A Note From Tracy Hipps: Real Numbers (41.35.8.60)

Tracy Hipps, CSM Executive Director

As long as I can remember, numbers and dates are very significant to me. I remember special dates and reflect with God on their significance to my journey with Him. And, wow, I never thought I would see these numbers together. It has now been 41 years since I confessed Jesus as Lord in the home in which I grew up. In the same place where I had experienced deep hurt and confusion as a child, I received my Lord at 19 years of age. That was a day I have never regretted or forgotten.

It was 35 years ago that I began this journey into missions and trusting the Lord for my path and direction. This journey has taken me to Chicago and Birmingham, serving in four different ministries, always moving forward in this journey of serving the Lord, called to serve the inner city with the Gospel of Christ, remaining in the center of His will.

I know the Lord led me to CSM 8 years ago to serve our city in Gospel ministry through the building of bridges of reconciliation: the body of Christ (the churches) working together to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our Lord. This journey has increased the Gospel presence and effectiveness in Birmingham and throughout the country as people have come to serve with CSM. God said He would build His Church, and we have partnered with Him to do just that in our partnerships and relationships here in Birmingham.

On September 8, 2018, I will be 60 years old… a point in time where we join AARP (HA!). I will celebrate these special times by doing some amazing things. This year I am taking a 10-day journey of reflection. On day one I will spend time with Richard, who I discipled as Jr. High/ High school student and with whom I have reconciled after 47 years. On day two, I will be with college friends in full time ministry in Indiana. The third day, I will be with a ministry couple I have know for over 30 years in who are also in the disciple-making ministry. And then I will spend a few days in Chicago, with my wife Mary Jo, where we spent our first years in ministry. I will see friends like Ralph, Andrew, Richard, Pedro, Zackary, Brian, Tonisha, Sandra, Beatrice and many others with whom I have walked for many years. It is all about the people we know, love and invest our lives in. The fruit of our lives is reflected in our family, friends and disciples for 41 years of living for Christ, 35 years of serving Christ, 8 years of serving Him at CSM and 60 years of life here in God’s creation.    

I am thankful for these 60 years and the opportunity God has given me to serve His people.

“For we are God’s Masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus, to do good work which he preordained for for us.” Ephesians 2:10

Amazing Provision Makes CSM Accessible To All!

Tracy and CSM staff pleased to inaugurate the new lift on our front dock

Christian Service Mission has a beautiful community of volunteers, ranging from children all the way to an eighty+ gentleman who comes every week to take care of our plants, take out the trash, and refill our water cooler. Many of the volunteers who come have limited physical abilities and access into our warehouse has been difficult. We are truly fortunate to have so many people who care about CSM and we wanted to find a way to make getting into and out of our building easier for those serving here. Derek Gann, owner of 101 Mobility, heard our prayers and donated a lift! Our older volunteers are loving using the lift and our weekly volunteers from Vestavia's School to Work program and United Ability will have a much easier time getting into our building. We are so thankful for this great gift and incredible provision to assist our volunteers and visitors!

Derek and Ashley Gann,
101 Mobility Alabama owners

Owner, Derek Gann, is a Georgia native who is proud to call Birmingham “home.” Derek and Ashley are parents to two young children and were drawn to the Magic City for its family-centered community and excellent schools. Derek decided to open a 101 Mobility location in Alabama in hopes of bringing independence and mobility to individuals and families across the Heart of Dixie.

Birmingham Christian Family Magazine interviewed Derek Gann for this month’s issue and graciously gave us permission to reprint the article for our CSM family. Derek's answers provide a peek behind the curtain to see what drives the Gann family to allow God to use them to serve others in our community.

