Not the World - Just Camdem

By Danny Kam, Azusa Pacific University 

I went to Camden, New Jersey, with an iPod in August of 2007. When I came home, I sold it for $120. Camden does that to you. 

Camden is in one of the poorest cities in America with one of the highest crime rates per capita. Its brother city of Philadelphia—that is, “the city of brotherly love”—is not much better. I could have spent that summer working part-time at the illustrious In-n-Out Burger in my suburban home of Santa Maria, California, but instead I chose to live in a house with fifteen other kingdom revolutionaries to change Camden the way Jesus would have—from the ground up. We didn’t meet with any mayors, stage any protests, or fight any bloody coups. (We do revolutions infinitely better than the French ever could.) Instead we played with children, bought them Slurpees from the local 7-11, and told them stories about a man named Jesus. On Fridays, we would play Deal or No Deal, where one lucky kid would have the chance of winning up to ten whole dollars. 

We weren’t trying to change the world; we were just trying to change Camden. For a summer, we kept those kids off the street. For a summer, we looked teenagers in the eyes and told them they could make it in the world. For a summer, we learned just a slice about life in the inner-city—also known as the urban jungle. And, we helped water the butterfly gardens to bring it a little bit of greenery and life.  

While there, we got to meet Tony Campolo. He had founded the organization with which we were working called UrbanPromise—a promise to the urban youth of America that Americans will not be apathetic anymore. He told us that we were giving up our summers, but that was nothing. He told us we were sacrificing our lives for the summer, but he wanted our whole lives—Jesus wanted our whole lives. He didn’t want us to be seeds that never produce fruit. We are called to be fruitful in all areas of our lives—not just when we are doing “ministry.” We hadn’t even grown roots yet, he said. He called us to a lifetime of service. 

That is why when I graduate I plan on working in the inner-cities as a history teacher, both here and abroad, while living communally with fellow revolutionaries. I plan on being a “secret agent” for the kingdom, getting kids to question the propaganda of the American empire through critically thinking about religion, philosophy, politics and government. You would think after one summer I wouldn’t want to live in a house with fifteen people again. Some revolutionaries never learn. 
 

Danny is a student who is about to graduate from Azusa Pacific University with a BA in social science and minors in youth ministry and Biblical studies. He enjoys working as an AVID tutor in the California school system where he helps students of first generation immigrants go to college. He is a man who wants to change America from an apathetic nation to a prophetic voice for truth and justice in the world.