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By Carrie Madren
UMConnection Correspondent

Early one Tuesday morning, women drifted in and out of the lower level of Monroe Street UMC in East Baltimore. They sought a brief respite from a world of drugs, prostitution, violence and poverty. The safe, welcoming atmosphere drew about a dozen women in for fellowship, counseling, prayer, food and clothing that the outside world couldn't offer them.

That outside world was a neighborhood of rowhouses - most rundown, many boarded up, abandoned and occupied by the homeless or drug users. Tufts of grass protrude from cracks in crumbling sidewalks. Trash lies in gutters and store windows bear heavy iron grills over the windows. Nearly everything is grey and brown.

The Washington Village neighborhood suffers from violence, drugs, AIDS and prostitution. Hopelessness runs rampant.

To shine a light into the darkness, 152-year-old Monroe Street UMC has become a beacon of God's love. Through prayer and faith, they've paved a network of inroads into a community to offer physical, spiritual and emotional help.

The Rev. Wanda Duckett began the morning breakfasts to coincide with visits by the Department of Health's mobile van, out of which the city runs a needle exchange program and other services for women.

In February, Duckett opened her church's fellowship hall doors to bring the women inside on Tuesday mornings from 6:30 to 9 a.m. She dubbed the breakfasts "Morning Glory."

"It's a haven, a place to come and be safe, and gain a moment of sanity so you can address things in your life," Duckett said, noting that many of the women have drug addictions, which drive them to prostitution for drug money, make them victims of violence or cause homelessness.

Inspiring Duckett is Lamentations 3:22-23: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Morning Glory is set up coffeehouse-style with tables, chairs, couches and soft spiritual music. Breakfast isn't anything fancy, but women can get free tea, coffee, fruit, bagels and oatmeal - donated by a local store.

They can also get support from Power Inside, a non-profit group that helps women heal from harsh street life and abuse.

"Having a non-judgmental place where you're nurtured and cared for individually is a great first step toward change," says Power Inside's director and founder, Jacqueline Robarge.

The 81-member church is also making inroads into the community in other ways. In training to become a Shalom Zone, Monroe Street will work with other churches to effectively infuse peacemaking into their communities. As a Shalom Zone, said Duckett, they'll be "teaching people to fish," rather than just distributing handouts.

Duckett and others at Monroe Street also reach out to neighborhood children. This summer, a six-week day camp drew nearly 30 children. Four college-age volunteers from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a national campus ministry, served as camp counselors to lead activities, praise and worship, all while giving community youth - in an area where many students drop out of high school - exposure to college.

"We had no budget for the camp this year," Duckett says. "We do things here by prayer, miracles and friends."

Another miracle knocked on the door when researchers from the Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy called. They asked to conduct a study with Monroe Street campers on Nintendo Wii technology's effect on physical fitness for youth. Researchers brought fun for kids, lessons on health and fitness and an Olympic-style tournament with the games.

Now that school has started, the church's Prime Time for Learning will begin. The after-school program - started by Duckett's predecessor, the Rev. Jean Weller - draws students in for homework, a hot dinner and life skills.

Last year, the program won an award - the Kim Jefferson Award for Effective Urban Ministry from the Northeastern Jurisdiction Steering Committee - for dramatically changing students' lives.

The after-school ministry would have stopped nearly a year ago because of lack of funding, but other churches and the Baltimore-Washington Conference stepped in with money and other gifts to keep the ministry going.

Local youth got another surprise last January, when Goodwill Industries formed a basketball team with local children ages nine to 13. Goodwill provided coaches, uniforms and transportation to games. Duckett rallied neighborhood youth to join the East Baltimore Christian Athletic Associ?ation team. A similarly organized softball team played during the summer.

Monroe Street's inroads stretch even farther. A few more are shown on a bulletin board inside the church's front door. One photo illustrates the church's senior group distributing donated turkeys and other Thanksgiving foods to needy families. Smiling children beam in a photo of campers at Camp Manidokan, where Duckett led a handful of campers.

In another picture, church leaders offer Curbside Communion on a local sidewalk as a passerby stops. Sometimes the church holds outdoor services, and this summer they held an indoor family service with a community barbecue outside.

To gain ground on each of these inroads, church leaders have relied on and received help from God.

"We call it the Miracle on Monroe Street," Duckett says of the help her church has received from other local churches and partners. "Whenever we want to do something we say, ‘But we don't have ...' and God says, ‘There you go.'"