Meet Joel Gerber...

Joel and his wife Leslie, and their daughter Cora, just moved into our Capitol View Dwell house. Joel and his family moved from Harper, Kansas where he was a health and 9th grade PE teacher. Joel and Leslie are members of Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church. The Gerbers were encouraged by members of their church to consider a year of service. Joel says: “My home church has always had a strong connection with mission work outside of the home community. This connection has made me more aware of people in need and how good I do have it. Some fellow church members have been critical in encouraging me in this direction and I would not [have applied] if it wasn't for them.” Joel will be serving with Clifton Sanctuary Ministries, which is a homeless men’s shelter. He will also be serving as “Gardener in Residence” at Imagine Wesley Charter School.

Meet our Dwellers!

Meet Cassie Ford...

Cassie just arrived from Burlington Vermont. The past few years she worked at Howard Center Baird School. She worked one on one with students with emotional, social and behavioral disorders. This is not Cassie’s first experience of Atlanta. A few years ago she served as an intern at Rescue Atlanta Ministries and couldn’t wait to come back to Atlanta. Cassie is excited to join the Dwell intentional Christian community “because I am excited about the friendships that could be formed from living with people who are like minded and doing ministry work also. With those friendships would also come a sense of accountability to each other and to God. I find, at least in my own experience, that when I live or interact with other Christians and do Bible studies or outreach with them my relationship with God strengthens. I am also just excited to know that I would have a place to go home to where I could share my experiences of the day and be supported in areas of ministry that might not be easy.” Cassie is living in the Capitol View Dwell house and will be serving with Street Grace, which works to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta.

Meet our Dwellers!

Over the next week, I'll be introducing you to our Dwellers. These 12 folks have come together to live in intentional Christian community over the next year. If you or someone you know is interested in our Dwell program, please feel free to contact me for more information. We accept both local Atlanta folks interested in living in community, as well as, folks interested in coming to do volunteer work for a year or more in Atlanta.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director

Meet Leslie Gerber...

Leslie and her husband Joel, and their daughter Cora, just moved into our Capitol View Dwell house. Leslie and her family moved from Harper, Kansas where she was teaching secondary math. The Gerbers were encouraged by members of their church to consider a year of service. Leslie says: “I grew up in a church where voluntary service was not something many people did unless they were going to be a preacher. Since then, having gone to Hesston College and now attending Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church, I know many people that serve and use it as a positive learning and growing experience. My Christian community now has played a major role in my decision to serve, talking to those who have served and those who had the chance but did not.” Leslie will be serving with Neighbors Abbey where she will be doing community organizing in the neighborhood where our Dwell house is located.

D-Lite or Dwell Neighborhood Addition

I had the privelege of meeting last night with folks from both our Capitol View Dwell house and Grant Park Dwell house, as well as folks who live in the neighborhood of Capitol View who are invested in what we are doing. The purpose of getting together to eat good desserts was to talk about how people who are interested in what we are doing, but who do not live in our Dwell house, can be a part of Dwell. What seems to be brewing is something we are calling D-lite (Dwell Lite) or Dwell Neighborhood Addition. Our Dwell house would remain the core of our ministry in Capitol View, but we would begin to have a bigger family of Dwell in the 'hood. The foundation of which would be relationships. I don't know how this will develop over the next few months, but I am really excited to be having these conversations. And in reality, I also recognize that we are just putting a name and developing some structure for something that already exists. Our Dwell houses can't be who they are without the greater community. And we hope that the houses are also able to be a support and sense of joy for those in the community. The challenge moving ahead will be around staying intentional about these relationships, but also allowing things to develop organically, as they have before.

~Jannan Thomas, DOOR Atlanta City Director

Creativity and Service

A reflection from Edrick, one of our Discern summer staff:

"The word of the week for this week was creativity. Looking back at the summer, I realize that creativity is necessary for the work in which we are taking part in this summer. Creativity is defined as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, and interpretations. Throughout this summer, the staff has used creativity to the utmost effect. Being able to think quickly and provide solutions when things don’t happen the way they’re supposed are essential to being able to survive in a ministry of this magnitude. This summer I learned that creativity can come in many forms. And that this creativity, this ability to think on your feet is a skill that you must have that you must continue to hone and master in order to serve God. To be open to creativity is to be open to the many things and plans that God has for each and every one of us, to be open to the will of God. This summer especially asked me to be creative. Not only in the confines of Central Presbyterian Church, but at every worksite I visited this summer in Atlanta. Being creative is not only a gift to be used sparingly, but a tool necessary in the service of our Lord."