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C o r r id o r
By Mattie Ann Callicr-Spcars
Five rapid gunshots, followed by
the speeding sound of an escaping
automobile, rang out in the silence of
a quiet Sunday morning. Sleeping
eyes were startled open in a fixed
gaze. Thoughts hurriedly ran through
the minds of those, supposedly, safely
tucked away in their houses. “Why
can’t the police control this violence?
What are our tax dollars doing...? We
can ’t have a safe night’s sleep void of
worrying about whether or not a stray
bullet will come flying through our
walls.”
Neighbors who’ve lived on the
same block, of the same street, in the
same city, for over 30 or 40 years are
having their property value depreci­
ated because of all the negative press
on the violence in the North-North-
east areas. However, every time you
listen to the news, trouble seems to be
everywhere; not only in the N-NE.
Older homeowners get sick and
die, the property goes up for sale, a
corporation or an out-of-state indi­
vidual buys the property, places it on
Section-8 with the Housing Authority
or rents it out and the bank manages
the property.
The good neighbors are gone.
Peoplcarealw ayscom ingaround
with questionnaires and polls. Why
d on’t they bother to ask the rem ain­
ing homeowners whether or not they
approve of the new intended tenants9
The bank is a neutral party. Their
main concern is to make a buck. The
longer the property is vacant--the more
money is being lost. W hatever hap­
pened to screening candidates for rent­
als: checking their payment history,
checking-out the condition of the last
rental and at least two others prior to
that one, checking on the raporte’
between the potential renter and their
previous neighbors, what was their
reason for moving. All these elements
are vital in making a good mixture.
B u t-so far, it has been a mixture of
gourmet soup, sponge cake and motor
oil. Together - this equals a major
mess.
Every time a house is vacant and
a new occupant moves in-som conc
in the family is either gang related or
the head o f the household’s main
income source is from the sale of
drugs. So — you have all these strange
looking people walking through your
yard, ringing on your doorbell look­
ing for soup kitchens (drug houses) or
offering to do your lawn for five or ten
O f
dollars (the price of a rock).
Now -- the climate has changed
You can’t nm across the lawn and
borrow sugar or you can ’t bring over
a cake or plant or you can ’t just go
over to say “Hello!. All these things
are considered being nosey. Every­
body has a big secret and if you get too
close, too familiar - you are consid­
ered a threat to their operation
Here you are -- try ing to be neigh­
borly and you arc met with mean faces
and foul language from the adults and
the kids.
I had decorative w hite rocks
placed around my law n for my
daughter’s weddi ng. These rocks have
turned me into a witch (according to
the children). Why? Because - the
new neighbors’ kids arc products of
their environment. They are little
children four through nine years old
They come in bunches. They remove
hands full of rocks from my yard
They throw them at each other or just
cart them offand pile them up in their
yard. I have picked up white rocks up
and down my street for several blocks
and around the corner - and even on
Killingsworth.
One day - 1 caught the children
red-handed. I thought to speak to
V io l e n c e
them as 1 had done to the neighbor-
kids in the past. Wrong! I found that
these small children are of a different
mentality. As I spoke to them, 1 told
them that these were special rocks
and that I bought them to make my
yard look pretty. I did not spend money
so they could come and destroy my
property. “I will have to tell your
parents”, I said, “and they will have to
pay me back for the damage that you
have done.” One little boy told me?
He said, “Our parents not going to pay
you no money and you can ’ t make-um
do nothing! They not going to pay you
for no rocks. ” At such a young age, he
was cocky, arrogant, very confident
and not afraid. These could all be
positive attributes when in the proper
developmental arena Nevertheless,
this child was displaying violence at
an early age. A product of his envi­
ronment.
Someone has to stop the cancer
of violence. It is eating away at the
very-foundation o f our communities
and our entire city structure. The
children have more fire-power than
the police who are paid and have
sworn to protect, uphold and keep the
peace. I sat back and thought. “I
w onder if we are asking too much of
mere mortal man?” just because our
tax dollars are paying the salaries of
these men and women, wc assume
that they will eradicate and just stamp
out crime and violence like some big
monster who has come up out of the
sea
If Portland could be seen as a
“house” (a single house), it would be
ragged and in shambles Because --
“A house divided against itself can­
not stand.” [Luke 11:17) It is not the
lack or the misuse o f tax dollars. It’s
the lack of God - period.
