A Celebration and a Farewell

The Mission Adelante community celebrated the conclusion of the spring trimester at our Spring Party on Saturday evening. Adult English students, Kids Adelante and L.I.T. participants, volunteers, and members of our faith community, as well as family and friends gathered at a local community center. We enjoyed a pot-luck meal together, recognized the accomplishments of adult and youth participants in our programs, and celebrated with the Sears' family the beginning of their new phase of ministry.

Trimester parties, which occur three times a year at the conclusion of each trimester, are always enjoyable because they're the occasion for the gathering of everyone associated with the Mission. They provide the chance to catch up with friends we may not have seen in a while, and to meet new ones. We were blessed this time by a group of volunteers from Christ Community Church who handled many of the logistics. They took care of setting-up and decorating the facility, provided and grilled the burgers and hot dogs, and cleaned-up afterwards. Many thanks to all those who lended a hand!

The highlight of the evening was the time we spent honoring Seth and Andrea Sears and family for their almost four years of dedication and service in the Mission Adelante community. We enjoyed a slide show of pictures and video, and the memories it triggered. We listened with pride as Seth explained, in Spanish, the work they'll be doing in Costa Rica during at least the next three years. And we asked the Lord's guidance and blessing on the adventure upon which they're about to embark.

In Other News:

• James "Rambo" McClure and a group of Anglos and Hispanics are tirelessly working on insulating our building this week before the very warm weather arrives at the end of the week. James earned his nickname by army-crawling on his elbows through the attic crawl spaces! We're grateful for his expertise, leadership, and dedication to the improvement of the facility!
• This Saturday, April 25, Molly Merrick and Megan McDermott will be holding a dinner and silent auction to raise funds for their staff roles with Mission Adelante. Everyone is invited! Click here to download Megan's invitation. Or... Click here to download Molly's invitation.
• Buy Royal’s tickets to the May 16th game or the June 30th game and support Mission Adelante! When you purchase through the "buy tickets" link below, a portion of the proceeds will go to help us hire Megan McDermott as our Kids Adelante Director!!

• Jarrett & Kristin Meek will be on a much-deserved vacation April 24-29. Jarrett will return to the office Monday, May 4.

Prayer needs:

• The Sears family departure to Costa Rica is tomorrow, April 22. Please pray for final preparation, safe travel, and initial acclimation in Costa Rica.

Current Needs:

• Summer clothes, all ages and styles, to stock our resource center by the arrival of warm weather.
• Diapers, sizes 4,5, and 6.
• Although not a necessity, we always appreciate toys to give out to the kids who come to the resource center with their parents.

Upcoming Dates:

• April 20-May 31: break between trimesters
• May 23: New volunteer orientation and training
• June 1: All volunteer team meeting

Mission Adelante’s Impact . . . in North Carolina!

Written by Brandon Martin

How does a mission organization based in Kansas City impact a ministry starting in Hickory, North Carolina? As all ministry happens . . . through relationship!

I first met Jarrett and Kristen Meek in Bolivia where we served together as missionaries. Working side by side for almost a year in the town of San Ignacio, we grew not only in friendship, but also in passion for shared ministry values. Our experiences there confirmed the value of holistic, relational ministry that equips believers to serve and prepares leaders to multiply the mission. In 2004, I left Bolivia to attend seminary in St. Louis and the Meeks later returned home to begin Mission Adelante.

These past five years, I’ve had the joy of continuing our friendship as I’ve observed the initiation and growth of Mission Adelante. One highlight was a visit to an ESL class in which numerous Hispanics were laughing as they practiced English with their conversation partners. I was inspired to see Spanish and English speakers serving one another and building genuine relationships through which God’s grace abounds!

As I rejoiced to see the Meek’s vision become a living ministry, I realized that God was calling me to follow in their footsteps. Just as in Kansas City, God has brought the foreign mission field to our doorstep here in Hickory. As we now initiate our Hispanic outreach, you may notice many similarities to Mission Adelante. The wisdom and experience of the Adelante staff has greatly blessed us and given us a strong start. Thank you for blessing God’s kingdom work in North Carolina!


