Our Cities need the Church, and if our churches are to be faithful witnesses and contributors to what God is doing, our churches need this book by Jacob Bloemberg. As we’ve been hearing today, cities are complex and ever changing entities, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start. The danger is that we will want to have all the pieces and all the specialist knowledge for the different sectors of the city before we make a start.
Jacob encourages us that the beginnings can be a lot simpler than that. An unlikely assignment – a Dutchman ending up in Hanoi. Yet Jacob has some unique qualities, shaped not in small part by his very practical formation years. Let me read from his book:
Now I was in the middle of the worst district of the city and part of a class with dropouts from higher education schools. One student was a rockabilly, bragging about his weekly bar fights. Another was a break-dancer and professional graffiti painter, while another sprayed graffiti just to get his name on walls across the city. One was a punk who brought her rat to school. Another was a posh rich kid who flunked his academics. This was the ’80s! What were my parents thinking sending me here!? I would have never sent my child to school there, yet God used this time to call me to serve Him in the city. One of my classmates became a close friend, yet he delved into the punk scene, got a big mohawk, became an anarchist, started using drugs, and eventually dropped out of school. This had broken my heart deeply and I prayed daily that God would use my little light to shine in such dark places where my friend had ended up.
He followed this calling through training as a graphic designer and then to YWAM, where he served on the fringes of the community. In his own words, Jacob has been formed for his work through different experiences and many trying times:
The brokenness for the lost, the strong sense of calling, the foundational biblical education, the challenging experiences along the way, and the paradigm shifts that resulted from crisis, all worked together for what God was going to do next. The story I will tell you in the rest of this book was beyond my and anyone else’s imagination!
The idea of the Love Hanoi story being beyond anyone’s imagination is a typical statement of humility from Jacob – strange for a Dutchman, I can say that, I’m half Dutch myself. We’re not particularly known for our humility. However this unassuming humility has seen Jacob connect meaningfully with high ranked Vietnamese officials at the city and national government level. We have much to learn from Jacob and the Love Hanoi experience. In my own work with churches, I have seen the need to live in the way Jacob not only describes but lives himself, with an openness and valuing of the other, with a heart to serve and a desire to connect with the good that is happening in the city.
Taking from the journey of Nehemiah, Jacob reflects:
Nehemiah and the citizens of Jerusalem rebuilt the city walls within 54 days! Rebuilding society took Nehemiah the rest of his working career, with great persecution and aggravation, but also with great exhilaration and celebration.
That’s our task!
Jacob’s very thought out and very practical steps, help guide us in the task:
- Biblical Principles – Prayer, God as builder / architect, always intended for cities to exist
- Posture – more integrated stance towards city, community, and the poor
- Process – Serving the people you want to reach – builds trust that increase conversations at social, intellectual and spiritual level
- Inclusive Partnerships – The nature of your relationship with the other. What does it look like to partner with the sectors of society as well as across boundaries
- People – discerning the right leader for the right phase of the journey
These principles are a great guide for any congregation or better group of churches that want to work on the transformation of the city. I commend not only this book, but its author to you as someone to follow and emulate in your context.
Andre van Eymeren is the International Coordinator of the Urban Shalom Society, founder of the Centre for Building Better Community, and author of Building Communities of the Kingdom.
