When you drive past Shartel and Reno, you see a brick building with "Together for the City" written across the front. While the outside is enough to intrigue most with a saying that dictates such unity and strength, what happens on the inside is far more meaningful. Justin Coffee, Jake Lenhart, and Susan Stewert, employees of Frontline Church, started something vital for our city: The 405 Center. Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Justin to talk about his vision for the 405 and his heart for the city.
I started our time together by simply asking him, "What is the 405 Center?" Justin answered with, "[The 405 Center] is a hub to convene, train, and equip people to be missionaries in our city and to connect them to the non-profits that already exist to do great work in and for our city."
My next question was "What do your trainings look like?" "We cover three things," Coffee responded, "context, culture, and the gospel. We want to help people have a better understanding of how to bring the gospel in to the culture they are in." Then they focus on relief and development. "This is answering 'how do we help people in the culture they are in and not only provide relief, but how, by stepping in to the social and emotional parts of their situations, do we help to develop them as well?" Finally, the gospel. "This is how to fluently communicate the gospel and help connect their story to the greater Story [of Jesus' death and resurrection for us]."
I followed that response with, "What makes the 405 Center different than or sets it apart from the other programs around the city?" Coffee replied, "The other programs leave out the training and equipping piece, so they focus on immediate relief only. We are considering the social and emotional needs of the people we are serving as well."
In OKC, there are wonderful institutions like Good Shepherd Ministries or Upward Transitions, but as Justin said, they really focus on immediate needs, which are so necessary, such as medical or dental work at Good Shepherd or a bus ticket to get home, wherever that may be, from Upward Transitions. So it was encouraging to hear someone focusing on the heart of situations and assessing what will make a lasting change.
Next, I asked Justin what led him to start the 405 Center. He talked about his passion for mission and OKC. He wants to "see the systematic brokenness be solved by the church." I loved this. So often we see the people of the city looking to institutions, again, for immediate relief, but when we see the church step in to those broken places with whomever we are serving, we are able to point them to Jesus-our provider and our ultimate relief.
"What is your hope for OKC and how do you see the 405 Center playing a part in that" was my next question to him. Coffee responded by saying, "I would like to see the affects of systemic poverty and the brokenness that comes from the host of issues that leads to things like hunger, homelessness, fatherlessness, abuse, and gender and racial inequality be eradicated through the people of God coming in a unified way to bring healing, restoration, and hope for our city."
Finally, I asked about that sign on the front, Together For The City, "What does [that] mean to you and how do you feel the 405 Center reflects that?" With my favorite response of the afternoon, Justin said, "We want to connect the entire church of OKC, which is all of the people of God in Oklahoma City, to work together, at the same time, for the same cause, to actually make the biggest impact we can. So, when we say 'together for the city,' what we actually mean is that all of God's people are working together to bring the presence of God into the dark and broken parts of our city."
The 405 center currently has 11 partners. Their goal is to get all 47 non-profits that serve our city on board as partners and they think they will be there by next year. They currently have four churches serving through the 405 and would like to see that grow. There is no cap to that number; they are open to seeing all that are willing serve with them. One day, they would like to grow into a building that will accommodate for partnerships, housing, and office and training space that could be used by all of their partners and the people in the city that need it the most.
Now, how can we help? Get connected! Go to http://405center.org/. While there, you can search opportunities to help serve. You will just fill out a form and then respond to the email you will receive to sign up for training. In fact, this portion isn't just for individuals to serve, it's also for non-profits around the city to be served.
We are at the crossroads for human trafficking, we are second in teen pregnancy, there are 6,500 homeless men and women in our city, and 11,000 children in our foster care system. Where can you step in?
