spendyourself.org

As I walked around the table talking to kids during summer camp I was amazed at the feeling of family I felt. There was so much joy in the room, such unity and order.  Our kids are changing for the better.  I am witnessing the amazing fruit of the Gospel seeds that have been planted in their hearts. What a joy, what a privilege to be a part of redeeming a city by reaching this next generation.    I asked Zakaylah how camp was going and she told me how much she loved it and then said something that both breaks my heart and also reaffirms this ministry. She said, “I love Asa (our assistant camp director) he’s my dad.”  She didn’t say, “he is like my dad”, or “he reminds me of my dad”, she said: “He is my dad.”  About 5 other kids piped in at this point and agreed that Asa, who is only 22 by the way, was their dad as well.  I had to chuckle remembering all the times I heard that too and what a great feeling it is to be so dear to a kid’s heart; but my chuckling quickly turned to weeping as I thought about the tragedy of this.  Of the 60 kids or so enrolled in our summer camp we would be lucky if 10 of them could say they had their real dad involved in their lives.  Only 4 that I know of have a dad that is really being a dad, and working hard to support his family, love his wife and lead his kids to Christ.

I am overwhelmed by the cry of their hearts for their father and how unanswered that cry is.  Two 14 year old girls Kimberly has been ministering to just had babies… Why?…  what would compel them at such a young age to give themselves away to the countless young men (also fatherless) seeking to “be a man” and find love and pleasure?  The cry for the father resounds through the hearts of each of the kids, teenagers, and adults we work with, a cry that is louder than any other cry and is the root of so much of the disfunction, chaos and bad choices that these kids make.  Why do these young men run so quickly to gangs, desiring to affirm their manhood through violence, crime, pimping off girls, stomping on the weak and destroying community?  Why do the girls fall into prostitution so easily, so mindlessly, as if it were normal, and the only way life could work?…  I heard of one girl under the age of 15 getting pimped out to over 10 guys a night… why?… doesn’t that make you want to weep?… my heart is breaking…. I think of my daughters… I look at them as they sleep in my arms, praying for them, praying for God to protect them, to be their everything, to satisfy their deepest longings. I pray I will be the father I need to be…. the father that points them with my love to the LOVE of THE FATHER.

A Pastor’s Ponderings- An Addict’s Agony

My heart breaks all the more for this community that God has placed us in. This morning I feel renewed in mission, ready to answer this call that my selfish heart  so quickly desires to abandon.  I have to confess I had a hard week. My heart was full of bitterness. A homeless man I have been helping for the last 6 years called me every day, nearly every hour, cursing me to a pulp, leaving the most ruthless messages imaginable, cutting my heart with his words and threats.  I couldn’t understand why he would do that. I thought we were friends, I thought he was thankful…. But in his moments of backsliding he lashed out for someone to blame, he lashed out at his father who abandoned him.  His words were a cry for the Father, a bitter outpouring of emotions that daddy was never there to comfort, a behavior that daddy was never there to discipline, a brokenness that daddy was never their to mend. His words weren’t really toward me. I just happen to be the closest person in his life and one of the only people that wanted to help him.  In my heart I know this now, but last week I wanted to leave this place.

Last week my heart got bitter, resentful, self absorbed, and complacent.  I did not love this man as I should. Instead of loving him and pointing him towards Christ, I condemned him in my heart and wrote him off as a casualty of the war and a worthless investment of my time, talents and treasures.  In my arrogance I justified myself all week, with revenge in my heart and slander on my tongue toward him.  I boasted to others of all the ways in the past he had hurt me though I had helped him.  I tried my best to make myself out to be the trodden down hero who did as much as he could and deserves to retire and lick his wounds…  I continued to ignore him all week, never called him back, pretended like he didn’t exist and that it wasn’t my problem anymore to try and help him.  After all, I had already done so much for him and he is the one that dropped the ball and couldn’t control his temper and got kicked out of the place he was staying. It was his own fault he was homeless…  there was nothing more I could do and I didn’t want to be bothered with him anymore. I had ministry to do and a church to grow and funds to raise, and sermons to prepare and a few of my favorite TV shows to catch up on.

Saturday night I checked my voicemail and their were 5 messages from him.  I knew they were probably all the same, him complaining about being homeless again and asking me to help him, on his terms, to have a place to stay…(He refuses to go to any of the homeless shelters in our network.) “He needs tough love” I said self-righteously to myself as  I heartlessly erased all the messages without listening to them, not wanting to be told how bad I am at being a Christian and loving my neighbor.  I felt so tired of being cursed out after trying so hard for so long to love him and be patient with him and truly be his friend….  Something in the back of my mind told me to listen to the last message, and so I did.  I expected to hear screaming and cursing as usual, but instead I heard a calm voice.  He said “I have been thinking a lot about everything and I know you are right about a lot of things in terms of my failures. But the way you treated me this week just proved that you are no different than anyone else. You just care about your #$%^&*!@ self and no one else.  I never want to speak to you again.”   He wasn’t in worship this sunday. He hasn’t called me since.

