Stakes in the Ground, Part 1
Jeff Johnsen glanced around, hoping no one was watching—at least no one besides his dog Dakota. Thankfully it was almost dark. He carried wooden garden stakes in a Home Depot shopping bag. Finding a soft patch of dirt, he knelt down and began hammering a single stake. He didn’t stop pounding until it was completely buried.
The year was 2004, and the place was 37th and Gaylord in northeast Denver’s Cole neighborhood. In those days, Jeff often took long “prayer walks” through neighborhoods around his home. Each time, he carried a written list of people and situations on his heart. He took notice of things, as you do when on foot, weaving those things into his prayers. He couldn’t stop noticing this one block in Cole with its low-slung ramble of crumbling residences, weeds, and rusted junk.
In the falling light, Jeff noticed his own fear. The block was a place neighborhood parents warned their kids to steer clear of, for a variety of good reasons. Still, there were a few lights on in the windows, and a big-wheel tricycle served as a sign of children. A few families were trying to make a go of it.
Jeff expressed a silent prayer from his heart: “God, liberate this property from D – – – B – – – – (the slumlord who is a Colorado public figure, who refused to sell or pay city fines). If we could somehow get the property, we would do something good for the neighborhood, and especially for those in poverty. But if not, please give the property to someone who will do something good for these neighbors.”
Jeff stood up, dusted himself off, and was on his way. Over the coming weeks and years, Jeff returned on hundreds of walks and pounded dozens of stakes. For most of those years, there was no sign whatsoever that the slumlord could be budged an inch. Violence—sometimes deadly— and other troubles continued. Jeff kept on walking, and brought an occasional stake.
Seventeen years later, Jeff can’t find the original stakes—they have been absorbed into the earth. The prayers, however, have borne fruit. In just a few months we’ll break ground on this very block, and the concrete foundation will be poured for Clara Brown Commons. Hammers will be heard again. In due time, many dozens of families will thrive in this place that is already coming to new life.
