We Are a Family!

Written by Kids Adelante Director Megan McDermott

Over the years, church has come to mean many different things to me. It has been a place of worship, a place to pray, a place to grow in fellowship with other believers, and an environment that invites the Holy Spirit to come and dwell. As we have begun the exciting new chapter of planting house churches within the Mission Adelante community, I was blessed to be able to open my home up to our Mission Adelante family for a few months.

A typical Sunday night for us begins with a potluck meal that allows everyone to contribute and fills us with yummy food as we catch up with each other. This is one of my most favorite times because we are able to invest in each other in a more intentional and relational way. Then, we are led in lively and reverent worship by David Coon, who is accompanied by Edgar, one of the many amazing teens in our community. As we dive into the Word together and explore, with our head (intellect), heart (spirit) and hands (will and actions) what we feel the Lord is saying, a lively discussion often breaks out as we share our individual interpretations. We end the night by splitting into small groups to share on a more personal level, how the passage has touched our hearts and more importantly, how we desire to live out what we have learned. I get to spend intentional, discipleship time with with the young women of our community and walk with them through the challenge of following the Lord in their teen years. This is an especially sweet time for me personally to reconnect with them and encourage them through the trials of their lives.

During the past few weeks, we have had the exciting blessing of our house church moving to one of the Hispanic homes! We pray that this move will allow more friends to join our church family. I have felt the Holy Spirit in a very tangible way during our Sunday night house church. It has felt like I am having a family reunion each Sunday complete with the joy, chaos, and love that only real family could bring. It has been beautiful to watch, as the weeks pass, how our community is becoming a real family!


In other news:

• I (Morgan, administrative staff member) am impressed over and over by the ways our ministry staff dedicated to kids and teens use the situations in the youth's lives to help them grow in maturity and personal responsibility.  Whether Megan McDermott inspiring our Leaders In Training to take ownership of their participation in the selective leadership development program, or Brooke & David Coon, Teens Adelante Leaders, mentoring two of the older teens that have begun dating, I am humbled (being a parent, myself), and inspired, as I hear about the many ways they steward so well their roles of influence over the next generation. 
• We are persistently thankful for the many volunteers (currently 177 of them!), both North American and immigrant, who take part in carrying out Mission Adelante's mission of serving immigrants to Christ and mobilizing them to serve.  Molly Merrick arrived at our Resource Center late on Saturday after having a flat tire to find it fully operating under the care of two immigrant ladies.

Prayer needs:

• Praise God!  He enabled us to stay within our 2011 budget, and provided year-end gifts exceeding our goal which made us eligible for a partial matching grant!  We praise Him for abundantly supplying for our needs!  On a related note, help us ask God to provide some more long-term donors, particularly for staff support.
• Thank you for praying over the past week for the Latino family for whom we petitioned prayer.  God has been active in their lives this week and has calmed the situation.  Please be in continued prayer that God will make the way for good communication and healing of relationships, and that the family will take advantage of resources being offered to them.
• Pray for peace in the adjustment period for three Bhutanese families that have recently arrived in Kansas City.  Pray for God to provide opportunities for Mission Adelante staff to make significant connections with them this month that will lead to lasting, trusting relationships.

Current needs:

• Two more Tuesday-evening volunteers for the Bhutanese Kids Club (contact Kristen at kristenm@missionadelante.org), and one more Wednesday afternoon male L.I.T.  volunteer (contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org).
• A locking 3 or 4 drawer filing cabinet.  Please contact Marla at marlah@missionadelante.org.
• Nonperishable food such as canned vegetables and soups, pasta, dry cereal, etc. to make available to families in need through our resource center.  Please contact Molly at 913-281-6274 x5 to arrange a time to drop off.)

Important dates:

• Summer Internship Application Deadline: February 15  Our summer internship combines practical missions experience in an urban context with mentoring and seminars on key topics relevant to ministry. This opportunity is perfect for the college or post-college person who is exploring a potential call to missions or urban ministry.  The internship lasts from May 26 until August 12.  To fill out the our interest form go to www.missionadelante.org/internform. You'll also find an attachment there with all the details.
• Observation Days: Tuesday, February 21 (Bhutanese)/Thursday, February 23 (Latino) 6:30-8:30  Have you wondered what all goes on around here on a typical evening of programming?  Here's your opportunity to come and see for yourself!  If these dates don't work for you, please contact info@missionadelante.org to schedule an alternate evening.