I have some repenting to do to my brother. I don’t need to repent for not catering to his desires and enabling him to continue in the lifestyle he has chosen that is destroying him. No I do not need to repent for that.  That is the right approach when seeking to bring people out of their addictions, immaturity, and lack of responsibility.  I need to repent for not being a friend, for not loving him the way I would want to be loved if I was in his situation, had been through the things he had been through and was left on the street by everyone around me.  I have repenting to do for my self-absorption, my obsession with ministry success and the way his failures and backsliding has tainted that image I hope in far too much.  I have repenting to do for my laziness, and the way I justify it with all the “good things” I do.  I have to most of all repent for my unbelief in the Gospel and its power to change the most wretched of hearts, not meaning his, but my own.

My heart is crying out for THE FATHER too, just in different ways than my brother on the street.  I am seeing that I  need the same amount of love to the same extent as my addicted, uneducated, handicap friend on the street.  My heart is crying out just as much for THE FATHER.   I go to so many things other than him to justify my existence and so quickly  fall in love with things my Father gives me instead of HIM. So much of my religious behavior and moral integrity isn’t because I love Him so much more than others do, but because I want him to bless me.  Somehow in my twisted mind I think that the better I obey, the better it will be for me, and the more God will owe me blessing, success, my agendas, and my personal happiness in life. So I obey for me instead of for Him and because of Him.  What I think is obedience becomes my most selfish sin.  I am not obeying out of love for My Father and in response to what He has done for me in Christ, but rather, I obey out  of my own self-absorption covered in the shining shell of religion.  When I obey in this way my heart can not have compassion on those like my homeless friend who haven’t undergone the moral conditioning that I have been privileged to be raised in.  Instead I think myself better and more elite and worthy of the Kingdom of God and its benefits.  I can easily look down my nose at him and not give him the time of day.  I even can convince others that it is ok to treat people like dogs and promote elitism and even racism.  I have set a horrible example as a leader in this and I want to do better…

The Call

So why am I sharing this with you? Well, their are two reasons.

First, I pray that this will move your heart to cry out all the more to THE FATHER and hear his voice and respond to His love in your life through repentance and faith.  Secondly, I pray that this will move you out of yourself and more into a life that exists for others.  I just preached a sermon entitled “Spend Yourself” at a partnering church here in Newark that is seeking to reach its community.  I feel like such a hypocrite, for I am so far from what I preach, but that doesn’t make it any less true.  It is in spending ourselves that we announce to this world the Love of the Father for broken people and the sweet redemption that is found in Christ who “Spent Himself” on us.   As the Church steps up and becomes the Church through selflessly and radically serving the world we get to actualize the Gospel all the more.  My brother on the street preached to me all week. How? He was showing me my attitude toward God.  He was teaching my heart things I wouldn’t have ever known if I didn’t know him.  I am hoping to repent to my brother as soon as I see him, and ask his forgiveness for my pathetic friendship and for viewing him and using him as an object of ministry instead of a person, crying out for friendship.  I am looking forward to praying with him and seeking to guide him toward Jesus from a heart of humble love and concern instead of duty and self promotion.

I am also inviting you to join us in this mission of taking this city for the Glory of God and announcing the love of the Father to the countless orphans longing to meet Him.  There is much to be done, yet it doesn’t depend on us doing it, but rather on us being it.  I invite you to “be it” with our team here in newark through prayer and support, and maybe even coming here. We have short term mission trips, internships, and I welcome anyone who wants to move here and work and just live out their faith by being a neighbor.

We have 40 kids in summer camp still needing sponsors, a staff team committed to reaching this community in need of monthly supporters, and new needs of the poor are coming up every day.   Through our website and thanks to the many people God has brought us to help us use technology for Kingdom advances, no matter where you are you can connect and really become a part of this Kingdom Work.   One of my friends from Japan just sponsored a kid and can read her blog and keep up with her life all summer. He can know how to pray for her and watch videos of her rejoicing in the Love of The Father as she grows closer to Him and hears His assuring voice. It is amazing how connected we can be to those in need, not just in our community but around the world.  Our summer camp is raising money for an orphanage in Haiti that we are going to build as soon as God provides the funds.  Broken but redeemed people from Newark are going to fly to Haiti and build and orphanage that will house 50 street girls.  Who would have thought that 6 years ago. Our summer camp kids just reached $220 that they have raised our of their own pockets for the girls in Haiti.  They all just wrote letters to the orphans and are praying for them every day. I am so excited about what is happening, this is what we were made for: God’s glory and the joy of others.

My heart is indeed broken for the lack of earthly fathers, and the fathers like me that continue to fail, but my heart rejoices in the ministry of reconciliation- that we, as the family of God, can announce THE FATHER’S love to all and experience it all the more ourselves in the process…

Thank you for your prayers and support.

For the King and the Kingdom,

Danny Iverson

fromscarlet.com

Praises

-by the end of summer camp all 60 of our campers (grades K-5) will have memorized: ~all 66 books of the Bible, ~ the Lord’s Prayer, ~Pledge to the Bible, ~Over 30 Bible Verses, ~ All 10 Commandments, ~ the first 40 questions of the Westminster Catechism for Children, and ~countless Bible stories

-by the end of the summer, 15 teen/young adult staff from the community will have learned how to keep a job, act professionally and will have had the chance to learn about God’s love.

