Bringing Outsiders In

Written by Hannah Hume, Bhutanese Outreach Intern

This summer, the interns spend every Saturday evening together.  We call it Intern Family Night, and it’s a chance to relax and to bond.  Last Saturday, we wound up playing board games at IHOP.  If you haven’t visited an IHOP late at night, take it from me, the people that gather there tend to be a little rough and quirky. 

I began to observe our fellow restaurant patrons.  There were teens, college students, and people in their fifties and sixties; they were in different phases of their lives, and all wearing different styles of apparel. They seemed to be the types that live at the fringes of society, perhaps not widely accepted by others. To be completely honest, I found myself not merely people watching, but judging them. I had no interest in getting to know them, and loving them never crossed my mind. I think if we are all perfectly honest my response is not an uncommon one. However, as I've thought more about them, I've been reminded that these are just the sort of people with whom Jesus spent most of his time.  In that day, it was the prostitutes, tax collectors, and fishermen that were widely disliked. But Jesus loved the outsiders.

At Mission Adelante we are all about making outsiders insiders. We want to help those who don't speak English, and don't fit into America's culture become insiders in both America and in the Kingdom of God. What about outsiders in our own culture though? Jesus calls us to love both the foreigner in our midst, and the “native” that just doesn't seem to fit in.  If we want to be a people marked by love and community, who live like Jesus did, our value of bringing outsiders in should extend to all outsiders.  Bhutanese and Latino immigrants are the outsiders in my backyard this summer.  Who are the outsiders in yours?

This week's news:

• Support the Latino Teens' effort to raise funds to go to summer camp!  They're holding a Bake Sale this Thursday between 8 and 9 p.m. (immediately following ESL and Kids Adelante) at our building.  We're hoping to take 15 to 20 teenagers to Point 11 Camp on Table Rock Lake in July.  It will be the first time for any of them to experience summer camp.  You can scholarship one teenager's trip to camp for $200.
• We really want to thank Bill Tiemann and his friend, Dallas, from Blue Valley Baptist Church, for coming up and doing some projects around our building at the end of last week.
• We also want to express a big "Thank You!" to the team of about 25 from Shoal Creek Community Church that came down to KCK to lead an outreach Summer Kids' Camp three evenings last week.  The activities were very well organized and smoothly executed, and the kids really had fun!
• We're into our third and final week of Kids' Summer Camp, led by a team of about 30 high-schoolers and adults from Emmanuel Baptist Church.  They kicked-off the week on Monday night with a cook-out and an outdoor movie projected onto a big screen.  About 50 neighborhood kids came, and many of their families stayed for the fun, too.
• Our interns, Lindsey Bokach, Drew Hammond, Hannah Hume, and Blake Johns, are really doing great rolling with the punches of ministry as life, and of jumping in to do whatever is asked of them.  Recently, this has included competing in a pie-eating contest, and driving bus routes to pick up immigrants for our activities.

Prayer needs:

• Please pray for a young boy in our Latino community who is struggling with deep emotional and behavioral issues.
• Pray for growth in the depth of relationships and community among our staff and volunteers living in KCK.
• Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association, is visiting our ministry today through Saturday.  Please pray for the time we spend with him to be productive, enlightening, and inspiring.
• Finally, a Latino family in our community has been deep in turmoil for a couple of months.  Please ask the Lord to draw their hearts to Him, and to cause them to begin diligently seeking Him.

Current needs:

• Thank you, everyone who has donated items to our Resource Center, which distributes clothing, household goods, and food to immigrants in need.  If you have items to donate, please contact Molly at  913-281-6274 x5 in advance to schedule a time to make the drop-off.  Calling ahead will help us tremendously to keep things orderly around here!
• Paper grocery sacks for resource distribution in our Resource Center.  Why not request, "Paper, please" the next time you go to the store, and bring them up with you the next time you come to the neighborhood?  Please contact Molly Merrick at 913-281-6274 x5 to tell her when you'll be bringing some.
• Wireless Internet-capable laptops for use by our Leaders In Training.
• A twin bed frame and a washing machine have been requested in our Resource Center.  Please contact Molly Merrick at 913-281-6274 x5.

