Back from Summer Conference off to East Palo Alto?

Dear family and friends,

Thank you to all of you who remembered us in prayer last week during the IVCF year end summer conference. The conference went really well. Leading the seminar for 21 graduates from the class of 2009 was especially significant as I am about to embark on a very similar transition in the coming days. I was encouraged by the way that they engaged with the story of Joseph as recounted in the book of Genesis and for the obvious relevance to our lives.

On the last night of the conference the students honored/roasted me by playing a version of Jeopardy with all the question and answers referring to things they have observed me say or do. They came up with categories including "Speaking best practices", "All about Jon" and "Ticks." I was amused and flattered by the way they could recount so many of my "Jonisms" and only slightly offended by some of the ways they imitated me with the "Ticks" category. At the end of the night I was tearful and choked up having been reminded of how much I love this community and having experienced such an expression of their love for me. I was too busy experiencing the evening to capture it in a photo but I have attached a picture from earlier in the conference.

Family Movement

While these last few months I have been focusing my attention on ending well, Jane has been beginning to explore some of the possibilities for our future. For the first time in our marriage we are in a place where living "on top" of a university is not a major priority for our ministry. Over the course of the last 10 years living next to campuses in San Francisco and Palo Alto on a modest income has made the idea of purchasing a home unrealistic.

Jane's imagination has been reawakened in the past few months as prices have fallen and the options of where we could live have been expanded. The thought of having a place larger than our 850 square foot apartment for our family of four and guests has become very attractive. Over the course of the last few months she has become fascinated with the possibility of living in East Palo Alto.

For those of you who know our area East Palo Alto is a lower income area adjacent to Palo Alto that has been a place where many of our alumni have chosen to relocate in order to intentionally engage with issues of poverty and to learn how God and his people are at work outside of the "Stanford bubble." In the mid 80's alumni from IVCF at Stanford started Bayshore Christian Ministries and more recently alumni have started and been involved with the Family Center at O'Keefe Street.

It was friends from the Family Center who we turned to when we needed to move out of our apartment for the better part of a week during the beginning of this last academic year. We enjoyed living in the neighborhood and we realized that as a family we could see ourselves living in a similar community.

This last week we put an offer on a very modestly priced property in East Palo Alto and it was accepted. So now we have a fairly nice home that is ours if we would like that we need to make a final decision about in the next week.

We would appreciate your prayers for us as we seek clarity in this huge decision.

Some things that are cool about the house:

1. It is four bedrooms (small bedrooms) with more than enough space for our family and guests.
2. It is close enough to Jane's work, our current childcare, preschool, and church so we can continue our familiar routines for the foreseeable future.
3. Our mortgage will be comparible to what we are currently paying in rent but we would get some equity.
4. There is a big yard for our two boys.
5. Friendly and ethnically diverse neighbors.
6. It's proximity to the freeway put it almost 15 minutes closer to Jon's parents house.
7. There is the possibility of our kids being able to go to Palo Alto schools or the local charter school both of which have strong academic reputations.
8. The previous owner was a pastor and ran a ministry out of the home.
9. The neighbor across the street is a church.

Some of the things that are of concern for us:

1. Living in a higher-crime area.
2. It will be more difficult for us to bike to work, pre-school, childcare etc.
3. It involves a move away from some friends and former ministry partners.
4. All of the unknown that comes with transition.

Would you please remember us in prayer these next few weeks. Overall we feel like it could be a good move for us but would like greater clarity.

With love,

Jon, Jane, Joey and Nathan

We look forward to seeing many of you at the party tomorrow! (www.gracefultools.com/ivevents/jpministry)