-Several teens (coming from more stable families) have come forth to VOLUNTEER to help.  They are hearing the Gospel preached every weekday of their summer, and are having a great time with the kids.

-10 Adults from our community have been provided with jobs through summer camp and other summer ministries of Safe Haven.  These jobs are essential to their livelihood and providing for their families.

-Teen counselors have sought guidance and prayer for their futures as a result of the studying of God’s commandments and wisdom from the Proverbs (taught on Wacky Wisdom Wednesdays).  They are taking to heart what the kids are learning.

-An outside volunteer has started a new believer’s Bible Study for five weeks out of the summer. Teens who never get out of Newark will be driven to the suburbs, welcomed into a Christian family’s home, and taught the basics of our faith.  I would love to see more of this happening.

-TWO Satellite Safe Havens have started up this summer. We are doing a VBS at the church we are partnering with. They had over 100 kids show up.  It is off the hook.

- We just launched spendyourself.org.  Its a social networking like site for urban ministries to connect  each other and others seeking to invest in redeeming the city…

-We also began a new ministry this summer called “The Nehemiah Project.”  It is basically a non-profit construction company seeking to employ and mentor young men while rebuilding community assets.  It also handles all the work projects teams do while here.  Pretty exciting.

Needs

Please pray for us, we are growing like crazy and God is doing awesome things but we have some huge needs right now we trusting God to meet.

-Summer camp Sponsors. We offer a highly reduced in priced summer camp to the kids of the community. All summer long, 6 hours a day 5 days a week.  We can do this only through scholarships through people who sponsor a kid.  It costs $250 to fully sponsor a kid for the summer.  We still have 36 kids in need of sponsors so to say the least we are hurting in paying our bills and our summer staff.  Please pray about sponsoring one of these precious children. We would hate to have to close the camp down early, these kids need this. You can watch a video about each of them and get to them through their blog they are doing during camp.  Click here to get started.

-Iverson monthly support –  Our support account has taken some hits and we are in need as a family for more monthly supporters to help us meet our family needs and allow Danny to continue to pour all his time into this ministry. If you would like to join team Iverson you can do so quite easily through our new website.  Just put “Iverson Support” in the notes or memo section for online donations and checks. Checks can be made payable to Safe Haven and mailed to 483 Ferry st.

-Nehemiah Project - Our summer missions program was expecting 145 people to come here for the summer to do outreach and work projects in various churches and around the community.  We had numerous teams cancel and many teams had youth drop out last minute. When all is said and done it looks like we are only going to have 75 or so here.  Attacks for sure from the enemy.  Not only did many of the community rebuilding projects planned for the summer suffer, but so much of our summer budget relies on what these teams raise. Our budget is basically 50% behind…  Fun stuff right.  Great chances to trust God for His provision.  I know we are in  hard times and I am not surprised this is happening…  but I also know that God is sovereign and we have made it through hard times before and the ministry moves forward.  If God is putting it in your heart to help meet this shortfall please act soon so we can make it through this summer.   Every little bit added together brings us through.  We have never had any big donors and grants and almost our entire operating budget is raised through individuals and churches giving what they can.  It somehow always adds up.  For those of you that have already stepped up to this challenge I thank you form the bottom of my heart for your sacrificial giving.  We are about halfway through the summer and have not had to lay anyone off.  Praise the LORD.

As I slowly stood to my feet, jaw aching with pain, I didn’t know what to think.  Part of me felt so confused, a bit scared and doubtful, but another part of me felt alive with compassion and fresh love for the man hitting me.  I couldn’t believe this was actually happening and I couldn’t comprehend the way the Spirit of God was causing me to respond…

The words “I love you, and Jesus loves you.” were the only defenses I was allowed to use. For some strange reason any hint of anger or self defense was melted away and with firmness and resolve while looking my friend in his eyes; those same words continued to repeat themselves from my mouth as it began to swell and the punches continued to come.

“It doesn’t have to be this way” I found myself saying; interrupting the cursing and screaming directed at me and Erik as we stood in the small apartment across from my friend who had once again lost any sense of control and was ready to hurt someone.  His kids by now had hid in the closet and the mother of the children sat crying and screaming on the bed behind me.

He hit me again and I fell to the ground as the woman behind me began crying loudly.. Everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion…  I calmly stood back up, wondering how long this would go on and what else there was to do.   “Lord give me strength” was the only thought that ran through my mind as I looked once more into the eyes of madness and confusion confronting me, fresh sorrow at the brokenness of the situation washing over me…

It had been a hard week in Newark, a hard summer for the Iverson family…

Dear family and friends,

The battle for the redemption of our city continues, and I see that so much of this battle mirrors the wars being waged in the inner most depths of my own heart, my wife’s heart and the hearts of every human being on this planet.  I have concluded that the redemption of the families of my community, and the whole world for that matter, must come at a high price.  I am learning that the evil one does not surrender territory easily and that there is a great cost to be counted if we as followers of “The Way” would seek to walk in “the way” and engage the brokenness and darkness of the world around us as well as within the endless caverns of our own souls… (More on this later)

I write you this letter with great thankfulness in my heart for each of you and the joy that you bring our lives in the midst of the struggle.  If you would allow me the time, I would like to share with you below the messy story of redemption happening in real time here in Newark NJ and the way I see it cosmically intersecting with the master narrative of redemption that the God of the universe has gloriously and sovereignty written for the joy of all His children and the glory of His Holy name.  So bear with me if you can make the time, and may the mind of you the reader, and mine the writer of these tidings be opened up all the more to the mystery of faith and the eternal joy held out in the Gospel.

