Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Passion to Serve

Written by Megan McDermott

The first time I met Brooke Coon, I was struck by her passion and desire to serve Hispanics. There was a hunger to serve that I have rarely seen and a commitment to the children and teens of Mission Adelante that is uncommon. Over the course of this last year, I have received the blessing of not only serving with Brooke but developing a deep, Christ-centered friendship with her. She was so eager to immediately jump in, but was faithful in waiting on God's timing for her to join the Mission Adelante staff.

Therefore, it is with great joy and thankfulness that I am pleased to announce that Brooke has officially joined our staff part-time as the Latino Kid's Ministry Coordinator! In a short time, I have seen Brooke's love for God impact the community, and specifically, the teens of our community. We recently launched a new discipleship model for our teen Bible study that breaks away from an event-oriented approach and instead, focuses on the relational aspect of a leader pouring deeply into a small group of believers. Brooke has helped to spearhead that new model and is an incredible example of how walking with those we disciple on a daily basis, in small ways, can make a deep impact.

Brooke has also served with our after school tutoring and character development program called Leaders in Training. Her leadership and love for the children has strengthened their commitment to LIT. More personally, her desire to serve the kids has given me the freedom and time to spend more relational time with the children individually.

Anyone that has worked with teens knows what a challenging group they can be. However, with Brooke's leadership, we are seeing the teens and children of Mission Adelante draw closer each day to the Lord. Please pray that God would continue to let us impact the lives of the teens and help them to become instruments of change and faith in our community!

In other news:
  • Nine L.I.T. students and four adult leaders spent Saturday afternoon doing a service project at Sanctuary of Hope in Kansas City, Kansas. They had fun working together and giving back to their community by spreading fresh mulch on pathways.
  • A knitting cooperative of 12 Bhutanese women and four American women has met both of the last two weeks. The cooperative is a social and possibly income-generating opportunity that makes use of the great knitting skill of many of the women. Thin knitting needles (size 6 or smaller) and yarn are needed. If you would like to donate supplies, please contact David Stetler at davids@missionadelante.org or 913-579-6115.
  • The Latino disciple making team is emphasizing personal spiritual growth. Last week the 20-some team members memorized Psalm 119:103; "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
  • David Stetler has just begun leading a Bible study with two Bhutanese men whom he has befriended during the past year and who are enthusiastic about beginning to pursue Jesus.
Prayer needs:
  • A woman who is part of our Latino church is remembering her son and grieving losing him when he was murdered a year ago this week at age 28. Please pray for this woman to be strengthened and comforted during this difficult time.
  • Ivan is new to our community. He's only come to church a couple of times. Please continue pray that God would draw him toward Himself.
  • Please pray for our volunteers, outreach participants, and staff to have the endurance to finish the last four weeks of our trimester strong.
Current needs:
  • Twelve flash drives for L.I.T. students to use for working on their homework.
  • More adult winter coats, outerwear, and shoes to stock our resource center with the arrival of cold weather.
  • A high BTU propane space heater for the detached garage that houses our resource center. The volunteers that staff the resource center get pretty cold during the two hours that it's open every Saturday morning!
Upcoming dates:
  • Thanksgiving break: No LIT the week of November 22. No Bhutanese outreach activities on Tuesday, November 23; no Latino outreach activities on Thursday, November 25. Mission Adelante office closed Wednesday, November 24-Saturday, November 27.
  • Latino Christmas Party: Saturday, December 11, 5:30 p.m. at Bethany Community Center.
  • Bhutanese Christmas Party: Sunday, December 12, 4:00 p.m. at Bethany Community Center.
Bethany Community Center is located in Kansas City, Kansas on Central Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. It sets back behind Bethany Park. Turn off of Central Avenue by the fire station.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Following Jesus' example for Making Disciples

A life-on-life ministry of disciple-making is what Jesus modeled. Walking, talking, eating, ministering, sharing life; this was His method of transmitting a life of faithfulness and love for God. The word, "transmitting" captures what Jesus did maybe better than "teaching", because Jesus' method of making disciples included so much more than verbal instruction. The life of a disciple is often better "caught" than "taught". Jesus' life, His actions, His attitudes, His priorities were many times the content of His message. Jesus IS the gospel! When He commissioned His disciples and all who would eventually believe in Him through their message, to "Go and make disciples", He was not only commissioning them to preach and teach with words. He was calling them to do what He had demonstrated, to walk with and talk with, and transmit what He had implanted in them to others who would follow.

From the beginning, Mission Adelante has valued relational disciple-making as core to our mission. We attempt, in all we do, to share life with those we serve and transmit the life of Jesus through every aspect of who we are, what we say, and what we do. Though throughout our five-year history as a ministry we've been investing ourselves in reproducing disciples who can also invest in others, last week we came to a significant milestone in the development of our Latino ministry; the launch of our first disciple-making team. Twenty-two people, Americans and immigrants, gathered to begin a six-week training course to study Jesus' model of making disciples, a step that for many with whom we've been walking for some time, will give them the confidence to begin investing their lives in others for the first time.

