Noel Castellanos - Where the Cross Meets the Street: What Happens to the Neighborhood When God Is at the Center

Foreword by JOHN PERKINS and WAYNE GORDON

www.IVPress.com/books

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400,
Downers Grove, IL
60515-1426
ivpress.com

2015 by Noel Castellanos

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

While any stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple
Images: Outside urban mural: Jeff Zimmerman/Jazim, Inc.
Dirty tire tracks: Jamie Farrant/iStockphoto

ISBN 978-0-8308-9756-8 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-3691-8 (print)

To my Castellanos, Mendoza and Nicastro familia

I (John) first met Noel in San Jose when he and his wife Marianne were living and working in the inner city. I invited him to come to Chicago for our first CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference at Lawndale Community Church. It was at this conference that Wayne first met Noel. Both of us recognized his heart for the hurting people of our world and his dedication to Christ and community with a desire to be an agent of change against the injustices in our world. A kindred spirit emerged immediately in our souls.

While at the CCDA conference Noel discovered the immigrant Mexican community of Little Village just south of North Lawndale. Noel returned home from our conference and talked with his wife Marianne about moving into Little Village and starting a church and a CCDA ministry. They both came to Chicago on a very cold, snowy December day with great resolve and enthusiasm to move to Little Village and begin. Soon after our encounter they moved their family to Chicago.

Noel has never missed a conference since, and Marianne has attended almost every one as well. Noel has helped us in the CCDA movement to understand the pain of Mexican Americans and other people of color who have been treated unjustly in America. Shortly after moving to Chicago, Noel came on the board of CCDA and began to have a voice among its leadership. Not long after that we asked him to be the vice chairman.

Noels life experiences make him uniquely qualified to teach us and to write this book. Growing up as the son of immigrant migrant farm workers and now living in one of the largest Mexican immigrant communities in the United States, his perspective is remarkable. His personal involvements have also given him firsthand knowledge of prejudice, injustice and painful treatment as a Mexican American. We have been encouraging Noel to write this book for quite some time, and we are thankful that it is finally available as a tool for all.

The Latino voice is very important in the kingdom and in the CCDA movement. Those of us who have been blessed to know Noel have benefited greatly from his honesty and willingness to confront misconceptions and injustices with patience and love. Being the beneficiaries of a relationship with Noel, we have grown tremendously in our understanding of others living in the margins of our society. Noel helped us to move from a black/white association toward a more full expression of the American experience of Asians, Native Americans and Latinos, and being more inclusive toward the great diversity we have in America. His voice has been a tremendous asset to CCDA, the body of Christ and Gods kingdom.

Noel has also been a leader in recent immigration issues, working tirelessly to help bring about solutions to this huge problem. His voice and perspective have been heard in the White House and Congress and among national church leaders and small groups of concerned Christians all over the United States. Noel has been showing justice and loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. He continues to show sensitivity and a tender heart of action to the disregarded of our society. For the last few years Noel has been a fantastic visionary leader as our CEO at CCDA.

Noel and Marianne are two of Wayne and Annes best friends. We have been doing life together for over twenty-five years, with our families living just five blocks from one another. We are so thankful for their friendship.

We are sure that you will learn much and be encouraged to live out your faith in new and different ways by reading this book. Both of us love Noel dearly and thank God for his dedication to the Kingdom. Get ready to be taught, challenged and encouraged to walk with our Lord in a deeper, more meaningful way through Noels story.

John Perkins and Wayne Gordon

Fall 2014

In February 2012, I was in El Paso teaching a workshop on the principles of Christian community development at the invitation of one of our CCDA board members. I was thrilled to be near the border and was looking forward to crossing the Rio Grande to visit Juarez, Mexico, sometime during my trip. The event was being held in the basement of a hundred-year-old church in a very historic section of the city. Right before I got ready to start my presentation, I got a call from a friend in Washington, DC, informing me that one of our CCDA board members, Richard Twiss, had just suffered a massive heart attack, which took his life later that weekend. Though in shock, I went on to teach my session. When I was finished, I concluded my presentation with a passionate challenge:

Like in the days of Nehemiah, it will take a group of pioneers overcome by a burden from God to incarnate our lives in the most vulnerable neighborhoods of our world, to see peoples lives and neighborhoods transformed. And it will take the support, partnership and prayers of those who may not sense Gods call to move into a poor neighborhood but who are committed to seeing the shalom of God begin to emerge in every under-resourced neighborhood in our nation.

I asked the crowd for questions or feedback. Immediately, a woman seated in the front row, who looked old enough to be one of the founding members of this church, stood to her feet and shouted, Everything you said is mumbo jumbo! Wow! This was not how I expected our Q&A time to begin. After composing myself, I thanked the woman for her comment as respectfully as I could and went on to spend about a half-hour answering questions about my talk.