So here we go….

As many of you know from my last letter (You can read it on my blog if you didn’t get it) the summer began with a bang and it didn’t slow down in the least.  Day after day the good news of hope poured forth from the corner of Hawkins and Ferry and all the people of the community were truly blessed.  The food pantry stayed empty all summer, as soon as food came in it was immediately dispersed to the neediest among us.  Kids gathered every day to experience grace based community though our summer programs, Over 15 teenagers were employed by our camp and developed job skills. The city of Newark gave us 3 different community development awards and continues to encourage and support the work we are doing.  So many wonderful things happened that I can not praise God enough for His work. We are seeing so many prayers answered and I want to thank you for your support and encouragement.

Below I have highlighted the work that God has done through Safe Haven this summer and some new ways He is working this fall as well as new ways you can pray and support this vital ministry.

Ministry praises…

16 Baptized into the Family of God! Video will be on our website soon!!!! God is doing an awesome work. Whole families getting baptized… Amazing.

Attached are some pictures of our Reformation Sunday service. We fixed the ceiling of the sanctuary and barely got it done in time. We had a partner church (Christ the King) from a nearby town join us. It was awesome to have over nearly 300 people packed into our building.  Trinity’s worship attendance seems to grow each week. New people are coming!  Kids are bringing parents and the Word is out in the community that every day at Trinity God is showing up in an amazing way. We are flirting with 100 or so in worship on Sundays, 85-90 percent coming from our community. God is so good! Thanks for praying!

Safe Summer Camp – The 6 week long, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week camp led by our camp director Donna Mateyka and her awesome team had its struggles as expected but succeeded far more than we could have imagined. The camp enrolled 50 2nd-6th graders from the community and employed 15 teenagers. It focused on developing kids in all of our core areas of development and every child left with a deep joy in their heart and a greater knowledge of the Lord in their minds…  Thanks for your prayers and support. We had a large financial shortfall but trust God will provide. We were promised some money from the city but that hasn’ t come through yet. Please pray it does.  Special thanks to those who sponsored kids. I hope you got their post cards to you and enjoyed them.

Various camps – Our teenagers got  the opportunity to go to two wonderful camps in Pennsylvania this summer; once in July and once in August.  Both camps impacted our youth in awesome ways and continues to bear great fruit in their lives. Thank you for those that helped sponsor those trips and make it possible for them to grow in the ways they did.

New Bus donated – Yes, it is true, we have a bus. Eastern Christina school donated a 25 passenger bus and we are so thankful… Please pray for more CDL drivers to volunteer to help us drive it… (and for Danny to stop procrastinating and get  his CDL)

Block Party- through our partnership with the city we closed off our whole street and had a Jazz mobile come. The jazz mobile is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing jazz to the streets of Newark.  We had a big barbecue, gave out lots of literature, made tons of connections and had over 300 people from the community come out.  It was so glorious.  Pastor Walter and myself both shared from the stage and we really felt the presence of God and great unity in our community.

Mission trip – 16 handpicked high schoolers got to go on this trip now labeled “Danny’s trip”.  This was the only trip I got to go on this summer since I was so busy.  The purpose of this trip wad to serve and this group of urban warriors did just that.  We went down to Haymarket Virginia and ran the VBS for Kimberly’s Father’s Church, Saint Paul’s. Three summers ago when Safe Haven was just beginning, Saint Paul’s was one of the groups that sent their youth up to serve us ( and dig out the basement).  Now three years later we got to go serve them. Our youth also painted their Pre-school and did an amazing job.

New GED Program –We have formed a great partnership with a local community development organization and are now able to host a GED program. Praise God since this is a huge need.  Over 40 adults (many of them parents of our kids) are currently signed up for it. Please pray for them to show up and pass their GED.

Seminary Classes to resume. New York Divinity School has a Monday night theology course in our building. We are excited with the partnership.  Please pray for great success as there is much need for education here. The class is on Christian Worldview and is amazing. We are going through the Stone lectures of Abraham Kuyper and many other amazing works.

New Partenership with “Against all odds Foundation.” Our Safe Haven After Class (SHAC) has partnered with this organization to help address many of the needs of the kids in our community…  Please pray for this partnership.. AOA is a great organization that will be supplying all of our tutoring for the kids.

New Discipleship House.

Kirby Thurston, a 6 foot 9 ex-pro-basketball player turned pastor who had served here in Newark 30 years ago with my grandfather, has come back to run our discipleship house. The house is for single young men ages 18-29 to learn and grow closer to God. Kirby is going to run this program. We are very excited about this program and the affect that it will have in helping these young adults become men of purpose. Pastor Kirby is also helping with the after-school program. He is an amazing man of God and so good with the kids. He is African American and such a great role model to these young guys.  Please pray for him as he adjusts to being in the north (cold) and serving our broken community with the love of Christ.

