By Duane & Lisa Crabbs

Twenty-five years ago, Lisa and I had been married 12 years and were leading a pretty normal middle-class life with our four children.

That would change in March of 1997, as we moved our precious family into our new home in Summit Lake, the highest crime and second poorest neighborhood in Akron at the time. The beginning of South Street Ministries was simply a family following Jesus across racial and class divides to live out his “great commandment” to love our neighbors as ourselves.

By God’s grace, 25 years later, Christ’s words ring true that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Our ordinary family has lived an extraordinary life. Our children had to make some sacrifices because of our choices, but they actually benefited from living a life of challenge for the sake of others.

While our kids still did sports, dance classes, and music lessons, they also had to make their way as a white minority living in a low-income family whose yard was the center of activity for the whole neighborhood. It was a burden and an adventure. Lisa said, “All parents eventually have to turn their children over to the care of the Lord as they grow up. Summit Lake just made us do it a lot sooner.”

Our trust in Christ was rewarded as all four of our children have been active in faithful service in their adult lives.

• Joshua has worked cross-culturally with churches to build houses for the poorest of the poor in Juarez, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
• Bethany is a school therapist working with children a few blocks away from her childhood home at Helen Arnold School.
• Hannah was involved in anti-trafficking work with the Summit County Juvenile Court and recently returned from two years of working with refugees in Turkey. She and her husband moved to North Hill to continue their work with refugees locally.
• Our youngest, Jonathan, works for Habitat for Humanity in Stark County — he has worked with partner families, managed their Re-store, and is now working on a construction crew. We have five wonderful grandkids, with Bethany and Matthew expecting this summer! We never chose between serving God and doing what was best for our family. We learned that doing the hard right thing is always the best, for everybody.

Twenty-five years later, poverty and racial inequity still vex our neighborhood … but we are not moving. Our decisions, which appeared foolish, have turned out to be fruitful beyond our hopes and dreams.

So many people have been shaped by South Street Ministries. Every staff person is amazing. I wish you knew all their stories. So many have come through our doors — like Derek Foster, Michael Starks, Jody Boring, Eric Harmon, Toni Code-Jones, Thomas Jones, and Stephanie Leonardi — and impacted us as much as we impacted them. Hundreds of kids built bikes, played basketball, learned Bible stories, and were tutored, mentored, and cared about. We have hosted recovery meetings of every kind, and had people serving in the jail, among the homeless, the addicted, and ex-offenders.

Under the stewardship of Joe Tucker, the work of South Street Ministries continues to grow due to the same spirit of love and sacrifice that is our DNA. And none of it would be possible without your help and support. Thank you!

By Elizabeth Kargbo

A few months ago, I came across one spray-painted word on a boarded window on our 801 Grant Street property — that word was “Preach.” This is the same property that is now undergoing construction to be transformed into “Restoration House.”

This message appeared as our team was praying and discussing the vision and direction for this property. I took this graffitied word as a commissioning and encouragement from our South Akron neighbors to our ministry to make sure our mission, vision, and purpose are enacted in this property:

• Mission — South Street Ministries equips and inspires the restoration of community, economy, and faith.
• Vision — We aspire to empower authentic community voice, leadership, and transformation within the South Akron, Summit Lake, and Reentry communities.
• Purpose — Inspired by the love and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, we partner with our neighbors in holistic community development to pursue justice, peace, and love.

Restoration House will be utilized for Reentry housing for women returning to the community. But a greater purpose of this property is the desire to see lives transformed and restored by Christ.

There are many powerful verses in the Bible regarding building that prompt me to pray for Restoration House and all who will reside here, but one of my favorites is Psalm 127:1: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Will you join us in praying for Restoration House and all the returning female citizens who will live and strive for transformation in their lives?

As I write this, it is Martin Luther King Day 2022. The first two hours of my day have been spent shoveling snow.

I know I need to shovel. If I drive over the snow, it packs and freezes over, turning our driveway into an ice slick. I need to do the work of shoveling snow to abate the challenges later on. Likewise, my encouragement and reflection this February 2022 is to do the work of Black History Month.

Be intentional this month to read the histories of Fannie Lou Hamer, Mahalia Jackson, Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, and so many others. Read the present work of Esau McCaulley, Dominique Gilliard, or Austin Channing Brown (and so many others).

There is value in doing this work.

Growing up within the church, one of the practices I was introduced to early on was an accountability group. We would gather weekly and share the successes and struggles of our week. We chose to use that time to be authentic — we invited our accountability partners to ask us hard questions and to push back on half-answers. We did the hard work of spiritual accountability. Do the work of Black History Month.

The history of South Street Ministries reflects a white couple moving into a predominantly black neighborhood. There is self-work required to make this kind of step. Like shoveling snow or the growth that comes from an accountability group, we encourage you to do the work of Black History Month.

South Street Ministries hosted its first Embodied Cause Book Club in 2021 through Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited. We are striving to do a second cohort this year through Too Heavy a Yoke: Black Women and the Burden of Strength by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes — launching this spring on Sunday March 20th. For more information or to sign up, please click here!

God has opened doors to an exciting partnership with a local, start-up coffee business, Porchlight Coffee Co. Renovations of the Café space are currently under way, and additional updates regarding our opening date are forthcoming.

For now, here’s a message from our partner!

Hi Akron! We’re Daniel and Bridget, owners/operators of Porchlight Coffee Co. Coffee has been our passion and profession for years, and through Porchlight, we hope to use it as a form of service to our community. By offering a great space and quality coffee, Porchlight will be a place of intersecting communities and ideas. We share The Front Porch’s values of hospitality, equity and diversity, and faith and spirit. Keep an eye out for updates and an opening date in the coming weeks. We can’t wait to see you all this spring.

What a thrilling time for RICH Kids! Over the coming semester, we have a few exciting things I would like to share with you — three items to be exact: new staff, new focus, and a return to Discipleship time!

First, we welcome our new Youth Staff to the team! This will allow RICH Kids to grow in the numbers of kids we can serve. It also helps our kids-to-adults ratio during homework time. Please pray that our team grows together and works in one accord.

Second, our Bible time this semester we will cover the Fruit of the Spirit. Each week we will spend time on a different trait and ask the questions:

• How does each fruit/trait show in our lives?
• How did Jesus display them?
• How do we show them to others daily?

Third, we are returning to Friday Discipleship time. We had begun a small group from RICH Kids in 2020 but had to pause that effort as the pandemic began. But now we’re able to return to Discipleship with a deeper dive into the Fruit of the Spirit!

Thank you all for your prayer and support! We look forward to seeing all the goodness God has in store for this year!