The Road to NaumThe Road to Naum, by Pastor Mike Moberg, chronicles his coming to faith at age thirty-nine and the 14 years that he and wife Ann have ministered in San Francisco. The SoMa (South of Market) is an area where hundreds of recent immigrants from everywhere around the globe huddle together in cramped single rooms or substandard housing doing their best to survive and hoping to get a shot at the American dream. It is here that City Crossroads and the Church of God Outpost have sought to build community and bring a powerful witness of the love and redemption of Christ.

The Road to Naum is now available locally at Harvest Christian Bookstore, 1239 Noriega Street, San Francisco. Call them at 415.665.9672 or visit them online: www.HarvestChristianBookstore.com.

Or we'd be glad to ship you one or more copies of The Road to Naum for a donation of $20 each and CD's of the music from the book for a donation of $10 each. Use your credit card or PayPal account on PayPal's secure site.

Excerpt from Road to Naum

 

With SFMO and City Crossroads we had plenty to do however, and more of our attention would be drawn to the SoMa. There was always an element of danger in our new neighborhood but the following year there was an escalation in violence that kept us on our toes.  Something just didn’t feel right.  Beyond the regular hum of chaotic activity there seemed to lurk a foreboding presence.  We were hosting over sixty missionaries that summer who had come from a high school youth group in Arizona.  We warned them to remain vigilant and to stay in groups

As I rounded the corner and turned on to Sixth Street, early the next morning, my only thoughts were on the logistics of getting our missionaries fed and transported to their scheduled places of service.  I headed down the block towards City Crossroads when suddenly I heard the crack of gunfire coming from the direction of our building.  A shot of adrenalin pushed my foot to the floor and I skidded to a halt a few yards from our front door.

A small crowd had already gathered around a motionless man lying in a pool of blood.  I was grateful to hear the familiar sound of sirens wailing headed our way.  There was nothing I could do to help so I ran to the rear entrance to make sure everyone was all right.  I rushed through the door to find every one of our young missionaries with their cell phones flipped open frantically letting someone back home know that we were under siege.  “This can’t be good,” I thought.

There were already a number of neighborhood kids in City Crossroads that morning with their noses pressed against the window in order to get a glimpse of the unfolding drama. Yellow crime scene tape was being laced through the parking meters and through our gate and the kids were chattering excitedly, “Is he dead?  I don’t know, he ain’t movin.” -Idle talk really, as if they were witnessing the tragic scene outside our door on television.

It was heartbreaking to witness how immune they were to the violence in their neighborhood.  To them the victim was just another junkie or bum that they dealt with daily.  His lifeless body was loaded up and hauled away.   A fire truck pulled up and hosed the bloody traces of the scene down the drain and in no time at all it was as if nothing had ever happened.

We just couldn’t let it go. The callousness they showed for the victim had to be addressed so the next day we gathered them all together for what would prove to be a teachable moment.  We told them that every life was precious in God’s eyes, that Jesus was heartbroken over his death and his wasted life.  That he must have had a family and friends or maybe even kids that were going to have to live without him

We pointed out that although we knew who he was we didn’t really know much about him or what had happened in his life to bring it to such a tragic end.  We assured them that no matter how people live; God can change them because He is a God of endless grace and power.  They seemed to be listening to what we were saying because they began to express concern as we prayed for his family and friends. 

We decided to create a small memorial for him at the place where he drew his last breath.  The kids donated crafts and other items they had made.  A plaster cast of a small hand print, dream catchers with Christian symbols, flowers, drawings, scriptures of hope, and other tokens of concern and respect were placed outside our door as a way to honor his memory.

Soon our neighbors began to add to it.  Not the tokens of tribute we would have picked- an empty bottle of Hennessy, a broken R & B CD cover as well as other odds and ends but tokens of respect never the less.  As the memorial grew we were impressed as we gathered at the site to offer prayers, promises, and songs of hope and deliverance with the kids.

We started singing “Amazing Grace” and people from across the street and down the block joined us.  Others hung their heads out of the hotel windows and our few voices began to sound like an angelic choir as we all sang together,   “T'was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved…” The tension that gripped our neighborhood that summer seemed to relax a bit and the foreboding presence that had made the hair stand up on the back of our necks seemed to have vanished.  It was as if Jesus was right there with us.  As a matter of fact, he had been there all along.

