No vote on disputed bar

[Here's an article from the cafe neighborhood... from the Indianapolis Star]

Thursday night's Mapleton-Fall Creek Neighborhood Association meeting had all the makings of a showdown -- tension, wildly divergent opinions, businessmen with money at stake

[continued at IndyStar.com]

Free Hugs

[Just like Sister Elease's 'Jesus Hugs' at the cafe!]

'Reformed Gangstas' Video

[too funny not to run today... click the pic for today's video.]




Hat-tip Blews.Network's review of a number of great 'reformed' articles, people and links.

"Has God provided for you?"

From the Levite Chronicles... [Ft. Wayne]

"A new way to capture stories and share them with other people and a way to involve more voices in the services."

"If either poverty or prosperity was the measure of being in good standing with God, the other group would always feel pressure. Instead, we can depend on God to provide what we need at the time it is needed (not to be confused the the time at which we want the need to be met!). I asked some people to call their stories in to my K7 number, and this is what they said...."

Study: Digital Divide Separates Children

[excerpted from CNN.com]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Many more white children use the Internet than do Hispanic and black students, a reminder that going online is hardly a way of life for everyone.

Two of every three white students -- 67 percent -- use the Internet, but less than half of blacks and Hispanics do, according to federal data released Tuesday. For Hispanics the figure is 44 percent; for blacks, it's 47 percent.

"This creates incredible barriers for minorities," said Mark Lloyd, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an expert on how communications influence civil rights.

Not using the Internet "narrows their ability to even think about the kind of work they can be doing," Lloyd said. "It doesn't prepare them for a world in which they're going to be expected to know how to do these things."

Kids use the Internet most often for completing school assignments, the new study says.

[continued at CNN.com]

***************************

[IndyChristian Commentary: This is one of the very reasons we do what we do at the cafe each Saturday morning (10am til noon) -- we help our friends & neighbors cross the digital divide, the multicultural divide, and God's eternal divide.]

"Are You Ready?"

Gerald and myself and Elizabeth are going to create a short video-clip -- well, not really CREATE -- we're going to post one that we found and really, really like... and think you will too. Or should.



Once we learned how, we can teach ANYONE to post their favorite video-clips in just a couple of clicks.

Ahhh, but that's the secret -- y'gotta KNOW SOMEBODY who knows HOW. And you DO know somebody -- you know us. So come down any Saturday morning at 10am, and we'll gladly share with you.

Btw, that ALSO goes for showing you how YOU could 'be ready'... that is, how YOU could 'KNOW FOR SURE'.

Our neighbors in history online

Today at the cafe, Bennie Sayles and I surfed to Google... and found an interesting page at IndyGov.org... showing black history in the IFD (Indianapolis Fire Dept).

'How the Internet Works'

Are you one of those folks who thinks the internet is too complicated to understand?



But really it's quite easy, if you have the right person explaining it. Or better yet, here's a great animated diagram that will clear everything up for you.

[You'll want to turn your sound on, so you'll get the full benefit of the presentation.]

[Now... click to ENJOY.]

And if for some reason this doesn't clear everything up for you, then come join us every Saturday morning at the cafe for coffee, conversation and informally asking your internet questions. 10 a.m. til noon -- every Saturday. Everyone's welcome.

The Hope Team Summit... Sept. 15th

Kim Boyd, Founder

The H.O.P.E. Team, Inc. invites you to attend our 5th Annual Citywide Summit. This year's theme is "The Road to Recovery..."

It's a day to discuss issues on how to recover from Homelessness, Unemployment, Illiteracy, Inccarceration, Illnesses & Sustance Abuse.

Hosted at Martin University (Gathertorium, 2171 Avondale Place, Indianapolis).

Contact 822-HOPE... or email Kim@TheHopeTeam.com.


[click for .pdf flyer]

Visit TheHopeTeam.com.

Oak Tree Idea... a neat social-networking site

Worth checking out. Let me encourage you to sign up and look around. It's the best one I've seen for Christians. Let me know what you think.