Q. How does your faith impact the way you run your business?
A. Simply put, our faith drives us. Each day we remind ourselves that all that we do on this side of eternity should all point to the greatness of Jesus. Even leading up to the decision to become business owners, every day was filled with prayer. We asked for wisdom, discernment and direction. Ashley and I feel that God has led us to right where we are and we must be faithful stewards of what we’ve been given. We think the greatest leader of all time is Jesus and we try daily to replicate those traits. Our faith doesn’t mean our business is void of difficult decisions or tough calls, but our faith guides us and reassures us of our purpose. We strongly believe that you have to have vision and our vision is to love our customers well, build strong community relationships, and provide top-notch service. These goals are all predicated on our faith and our hope to be a glimmer of light in what can be a dimmer time in one’s life.

Our regular volunteers have a much easier time
navigating the entrance to our offices now!

Q. What is the most rewarding aspect of the business to you?
A. No question, the most rewarding aspect of our business is being able to give someone a new lease on life. No one wants to wake up and discover they can no longer walk up their stairs or get around their house like they used to. So, when 101 Mobility can design a plan, unique to your needs, that gives you that freedom and independence back, it fills our heart and reminds us that each time a job is done, we’ve left one life a little better. The greatest gifts in life are truly the ones we give, not the ones we get. We are blessed to provide mobility devices that give back joy, that give back freedom, that give back hope. The stories we hear from the customers we serve can often leave tears in our own eyes, so being able to restore something that has been lost is the greatest reward of all.

Used by permission. Birmingham Christian Family Magazine, August 2018


This platform lift from 101 Mobility is capable of carrying nearly any person, with or without a wheelchair or powerchair. It employs an ACME screw drive motor system, which delivers precise and jerk-free movement while ascending and descending. Learn more at www.Alabama.101Mobility.com or call 205-538-5692.

Aaron and the S.W.A.T Team worked alongside YouthBuild
to prepare the concrete foundation for the lift

A huge thanks to Derek Gann for meeting this huge need!

Helping Get Kids Back To School

Willie on the fork lift

Last week, Willie cranked up the fork lift and our truck to deliver 7,395 pounds of school supplies, water and snacks to New Rising Star Church for their annual Back-To-School Anointing Service. We strategically assist NRS in any way we can to support their Gospel-driven and holistic community development ministry that is intentionally moving in multiple, strategic ways to create lasting change for the East side of Birmingham. Every year at this time, we partner with Pastor Beavers to provide critically needed school supplies to 500 kids in the East Lake community.

FITS socks donated

This year, we were also able to provide FITS® Socks for the kids. FITS® is a premium sock brand resulting from the collaboration of third and fourth generation textile manufacturers who are committed to American-made products and supporting ministries on the ground. Bob Yoe, the Birmingham, Alabama-based owner of FITS Technologies, is the great grandson of Braxton Bragg Comer who built Avondale Mills in Birmingham, one of the largest textile operations in the world at the time. Bob says, “A good sock is nothing less than a finely tuned machine.” We are so thankful for the donations made to CSM by FITS® so that we can be a blessing to the communities we serve.

Pastor Beavers praying over and pouring into the East Lake community 

A Note From Tracy Hipps: How Do We Become One?

Tracy on a recent visit with John Perkins

What makes us all so different? What is it that separates us from one another? It seems that, as a country, we choose to use the freedom we are granted as citizens to be different from each other - to be unique. We relish our personal displays of individuality here in America, but with this individualism so deeply ingrained in our culture, how do we become ONE?

I recently traveled to Jackson, MS, to visit a mentor of mine, an exemplary man that I aim to emulate in my own every day life, Dr. John Perkins. Upon my arrival, Dr. Perkins, now 87 years old, immediately invited me to join him in reading Proverbs 1. He commented that the words spoken in the Proverb are words relevant today even in the “hip hop” culture, reflecting God’s way of continually finding ways to placing those that you may disciple on your path every day.

Just over 30 years ago I found myself on Dr. Perkin’s path, a turn of events that greatly influenced my own life and walk with the Lord, for he has walked with God and made Him known for more than 60 years. As we sat there at his table, drinking coffee and eating bananas, I thought to myself “nothing could be better than sitting here with this great man of wisdom who has such amazing knowledge of God’s word.”

