The Story of Likewise Experiments became an initiative of The Co-Op after the monastic community spent a weekend in Austin for a conference on the church in the 21st century. Michael Gomez asked "why don't we skip out on the conference tomorrow and feed homeless people?" That weekend we fed people and built relationships with them. We've continued to develop this ministry and creatively discern what future experiments might look like.
In November, the monastic community appointed Bri Morris, Director of Likewise & Curator of The Outward Journey. Bri is a founding-partner with The Co-Op and the monastic community, she has a passion for connecting people to God's work in the world through their gifts. Since then we have gone into Austin monthly meeting new friends and returning to our old ones.
Our Mission:
Our Mission at the Likewise Center for Community Action comes from Luke 10 (the story of the good Samaritan). Jesus is asked how to enter the kingdom of heaven, and responds “Go and do likewise.” We see this as more than just a call for good deeds, but really a call to recognize that the kingdom of God is here, not somewhere else, if we can learn to embrace it. We learn in that story that the kingdom looks a lot like taking care of those around you despite circumstance, race, economic status, sexual orientation, or any other “good reason.” So our mission statement is then really just as simple as Christ’s easy answer, “Go and do likewise.”
We here at Likewise value others, we value equality and we value relationships. This means that we are committed to providing healthy meals, because why would we give someone something that we wouldn’t eat ourselves. We are committed to providing hygiene products, because everyone deserves to be clean. And we are committed to continuing to foster relationships with those whom we meet, and providing what we can for them, because everyone needs a reliable friend.
CONTACT BRI FOR "ALL THINGS" LIKEWISE AT: thenetzercoop@gmail.com
The Outward Journey...
The Monastic Community guides The Co-Op on a spiritual journey that we think is inherently both an inward and an outward journey. The inward journey is a remembering of "who we are" and "whose we are", while the outward journey is participating with God in the restoration, healing, and hope of the world.
Here is a list of supplies we are collecting:
-Condoms
- $5-$10 dollar bills
-Tampons (travel boxes)
-Pads (travel boxes)
-Deodorant (for both men and women)
-Toothbrushes
-Toothpaste
-Antibacterial Hand Wash (small individual sizes, fragrance free)
-Bus passes (money for these or, you can go to http://www.goestores.com
-Oranges
-Pop-top canned food items (please nothing that requires a can opener)
-Items for First Aid Kits (Band-aids, anti bacterial ointment, etc., no bottles of Alcohol or Hydrogen Peroxide please)
- Blankets
-Canvas bags or Backpacks (new or used is fine, just in decent condition)
-Bottled Water
-Cigarettes (unopened boxes please)
-Lotto cards