Here's my page there. Admittedly not much, at present; but I'll be working on it. And I'm very much considering launching a "Transform Indiana" 'project' there. Members are easily searchable by state, so it should help us easily expand our contacts base.

Visiting TheBethlehemHouse.org

"The Bethlehem House provides support services in an environment that is spiritual in a holistic manner and is designed to meet program participants at their level of need."

[continued at TheBethlehemHouse.org]

[Meet some of the people at The Bethlehem House.]

Video: "Are You Blogging This?"

OF COURSE! Too funny not to blog it.

Lyrics at David's site.

Bound for Wireless Philly...

Well, almost.



Lord willing, we're headed to Philly, ok... but it won't yet have launched its city-wide "Wireless Philly" system.

What a great concept though! And they have some beta-areas we'll hope to visit. And leaders to talk with?

Click the link to visit their site. And especially watch the tv video clip from the Lehrer News Hour.

Can't wait to get to CCDA Philly!

Photos from "Urban Community Tech Day"

[Click to see our Flickr photo-set from "Urban Community Tech Day" at the Unleavened Bread Cafe, Saturday, July 29, 2006. It was a great day among all our friends & neighbors, as a part of "Faith Hope & Love Week" here in Indy.

Win a Free iPod Shuffle... at the cafe

Come be with us at 9 a.m. Saturday... for "Urban Community Tech Day"... focused on serving our inner-city friends, by helping neighbors cross the digital divide. [affiliated with "Faith, Hope & Love Week"]

We'll be giving away an iPod Shuffle and other door-prizes.

[Special thanks to SimDesk Indiana, for sponsoring today's prizes & costs.]

• Smaller than a pack of gum, it's just over 0.3" thin and weighs only 0.8 oz.
• 512MB* internal flash memory stores up to 120 songs (128 Kbps AAC)
• Supports MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, AAC, Protected AAC and WAV formats

Other door prizes to be given away:

• Free Breakfast Combo (4 prizes)
• Free Rib-Tips Dinner (1 prize)

All Participants on Saturday will get:

• Free Email
• Free Internet Access
• [Free Wi-Fi available]
• Free Continental Breakfast items
• Free 'Digital Backpack' Training
• Other Free items provided by participating organizations.

"Urban Community Tech Day" will help 'cross the digital divide'

• by helping neighbors obtain internet capabilities
  [such as Free Email, surfing and other computer skills]
• by helping neighbors connect for jobs-search, training & resumes.
• by helping churches, cafes & community-centers set up an urban tech mission in their neighborhood.

Free Registration starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 29th...
at the Unleavened Bread Cafe (30th St and Central Ave).

Door-prize drawing will be from among registered participants... and must be present to win. All children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult, to win.

***************************

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED !!! Can you surf? Do you have an email address yourself? Then you're qualified to help! [If possible, email us ahead to let us know you can help. But don't let that hold you back -- the main thing is that you come on Saturday morning and be ready to help others.]

Also, the 'Prayer On The Move' Trailer will be onsite that morning by the 9 a.m. Registration time. Come visit. See this specially-equipped trailer, and meet others who are regularly praying for our city.

The event is hosted at the Unleavened Bread Cafe, in conjunction with the TechMission [free] training program conducted there every Saturday morning.

Everyone is warmly welcome... and volunteers are appreciated any Saturday morning.

Judy O'Bannon features 'Community Buiders East'

Everyone at the cafe knows Dan Gushee, the cafe ministry's board-chairman. What you may NOT know, is that as a result of a Bible study at the cafe, Dan 'connected' with Mark Stout, and quickly became friends in urban ministry.

Good things come from 'connecting'. [And the cafe is just the place for it!] The following story demonstrates this principle...

Recently, former Indiana First-Lady Judy O'Bannon featured Mark & Dan on her public television show... "Communities Building Community".



[View Video]

And here's a link to 'Community Builders East'... helping rebuild inner-city homes in the Brookside Park area.

[Visit Community Builders East]

'Urban Tech Day'... Sat., July 29th

"Urban Tech Day, Saturday July 29th... is a day focused on serving our inner-city friends, by helping neighbors cross the digital divide... and the related economic ramifications.