Ministry needs

Monthly Support… As always we need consistent monthly support to keep us in operation. With the state of our economy giving has gone down while ministry need has gone up.  Everything is growing by God’s grace and so many kids are coming into our family of faith.  Please pray about partnering with us in this Kingdom mission of recapturing the city of Newark by recapturing the next generation.   click here to partner by giving financially. (Checks can be sent payable to Safe Haven at 483 Ferry street newark NJ 07105)

Community Action Points

We have developed a great idea for helping the community, empowering our youth and providing for the many trips planned this year.  We call it CAPS. (Community Action Points) The way it works is that the teenagers volunteer to help with all the different programs and get CAPS for helping.  Each point is worth  $1 toward a scholarship for the many trips we go on. This will help motivate our youth to serve and also provide a workforce that shakes the community for Christ.  Here’s the catch, we need funds for the scholarship fund… if you would like to donate toward that Click here. . (Checks can be sent payable to Safe Haven at 483 Ferry street newark NJ 07105….  Put CAPS in the memo)

Pastor Walter Howard Pastor Walter Howard is now working full time for Trinity as our pastor. This is a huge step of faith for him and he needs to raise financial support to live and continue to grow the ministry with the adults. His adult Bible study has now grown to sixteen and his preaching continues to draw many knew faces each week.  The word is out in the community and God is really using him.  If you would like to support him through prayer and giving please click here or send checks payable to Trinity Reformed Church, 483 Ferry Street, Newark NJ 07105. (Walter Howard Support in the memo.)

Show Choir – 20 of our kids have joined a show choir of about 100 that draws from local churches. they are an amazing group and have an awesome leader. This summer they opened for Kirk Franklin and took first place in Mcdonald’s gospelfest. it was amazing.  here is the need. Each kid needs to have a small tape recorder or MP3 recorder to bring to rehearsal so they can learn their part. These kids leave every saturday at 8 am to go practice for 2 hours and work so hard.  Barely any of them can affod the uniforms, trips or the recorders.  If you would like to help with this please contact Gloria Morales who is our Choir leader at gloriamorales@optonline.net.  Your support is much needed in this to help these kids succeed. If you want to donate small portable tape recorders (that work) or mp3 recorders send to 483 ferry st. Newark Nj 07105. If you want to donate toward this program click here.

Personal Stories and reflection (Sorry it’s so long, I always have a lot to say)

A few days prior to “Danny’s beat down,” Kimberly had discovered that someone had stolen her engagement ring and wedding band from our bathroom… one of the many homeless people, teenagers or kids who use our bathroom throughout the day had gone through her cosmetic bag and found themselves some treasure…  Due to the pregnancy Kimberly’s Fingers swell and so she had taken them off and stored them “safely” in her kit… A very heartbreaking loss as many of you know the history of the ring and our engagement and what it meant to us.

It has made it very hard to love, trust and forgive the community we are in…

(Read Kimberly’s blog for more on this)

Sometimes we just want to leave. Kimberly had a pretty big melt down after we went through all of that and I wondered if maybe we couldn’t take any more and needed to give up.  Maybe the war is not meant to be fought by us, or maybe we had just lost.  The Lord is faithful and shows us His grace even in times of great discouragement and loss, and we are still here. We have decided to move around the corner into our own apartment.  The space is smaller but more private and hopefully this will help give Kimberly a bit more space from the endless stream of need that flows into our current home since we live right next to the church building. Attached is a picture of the two family home we live in  and our living room that Kimberly decorated. (She is so good at making a room come alive without spending lots of money.) People gave us lots of furniture and we are so thankful. The kids love their new home and I love it too. It is like my own safe haven and it is so refreshing to be able to come home to my family after work in the community.  Moving to the street around the corner has already brought a few new kids into the Church too.  Its so amazing how many people there are here and how many kids just around the corner I didn’t know.  God is working and the Gospel is not going out void…I love watching the truth of God’s love and the disciplines of grace utterly change people’s lives. It doesn’t happen over night but it is happening and happening in my own heart as well.

I love having the good news of Jesus actualized in every situation we encounter.

Getting beat up and standing there taking it was one of those moments where the cross came alive and I understood a little bit more the true heart of Christ and what He really did for us.  As I stood there interceding and standing between the raging man and his family my heart raced a thousand ways. I loved the man hitting me and knew that I could never hit him back. He was my friend and one of the sheep that God had given me to shepherd… How could I hit him?  I think if he had swung on someone else, like one of the kids,  I would have got physical, but his anger was directed at me and as I took it I felt a strange sense of unity with Christ I had never felt before. During this whole ordeal the kids were hiding in the closet and the oldest boy who was 12 had called 911. After getting hit in the jaw three times and getting pushed into a bookshelf my friend had decided to leave and stormed out of the apartment. He went and overdosed on his medication to try and kill himself but the cops got him first and got him to the hospital.  The son came up to me afterwards, and said. “Thanks Pastor Danny for taking the hit for me.” My heart broke as I heard that… I began to understand…