There and Back Again - A Himalayan Journey back to Kansas City

written by Mission Adelante Intern Hannah Hume


Two years ago, I got on a plane and headed to India. I had no clue what to expect. However, over the five months that I was there the Lord changed my heart and the course of my life forever. I worked in the Himalayan mountains with Nepali refugees, seeking to spread the gospel and plant churches. I loved it.  I loved the Nepalis. I loved church planting.  And I desperately wanted this people group, who lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world, to honor, worship and know the God who made the mountains they lived in.


When I returned to the states five months later, my heart felt broken. You would think I would have been excited to see my family and return to the comforts of American life, but I wasn’t. All I wanted was to go back. I had seen the Lord move in miraculous ways like you read about in the book of Acts. The Lord had put a  love for church planting and the Nepali people in my heart, and it felt like being among those people was where I needed to be. I didn’t understand why God had brought me back to Kansas City. Praying over, and seeking the answer to that question became the majority of my prayer life.


Then, about a year ago I stumbled across Mission Adelante through a link on a church website. I wasn’t familiar with who Mission Adelante or the Bhutanese refugees were. I just knew I wanted to serve in a cross cultural context, so I went to check it out. Upon arrival, I was shocked to hear the Bhutanese refugees speaking Nepali, the same language spoken by the people I worked with in India. I learned that the Bhutanese were ethnically Nepali, and nationally Bhutanese. The Lord had brought Nepali people to Kansas City!


Since that time, I have been serving among the Bhutanese of Kansas City, Kansas through Mission Adelante. When I got on that plane to India two years ago I never thought that I would end up back in Kansas City working with Bhutanese Refugees. When I returned to the states five months later I never would have dreamed that the Lord had a plan to fulfill his purposes for me in my own backyard. Its been a long, and at times frustrating, journey to get where I am today. However, I wouldn’t want the trek to look any different than how God planned it. God’s ways truly are higher than ours and He is faithful.


Now, I am setting out on a new adventure with Mission Adelante and the Bhutanese of Kansas City, KS. After serving with Mission Adelante as a volunteer for two trimesters, I am joining Mission Adelante as a year long intern. This new opportunity will help to fill a serious need for a person who can invest more time into the Teens Club program, and more importantly, into the teens themselves. The Bhutanese teen girls  need someone to come alongside them and help them navigate the trials of being a teenager in America. They are struggling with issues of identity, school, boys, etc. all while being in a totally new foreign environment, and attempting to understand and speak the language around them. Please join me in prayer as the Lord gives me opportunities to assist these girls in navigating these trials, and ultimately point them to Christ. He is the only one that can deal with their biggest need, which is a personal relationship with Him.



In other news:

• We had a great trimester launch last week and are amazed at the volume of relational ministry that our volunteer team of 177 individuals can accomplish!  That army is many times multiplied from the 25 volunteers that were serving at this time six years ago!
• A Bhutanese couple eagerly dedicated their newborn baby girl to Jesus last Saturday morning at the house church they're part of.  David Stetler, Director of Bhutanese Outreach, encouraged the new parents and the Bhutanese community to raise the little girl in Christian faith.  Worship the Lord for this evidence of the family's surrender to Jesus!
• We continue to be encouraged by both our Bhutanese and Latino friends' growing initiative in driving the house churches, in some cases such that Mission Adelante staff feel that we're being swept along by them!

Prayer needs:

• Please pray for the Lord to grant wisdom to the Bhutanese Outreach staff to know how to respond to a family of peace they've identified among the Bhutanese community of Kansas City.
• Pray for unity among the Leaders In Training students, and that they'll grow in their ability to work more like a family during this trimester.
• Pray for healing in the family of one of our teenage participants, and wisdom and discernment for Mission Adelante staff to help them keep walking forward.

Current needs:

• Two Bhutanese Kids Club volunteers on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30. Contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org or 913-281-6274x9.
• A male Leaders In Training tutor for Wednesday afternoons from 3:00 to 7:00. Contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org or 913-281-6274x2.
• Men's, children's, and babies' winter clothing to make available to families in our Resource Center.  Contact Molly Merrick at mollym@missionadelante.org or 913-281-6274x5 to arrange a time to drop off your donation.  Please do not leave donations without them being received by a Mission Adelante staff person.

Upcoming dates:

• Summer Internship Application Deadline: February 15  Our summer internship combines practical missions experience in an urban context with mentoring and seminars on key topics relevant to ministry. This opportunity is perfect for the college or post-college person who is exploring a potential call to missions or urban ministry.  The internship lasts from May 26 until August 12.  To fill out the our interest form go to www.missionadelante.org/internship. You'll also find an attachment there with all the details.
• Observation Days: Tuesday, February 21 (Bhutanese)/Thursday, February 23 (Latino) 6:30-8:30  Have you wondered what all goes on around here on a typically evening of programming?  Here's your opportunity to come and see for yourself!  If these dates don't work for you, please contact info@missionadelante.org to schedule an alternate evening.

