Character and Cross-cultural Ministry

Saul was a head taller than his peers, but his downfall as a leader was his lack of character. As Israel's first king, Saul seemed to have a promising beginning. His powerful display of leadership in defending the people of Jabesh Gilead against the Ammonties won the support of all of Israel, putting to rest the doubts that some had expressed about his kingship.

However, it wasn't long before Saul's lack of faith, the foundation of true character, was revealed. As pressure mounted and the Philistine forces assembled with superior numbers to fight the Israelites at Gilgal, Saul disobeyed God's command by taking matters into his own hands. "You acted foolishly", Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people..." (1 Samuel 13:13-14).

In ministry, our faith, our character, and our obedience to Christ are the foundation of our service. In other words, our service to Christ begins to crumble quickly if our hearts are not in submission to our Lord. It is easy to appear strong or spiritual on the outside, but blessing in ministry comes over time with genuine character and faith. Saul learned this the hard way. Relying on his own strength, he felt that he had a better way to do things than the way the Lord had prescribed. Instead, his lack of character brought about the eventual collapse of his reign over Israel. In his place God chose "a man after his own heart."

This weekend Adelante Missions Institute will hold its first Saturday Seminar on the topic of Character and Cross-cultural ministry. Kirk Ogden, Executive Director of South America Mission, will be leading this interactive seminar to challenge and equip Mission Adelante volunteers, supporters and anyone who wishes to come to build their ministry on a solid foundation of faith and character. All are welcome to attend. The Seminar will be held from 9:00-11:30 on Saturday at Mission Adelante. The cost is $15 at the door, and a continental breakfast will be served. Please let us know if you are planning to attend by e-mailing morganh@missionadelante.org.

In other news:

• A group of twenty-five or so teens and parents from Christ Community Church spent several hours doing projects at our facility on Saturday morning. We're so grateful for groups like theirs that are willing to pitch in to help us keep the building in good condition!
• Megan McDermott has nailed down the dates for a three-day soccer clinic for neighborhood kids this summer presented by a former professional soccer player and Christian.
• Megan M. and volunteer Brooke Coon attended a gang awareness and prevention seminar presented by the KCK police department last week. They found it very informative and relevant to the neighborhood in which we minister, and are eager to share their knowledge with our community.

Prayer needs:

• Praise God with us! Jarrett Meek's neurosurgeon is not recommending surgery following the improvement of Jarrett's symptoms. They will wait and see if the cervical disc extrusion will heal on it's own.
• Please pray for the preparation and God's provision of funding for our first missions training trip to Costa Rica in May.
• Pray for immigrant individuals that have recently shared spiritual conversations with Mission Adelante staff. Pray that God would continue to reveal Himself to them.
• Continue to help us ask God to bring candidates to Mission Adelante for the summer internship.

Current needs:

• Two vacuums to keep our facility clean.
• Dishes, silverware, glasses, mugs, serving plates and platters, pitchers, and a colander, now that we have a kitchen in our facility!
• Brown paper grocery bags for resource distribution. If you're a routine volunteer, would you request "paper" the next time you're at the grocery store, and then bring those bags with you when you come here?

Important dates:

• Monday, March 15 - Thursday March 18: Spring break. No regularly scheduled Hispanic or Bhutanese ministry programs, with the exception of Spanish Class on Monday evening, which will meet at it's normal time.

Reflections on Friendship with a Bhutanese Refugee

Written by David Stetler

I met Ram about a year ago during a Bhutanese community gathering and since then have become dear friends with him. Ram has helped me understand their culture better, the trials they face and what life as a refugee is like. He has played a major role in helping me organize many of the ministry programs and has been a key leader in the development, growth and unity of his community. Most importantly, he has taught me about friendship, loyalty and trust. I consider Ram a very close friend and I would trust him with anything.

One evening when we were visiting him and his family, his mother, Krishna said to me "Medo chorah", which means "my son". It was such an honor to hear those words from her. She is such a dear lady and she not only calls me her son, but treats me like her son, too. Every time I step foot in their house she serves me cheeya, ahlu and bhaht (tea, potatoes and rice).

Recently Ram wrote the following comments about his experience with Mission Adelante:

"We the newly resettled Bhutanese in KCKS would like to give hearty thankful to ministry since the minitry and volunteers are helping our illitrate community.With the involvement of David and his family member as well as volunteers the hope of our old people to stay in America show the possitive attitude towards life. I am very very happy to see “the smile face” of people who are learning in ESL class."

What an honor and privilege it is to serve these wonderful people, do life with them and build meaningful friendships with them. May they know the love of Jesus as we share our lives with them.