Brandon Martin is Associate Pastor for Mission Development at St. Stephens Lutheran Church and Mission Developer of The Bridge Hispanic Mission

In Other News:

• Our faith community celebrated Easter together at the Mission Sunday evening. All the pews were full since the kids stayed with the adults during the service. Congregation participation through songs, corporate reading of verses, and the Lord's Supper allowed the community to respond to each part of the gospel message.
• Our pilot year of Leaders In Training wrapped up this week, with nine of the original 13 students finishing the year. Jarrett and the volunteer tutors are eager to evaluate the outcome to make improvements for next year.
• Christ Community Church is helping host the Trimester-End Party this Saturday by setting up, decorating, providing and grilling the burgers and dogs, and cleaning up. We're very grateful for their help! The party is at Bethany Community Center at 5:30 p.m. We would love for you to come and bring your family!
• On April 25th Molly Merrick and Megan McDermott will be holding a silent auction to raise funds for their staff roles with Mission Adelante. Everyone is invited! Click here to download Megan's invitation. Or... Click here to download Molly's invitation.
• Buy Royal’s tickets to the May 16th game or the June 30th game and support Mission Adelante! When you purchase through the "buy tickets" link below, a portion of the proceeds will go to help us hire Megan McDermott as our Kids Adelante Director!
• Morgan Ham has returned from Maternity Leave. We're grateful for Marla Hansen and Dawn North's help during her absence.

Prayer Needs:

• Seth & Andrea Sears and family have less than one week before takeoff! Their departure to Costa Rica is this Wednesday, April 22. Please pray for final preparation, safe travel, and initial acclimation in Costa Rica.
• Pray for financial provision for Megan McDermott to join the Mission Adelante staff in June as Kids Adelante Director.
• Pray for the several Hispanics who have only partially engaged in our faith community to jump in with both feet.

Current Needs:

• Summer clothes, all ages and styles, to stock our resource center by the arrival of warm weather.
• Diapers, sizes 4,5, and 6.
• Although not a necessity, we always appreciate toys to give out to the kids who come to the resource center with their parents.

Upcoming Dates:

• Saturday, April 18 at 5:30: Spring Party at the Bethany Community Center, behind the fire station on Central Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets in Kansas City, KS.
• April 20-May 31: break between trimesters
• May 23: New volunteer orientation and training
• June 1: All volunteer team meeting

Partnership in the City and the Suburbs

Partnership in the City and the Suburbs

Partnership means a lot of things to different people. For Mission Adelante it means finding ways to create Kingdom-win relationships with other organizations whose purposes find alignment with ours in one or more areas. As an urban ministry reaching out to people who have very few physical resources, we have recognized from the beginning that we would need a lot of help from suburban partners. Excitingly, we have something to offer them as well; an opportunity to serve in a cross-cultural mission field right here in their own city!

We have felt from very early on that the suburban church in America has scores of people who are longing to find ways to invest personally and relationally in "the least of these". Too often though, meaningful ongoing opportunities for this are limited or out of reach the average person. Through Mission Adelante we have set out to create as many hands-on, relational opportunities to serve as possible so that we can help mobilize Christians in suburban churches to fulfill the calling God has placed on their hearts in a way that becomes a part of their ongoing lifestyle, and not just a one-time or occasional experience.

As an urban ministry, partnership for us has other applications as well that we are still exploring. What does it look like for us to partner with other urban ministries? The Hope Center in KCMO, for example, has been extremely helpful in giving us ideas for our Kids Adelante programs. And, Mercy and Truth Medical Missions has provided housing in our neighborhood for our summer interns.