Summer Internship in Cross-Cultural Ministry! Apply by February 15

Get your feet wet in cross-cultural ministry!  Our summer internship combines practical missions experience in an urban context with mentoring and seminars on key topics relevant to ministry.  This opportunity is perfect for the college or post-college person who is exploring a potential call to missions or urban ministry.  You will make a kingdom impact and you will learn a lot!  The internship lasts from May 26 until August 12.  Applications must be received by February 15.  For all the details about the summer internship, click here.  To fill out the our interest form and receive the application, click here.

Teens Adelante Retreat 2011

Eight teens and five adults went on an overnight retreat to Heartland Presbyterian Center in Parkville this December. For many of the teens, being apart from siblings and out of the urban core was a new and exciting opportunity. The teens did an indoor challenge course where they grew as a team, learned about the Body of Christ, and constructed a puzzle designed to encourage each of their unique roles. They also got to worship together, eat tacos, and play "sardines" until way past bedtime! We were amazed by the walls that the Lord took down, and the unification that He restored in these eight kids who have been the core for the rest of the newer teens who couldn't be present. Here's more from the perspective of volunteers Brian and Sandy Teachout:

What a blessing the volunteers received when we celebrated the 2011 retreat with the teens! We saw God's hand in it from the moment we arrived at the retreat center. But to continue this story we need to back up a couple of years. The teens we met then are not the transformed teens we know today. They were, to say the least, a bit rough around the edges, hurting, confused, and at times even disrespectful. But they were also very bright, curious, and full of life. These kids never stopped coming to our newly-organized Teens program when it started in 2010, and we have grown to love them since then.

Let's just say that this retreat was a milestone for our lives as well. The retreat was what we call the epitome or crescendo of all the months spent with the teens. It was a refreshing time of team work, personal responsibility to each other and a precious time of sharing our hearts. There was laughter, joy, comedy, quiet time, sharing and tears. Some of the tears were the fruit of sharing their hard times, their challenges, even their past frustrations in light of the difficult challenges they have lived as such young hearts. But the greatest blessings were the tears of joy as they opened their hearts to show how God had been part of their every experience as He is soothing their hurts and healing their scars. The joy of knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is touching a part very deep within them and their confession that Jesus is now the Savior of their lives gives us a joy that is inexpressible. The love we have for these wonderful, challenging teens has increased in our hearts to the point that we see them as our own and we know God has a wonderful plan for each of their lives. We know beyond a shadow of doubt that if any new volunteers join us in this awesome ministry they will fall in love with these kids and will find themselves hard put to leave it if they have to in the future! All we know is that our own lives have been enriched beyond what we could have imagined by having been part of their lives.

In other news:

• Thank you, Westside Family Church, for giving us a 19 passenger mini-bus.  It will be extremely helpful for facilitating transportation to ministry events!
• The second Latino house church has begun meeting in a Latino family's home.  Similarly, some of our Bhutanese friends are demonstrating an increase in their ownership and leadership of their own house church, with a 12-year-old girl who recently became a new believer leading the other kids last weekend.  These are exciting developments because we believe that the essence of the great commission is reproducing disciples and leaders who are capable of multiplying the work!
• We had a full house on Monday evening for our All Volunteer Huddle and Dessert, with a festive atmosphere.  The Bhutanese team launched our spring trimester on Tuesday evening, and the Latino team are eager to do the same this evening.

Prayer needs:

• Praise God for supplying many of the volunteers we needed for this trimester in a variety of ways, including full rosters of ESL conversation partners in both the Bhutanese and Latino outreaches!  Please help us pray for the volunteers that are still needed to round out the volunteer teams in the other programs.

Other needs:

• Dining room chairs
• Volunteers for the Spring Trimester, beginning immediately:
• Tuesday evenings:
• Bhutanese Kids Club: two volunteers needed
• Wednesday afternoons:
• Leaders In Training: male tutor needed
• Wednesday evenings:
• Latino Teens Adelante: female volunteer needed
• Flexible times:
• Resource center: several volunteers to help sort donations/organize needed
• Hats and gloves to make available in the Resource Center.
• 1" wide blue painters tape: several rolls.  We use it to define spaces on the carpet.

Important dates:

• February 15: Application deadline for summer internship.  Click here for information about the internship, and click here to fill our our Internship Interest Form if you would like to receive an application.