Over the next few years the violence that plagued our community would hit much closer to home than our front door.  One of the boys who was peering out of the window that day would himself be shot and within the next six years five more boys who frequented the center would become victims of gun violence.  One of those boys would lose his life before he reached the age of sixteen.

Slowly the City Crossroads ministry was being renewed. After the initial exodus and subsequent return of the remnant of the kids that we had inherited, they began to be joined by others.  We were also pleasantly surprised to see that as we raised the bar they would rise up to it.

Groups that came through SFMO would bring the resources and crews for specific projects like fixing the falling ceiling or installing a deck over the four foot drop from the back door that was filled with trash.  A new heater was installed; as were fire extinguishers and smoke alarms, carpet and paint, new table games and rec-supplies.  We prayed and God’s people responded.

At one point, someone encouraged us to apply for the numerous government grants that are available for non-profits, But after giving it some thought we decided that this was God’s work and that the success of the ministry had to depend on just two elements, prayer and God’s people. 

Although we continue to operate on a shoestring we have learned the art of doing a lot with a little and making something out of nothing.  God has been faithful. Like all missions our resources seem to ebb and flow.  Our history in experiencing his providence in miraculous ways has begun to teach us the “secret of contentment” that the Apostle Paul spoke of in his letter to the church in Philippi. 

I would keep my eye out for usable things that had been discarded at construction sites after a demolition: Thermo-pane windows, lumber scraps and doors, anything that might be usable caught my eye.  One day I noticed a demo truck lumbering down our back alleyway overflowing with trash.  A three bucket, deep well, stainless steel commercial kitchen sink rocked back and forth on top of the pile.  I flagged down the driver and asked him if I could lighten his load by taking possession of that jewel.  We have been using it ever since.

Part of the deteriorating facility that we inherited was a back yard that had been overgrown with weeds and neglected to the point of blight.  A five story UMB (unreinforced masonry brick) building had been torn down some years ago and over the years people had thrown furniture, trash, and debris, abandoned cars, broken glass, hypodermic needles, broken crack pipes and you name it, in the hole where the building used to stand. Even though our income was still $1,200 a month and every bit of it was used to just pay the rent, keep the lights on, and serve some meals, I couldn’t help but look at this mess and see a playground and basketball court.  We received a bid of forty thousand dollars from a company that specialized in transforming outdoor space.  That dose of reality should have been the end of it but I just couldn’t leave it alone.  Once again a voice from within kept telling me… “Use what you have, just pray and start on it”

As I shared my obsession with Ann and others they agreed that’s what we should do.  We were able to get a salvage company to come and haul off the cars at no expense. Two thousand dollars was donated to haul off the massive amount of debris, and missions groups came and labored to make it all happen.  Even after all of that effort it wasn’t looking much like a park but at least we now had a clean lot. 

The transformation of the most important assets of the ministry took some preparation as well.  The children that we began with started to open up to us as we worked to gain their trust and respect.  At first there was a reluctance to abide by the new expectations but after a time the kids recognized the security and love of adults who expected more from them.

We developed discipline guidelines with such well-worn principles as: clear parameters and expectations, clear consequences for overstepping those parameters, and follow- through with those consequences. 

We initiated a background check requirement for future staff and ourselves. We also implemented guidelines for relating to the kids that would best serve them--such as; not just spending time with the cute little, easy-to-get-along-with seven year old but go to the sixteen year old with the chip on the shoulder, they need your attention the most.  Another good rule of thumb was, don’t play favorites. “Yeah… right!”

Chapter 9

Be Careful What You Pray For.

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer…” 1 Peter 3:12a

Remember Miss capital A and her little sister?  We found ourselves going the extra mile when it came to their needs.  No matter how we tried to fight it, it was becoming more apparent that they were becoming more important to us, whether it was an event at school or just a little extra time to listen to them and their concerns. Brenda and Jennie had been in the foster care system since Jennie was a toddler but they had always been placed together.  Brenda had been looking out for her little sister since she was six years old and now at fourteen they were facing the unsettling prospect of being separated and placed into group homes.  Ann and I were heartbroken and turned to God and asked Him to intervene on their behalf.  “Please Lord, won’t you find a way for them to stay together?” 

You know where this is heading right?  I call it a boomerang prayer.  The more we prayed the more apparent it became that we were the answer that God had in mind.  Our boys were young adults and were out of the home by this time working and going to college. Our years of dealing with the roller coaster ride of teenage angst were behind us. Or so we thought.
 