Twenty, thirty, forty years ago,
people came flocking to the North­
west because, “This is God’s coun­
try.” This is how they described it.
The tall, Green trees. The majestic
mountains. The clean, pure water;
and the clean air. The friendly inhab­
itants. But now...! Portland can be
described as anything else but G od’s
country. The name o f Jesus has been
made fun of; his name has been
mocked, trampled on, spat upon and
ignored It’s no wonder Portland is in
the condition that it is presently.
Collectively -- the City of Port­
land should hold a prayer meeting.
“Jesus -- please be the center o f my
joy. Create in me a clean heart-L ord-
-and renew a right spirit w ithin me
And Lord - prepare me to be a sanc­
tuary that is pure, holy, tried and true;
then, I will be able to go out and do
Thy will, Heavenly Father. M ake me
worthy of Thy daily blessings. In the
Holy and precious name o f Jesus the
Christ, the Son of the Living God, be
all glory, majesty, dominion and power
- forever and ever. Amen!”
Jesus is not ‘the man upstairs’ or
‘the higher power’ or ‘one o f the
prophets’ or ‘the arch angel, M ichael’.
He is God!
Stop holding rocks in your hands
and worshipping the physical rocks.
Pray to The Rock, Jesus Stop praying
to the rising and setting sun. Instead,
pray to the one who flung the moon
and the stars and the sun in space... God
Almighty.
We are so confused; and the great
confusion maker is Satan.
Portland! We have in our posses­
sion a way to rid our city, and even the
world, of violence; but, doubt and fear
and supposition are standing as barri­
ers. Prayer and Faith is a two-headed
axe that standing as barriers. Prayer
and Faith is a two-headed axe that
will chop down the opposition. D on’t
be afraid to use it! Praise the Lord!
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( g r e a t e r j ^ a i n t .S te p h e n Ä i s s t t m a r v " f o p i i s l C im u rri]
NEW AZUSA CHRISTIAN CENTER
44 N. E. MORRIS AVENUE
PORTLAND, OREGON 97211
PHONE: (503) 335-3718
WENDELL H. WALLACE, SENIOR PASTOR
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES FOR AUGUST, 1993:
SUNDAYS 10:00 A.M. TEACHING & TRAINING S E S S IO N
10:45 A.M. MORNING W O R SH IP SERV ICE
SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT & PREACHED - AUGUST, 1993:
AUGUST 29
10:00 A.M. “EQUIPPING EVERY BELIEVER AS PARTNERS IN
MINISTRY”
Speaker: Isham Harris, Associate Pastor/Evangelist
10:45 A.M. "WHAT CAN A 20TH CENTURY CHRISTIAN LIKE ME
LEARNFROMAFIRSTCENTURYCHRISTIANLIKEPAUL?
PART 4.”
Speaker: Ulf Spears, Executive Pastor
REACHING THE UNREACHED
EQUIPPING CHRISTIANS FOR MINISTRY
A ssimilating new members into the family
C elebrating christ byour lips and byour life
H ealing for all of life s hurts
St Michael’s
Lutheran
Pre-School
3707 North Williams Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97227
(503) 281-8117
Rev. G d . Black I
Pastor
NE Christian
Pre-School
Has Openings For
Youngsters 3 and 4
years old
9 to 11:30 AM
NE 29th and Dekum
Call: 282-0000
We Are Moving!!
We the members and faithful
supporters of the G reater St. Stephen
Missionary Baptist C hurch are a
“Pushing” church family. We Pray
Until Something Happens. One of
the blessings that came from this
operationP.U.S.H was that God heard
and answered our prayers asking for
our own church home. We cordially
invite all our friends to come join us
as we march from 3707 N. W illiams
Avenue to our new sanctuary at 3605
N.E. Mallory on Sunday August 29,
1993 at 2:30pm.
