HistoryofUR

   At Cornerstone 1996 (which is like a Christian Woodstock 4 hours outside of Chicago). Myself, Steve from (Beauty for Ashes), and Bethany from (Talmidin) sponsored an underground ministries roundtable.
    The goal was to draw together the various different people involved in ministries to the Underground sub-culture from all over the country. There ended up being about 20-25 of us who turn up from all over North America: Florida, Phoenix, Kansas, Louisiana, Ontario, Manitoba, Oregon, British Columbia, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wisconsin.
     We started, by sharing who we were and how we were involved in ministry. Then we opened it up for the rest of the time for sharing, encouragement, problems, desires, and our dreams. There was a real sense of camaraderie and that we weren't alone in what we were doing. As Steve said, "It seemed that we were all reading from the same page."
     One of the key things to emerge from the roundtable, was a solution to the problem brought up by Cyndi (Dead not Dead). She said, "it is very frustrating to be ministering to someone from the street and then as soon as stuff starts happening in their lives, they pack up and take off to another city." Others agreed this happens in their areas as well.
     The solution we came up with, was to connect up all our ministries into a network. That way there might be one of us, who is in that next city, who could carry on the ministry, with out having to start all over again. We could call each other and find out what things to look for, what areas are already open, what kind of healing and deliverance has already taken place in the person's life, etc.
Bethany suggested the name "The Underground Railway" and everyone thought it was great, only in this case we would be bringing them to freedom in Christ from their "slavery to sin".
     Cyndi has volunteered to try to put out the Underground Railway list periodically. We already have a number of people writing and e-mailing in that they want to join the UR. So if you aren't already on the list and are willing to be a contact person for your city drop us a line.
     The Roundtable at Cornerstone 97 was outstanding. There were many new ministries represented and it took us 2 hrs. just to go around the circle and give everyone a chance to share.
     A really cool confirmation came during the sharing. One of the women who hadn't been at the first roundtable and heard the name for the first time, said it was really freaky, because 2 years ago she had a dream where God said she was going to be part of the Underground Railroad. Then another women spoke up, she also had a vision 2 years earlier and was told that she would be part of the UR. This blew us away, because we realized that God was prophesying about the Underground Railroad to people, for a year before we even started. Which means that we didn't just come up with it, it came from the heart and mind of God.
Trevor Macpherson

    Our purpose was never to form an exclusive club that creates an us-verses-them mentality. We simply wanted to bring everyone together for idea exchanges, ministry, fellowship and the formation of new friendships. There is no fence being built to keep people in or out.
    Alternative people by nature are fiercely independent and need the freedom to be individuals. I view it as similar to someone stringing telephone lines to cities that are not aware of each other. Communication is opened, but each city retains it's particular personality.
     Each of us has certain gifts and abilities. I have noticed a surge of the computer literate U.R. people using their skills for web sites, mailing lists, etc. There was no plan, it just spontaneously happened as the need arose to do it.
     The free flow of ideas was born out of a community spirit. As we grow, the need to stay in touch with each other is vital. We are a group of friends with common interests, not a religious club. Christianity is already watered down by too much structure that closes off the creative contributions.

Steve Malakowski