In a flurry of activity and in record time, we would soon be in a position as county- approved foster parents to bring them into our home.  It was a bit strange for all of us at first. While sitting around the breakfast table in awkward silence the girls would shoot curious glances at each other that we would translate as, “Wow, this is weird.” 

I often wondered what the conversations were like as the girls chatted behind closed doors in their bedroom.  We shared holidays and heartaches, hopes and frustrations, sports and open house at school, and slowly the atmosphere in our home was transformed from awkward to easy as we became closer and closer.  Laughter and sincere and heartfelt conversations began to replace awkward silence and superficial mutterings and somewhere along the line the girls began to address us as Mom and Dad instead of Pastor Mike and Miss Ann.

Our empty nest hadn’t been empty very long but once again we had the enjoyment of raising children.  Our days were filed with such activities as supporting Brenda as she played on the girl’s basketball team… “Go lady bears!”   Or helping Jennifer overcome her sense of trepidation in starting middle school by praying for one good friend, school meetings and events, and a myriad of other parental pleasures. 

Time seems to go by so quickly. Three years after coming into our home Brenda would graduate from high school.  We were so proud of her.  She had turned around a disastrous academic freshman year and graduated with honors.  With the money that we received from foster care we were able to send Jennie to a Christian school from seventh grade on and she was now in her sophomore year of high school in Pacifica and doing well. 

Unless you’ve experienced life on Sixth Street it would be difficult for you to understand the dramatic difference between these two communities.  It is as if she was transported to a completely different planet.  At first we were concerned how well she would fit in.  The life experiences between hers and those in her school must have been as different as night and day.  As her high school career progressed and she adjusted to the changes it became apparent that not only would she survive the culture shock but that she would thrive there.

One afternoon Jennie came to us with a question that at first seemed to come out of the blue but she must have been thinking about it for some time.  “Have you ever thought of adopting another kid?” she asked.  “Wow!  Why do you ask?” was our response.  “I don’t know just wondering.”  Of course we knew why she had asked us.  Now it would be up to us to prayerfully consider the magnitude of her question.

I was just a matter of time before Brenda would ask the same question and the courts would make official what God had already established.  As the adoption decree was read it became evident to us how significant the legal description was in regards to our Fathers relationship to us through faith in His Son.  It went something like this…

“From this day forward you shall be known as the children of Michael H. and Ann L. Moberg with all rights and privileges including the right of inheritance.”

Their birth certificates were changed to reflect their new status as if they had been born to us.  It’s clear to all of us, Ann and I and the rest of our kids, that their place in our family is every bit as miraculous and God-ordained as the miracle of birth.  Our lives are so much richer and fuller because of God’s grace to us through them.

Ann was doubly blessed when Jennie asked if she could choose a middle name at her adoption because she didn’t have one.  She chose Anna.  Now we have two Jennifer’s in our family, our oldest daughter Jennifer Ann and our youngest Jennifer Anna.  People ask us, “How is it that you have two daughters named Jennifer?” we respond by telling them. “We liked the name,  obviously.”

In one of my favorite movies, “Raising Arizona” the closing scene depicts Hi, played by Nicholas Cage, half asleep and half dreaming. A first person dialogue is spoken over the image of him slumbering along with the evolving images of his dream.  He and his wife Edwina are very old.  They sit with their backs toward the camera at a table filled with a bounty of food as their children and grandchildren come through the door and gather around them.  The dialogue goes something like this…

“… That night I had a dream.  I dreamt I was as light as a feather, a floatin spirit visitin things to come.  The shades and shadows of people in my life wrestled their way into my slumber, but still I dreamed on further into the future then I ever dreamed before.  And as I dreamed on, this was cloudier, cause it was years and years away, but I saw an old couple being visited by their children and grandchildren too, and that old couple wasn’t screwed up and neither was their kids or grandkids.  And I don’t know, you tell me, this whole dream.  Was I just fleein' reality like I’m liable to do?  But my wife, and me we can be good too.  It seemed real, and it seemed like us, and it seemed like, well, our home.  If not here, then in a land not too far away, where all parents are strong and wise and all children are happy and beloved…”

I know the movie is a comedy but in light of my childhood and a good part of the life I’ve lived, that scene gets me every time.  Jennifer Anna spent six months as a missionary serving at Grace Children’s Home in Tijuana, Mexico.  Her heart for missions was well established and she is in her first year of College.  Brenda is a valuable employee of a local retailer learning the ins and outs of accounts payable, inventory, payroll, and more.  All of our children have big hearts and good character which is more valuable than gold.