Throughout my visit we spent time discussing his new book, “One Blood” and how it may be used as a textbook for future generations, guiding them toward reconciliation. In his book Dr. Perkins states, “Biblical reconciliation is the removal of tension between parties and the restoration of loving relationship.” This ministry of reconciliation is what the Lord has told us to do while we are here on Earth. Reconciliation is the Great Commandment expressed in real time, brought to life through “the making of disciples,” the great commission to all nations. This undertaking may clearly be seen in both Dr. Perkins’ book as well as his journey through life, a journey that has greatly inspired my own life and ministry.

As I left Dr. Perkins, I thought to myself “the longer I follow my Lord, the more I want to know and understand Him.” I began to reflect on my own journey and relationship with the Lord, recalling my most recent trip to Missouri for Kids Across America this past June. While there, I learned of the deaths of two men who had been my disciples as children back in the ‘80s. One, Pastor Milton, was 47 years old when he died after a long battle with leukemia and several years as a pastor at a local church. The other was a man who had a hard life and had passed away at age 45 due to a heart attack. As my disciple of 6 years, we had grown very close before I left Chicago and I was granted the honor of speaking at his funeral.

While it is hard to lose the ones we love, I pray that heaven is filling with those people I have met and lost in my past 35 years of ministry. I remind myself that this journey we are on is ultimately about the Great Commission and the Great Commandment - it is about walking with all nations from womb to tomb. We never know whom we touch in our life, but we know we are to make disciples; we are to make disciples through the reconciling of people to God for eternity and to one another for peace in this world. Thus, I felt comfort remembering the excitement I felt watching 10 children from the group we took form a new relationship with Christ during my time at the Kids Across America Kamp.

 Ultimately, I am excited to continue learning and understanding the Gospel ministry of making disciples of all nations. While we keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, I hope to also show my faith to others by viewing them through the eyes of justice and loving them with the heart of righteousness. Today, I aim to live in His image and His likeness; that which is righteous, holy and true. I will pursue reconciliation here and now, and I believe that together we can accomplish the mission of God for all nations.

A Mural To Inspire Us All

After the last brush stoke, some of the volunteer artists
and CSM staff enjoy a moment together

Ryan Foster, artist extraordinaire,
exhibits his painting skills and
hands-on leadership alongside
the student team of artists from
the University of Montevallo

After painting the front interior warehouse wall white to brighten up the space where we held the lunch event with Noel Castellanos, we began to see the huge white wall as a perfect palate for a mural that could welcome and inspire all the volunteers who come to CSM. It seemed like a dream to imagine it could happen before the “summertime volunteer rush,” but God had already made a way.

Ryan Foster is a friend of CSM, a nationally recognized fine artist, a faculty member of the University of Montevallo Art Department and has formed an mural painting collective call MORII (which means: the desire to capture a fleeting moment) with current and former students. Ryan secured a grant in the spring to purchase all the needed paints and equipment for a rather large MORII mural project that was to commence after the end of the semester. But that project fell through, and MORII was able to divert the grant to our project and get started right away.

Tracy extending a hand of friendship
to Steven, one of the students who
spent his week working hard to
help bring this creative vision to life

After Ryan and his artist wife, Ashley, met with Tracy and Jamie to hear how CSM is a force for change and the Gospel in Birmingham, Ryan went right to work creating designs for the 17' high by 48' long wall that would speak to the heart of CSM. We landed on a design that incorporates stylized clouds, reminiscent of Renaissance etchings and cloud studies. The cloud imagery speaks to our vision for transformation and desire to see the Kingdom. In a surreal fashion, two hands dripping with life reach toward each other in the foreground, becoming one in unity as they touch. A ribbon floats from above reading, “Reconciliation: To invite into friendship” and gives the observer a clue into the reason why CSM works so hard to create lasting change and authentic relationships.

