back in January at the International House of Prayer we decided to go there again to see some friends. And to our surprise G-d must have done a lot of work in our hearts because this stay has been more enjoyable than we ever expected. Despite receiving the usual "dirty kids can't be up to any good" vibe the times spent with people there were more than worth being grateful for. And most of the time we spent parked across the street from the prayer room at IHOP with people who needed a break from the prayer room, and it was our turn to share what we've been learning about loving our brothers and sisters in Christ despite the differences in theology.
Now we're in a part of Kansas City called Westport and as soon as we get closer to the amount of money we will need to cross the desert known as the state of Kansas we will make our way to Denver and Colorado Springs again. And L-rd be praised for our good friends at Scum of the Earth who have said they will let us park our bus at their brand new building (Which is another reason to thank G-d).
Thank you for your prayers, because there is no way we would be able to be where we are with the provision we have without our Father, who is worthy to be praised.
After two days of staying at the JPUSA owned grounds, which host the festival, after the festival to help pick up trash Gary, Marcus, Adam and I were ready to embark on the venture towards Denver, Colorado. On the way we gave our friends Destiny, Liberty, and Neil a ride to the St. Louis Area so they could fix up their bikes and ride back to Kansas City, MO. (They had ridden their bikes to PAPA fest and then Cornerstone from Kansas City.) We also took three other friends with us. Our friends Tiffany, Taylor, and Jake were on their way back to California and decided it would be better to ride with us to Colorado and then find their way to Cali, than ride the greyhound back the whole way. And this has been one of the biggest blessings to us, to get to share our bus with these people in our separate and yet similar treks across the country.
The 7 of us made it to Columbia, MO before we ran dry on gas and money, and decided to spend the night at one of their 9 Wal-marts. Luckily we had been blessed by all of the festival attendees' leftovers, and so had the most overstuffed pantry I've ever seen.
And after a night of sleep and a few hours of "flying a sign" we were blessed with about one hundred dollars, so we made our way back to Kansas City. And despite the hardships Marcus, Gary and I faced back in January at the International House of Prayer we decided to go there again to see some friends. And to our surprise G-d must have done a lot of work in our hearts because this stay has been more enjoyable than we ever expected. Despite receiving the usual "dirty kids can't be up to any good" vibe the times spent with people there were more than worth being grateful for. And most of the time we spent parked across the street from the prayer room at IHOP with people who needed a break from the prayer room, and it was our turn to share what we've been learning about loving our brothers and sisters in Christ despite the differences in theology.
Now we're in a part of Kansas City called Westport and as soon as we get closer to the amount of money we will need to cross the desert known as the state of Kansas we will make our way to Denver and Colorado Springs again. And L-rd be praised for our good friends at Scum of the Earth who have said they will let us park our bus at their brand new building (Which is another reason to thank G-d).
Thank you for your prayers, because there is no way we would be able to be where we are with the provision we have without our Father, who is worthy to be praised.
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