In other news:

• A family that belongs to our faith community has been without a vehicle for a couple of months, and has therefore been unable to attend worship for that period of time. However, having obtained a working vehicle last week, they were greeted with applause and cheering upon arriving at worship on Sunday! We're so encouraged to see our congregation's sense of community growing.
• A man that has occasionally come to Bible study and worship over the past couple of years approached Jarrett two weeks ago wondering how to begin a relationship with God! His wife accepted Christ through Mission Adelante about two years ago and has faithfully prayed for him to do the same since that time. On Sunday night he publicly professed his new faith to our worship community!
• ESL volunteer Jenny Pauley visited her Bhutanese conversation student at home and introduced the family to Jell-o jigglers! Imagine experiencing this unusual food for the very first time as an older child, teenager, or adult!
  

Prayer needs:

• Please pray for a couple in our community that has sought us out for marital counseling. It's culturally unusual for a Hispanic couple to seek outside advise, so pray for openness to the council they'll receive.
• Jarrett Meek has an appointment with a neurosurgeon tomorrow to investigate treatment options for the cervical disc extrusion in his neck. Please continue to pray for healing without surgery.
• Pray for God to provide job opportunities for Bhutanese refugees.
• Help us ask God to bring candidates to Mission Adelante for the summer internship.

Current needs:

• Two vacuums to keep our facility clean.

Important dates:

• Saturday, February 27, 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.: Adelante Missions Institute presents South America Mission’s Executive Director, Kirk Ogden from South Carolina to lead an interactive workshop on Character and Cross-Cultural Ministry. Kirk will explore the personal, spiritual, and character qualities that are essential for making a lasting impact in a cross-cultural context, as well as the pitfalls that the enemy commonly uses to sideline God’s people. I am convinced that the foundation of our ministry effectiveness lies more in our character than it does in our skills or abilities. So, let’s come together as a team, invite whomever you’d like, and spend some time diving deeper into this important topic. A continental breakfast will be provided. The cost will be $15 per person at the door. Please let us know if you plan to come by replying to morganh@missionadelante.org.
• Thursday, March 18: Spring break. No morning or evening activities.

Immigrant Kids Pitching in for Haiti

Written by Megan McDermott

I am always amazed at the heart of a child. Children seem to have such a pure heart for those that are less fortunate than themselves. As adults, we often get swept up in the everyday activities of work, family, and many other responsibilities. It often takes something as dramatic and heart breaking as an earthquake to get our attention. The earthquake in Haiti especially affected the children involved in our LIT (Leaders in Training) program. One pre-teen girl, Odalis, approached me right after it happened, asking if we might pray for the families affected by the earthquake. As we prayed, such a purity and love for the people of Haiti rose up out of the kids. It brought tears to the eyes of all the volunteers as children that had so little recognized that the most important thing they could offer was prayer.

Odalis approached me again the next day, expressing that she wanted to really DO something for the victims of the earthquake. We discussed it, and the kids voted in favor of hosting a bake sale and contributing all of the proceeds to World Vision. As last Thursday approached, the LIT kids were anxiously deciding what treats to bring and how much money they might raise. They were hopeful that if many people came, we might raise fifty dollars. The night of the bake sale, there was an excitement in the air during the Outreach Bible Study. The kids were so excited to partake in some cupcakes, chocoflan, cake, cookies, and flan cheesecake! Parents from the community, students from ESL classes, and other children poured through the doors at 8:30. At the end of the night as we counted up the total, we found that due to incredibly generous donations and support from our community, the LIT kids raised $220 dollars! They were extremely excited about the great blessing for the earthquake victims of Haiti that their efforts yielded. I always tell the kids to dream big and that God will provide even more than they can imagine. I am just so proud of their servant-hearts and how they constantly choose to place others before themselves. Thank you to all of the volunteers, parents, and friends that came down to support the bake sale!!

In other news:

• Eight adults from Mission Adelante will be traveling to Costa Rica in May for an eight-day Missions Training Trip. We'll be taking our ESL program on the road, connecting with the Sears family, and further equipping our volunteer team.
• Mission Adelante is blessed to be in partnership with a number of local churches. Last Sunday, Christ Community Church hosted our ministry along with their fourteen other local ministry partners in their commitment to local and global missions. We were grateful for the exposure and networking opportunity.
• Last week was a record week for kids' attendance in both the Hispanic and Bhutanese outreaches. Seventy-one kids came for Teens Adelante and Kids Adelante, combined, and 25 kids came to the Bhutanese kids club, including one boy that had arrived in the United States just three days before!