The incredible UM mural team with Ryan and Ashley Foster

This was the fifth mural completed by the group and the largest to date. Participating students include: Emalee Butler Arroyo, Krisalyn Hammond, Steven Mark Finley, Cheyanne Smith, Kyle Limerick, Joanna Edmonson, Hannah Irelan, Caity Headley, and Hunter Vroonland.

Here is a peek behind the curtain as the project got underway and was completed in four days! Please come by to see and experience our new mural. (For more information, contact judy@csmission.org or follow Morii Collective on Instagram.)

Ryan and Ashley Foster (soon-to-be first-time parents!)

CSM Staff happy to experience the mural and the artistic hands of friendship

2018 KAA is a Life Changing Experience: Interview with Tracy

Tracy was excited to introduce this bus load of kids from Birmingham to KAA Kamp

KAA 2018 

How long have you been involved with KAA?


Tracy: “27 years, I started going in 1991 with New City Church and took about 15 kids”


Who did you take with you this year?


Tracy: “104 children and 12 adults from Birmingham churches: Grace House Ministries, Ebenezer Baptist, Greater Shiloh, True Vine, and Cornerstone School”


What’s your favorite part about going?


Tracy: “Watching the kids grow in their faith and see things they’ve never experienced before.”


How many kids prayed to receive Christ?


Tracy: “10 salvations from the group we brought and about 100 overall.”


What were your most meaningful experiences this year at KAA?

Brad Cummings Jr. won the "I Am Third"
award, nominated by the counselors and staff
to honor one person who exemplifies God first,
community second and themselves third.

Tracy: Brad Cumming's son, Brad, from Greater Shiloh (pictured) won the “I Am Third” award. Only one awarded per age group.
 Brad has been going to KAA for four years. His favorite thing about camp is playing on the tubes.
 Brad’s little sister, Kindal, has been going for two years and her favorite thing is arts and crafts.
 Laqueshia Wilson from Ebenezer went to KAA growing up and this year was able to take her son, so it has come full circle. 


This year KAA is under the amazing leadership of Dr. Rene Rochester and Roy Campbell. Dr. Rochester lives in Franklin and is the CEO of PhatStar Learning. She teaches at a local elementary school and is a adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary. Rochester has also written three books. She is founder of the Kaleo program at KAA.
 Roy “Soup” Campbell lives in Memphis and is the Executive Director at Eikon Ministries. Roy and his wife Linda serve as the Higher Ground Directors at KAA.
 I feel so proud and honored to be a part of this life-changing experience for all these kids and adults from our communities.

Birmingham bus arriving at the camp with an enthusiastic welcome

Campers were immediately embraced by the KAA staff and other campers

Families sending off the kids at CSM for an overnight trip to Missouri

Campers in anticipation of a week like they have never experienced

Kaleo leaders help make the week amazing, and follow up with the campers back at home

KAA Facts:

KAA is a one week session divided into age groups:


K1: 9-11 years old


K2: 12-14 years old


K3: 15-18 years old


HG: discipleship training for ages 15-21


Adults camp: men and women have separate Bible studies


Summer Interns Up the CSM Game!

Summer 2018 Interns (l-r) Anna Grace Askelson, Caitlin Pearcy, Tony Reda,
Argo Samantary, Jayla Glenn, Jacquie Schaffers & Corey Rowley (not pictured)

Summer is game-time at CSM. We have youth groups from around the country here to volunteer with us in multiple ways as we bring lasting change to Birmingham in partnership with local inner-city churches. We recruit summer interns all year long, knowing that each one will have great leadership and ministry opportunities during their internship. We are thrilled with the amazing talents and huge hearts possessed by the team members who become a part of the CSM family this year. Allow us to introduce them, and please remember them in your prayers this summer. If you would like to inquire about next year's internship or group project opportunities, please contact Michael Bowen: michaelb@csmission.org

COREY

Corey Rowley

Hometown: Silver Spring, MD

School: Samford University, Master of Science in Nutrition Sciences and Dietetic Internship

What brought you to CSM: As part of Samford University’s heavily community-based Dietetic Internship graduate program, I was sent to CSM to learn more about how a registered dietitian may use their nutrition expertise to connect with and serve their community, ultimately teaching community members ways that they might better nourish their body as well as their spirit.

