Things To Remember As You Anticipate Coming to Birmingham

--You are coming to serve — not to be served!

--Our food, lodging, and work are all modest and simple!

--Our staff will relate to your group through your leaders. We count on your group

leaders to help supervise, discipline, and direct your group through the week.

--Our primary work is scraping, priming, and painting the exterior of the homes of the

low-income elderly and disabled. Obviously, this work requires good weather.

If it rains, your group will have some “down time” which we will attempt to

fill with “inside projects.” As you can well imagine, we cannot always guarantee

numerous “inside projects” for a series of rainy days. In anticipation of this, you should bring some activity (games, etc.) for your group.

--We will, at your request , provide assistance with one or more of the following

four “Program Options” during the week:

•  Intern led discussion on poverty and a Christian response.

•  Poverty Exercise—Your group is assigned a “poverty level budget for

a family of three” to decide what shall be spent on lodging, food, trans-

portation, etc.

•  Personal sharing by Michael Young, our Site Manager, on growing up in

poverty in Birmingham and overcoming a life touched by alcohol and drugs.

•  A closing time of sharing, worship, and communion.

--Remember—your evenings will be free for rest or one of more of these options or an

activity of your own choosing/planning.

--Many groups coming to Birmingham enjoy visiting our nationally-acclaimed Civil

Rights Institute. We highly recommend this visit for which you should allow

about two hours. A brochure is enclosed indicating days and hours of operation.

The Civil Rights Institute is free to those under 17. Adult admission is $10.00; Senior Citizens (65 and over) admission is $5.00; College Students (with ID) admission is $4.00. We recommend a reservation should your group decide to visit.

--Finally—there will be surprises during your week with us. We are fond of saying that

we never have problems at Urban Ministry—only opportunities for patience,

servanthood, cooperation, and community!

--We serve in the name of the one who served us and our every activity is offered to God

in this spirit.