On the cross, Jesus Christ took the full fury of punishment for our sin upon himself. He was crucified by sinful man as Acts 2:3 says, yet all of that was for the purpose of redeeming us. He loved His sheep and even though He had the power to utterly destroy those murdering Him and dishonoring Him, He chose to say: “Father forgive them.” He chose to love them. He chose to take the nails into his hand and allow his blood to be spilled that all of those who were His would be set free from sin and death for all eternity.  He who knew no sin became sin for us that day and in His physical body, as Colossians 1:22 talks about, He bore the stripes that we deserve for our sin and by those stripes, those wounds afflicted by sinful man on the prince of peace, we are healed.  At the time I didn’t understand in my mind how me allowing this man to beat me down would heal him and could heal me, but in my heart I knew that this was the only way his heart could be changed and he could truly understand the gospel, and the only way that my sinful heart could as well.  In that moment I think my heart understood the gospel better than ever and in hind-sight my mind now sees God’s true grace in allowing me to go through that situation and what He taught me through it. You see, every time we sin and love or value anything else above God and fail to love our neighbor as ourselves, it is as though we were driving nails into the very hand of the one who loves us most, the very hand that feeds us, the very hand that touches and heals us. In our rebellion, our utter selfishness, our idolatry, our self-righteousness, we as humans daily drive those nails, daily beat, spit upon, forsake and scorn the savior God has sent. Jesus, our all-powerful savior chooses to take it. In love for us, the very people crucifying him, his mercy supercedes even our worst sins.  That is what is truly changing my heart. When I looked into those eyes of rage and heard those cursing words I saw myself before a holy God, scorning the very one who left heaven and came to save me; the very one who was rich yet became poor for my sake that I might become rich.  My heart is so much more wicked than I could ever know and how quick I am to rebel against God, to judge my neighbor, to live selfishly and materialistically, to crucify afresh the mercy God has given.  On a cosmic level, what happened to me that day is what I do to God every day times a billion.  This is a family whom we had helped for nearly a year. Hours of counseling, money, food, clothing and more that we had given them to help them in their poverty.  What better picture of the gospel is there?  God has done so much for me yet my heart so quickly rebels. He has given me so much yet I complain. He has spent himself on me yet I struggle to focus my mind on him and give my time, treasures and talents to His Kingdom cause.  He continues to graciously give, yet I continue to selfishly take. He has loved me, his neighbor, his enemy even, above his own life, yet I judge and condemn and show so little grace and agape love towards those around me and give so little of myself to them.

How I praise God that in moments like these I get to see how much grace has truly been given and how that grace can teach our hearts to fear and at the same to time our fears relieve.

Oh how sweet it is to trust in Jesus and experience Him all the more in the brokenness of our world as we watch the fullness of His mercy become less dim.  The vastness of our own darkness and the skeletons in our closets are made plain as the light of Christ shines brightly into our hearts and out of us.  Our own brokenness becomes more apparent but His healing becomes so much more real and true.

At the beginning of this month I had the chance to baptize this man’s entire family minus his oldest daughter who is getting baptized in November.  He had gotten out of jail and repented, his heart changed forever. He stood there with an unyielding grin on his face as his 6 kids knelt before the baptismal and I baptized them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The court had chosen not to indict him, and the case was dropped. That Sunday, as the sign of God’s covenant was placed on this family we also celebrated the Lord’s supper.  As my friend came forward and I served him the body of Jesus broken for him and the blood spilled to save him. Our eyes never left each others. We both were crying by then, and the words “I love you” came from his lips.  He reached up and put his hand on my cheek and said “thank you.”

Thank you Jesus for the Cross…

May the Glory of God and His deep love for you displayed in the face of Christ be your strength this day dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. We thank you so much for sending us into this mission field and praying for us as we engage the enemy (around us and within us) and strive with all His energy to make His Kingdom of grace visible to our community through the power of His Spirit.  Shalom to you all…

For the King and the Kingdom,

Danny, Kimberly, DJ, Trinity and the new iver-baby coming in March.

New Address

107 Brill Street

Newark NJ 07105

Danny’s Cell: 862-215-2940  Email: fromscarlet@mac.com

Kimbelry’s Cell: 862-452-8688  Email: flawedbutforgiven@yahoo.com

Family (Needs to be updated) website: www.fromscarlet.com

Kimberly’s blog. www.totheleastofthese.com

Danny’s blog: www.dannyiverson.com

First we want to say thank you for the wonderful support and prayer during the hard summer of war for the Kingdom!  God is so faithful and never leaves His children alone and powerless. We feel so encouraged by all the prayer support, financial support and the many who have come stood beside us and helped us fight the battle we have been called too. By God’s grace we have seen a summer of extreme victory that makes the war wounds well worth it. God worked great things in us and through us this summer and we just want to share with you the awesome things God did so that you can praise Him for His faithfulness and know how He has answered prayers.