Last Sunday night we experienced our deepest urban partnership opportunity yet as we came together with the Servant Community Church, another small church in our neighborhood, to do a joint baptism, baby dedication service and potluck dinner. The bilingual worship event had songs in English and Spanish, included nine baptisms and two dedications, and involved Hispanic, African American, Caucasian, and South-Asian participants. The ethnic diversity was an exciting glimpse of what Revelation 5:9 says when it declares that Jesus has purchased for God with his blood, people from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. We are excited to continue pressing into the idea of partnership, both with our urban and our suburban ministry partners!

In Other News

• Our Spring Party will held at Bethany Community Center on Saturday, April 18th at 5:30 p.m. We would love for you to come and bring your family!
• On April 25th Molly Merrick and Megan McDermott will be holding a silent auction to raise funds for their staff roles with Mission Adelante. Everyone is invited! Click here to download Megan's invitation. Or... Click here to download Molly's invitation.
• Buy Royal’s tickets to the May 16th game or the June 30th game and support Mission Adelante! When you purchase through the "buy tickets" link below, a portion of the proceeds will go to help us hire Megan McDermott as our Kids Adelante Director!
  

Prayer Requests

• Praise God for answering our prayers for the Baptism Service last Sunday!
• Please pray for a strong finish for our participants in our ESL, LIT, and Kids Adelante Programs
• Please pray that God would use the celebration of His resurrection this weekend to draw people to Himself.
• Please pray for God to raise up new volunteers for our ESL Level 1 and for the formation of a team of upper-level volunteers.
  

Resource Center Needs

• Diapers, wipes and baby items
• Staple Food items like rice, beans, sugar and cooking oil

Celebrating Nayeli's Baptism

Celebrating Nayeli's Baptism
I've known that Nayeli Leyva was a special kid since early on in her first trimester in Kids Adelante. She and her brothers began coming to Kids Adelante in the summer of 2007 after a group from Emmanuel Baptist church came to our neighborhood for a week to do a VBS-like program for kids in our neighborhood. The group of mostly high school and college kids went door-to-door handing out flyers to kids in a six-block radius around our home. Nayeli and her brothers came as a result of that invitation and have been coming ever since.

Nayeli had an early impact on the other kids in Kids Adelante. She was the first in her small group (10-12 year olds) to begin coming with her Bible verse memorized each week. By the end of the trimester others in the group had begun to follow her lead. It was because of this leadership and influence among her peers, as well as her consistency and positive attitude, that Nayeli was selected to participate in our pilot Leaders-In-Training (LIT) this year.

This Sunday, after nearly two years of involvement with Kids Adelante, a whole school year of participation in "LIT", and a number of ups and downs, Nayeli, along with five others, will be baptized. Nayeli's story is exciting for a number of reasons beyond the obvious celebration of a new life in Christ. Her journey includes investments made by many people, beginning with her mother and grandmother, who will be baptized this Sunday as well. The Emmanuel Baptist group made the first invitation. Several Kids Adelante volunteers have poured into her life. Our summer interns last year spent a lot of time with her. And more recently LIT volunteers have given her guidance and tutoring. Each one has played an important role in Nayeli's decision to follow Christ and her growth as a new believer.

Nayeli has a lot of hurdles to overcome in life, but I believe that God is constructing a foundation in her life that will be solid enough to build the kind of life on that will glorify Jesus. Please pray with us for the baptism event this weekend and for Nayeli as she continues to learn how to follow Jesus.

In Other News

• Our Volunteer Team meeting will be held this Monday night, April 6 at 6:30 P.M. Volunteers in ESL, Kids Adelante and LIT are encouraged to attend.
• Our Spring Party will held at Bethany Community Center on Saturday, April 18th at 5:30 p.m. We would love for you to come and bring your family!

Prayer Requests
Please pray for our Baptism Event this Sunday night. Pray that God would use it to draw people to Himself and to create a new of passion and purpose in the lives of those being baptized.

Resource Center Needs

• Diapers, wipes and baby items
• Staple Food items like rice, beans, sugar and cooking oil
  
• Praise God for a donation of 300 lbs. of rice, beans, sugar and flour