Important dates:

• Saturday, June 30, 9:00-12:00 It's not too late to register for the Adelante Missions Institute Seminar  this Saturday at Mission Adelante featuring Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association!  There is a cost of $10 per person, which includes a continental breakfast.  Register here.
• Week of July 2 Summer break; no programs
• July 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, August 2 Observation nights.  Ever wondered what goes on here on a typical evening of programming?  Come on up on a observation night and find out!  Tuesday evenings are Bhutanese outreach, Thursday evenings are Latino outreach.  Come to 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102.

This Week at Mission Adelante

This week's news:

• Meeting in our house churches is the highlight of the week for many of our staff members.   One Bhutanese and three Latino house churches meet weekly, and we continue to rejoice as we see the Lord awakening more of our immigrant friends to pursue Him.  We also rejoice in the believers' maturing in faith.
• We want to express a big "Thank You!" to the thirty middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, and staff from Christ Church Anglican that came up to KCK to lead an outreach Summer Kids' Camp three evenings last week.  Record numbers of neighborhood kids turned out for it.
• We're into our second week of Kids' Summer Camp this week, led by a team of about 25 from Shoal Creek Community Church.  The kids have really enjoyed their creative presentation of lessons, and crafts that have affirmed the great value that the Lord has for children.
• Thank you, Joy Shiner and Gayla Benson for providing the Action Bibles we needed for our Bhutanese Children's Outreach!  These Bibles are particularly engaging for the fourth- to sixth-grade boys with whom we use them.

Prayer needs:

• Please continue to pray for healing Lauren Timberlake as she recovers from eye surgery and a broken foot.  Her doctors are pleased with her progress, but the recovery process is long.
• Pray for the evening Kids' Camps going on this week and next week here at Mission Adelante.  Pray for the kids to have fun, be safe, and most of all to see the Lord more clearly through the activities.
• Lift the Board of Directors in prayer as they have a meeting this Sunday to continue planning for the future of Mission Adelante.  Ask God to grant them wisdom and direction, that their decisions would bring Him greater glory.

Current needs

• Thank you, everyone who has donated items to our Resource Center, which distributes clothing, household goods, and food to immigrants in need.  If you have items to donate, please contact Molly at  913-281-6274 x5 in advance to schedule a time to make the drop-off.  Calling ahead will help us tremendously to keep things orderly around here!
• Paper grocery sacks for resource distribution in our Resource Center.  Why not request, "Paper, please" the next time you go to the store, and bring them up with you the next time you come to the neighborhood?  Please contact Molly Merrick at 913-281-6274 x5 to tell her when you'll be bringing some.
• Wireless Internet-capable laptops for use by our Leaders In Training.
• Kids flip-flops of various sizes in neutral colors.  Please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• Monetary contributions to offset the cost of replacing four laptops that were stolen from our building during a break-in the weekend before last.  (We've already purchased replacements.)  Contributions may be mailed to Mission Adelante, 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102, and "laptop replacement" indicated in the memo line.

Important dates:

• Saturday, June 30, 9:00-12:00 Adelante Missions Institute Seminar at Mission Adelante featuring Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association.  There is a cost of $10 per person, which includes a continental breakfast.  Register here.
• Week of July 2 Summer break; no programs
• July 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, August 2 Observation nights.  Ever wondered what goes on here on a typical evening of programming?  Come on up on a observation night and find out!  Tuesday evenings are Bhutanese outreach, Thursday evenings are Latino outreach.  Come to 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102.