1. We have seen his promises from His word come alive in a powerful way. Many people sent us passages and prayers to encourage us. One of the women on our board sent us Isaiah 41 to encourage us and it came at the right time, right when we felt that we couldn’t go on. The whole chapter is so powerful, read it if you get the chance. Here are a few of the verses that stood out and spoke to us. 10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 13 For I hold you by your right hand— I, the Lord your God.And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you. 17 “When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.”        God didn’t abandon us, and through the struggles He poured out His grace in amazing ways in our lives and into this community.

2. Summer Program: God really came through. Even though we were short workers our volunteers stepped up and made it happen. we had over 20 volunteers from our community and the suburbs help out with the programs. What a relief to see God bring in reinforcements. The mission teams that came for the rest of the summer picked up the pace as well and finished strong. Our youth group volunteers led the whole mission trip and Kimberly and I had a week to rest and get better and really just focus on the Lord and our family and pray for the ministry. God moved in a mighty way. Two teens from Newark, Vernard and Anthony were baptized on the trip and 2 more made solid professions of faith. They came back alive and eager to share the gospel in this community and be agents of change for Newark.

3.Over 100 kids from the community were impacted for life through Safe Haven’s VBS Program “Tommy’s Time Machine”. It was so amazing to see the gospel seeds planted in their hearts. What a joy! I wouldn’t trade that for the whole world. There really is no greater privilege than to be used for God’s Kingdom! His power is shown in our weakness and in the midst of the struggle He did more than we ever could have done on our own strength. What an awesome and faithful God we serve.

4. Over 130 teens came from across America this summer to impact Newark and Newark ended up impacting them far deeper.  We saw such amazing growth in the teens that came who did such an awesome job serving this community through physical labour and the various outreaches and summer programs. One teen, Stephen, from Indiana actually came back for another week on his own to serve in any way He could. God really used Him and did some neat stuff in his life in the process. The Holy Spirit really planted in each person a deeper desire for serving the poor selflessly from the heart in the way that Jesus served us.

5. Safe Haven youth center is done, computer lab funds almost raised! Our youth center looks great. I ‘ll send pictures in our next email. God has done miracles in bringing this to completion. Also it looks like we will be able to start operating the computer lab this fall. 3 churches that came here on mission trips have already agreed to each raise funds for one of the eight computers. Another church from nearby who supports Safe Haven, had their VBS Program raise the funds for a fourth, so we are half way there. Praise God! (Side note- If anyone wants to make a special gift to help us complete this computer lab you can do it online by clicking here, or send check to Safe Haven @ 483 ferry street, newark nj 07105.make sure to write computer lab in the memo)

6. Kimberly and new baby are doing great. As I write this she is 2 centimeters dilated and having minor contractions. Any day now a new Iverson will enter the world. We are so excited to meet this new gift to our family and can’t wait to see if it is a boy or girl. We love the surprise. My mother is coming from Japan next tuesday to help in any way for ten days, that will wonderful. Kimberly is so full of joy and ready for round two!!!!!

7. Daniel Josiah’s Chest X-rays came back negative for the TB Infection. That means he was only exposed which is common and now he is on meds for 9 months and then there should be no problems. Praise God and thank you all for the prayers. He is as healthy and as active as ever and never ceases to bring great to joy to us and everyone in this community. Everyone loves him and he seems to have a gift for breaking down the hardest walls and making the meanest gangster smile. We love Him so much.

8. God has really raised up support for Tasha Dent, the mother of 5 who was in great need.  When I sent out an email a few months agao asking everyone I knew to help I had no idea how amazing the response would be.  All her material needs have been met each week by God’s grace through the church of Jesus Christ across this country. Her husband Jamar, Lord willing, will be released in two weeks and we still have enough support that has been given to help them get back on their feet while He looks for work.  He really met Jesus  in a real way while in jail and is excited about coming back and supporting His family and seeking the Lord. Attached below is a thank you letter from Tasha to all who helped her pull through. The family of God is amazing. God really multiplied each dollar given and supplied all their needs. Their family never went hungry and they are all caught up on their rent.  Praise Him for that. Continue to pray for God to provide for them on their road to recovery.

9. My beautiful bride and I got to take a 24 hour get away. A family from a supporting church let us use their camper and they watched Daniel Josiah for us so we could have a retreat before this baby comes. What a blessing to get out into God’s Beautiful creation and reflect on his mercy and faithfulness. We got to read, go on hikes, cook out on the fire, talk, pray, sing, cuddle and just be together. It was very much needed and refreshed our spirits and bodies. We are so thankful for all the many supporters who have been so faithful in showing us the love of God. We love you all and praise God for you each day.  We couldn’t have made it through this summer without you!

May Jesus our Savior continue to make His rich mercy abundantly clear to you as you seek the face of God each day. Remember, our responsibility is availability to Jesus Christ. To be who we are in terms of who He is, 24 hours a day, one day at a time.

Forget not the promises of serving the living God. My each of us take up our crosses all the more each day and joyfully serve our Lord  who was willing to give Himself to redeem us.

January – March Prayer Letter

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters of Safe Haven,

We thank each of you for your support in the important work that God is doing here in Newark, NJ. Your

prayers, financial gifts, and emotional support are keeping this ministry alive. And ALIVE it is. Much has been

happening as we fight the war for youth’s hearts. Here is an update on what has been happening in the past few

months.

