Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly. Not everyone knows that. We came to the city to tell them. We are here to share this message and help
dust off the dirt of shame and ignorance along with the debris of sins of the
past and present. There are tremendous
treasures to be uncovered. “We can only be said to be alive in those moments
when our hearts are conscious of our treasures” Thornton Wilder). This month
we have been able to see people come alive in the realization that they are
loved, have a purpose and are not alone….because Jesus came to give life and
life more abundantly to them.
Updates…
Tutoring Graduation
We
started the year off with about 9 students and without any effort in getting
the word out we were able to end the year with over 30 students. There is a great need – and we are just
barely scratching the surface, but with the help of a strong team of volunteers
we are able to provide this much needed ministry to the community. Our hope in the coming year is to keep
growing and also provide English (ESL) classes for the adults.
We ended our school year with a Celebration of Student Achievement – but everyone pretty much called it a graduation. There was such celebration and affirmation of each and every student. Parents, family and friends came and were able to hear special words, memories and achievements shared over each student. This event was soaked in prayer; we were speaking life into these children and their families.
Parents were given the opportunity to put together bouquets of flowers and write a special card to their children and present them as a gift.
The children got to make graduation caps out of paper and decorate them writing notes of encouragement to one another on the top.
Students also were able to “cash in” the stickers they have been earning over the last semester for fun prizes.
We had a wonderful meal and time to sit and talk and enjoy one another. We also had a photo booth so that families could take pictures together and leave with a silly or serious (or both) memory.
No Box Society (Youth) Talent Show
How
much of the real Christian life is
about being real, open and vulnerable?
It’s not easy, but definitely that is part of growing personally and
developing relationships in a thriving community where the church is not just
about which mask you should put on.
Well
that is what the No Box Society is all about.
Taking the barriers away. Allowing
us to grow and develop like God originally intended. The No Box Society is a group of teens from
the high school 3 blocks from our church.
For the last few months they have been meeting at our church to write
songs, poetry and other creative expressions to help them tap into what really
get’s their heart beating. There have
been some powerful God-times during these interactions.
Our
church hosted their talent show and Chad teamed up with this group sharing some
rap & spoken word of his own. It was
powerful hearing the songs, poetry, essays, raps and reflections of these high
schoolers. Through this event we were
able to meet parents and friends and get inspired about really reaching this
next generation of young people for Jesus.
Music Classes
We
continue to teach and train-up children, youth and adults in music and
worship. We had a half-day training this
month and have begun a special summer series for our Academy of Worship and
Music (ADAM) with the hopes to have a small worship team ready to lead
semi-regularly in the fall.
Youth Group
On
Wednesdays our youth group is student-led.
On Sundays the youth are serving as teachers or assistants in the
younger classes. On Friday night they
all come together and have a time of teaching, fellowship, fun, food and
student-led worship. Powerful!
It looks like at least ten of our youth will be going
to summer camp this July, which we pray will continue to solidify them as a
group and mature them spiritually in their relationships with Christ.
They have done two car washes and other fund raisers
to help them raise money for their camps.
Out and About
Even
in a small church it is hard to keep up with all of the birthday parties and
other invitations – but whenever we can we love to stop in and ‘have church’
with everyone in their homes or the parks celebrating and sharing life
together. There are always opportunities
for great conversations that we don’t get to have before, during or after a
church service. We also get to meet new
people. Summer is a great time for more
of these shared times.
Family News
With
the kids out of school we are creatively scheduling activities amidst a very
busy ministry schedule. Since we do the
majority of our ministry as a family we have some really great times serving
God together…and then we spend time together just the five of us creating
memories and enjoying one another.
Rebecca
and Justice will both be going to summer camp with our church – this is the
first year Justice will be going. (He is
already packed….two weeks early!!!)
Please
Pray with Us…
Our
purpose for being here in the city is to evangelize the lost, empower and equip
those that have come to know Jesus and plant churches.
Please
pray for each of these events as each one has a strategic part in evangelizing,
empowering, equipping and eventually planting more churches:
·
Sports Camp: June
23 – 27
·
WOW Jam: June 28
·
Summer Camp (Grades 1-3): July 1-4
·
Summer Camp (Grades 4-6): July 6-11
·
Summer Camp (Grades 7-12): July 20-25
Looking for and discovering
buried treasure is a lot of fun! There
is a lot of digging required but once people get a glimpse of how God sees them
it is all worth it.
Thank you for your love and
prayers for our family so that we might be strong, healthy and focused on
Christ.
Thank you for praying for these
events and more importantly that more treasure would be uncovered. And as more treasure is uncovered that these
precious people would then go out and uncover even more hidden treasures!
Chad, Fabiola,
Rebecca, Justice and Beniah
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