Prayer needs:

• An immigrant woman belonging to our faith community is expecting the arrival of a new baby any time now. Please join us in praying for a safe and smooth delivery and a very healthy baby girl!
• Please continue to pray for the cervical disc extrusion that Jarrett Meek has suffered in his neck. He is feeling some relief from the pain which he credits to prayer, and has an upcoming appointment to learn about treatment options. Please pray that the condition will be healed without surgery.
• Join us in praising God for several new families that have begun attending our worship services consistently.
• Please continue to pray with us for a good, long term solution to the dilemma of transporting the Bhutanese population to our outreach programs.

Current needs:

• A refrigerator for the newly constructed kitchen on the second floor of our facility.
• Diapers, sizes 3-5, in any size package, for distribution through the Resource Center.

Important dates:

• Saturday, February 27, 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.: Adelante Missions Institute presents South America Mission’s Executive Director, Kirk Ogden from South Carolina to lead an interactive workshop on Character and Cross-Cultural Ministry. Kirk will explore the personal, spiritual, and character qualities that are essential for making a lasting impact in a cross-cultural context, as well as the pitfalls that the enemy commonly uses to sideline God’s people. I am convinced that the foundation of our ministry effectiveness lies more in our character than it does in our skills or abilities. So, let’s come together as a team, invite whomever you’d like, and spend some time diving deeper into this important topic. A continental breakfast will be provided. The cost will be $15 per person at the door. Please let us know if you plan to come by replying to morganh@missionadelante.org.
• Thursday, March 18: Spring break. No morning or evening activities.

Teens Adelante Launch

Written by Megan McDermott

Remember when you were a teenager and you struggled with finding a place to belong? Maybe you felt like no one understood you and that you were trapped between being a child and an adult. For many of us, though, if we think back, we realize it was in that vulnerable stage that God reached out to us and loved us right where we were.

Since I began volunteering at Mission Adelante, I have had such a heart for the teens. I’ve watched them struggle through the awkwardness of adolescence and try to find a place where they belong. Although we had a place for them at the Kids Adelante Outreach Bible Study, I could sense that they yearned for something that was all their own. They desired a place where they could form a relationship with God that was driven by their own desire to pursue Him.

This last Wednesday, we launched the Teens Adelante ("Teens Go Forth") Bible Study. It was so incredible to see teens that had outgrown the Outreach Bible Study pursue Teens Adelante with excitement. Eight kids attended the first study and all of them were returners from the Outreach Bible Study. Six volunteers helped lead the teens through worship, recreation, and prayer. I was nervous that the kids might feel shy about sharing their deepest prayer requests. However, my nerves were calmed as I saw them respond to God through the worship and reach out to each other through prayer.

Providing a place for the teens to grow and connect with God has been a dream of mine for over two years. God’s faithfulness, the teens' vulnerability, and the sense of family that was already in place on the first night has allowed me to see that God had planned this place for them to belong before I ever did. Please pray for this new community to grow, be challenged, and flourish as God gives them a place to call their own.

In other news:

• L.I.T. students will hold a Bake Sale at the Mission Adelante facility this Thursday, February 4 at 8:30 p.m. Proceeds will be donated to World Vision for their earthquake relief effort in Haiti. If you'll be in the neighborhood volunteering that evening, please support their effort!
• Resource Center volunteers, Anglo and Hispanic alike, have remained faithful to the ministry during the recent months of cold weather. The Resource Center is open every Saturday morning in an detached unheated garage to provide food, baby supplies, clothing, and household items to needy neighborhood families.
• Three women shared with the worship community Sunday night how meeting in their discipleship Trio is impacting their lives.

Prayer needs:

• Jarrett Meek has been diagnosed with a cervical disc extrusion in his neck and is exploring treatment options. Please pray that the condition will be healed without surgery.
• The dilemma of transporting the Bhutanese population to outreach programs is becoming more difficult as the few Bhutanese individuals with Driver's Licenses are getting jobs and becoming unavailable to provide transportation. Please pray with us for a good, long term solution.
• Please continue to pray for a Hispanic woman in our community who courageously left her job after suffering workplace abuse and sexual harassment over the course of a few years. Pray for God to allow her to find a new job where she'll be respected.

Current needs:

• A refrigerator for the newly constructed kitchen on the second floor of our facility.
• Diapers, sizes 3 and 4, for distribution through the Resource Center.
• Home furnishings and household items for a newlywed Bhutanese couple. They're moving out of their parents' households into a very bare apartment with few of their own belongings. Please contact David Stetler to arrange drop-off.

Upcoming dates:

• Saturday, February 27, 9:00 a.m.: Adelante Missions Institute presents Kirk Ogden, Director of South American Missions for a seminar on cross-cultural ministry.
• Thursday, March 18: Spring break. No morning or evening activities.