What do you do at CSM: I serve as a Cooking Well intern.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: Being able to watch the way in which CSM fosters community connection and growth through one of our most basic needs: food. It’s incredible to see how food can bring so many people of such diverse backgrounds together, whether that be through picking fresh produce in one of the various gardens around Birmingham or when participants of the Cooking Well program finally sit down to break bread after having learned how to cook their own nourishing meals (meals that they can then bring home and share with their family and friends!)

ARGO

Argo Samantaray:

Hometown: Charleston, SC.

School: Clemson University, Economics BS and Spanish minor

What brought you to CSM: I heard about it after I did a mission trip at CSM with my campus ministry, the Clemson Navigators.

What do you do at CSM: Lead project groups, work in operations to improve CSM economically (working on finding the most economical and civil fit of employee benefits), and do social media stuff.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite thing is to see walls shatter in people's biases and see God growing people through friendships and service with people of different cultures, social classes, and races. God teaches people humility, he takes people that believe they can’t do anything and makes them leaders, he takes the broken and alone and gives them a community... the list goes on. He is amazing in what he is doing through Christian Service Mission.

JACQUIE

Jacquie Schaffers:

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

School: Auburn University, BS in Early Childhood Education and will be working at Restoration Academy as a 3rd grade teacher in the Fall.

What brought you to CSM: My family has previously served with Christian Service Mission and I have a heart for serving the inner city.

What do you do at CSM: I serve with Jayla at a kids camp at True Vine Church.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite thing about CSM is the relationships that I have formed and seeing the people work together to further God’s kingdom in different ways.

JAYLA

Jayla Glenn:

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

School: Wallace Community College Selma, but will be transferring to UAB to study Veterinarian Medicine or Public Health

What brought you to CSM: Mr. Hipps called me in and personally asked me if I would like to be an intern. I was so excited I couldn’t say no!

What do you do at CSM: I serve at a kids camp at one of the partnering churches in Inglenook called True Vine.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite thing about CSM is how I get to meet new people, hear their stories, and help communities everywhere. I love learning about different things and people with the power of God. I’m most excited about getting the word of Christ out. Dealing with different groups every day and seeing how they are all unique is really fun.

CAITLIN

Caitlin Pearcy:

Hometown: Fort Payne, AL

School: UAB, BS in Public Health and Global Health minor

What brought you to CSM: I was seeking a place where I could use my knowledge of health and nutrition to serve others in the community and ultimately bring glory to Christ.

What do you do at CSM: I serve as a Cooking Well intern.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite part is seeing how a simple cooking class can unite people of completely different backgrounds. It’s incredible how the Lord is using this class to break down cultural barriers and build relationships. I am so grateful to be apart of CSM this summer!

TONY

Tony Reda:

Hometown: Charleston, SC

School: Clemson University, BS in Horticulture, Spanish and Biological Sciences minors

What brought you to CSM: I applied to be an intern after a Spring Break trip to CSM with the Clemson Navigators.

What do you do at CSM: I am a gardening intern in charge of garden upkeep, managing aquaponics and hydroponics, and leading volunteer groups

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite thing is the nature of the work. It’s super fast paced and outward focused, but gospel centered.

ANNA GRACE

Anna Grace Askelson:

Hometown: Birmingham, AL

School: I’m a rising senior in high school. I want to work in marketing or advertising after college.

What brought you to CSM: Working with CSM after a church day trip last year brought me to where I am now!

What do you do at CSM: I work with Bundles of Hope, a diaper bank partnered with CSM. I also fill in where I’m needed with groups, gardening, etc.

What is your favorite part about being an intern: My favorite thing about CSM is how large their outreach is. From house repair, to diapers, to cooking classes, CSM works wherever they are needed. I’m super excited to work with Bundles of Hope to help execute their daily goals and help with their big event in September!