This day of service is a part of the metro-wide 'Faith Hope & Love' initiative. Community residents are invited to come for breakfast and learn to surf the internet, get a free email account, and even start a free website of their own.

A special 'Internet Safety' presentation will be given to help community residents prepare their children and teens for this rising new problem.

Door prizes will be given away.

Urban Tech Day is sponsored by SimDesk Indiana -- 'Where Opportunities Come To Life'. The event will be hosted at the Unleavened Bread Cafe (at the corner of 30th Street and Central Ave), starting at 9:00 a.m... til noon.

Urban churches and community centers are specially invited to come learn more about the TechMission program to help their neighborhoods 'cross the digital divide'.

How do I upload a document to my blog?

One of our key people just asked... "How do I upload a document to my blog?" [example: a .pdf flyer for instance]

Two considerations...

• #1. Since the document is fairly sizeable, it needs to be uploaded (somewhere) onto the web.
• #2. Then your blog really just somehow needs to 'point' to the uploaded document, so that your readers can just click on something on your blog, to go directly to the uploaded document.

Ok, dealing with #1 -- the Uploading.

• Upload it to WHERE? This is a biggest issue, because unfortunately, Blogger doesn't currently provide server-space somewhere to house your document. Perhaps our readers here will leave a comment re their favorite place to house documents online. And in the near future, we're working on a solution, especially with 'SimDesk' (SimIndiana.com), sponsors of our upcoming 'Urban Tech Day'. But right this moment, there IS NO good answer, other than our standard response... "Ya gotta KNOW somebody" (who's got server space and are willing to help you).
  
  But then, that's a pretty good affirmation to our basic philosophy at UBbloggin -- "It's not WHAT you know, so much as it is WHO you know... and thus our focus on building great relationships... for this life... and the life to come."
  
  Ok, fortunately... you know ME. And I've got (some amount of) space on the IndyChristian.com server, and am willing to help those who collaborate well in the cause of Christ. Email me your document and I'll see what I can do.
  
  And for those of you now coming aboard BEHIND the scenes via CrossroadsConnection.com... there's an ability to attach your files to an entry there inside CC. But the neat part is that the attachment can be seen PUBLICALLY... by anyone. And that's the way I cured this person's issue. I attached it to a blog-entry inside CrossroadsConnection.com. [read on]

Now... dealing with consideration #2... what to do at your blog, to 'point' to the now-uploaded document?

• The easiest way is just write a phrase and hyperlink it to the document. Example... "Click here for detailed diagram".
• But personally, I often prefer creating a little teaser pic of some kind to add a little pizazz... and hyperlink the PIC so it'll take folks to the diagram document when anyone clicks it. Creating a little thumbnail pic of the larger document or picture... is a separate issue... for another day though. Stay tuned here at UBbloggin.com.

Blessings!

Technology Education Vehicle

[Gerald/Damita... Wanna put in a requisition for one of these?]



"The Orange County Rescue Mission is committed to providing long-term solutions to homeless and impoverished families who desire to change their lives.

[continued at Blews.Network]

LITTLE GUYS FOOTBALL!

Yes, it's that time again!
Time to outfit our young men to play some football, instead of trouble. A friend of the Cafe, Gerald Alexander, has taken on the big job of coaching some neighborhood kids on the Eastside of Indy - but he is a Big guy & we know he can handle it. He already has 2 teams, of 14-18 players, 9-11 years old.

These are kids from single family & low income homes, so they are in desperate need of uniforms & equipment. So we are sending out this plea for your help in outfitting these little guys so they can have some fun, learn some discipline, and have an alternative to the gangs & streets!

They begin practice in June, with their 1st game coming in August. They are in need of the following: Helmets, cleats, mouthpieces, pads, cups, balls, jerseys, shoes, etc.

Anything you can bless them with would be greatly appreciated. Or if you know of someone who would like to sponsor a team, please contact Gerald Alexander @ 412-8382.

Thanks in advance & be Blessed!