We extend the same heartfelt
invitation to everyone to come and
praise the Lord with us every Sunday
in September at 3pm for our jubilee
and church dedication services. Cel­
ebrating with us will be Emmanuel
Temple, FGPC; Fellowship, M.B.C.;
New Jerusalem, M.B.C.; M orning
Star, M.B.C.; New Hope, M.B.C. and
Rev. Derrick Bosley and the Bright
Bryon C. Nudd
Funeral D irector
M allory Avenue
Christien Church
CHURCH
3 9 0 8
NE
9 :45am
11:00am
7 :30pm
Tuesday S ilble
Study and Proyer
t
C H R IS T
A V E N U E
SUNDAY SCHEDULE
Bible Study
Sunday School
M orning W orship
1 2 6 N.C. H lb e rta
OF
M A L L O R Y
Funeral H om e • C em etery • M em orial G arden
P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 1 1
t
(5 0 3 ) 2 8 8 -5 1 7 3
Evangelist Gregory Fobbs
9 :3 0 am
M orning W orship
10:45 am
M en's Training Leadership
W om en's Bible Class
5 :0 0 pm
Evening W orship 6 :0 0 pm
A ttended nursery for all services
W ednesday prayer meeting
an d Bible study
7 :0 0 pm
288-1092
MT. O LIV ET
BAPTIST C H U R C H
L om bard C hapel
3018 N. L om bard
P ortland, O regon 97217
(5 0 3 )2 8 3 -0 5 2 5
Has moved Sunday sevices to
W orship Services 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.
C hurch School 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Bible Study, W ednesdays, 116 N .E . Schuyler
10:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
^îauL ^ is s ia n a r ^
D .I RU’E G T O R S
R a d io M in istry each S u n d a y , 8:00 a.m . o n K B M S
b a p tist O furdj
8101 N. Fiske Avenue
Church Phone: 2 8 9 -0 1 4 7
Portland Oregon 97203
Study Phone: 2 8 9 -1 9 1 1
Sunday S ervice
1 0 :4 5
Family Owned and Operated Since 1954 Serving
the City of Portlandfor over 37 yu
r
In your
A T e a c h in g C h u rc h W ith A R e a c h in g M in istry
D r. Ja m e s E. M a rtin , S e n io r P a sto r
Sunday School
9 :3 0
Church O ffice 116 JN-E. Schuyler St. • (503) 284-1954
Bible Study
hour of need Vann & Vann are there to serve.
503/281-2836
5211 N. Williams Portland, OR 97217
Celebrate Diversity
Portlanders Speak About
Experiences In Cuba
Four Portlanders recently re­
turned from a week in Cuba They
took p a rt in th e U S -C u b a
Friendshipmcnt. sponsored by Pas­
tors for Peace, that not only brought
hum anitarian aid to Cuba, but suc­
cessfully challenged the United States
embargo of Cuba The goal of Pastors
for Peace is ultimately to end the
embargo The Portlanders will dis­
cuss their experiences, via presenta­
tions. slide show, and video
The Fncndshipm cn, caravan in­
cluded 95 vehicles and 300 volun­
teers from the United States and
Canada Aid. which included pre­
scription medicines, computers, and
bicycles, was collected in 120 cities,
shipped to Cuba from Tam pico,
Mexico, and received and distributed
by the M artin Luther King. Jr. Me­
morial Center in Havana
6 :0 0
Evening S ervice
7 :0 0 p m
Pastor, Re lamesC E Faulkner
Theme:
‘
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„de...
do It now .
I Peter l v . l l
For Best Results
Advertise in the Observer
I
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Whatever your going to do for the Lore,
!&■ -7Y;
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Restoring New Testament Christianity
Stone T ow er C hurch
N .E . Sandy Blvd. & 30th
FU N ER A L
v •T’1
s e S s js s
Inter-raciol C ongregation
K illingsw orth C hapel
4 3 0 N . K illingsw orth
P ortland, O regon 972 1 7
(5 0 3 )2 8 3 -1 9 7 6
7^ “T*
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“Coma to ma a ll you who ara
weary and heavy laden and
I will give you rest.”
C fA a d e / o f t / r e ()f t d o e s
and Morning. Star M.B.C. accompa­
nied by Sis. Pat W right and The Total
Experience Gospel choir from Se­
attle, Washington.
For dates and more information
you may contact our Pastor, Rev. G.L.
Black I, at 281-8117. Please come
and join us as we look back and praise
God, look up and trust God, look
around and serve God, look ahead
and expect God. See you there for a
hallelujah good tim e!!