FAQ
What exactly is Joe's Addiction?
Joe’s Addiction is a coffee shop community. It is a place where people “hang out,” drink coffee, develop relationship and do a lot of life together, learning to follow the Way of Love and take care of one another.
What inspired you to start this coffee shop?
In the midst of an intense faith crisis, my husband and I decided to put the teachings of Jesus to the test. Is it even possible to live the things Jesus taught—giving to those in need, forgiving people who hurt you, turning the other cheek, loving your enemies? And if so, does it make any difference? Does it change anything? We wanted to try to live this Way and see what happened.
What made you decide to put Joe’s Addiction in a such an impoverished section of Oklahoma?
This neighborhood is very poor, the average annual income being $11,000. Besides the sex industry that is the main purpose of this area, there are many people struggling in drug addiction and mental illness, many people living outside, homeless, and lots of gang activity. According to the story of Jesus, these are kind of people he hung out with. We figured if we were going to experiment with his Way, then this would be the perfect place.
Why a coffee shop?
I grew up in Seattle, WA. Coffee is in my veins. Coffee shops are a comfortable place where people don’t think it’s weird to strike up a conversation with a stranger.
Can you tell people a little about what you do in the community?
Rather than a place where poor people can get a “hand out,” Joe’s Addiction is a community. Together we are learning to Love One Another. So we host recovery meetings. We share our food, both in groceries and in community meals. We recycle clothing and household items through our Free Store—sharing what we have with one another. We provide sleeping bags, tents and warm clothing to friends living outside. And most of all, we provide relationship—family who will walk with each other through the really tough stuff of life.
Can share some of your most inspiring stories you have heard or experienced through the guests of Joe’s Addiction?
In my book “Beloved Chaos” I relate stories of gang members, sex workers, addicts and people experiencing homelessness. The struggles of their lives, as well as the beauty of living in community where we care for one another. I also enjoy telling of the evolution of my own faith, as I have experienced life with these friends over the last twelve years.
Were you afraid to take your children into this kind of setting?
Yes. Terrified. Not only was I afraid of the violence and potential physical injury or possible death, but I was even more afraid of the “sin” that I would be exposing my children to. We had been raising our kids in a very conservative, very sheltered, homeschooled environment, where they were protected from knowing about the kinds of things that are so common in this community. Drugs, alcohol, crime, sex work. I was afraid they would be attracted to “sin.” But what we experienced has been quite the opposite. Our children have grown up without judgment that I had, an understanding of the realities of the world, and with a great love and compassion for people who are suffering. My kids have become some of the kindest people I know.
What is a church service like at Joe’s Addiction?
We sing some karaoke. Mostly songs about our commitment to Love, many of them recognizable songs they might hear on the radio. We have a snack and smoke break. We share with each other our “prouds and sorries” from the week, achievements or ways we’re looking more like the Way Jesus taught people to live, or apologies for failures or hurts we have caused one another. This is my favorite part of the service. We cheer and forgive each of these together. Then we listen to an interactive message about the Way of Love that Jesus taught and agree again to keep practicing this Better Way of Living.
What has kept you positive throughout your journey?
The stories. The healing I see happening in people. In myself. Reminders of where we came from and where we are now. We are getting better.
Praise for Beloved Chaos
"In Beloved Chaos, you will learn about the kind of revolutionary love that can change the world . . . which includes yourself. It's a page-turner of a book with a lot of heartache and a lot of beauty, and it will leave its mark on you."
-Brian D. McLaren, author of The Great Spiritual Migration
"As the scaffolding of American evangelicalism collapses, Jamie West Zumwalt offers a hopeful alternative in her newest book.Beloved Chaos is a fresh and accessible work of hope, not simply a critique of the shortcomings of religion. Jamie shows us another way of worship: love in action. Jamie's humble, straight-forward reflections invite us back to a simple starting point, one that's accessible in every one of our hearts. As you flip through these pages prepare yourself for a wild and life-changing ride."
-Christopher L. Heuertz, author of The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth and Founding Partner of Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism
"Jamie Zumwalt and her crew are extremists for love. The stories she tells will pull you in and shake you up--raw stories of following Jesus in hard ways, and hard places, with hard people. The pain is real, but so is the beauty. Read this book and you will be deeply impacted."