The starting point for this new team is our own personal pursuit of Christ. In John 15:5 Jesus says, "I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in Him will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing." As believers we want to bear fruit, we want God to use our lives to impact others and to carry out His mission in this world. Can we do it if we're not connected to Him? If you are a person who prays and you are inclined to pray for Mission Adelante, please pray that our Disciple-making team would be intimately and passionately connected to Jesus! Without Him we can do nothing. And with Him we are convinced that we can bear much fruit!

In other news:
  • Five Bhutanese refugee families received the furniture they needed. We'd especially like to thank members of Westside Family Church for their donations. Three or four dining tables with chairs are still needed. Please contact David Stetler at 913-579-6115 or davids@missionadelante.org. It would be preferable if you could drop them off, but pick-up may be possible.
  • This year's Leaders In Training after school character development and tutoring program began in September with 12 kids, all of whom continue strong and are looking forward to an overnight reward trip to Great Wolf Lodge in December.
  • A group of Latino and Bhutanese kids will join with a larger group of kids to sing at the 9:00 and 10:30 a.m. services at Westside Family Church on December 19.
Prayer needs:
  • Ivan is new to our community. He's only come to church a couple of times. Please pray that God would draw him toward Himself.
  • As we look ahead to 2011, pray for God's favor in providing funding for ministry staff and the overall ministry of Mission Adelante.
  • Praise God for a minivan that was donated and will be given to a community family in need of transportation.
  • Pray for the health of Bhutanese and Latino individuals that have been hospitalized recently.
Current needs:
  • Kids' and adults' winter coats, outerwear, and shoes to stock our resource center. With winter just around the corner in Kansas City, many families in our neighborhood are still unprepared.
  • Three or four dining tables with chairs for Bhutanese families. Please contact David Stetler at 913-579-6115 or davids@missionadelante.org. It would be preferable if you could drop them off, but pick-up may be possible.
  • Future volunteers! If you've been considering volunteering with one of our outreach programs, the next few weeks are a great time for you to come observe the program of your choice: Bhutanese or Latino kids Bible study or adult ESL class. Our next trimester, and the time you could come on board, begins in January.
Upcoming dates:
  • Thanksgiving break: No LIT the week of November 22. No Bhutanese outreach activities on Tuesday, November 23; no Latino outreach activities on Thursday, November 25. Mission Adelante office closed Wednesday, November 24-Saturday, November 27.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Mobilized to Serve

Written by Jason Schoff

"Serving immigrants to Christ and mobilizing them to serve" has been our mission statement since the beginning of Mission Adelante in 2005. Not only does this communicate our heart for people to come to know Christ, it also emphasizes the importance of them growing in service for the kingdom.

For the past two years, three of our Latino church families have stepped in to help Molly Merrick staff our resource center every Saturday morning. This translates into coming early on Saturdays, cleaning and straightening the shelves, and befriending those in need with prayer. These small costs end up paying huge dividends when most of the families in need come back multiple times, no doubt due to the kindness and affection they experience. We often see them return with items they would like to donate to other families in need. What a fun sight to see!

Our resource center can better serve the needs of our immigrant community because of these few Latino volunteers who take part in serving and suggesting ways to best meet the needs of our neighbors around Mission Adelante.

Would you or your church be willing to do a winter coat and clothing drive? We are quickly approaching a season of cold weather during which we will be addressing needs of the Latino and Bhutanese communities. Please contact Jason or Molly if you interested in helping meet this need at jasons@missionadelante or mollym@missionadelante.org .

In other news:
  • David & Holly Stetler and big sister Anna welcomed baby Isaac Michael into their family on October 24. Everyone is doing well.
  • The Leaders In Training pre-teen girls got together Saturday night for a fun time organized by our new Kids Adelante Intern, Courtney Colin. They played relay games, watched a movie, and studied the Bible.
  • Brooke Coon, our new Latino Kids Ministry Coordinator and other volunteers took 11 Latino Teens to Shawnee Mission Park last Saturday for hiking, a cook-out, Bible study and a bonfire.
Prayer needs:
  • "The Art of Growing in Christ" is a series of training workshops for our Latino church members about learning how to disciple others. Please pray for those that attended the initial workshop last night to respond to the challenges that were presented.
  • Please continue to join us in praying for God's presence and guidance for a mom in our community that has been separated from her family for a number of months.
  • Please pray for peace for Bhutanese immigrant families who are encountering difficulties related to adjusting to life in a new country, and for wisdom for those of us ministering to them.
Current needs:
  • Kids' and adults' winter coats, outerwear, and shoes to stock our resource center. The arrival of cold weather in Kansas City has found many families in our neighborhood unprepared.
  • Beds, couches, tables, and chairs for newly arrived Bhutanese refugee families. Please contact David Stetler at 913-579-6115 or davids@missionadelante.org. It would be preferable if you could drop items off, but pick-up of items may be possible.
Upcoming dates:
  • Thanksgiving break: No LIT the week of November 22. No Bhutanese outreach activities on Tuesday, November 23; no Latino outreach activities on Thursday, November 25. Mission Adelante office closed Wednesday, November 24-Saturday, November 27.