Bethel meets Banyan
Professor and family provide opportunity for Phillips neighborhood children in Southeast Minneapolis.
By Emily Nelson | Royal Report
On Thursday nights, Bethel Professor Timothy Essenburg and his wife Joani host Kids Club in their basement and back yard. The neighborhood kids silently crunch through division worksheets, followed by reading. As the kids complete their homework, they take out their Bibles as Essenburg leads them in some of their first Bible studies. Week after week, the Essenburg basement becomes a popular safe haven for the kids. During the course of the year, children from kindergarten to high school in the Phillips neighborhood have created a routine: school, go home, eat dinner then kids club. The club became such a hit with the kids that the Essenburgs filed to become a non-profit organization and in 1998 Banyan was introduced
The name “Banyan” came from a metaphor Essenburg had once heard. Banyan trees grow up and drop their branches that then take root and grow up. Jesus is the center trunk and the trees create a canopy that can hold up to 15,000 people underneath.
In a neighborhood where the students who drop out of school or don’t complete college outnumber those who do, Banyan offers an opportunity for a change. There, kids are in an environment that doesn’t take education lightly. Banyan has a 100 percent high school graduation rate and assists kids preparing for college.
Banyan leases out rooms in a church located in Phillips. But the Essenburgs are running a capital campaign to build a new $6 million community center that would provide much more space for offices, rooms and a playground. The success that Banyan is experiencing will continue to reach new families and its community.
“With the new building we will be able to have programs for preschoolers and will be able to let people who are on our waiting list to join,” Joani Essenburg said. “I don’t think that the list will ever not have names but just think of it as a sign of hope that people want to have a better life for their kids and put them through school.”
This school year, Bethel’s freshman class includes two of Banyan’s own. Both Diamond Jackson and Isaiah Essenburg, Tim and Joani’s son, grew up in Banyan. Jackson even started working for the program in high school, helping other students with homework.
“My mom tells me that I begged her to go to Banyan even when I wasn’t in kindergarten yet so the day I finally was old enough was the best day,” Diamond said. “I remember a lot of songs and everyone would dance. It would be like a free-for-all and spontaneous conga lines would start.”
”Up to about 2003, the amount of gunshots, murders, prostitutions and gangbanging was unbelievable. I’ve probably heard at least 7,000 gunshots since moving in.” — Tim Essenburg, Bethel Professor
The Essenburgs moved to the Phillips neighborhood from Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1990 with no plan of action or any idea that they would hold a “kids club” in their home which would lead to Banyan.
“For the first two years, we as the family did nothing, “Essenburg explained. “We were just living there trying to figure out our neighbors. Up to about 2003, the amount of gunshots, murders, prostitutions and gangbanging was unbelievable. I’ve probably heard at least 7,000 gunshots since moving in.”
The Essenburgs plan to open the Banyan Community Center in 2016.