-Craig Greenfield, author of Subversive Jesus and Founder of Alongsiders International
"Poverty. Abuse. Pain. Shame. The question becomes not, "Where is God?" but "What is God like, in the middle of these circumstances that form our lives?" Jamie and the Love Gang live out the answers on these pages. Join her and the community at Joe's as they follow The Way of Love. Read. Be convicted. Be healed."
-Jennifer Roemhildt Tunehag, Global Anti-Trafficking Task Force, World Evangelical Alliance; Co-founder of European Freedom Network
"The stories Jamie Zumwalt captures here in this book are not simply stories of individuals. It is the story of how a unique, local community has been drawn together around the Way of Love. With vulnerability and inquiry, Jamie engages in some of the best local theologizing I have ever come across; revealing what Love looks like in the midst of pain, laughter, rejection, joy, loss, violence, care . . . in short: our human experience. And it is indeed, a Beautiful Chaos."
-David Scott Vining, Community Development Mentor
"Jamie is one of the most courageous women I know. This book is no exception to her boldness. With raw honesty, she reveals the essence of what it means to be belovedly human. The beauty and terror of our humanity seeps through the pages and sparks hope in the hearts of readers that we too might be accepted and find belonging, just as we are. Beloved Chaos holds the power to inspire you to create the kind of community we all long for."
-Phileena Heuertz, founding partner, Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism, author of Pilgrimage of a Soul and Mindful Silence.
"In 21st Century America, to be on the margins in any way is to be dehumanized by the culture around you. In Beloved Chaos, Jamie calls us to hear stories of people as they come to be rehumanized in the beloved, messy, sometimes smelly embrace of community. And if we listen closely, we can hear her telling us there is hope for us, too."
-Hugh Hollowell, Community Pastor at Open Door Mennonite Church, Housing and Hunger Activist
"These stories made me laugh out loud, nearly cry, and feel so many more emotions I simply can't describe adequately. It's an amazing collection! The stories share at least one thing in common: love. And not just ordinary love. The kind of love expressed in strange and unlikely ways to people of diverse backgrounds and unconventional ways of being. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about love in action, outrageous love action!"
-Thomas Jay Oord, author of The Uncontrolling Love of God and other books
"Jamie Zumwalt has written a love story. A raw, real, unfiltered look at unconditional love in action. Be ready to have your religious sensibilities challenged!"
-Steve Hollingsworth, President/Founder at 4 H. I. M. (His Healing Helping Hands International Ministries)
"In Beloved Chaos, Jamie Zumwalt has laid bare her faith in a way that honors God and the people she loves. With weighty vulnerability but without the burden of shame, Jamie describes a world where the last are first and unconditional love and grace abound. If Jesus walked into Joe's Addiction for a coffee, he'd leave a big tip."
-Leia Hollingsworth Johnson, President and Co-founder at Somebody's Mama
"While most American Christians associate "the slums of Calcutta" and poverty in a "third world country" in some "far off location" where Christians might go as missionaries, Zumwalt's true stories narrate the poverty, human brokenness, abuse, and exploitation that take place "over there" is happening right now in American cities. May Zumwalt's stories compel us to act so that actions transform our world that it becomes more on earth, as it is in heaven."
-Marty Michelson Ph. D., Founder and Director of The Eupan Global Initiate
"Jamie Zumwalt's stories will sear your soul in all the right ways. Entering into her story and day-to-day world at Joe's Addiction and seeing up close and personal what beloved chaos looks like in intentional, messy, frustrating, tiring, beautiful messy life together will remind you that there are people in the world willing to do what so many others aren't."
-Kathy Escobar, Co-Pastor, The Refuge, and author of Faith Shift: Finding Your Way Forward When Everything You Believe is Coming Apart.
Book Details
Beloved Chaos: moving from religion to Love in a red light district – December 1, 2018
by Jamie West Zumwalt (Author),
Zeeshan Haque (Cover Design),
Kathy Escobar (Foreword)
334 pages
Publisher: Author Academy Elite
Language: English
Hardback, Paperback, Ebook
Amazon, Barnes & Noble