Giving Out Of Scarcity

When food was scarce in the Roman Empire, the new believers in the community of Antioch took up a collection and sent a special gift to the church in Jerusalem. It was a beautiful picture of believers in Christ caring for one another. What makes this story from Acts chapter 11 especially powerful is that the famine was severe in all of the Roman Empire, including Antioch. Yet the believers there gave out of their limited resources to help their brothers in another place.


This passage impacts the Mission Adelante community in a timely way. Those immigrants who have received Christ and are now growing with us through our Bible studies do not have much in the way of financial resources. And yet, we are beginning to explore ways to encourage them to give from their limited resources to help others. In response to this passage in Acts, one of our Sunday night Bible study groups decided to surprise the other two groups by dropping in last Sunday night with desserts to share. The surprise visits, the delicious homemade treats, and the brief time of prayer was well received by each of the other groups, and was a fun way to put into practice what the believers in Antioch demonstrated regarding giving.


In an exciting application of their own, Ricardo and Sara, both members of our Bible Studies, shared with us about financial crises their co-worker and neighbor were having. Their intent was to see if there were ways Mission Adelante could help their friends! We are excited that our immigrant participants are beginning to recognize and respond to needs around them. Please pray for us as we lead them into learning to participate with us in meeting those needs and demonstrating the love of Christ.

In other news:

• The older boys who received corrective attention in Kids Adelante two weeks ago returned last Thursday with entirely different behavior. They listened attentively, participated with sincerity, and treated all the other kids with respect. Furthermore, the girl about whom they had said the demeaning things returned. Thank you for petitioning the Lord with us to transform the boys' attitudes and behavior! We praise Him for working in their lives.

Prayer needs:

• We praise God that Fredy found work remodeling homes.

We're going to have worship celebrations on the upcoming seven Sunday evenings. These are the most consecutive worship services that we've had, resembling routine church gatherings. We have a number of goals in mind for the upcoming weeks, including connecting new people to Mission Adelante, developing a sense of ownership and community among all attenders, and teaching about and practicing topics that are key to operating as a community of faith. Please pray for consistent attendance at the celebrations and for the Lord's leadership toward meeting our goals.

Current needs:

• A portable MP3 player for Kids Adelante
• Portable soccer goals
• Tutors for an after-school program to begin this fall. If you're interested, contact Jarrett!

Important upcoming dates:

• Trimester-end Party: Saturday, April 19, 2:00 p.m. at Bethany Community Center 1120 Central Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66102