~January- Danny and other youth volunteers took 10 guys to a Young Life retreat.  A powerful time of sharing occurred

in which each of these young teenagers opened up and shared heart wounds they had experienced and ways in which

only Jesus could heal them.  Eight out of the ten guys do not have their father in their life. To have “street guys” open up

in this way shows a powerful work of the Holy Spirit.

~February – “Warriors Retreat”, in which Danny took twenty guys paintballing with a follow-up extensive study on being

a warrior for God, for one’s family, and one’s community. They also did work around the church in order to clean up,

and further the progress on the youth center. As a result of the training, a few of the guys have joined the city’s

Community Council to help be a voice of change for their neighborhood.

~March-We held a break-dance seminar for the local high school’s, Twilight Program, a program in which students who

cannot attend regular school due to behavioral issues go to class in the afternoons.  Danny has been volunteering and

providing counseling for the students once a week for the program and the professional break-dancer has committed to

holding more lessons and seminars for the teens once the youth center is opened.

– “Rock the Church” happened! A large stage, lights, a fog machine, a professional break-dancer and rapper,

and several bands…The Lord mightily blessed it with 150 youth showing up from the community, and surrounding

church youth groups.  The gospel was boldly proclaimed to many who do not know the good news of Jesus Christ, and

the evening closed out with an extended time of worship.

-We had 36 college students from Virginia and Michigan come for their spring break to help with the ministry

here. During the mornings they went into the local elementary and high schools to do a week of “Catch-me-up” tutoring

for youth behind in their reading.  GREAT connections were made, not only with the youth, but with parents, teachers,

and principals. In the afternoons, we ran Kids Club for nearly 30 elementary students. Each day the kids learned stories

about Jesus and we closed the week with a Resurrection Party. Also, at the end of the week we had our first Crossover,

a monthly youth meeting where over 40 neighborhood teenagers come to have fellowship, play games, and do Bible

Study.

Please join us in praising the Lord for:

~The twenty guys that are faithfully showing up for men’s group, church, youth events, and community service events.

Some of them have to catch a bus and come all the way across town, but they are showing up, growing in their walks

with the Lord, developing deep friendships amongst themselves and youth leaders, and are desiring to see change in

their communities and families.

~The many things that have been donated towards the ministry and our family: sound panels for the recording studio

(worth $600), the stage for Rock the Church (worth $450),  groceries to feed the many young men that eat at our home

(worth A LOT),  volunteer labor on the youth center (worth $2,000), a two day getaway to a lake house for a very

exhausted urban missionary family (i.e. us) (worth-priceless)

~Recently, while visiting a church family who has not been able to attend church lately due to a very sick grandmother,

we spotted pictures, signs, and journal entries about the 10 commandments on their walls.  The mother, who Kimberly

has been working with, then told us that every Sunday that they miss Sunday School the kids work on their own “at

home” Sunday school lesson. We praise the Lord that the things these children are learning at church have been

brought into the home and are now being taught in this home.  Two years ago, the mother claimed, she would have not

wanted anything to do with church or God.

~The two young men who are living in our home are showing growth in the Lord that is starting to affect their work ethic,

desire for education, and their relationships with the opposite sex.

Please join us in praying to the Lord for:

~Monthly Support: We are at about 30% of what we need to be able to live here and cover our living expenses and

health insurance.  God keeps on providing on a month to month basis in amazing ways so we are thankful, but we are

hoping and praying for a consistent monthly support team to be raised up so we can focus all our energy on reaching

these kids for Christ. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting us $25, $50, or $100 on a monthly basis. We

are praying to be at 100% in the next few months. Please join us in asking the Lord to meet this need. Automatic

recurring donations can be made on our website: www.newarksafehaven.com. Donations can also be mailed to 483

Ferry Street, Newark NJ 07105. Checks payable to Safe Haven.

~Special Easter festivities to come: Good Friday Jesus Film viewing, Scripture Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Service and

Feast, and a girls club to be held during the kid’s spring break.

~Grant Writing!! There are many tedious processes in grant writing and we need supernatural strength and stamina to

get through them.  Also, we need to find favor in the sight of the foundations giving the grants for we are one of

hundreds applying for them.

~The warrior young men who are growing in the Lord-that God will protect them and lead them in the way of

righteousness.

~Helpers and teachers for the Sunday Kids Club (i.e. Sunday School). Kimberly has been the only elementary Sunday

school teacher all year and needs help and someone to aid in the organization and growth of the ministry.

~The completion of the youth center and the official start of the program we are going to run there.

~Planning for the summer as we host youth teams and interns nearly every week to help run our summer kids program

and community outreach events.

~A continued healthy pregnancy for Kimberly and our little Iverbaby due to be born August 23rd.

Thank you for what you do to make this work possible.  If you have not already committed to praying for and giving

financially to Safe Haven, would you pray about doing so? Please visit our website for updated pictures, news, and how

you can help further the Kingdom of Christ in the lives of these children and youth.  www.newarksafehaven.com

For the King and the Kingdom,

Danny, Kimberly, Daniel Josiah, and Iverbaby Iverson