One of the very first entries in the "Links" section on this blog, way back when it first began, was to A Simple House. It was founded by Clark Massey to spread the gospel in the poorest, blackest, scariest part of Washington that most of the people I know wouldn't be willing to drive through in a tank.
Clark had been working as an economist in a law office, helping to prepare expert testimony, when he decided that God wanted him to do something else. What? "Go, sell all you have, give to the poor, and then come follow me." So he did. He sold his motorcycle, emptied his bank account, put the arm (ever so gently) on anyone he could think of, and bought a tumble-down rat-trap of a building on Minnesota Avenue. From that base, he has lived as a good and helpful neighbor to the people nearby, but he didn't stop there. He also prayed with and counseled people who were in trouble and he shared the Good News with them.
He also inspired just about everyone he came in contact with, including a good number of young idealists. Though he started the operation by himself, last I saw him there were 12 people involved in the ministry, and the Minnesota Avenue house had spawned another house in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington and another in the slums of Kansas City.
Why bring all this up now? Because the Washington Post has found out about his work. The Post story focuses on one of his associates (I'm tempted to say one of his disciples) and doesn't give enough attention to Clark, but I'm still glad to see them get some publicity. I hope they don't come off in this story as members of some crazy sect. They're really a very nice bunch of young people doing remarkable things.
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