Our oldest daughter Jennifer, who always had a big heart, found employment where it would be put to good use, as an aid to the developmentally disabled.  She married a great guy from a great family, who is a devoted husband and father.

While attending San Francisco State Joshua came home one night and told us that he had met a new study partner who was coming over in order to work on their latest assignment together.  He was very well dressed and wearing cologne that would either enchant any female or choke a horse. His new study partner would eventually become his bride.

Currently both of our sons have graduated from college, married beautiful godly women from great families, and are engaged in career paths that they have a passion for and find fulfillment in.  Joshua has his B.S. Degree in Dietetics and is a personal trainer. Cameron received his B.A. Degree in Pastoral Studies along with his ordination.  He and his wife are able to balance jobs, college, ministry, and their marriage that has blessed us with two grandsons. Our only wish is that our children and grandchildren south of us lived closer.  From time to time when we celebrate a birthday, Christmas, or some family milestone, and as we gather around the table, the scene from Raising Arizona” plays over in my mind and I just sit there and smile “Thank you, God.”

After a very busy summer full of youth groups we began the fall with our first international group from British Columbia. The week was full delivering socks with love, stocking shelves at the food banks, BBQ for the youth in the neighborhood, sorting clothes and free time for our new friends most of whom had never been to San Francisco before.

In December we hosted our first group of Jr High students, and survived. They were a great group from Calvary Chapel (Petaluma, CA) and we found them to be quite the experts at Street Evangelism. They handed out hundreds of pairs of socks along with their written testimonies followed up by prayer.

North Modesto Church of God came over to spend a weekend helping the Salvation Army sorting clothing as well as bringing Christmas stockings overflowing with gifts for the youth of the neighborhood. Most of the places that give out presents to children do not give them out to youth over 12 years old so this is such a blessing for them. Of course they also get a great meal and a chance to hear about Jesus, the greatest gift given to us.

In January Calvary Chapel Petaluma came back with their high school youth group and joined our youth during praise & worship and Bible study. They also worked at various sites around the city blessing everyone they met.

Over Presidents’ Weekend Genesis Church from Santa Cruz came and blessed the Outpost by building a food pantry and storage area. We felt like Extreme Makeover had come to 6th Street. It is so awesome to be able to find a can of tuna when we want it without unloading boxes.

March began with a group of 6th graders from Deep Valley Christian School (Redwood Valley, CA). This was the first time to host elementary age students but they did a great job and hope to come back again next year for a longer stay. Then came the rush of college students. First Westmont College (Santa Barbara) returned for their 7th year with us. Then Warner Pacific College (Portland, OR) came for the third time followed by Anderson University (Anderson, IN) for the third time. All of them are amazing. It is such a blessing to work along side groups of young people so filled with the desire to serve our Lord.

We hosted the youth from Canby, OR along with their youth pastor, Lisa. Another great group of youth who adjusted well to a very different culture. God is so amazing. If we are just ourselves and let Him use us He does. They found, as most groups do, that the people they met ministered to them in a very profound way.

A new group from Newport-Mesa Church, Costa Mesa, CA who did a project at a daycare center during the Rebuilding Together Weekend joined us. They were troupers during the heat wave as we natives melted away.

We look forward to old friends returning this spring and summer as well as new ones we have yet to meet that will be arriving. Whether you have been here before or this is your first time God is preparing your journey down 6th Street even now.

Ann Moberg, Director SFMO, May 2008

Facts Not Usually in Tourist Guides

  • Population in 2000 - 776,733
  • Land area - 47 sq mi
  • Population density - 16,634
  • Caucasian - 49.7%
  • African-American - 7.8%
  • Asian - 30.8%
  • Latino - 14.1%
  • Others - 6.5%
  • High school graduates - 81%
  • Persons living below Poverty Level - 11.3%
  • Foreign born - 36.8%
  • Primary Language other than English in the home - 45.7%
  • Between 12,000-16,000 people are homeless (twice as many as 10 years ago
  • 25-30% of the homeless have children
  • Public housing accommodates 25,000 in 6100 units
  • 14,000 people are on a waiting list and they may wait up to 8 years
  • Children attending San Francisco public schools speak more than 70 languages

© 2006-2009 San Francisco Mission Outpost