Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A Place Where the Church Serves Together

Mission Adelante would not be what it is if we didn’t have the enthusiastic support and participation of so many volunteers and churches. This past Saturday we held our first of three volunteer orientation seminars for 2009. As is always the case at these training events, as well as at our volunteer meetings, I looked around the room to see volunteers from a wide range of churches. Some of these included Leawood Presbyterian Church, Heartland Community Church, Christ Community Church, Blue Valley Baptist Church, and Jacob’s Well. A quick look at our volunteer database yields an interesting statistic:ongoing volunteers from 15 area churches participate in Mission Adelante’s ministry.

One of the fruits of this hodge-podge of participation and partnership from different places is that it gets people from various churches and denominations in the city serving together around a common Kingdom purpose. In this world of denominational divisions and territorialism, this seems like a work of God. In John 17 Jesus prayed that his disciples would be “one” so that the world would know that the Father had sent him. Our unity as believers is a sign to the world of the validity of Jesus’ claim to be the son of God! As we look around us here at what God is doing through Mission Adelante, we see that Jesus’ prayer is being answered in our little corner of the world; the incoming Latin American mission field in our own city is witnessing not only a display of practical compassion, but also a display of Christian unity. Thank you to all of you who have committed yourselves to serving together. Your service and participation are bearing the kind of fruit that is pleasing to our Lord!

In other news:

  • Registration for the spring trimester of English classes and Kids Adelante is tonight.
  • We continue to work on the improvement of our facility. If you or a group from your church is interested in spending a work day at our building, please contact Jarrett at 913-909-0627 or jarrettm@missionadelante.org.
  • We're thankful for two tall bookshelves that were donated by Shoal Creek Community Church for our Leaders In Training library.

Prayer needs:

  • Isabel, the matriarch of a large family belonging to our faith community, is in the hospital but her illness hasn't been diagnosed. Please pray for a diagnosis to be made in order for her to receive proper treatment and recover.
  • Please pray for an eager new group of adult English students and kids to engage in English classes and Kids Adelante this trimester.
  • This Sunday we will match those who attend our Bible studies and worship services into discipleship pairs. During the upcoming months, the pairs will work their way through a 13-part study on the basics of following Christ. Please pray for participants to be committed to completing the study as an important step in their spiritual growth.

Current needs:

  • Beds, all sizes
  • Diapers: all sizes
  • Baby wipes
  • Baby formula, to stock the resource center

Important upcoming dates:

  • Monday, January 19: LIT resumes
  • Monday, January 19, 6:30-8:30 at the facility: All-Volunteer Team Meeting
  • Thursday, January 22, 6:30: Spring trimester English classes and Kids Adelante begin

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