Finishing Strong: Leaders in Training Go Canoeing

Written by Megan McDermott, Latino Children's Ministry Director
      
There's something about the wildness and unpredictability of nature that awakens something in all of us.   I think it returns us to a place of simplicity and purity, giving us a faint glimmer of what the Garden might have been like. Being out on a river with the tree branches swaying and the gentle lapping of  the waves, and seeing trees and rocks that were formed long before we were, reminds us of our smallness in comparison to God's grandeur.  It reminds us that we are part of God's glorious and infinitely lovely creation.  We are part of something bigger than just our own selves.

One of the biggest struggles the children in our community face is finding where they fit in.  They strive and push to find a place where they can find their significance and worth.   The Lord has blessed our community with a small group of twelve children that we have had the privilege to walk with in discipleship,conflict, love, and laughter this year in our Leaders in Training Program.  As we chose the best way to reward them for their incredible efforts this year, we thought about their struggle to belong.    We wanted to offer them an opportunity to get completely out of their comfort zone and really see the glory of the Lord in their surroundings.  Often, with the environment they live in on a daily basis, it is a fight to see the Lord at all.  After a great deal of prayer, we decided to take them on a weekend canoe trip to the North Fork River in Caulfield, Missouri.   

Thirty of us packed into cars and drove the five hours down to our campsite. This was many of the kids' first experience camping and sleeping outside.   We cooked over a campfire, made s'mores, and saw the majesty of the starry night sky in all its glory.  There were also many unexpected adventures and blessings along the way in which we saw the Lord intervene in mighty ways: car trouble, overturned canoes, communication between partners, snakes falling INTO canoes, and even a mini waterfall!  When we prayed for safety, we never imagined how powerfully God would answer those prayers!  

It wasn't until the end of our journey that I believe I really got to see the Lord's heart for His children and why this particular trip was so important.  Like many other outdoor activities, once you begin, you have to finish.  This is often a challenging concept for our kids because when things get tough in their lives in school, with friends, or at home, they tend to give up.  God was so faithful in not just giving us challenging circumstances to overcome on this trip, but also helping us all push through to finish together, as a family.  There is something very powerful about starting and finishing something as a group. It builds confidence in a truly necessary way.   I believe this trip will be more than just a fond memory of a great weekend out in the wilderness for the children.  I think it will continue to echo throughout their lives as a moment where they didn't just try, they succeeded.


In other news:

• A team in the ballpark of 50 volunteers from Westside Family Church, Heartland Community Church, Grace Church, and Life Church, Olathe spent the What If The Church Serve Day with us last Saturday.  The things that were accomplished were far beyond our expectations.  We want to give a special thanks to John Craiglow, our site coordinator, for using his skill, his passion for the Kingdom, and his servant leadership to plan for and lead very well on Saturday.
• Eighteen kids, ages 12 and up, finished the week of Free Wheels for Kids,  a new program that, in the course of one week, taught them bike maintenance and road safety.  They each earned a bike that they helped to refurbish, and celebrated the completion of the class with a ten mile group ride.  We at Mission Adelante were glad to partner with Ben Alexander and Free Wheels for Kids.
• Around thirty middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, and staff from Christ Church Anglican have come up to KCK the past two evenings for our first week of Summer Kids' Camp.  The camp has been going really well, and 109 neighborhood kids turned out the first night!  We're eager for our final evening with the Christ Church Anglican team tonight.
• Kristen Maxwell, Bhutanese Children's Ministry  Director, was privileged to share this week about Mission Adelante with 500 kids participating in Westside Family Church's VBS.  Kristen got to expand their definition of "missionary" by explaining how the Lord has brought people of other ethnicities here who need to hear about Jesus, and how she and the rest of our team have dedicated ourselves to the task.

Prayer needs:

• Please keep Lauren Timberlake, Bhutanese ESL Director, in your prayers.  In the course of just a few days, Lauren broke her foot and then underwent emergency surgery a week ago today for a detached retina.  The Lord has given her a faster-paced recovery from the surgery so far than what is normal.  Please pray for continued supernatural healing, and continued patience with that process for Lauren and her husband Drew.
• Pray for the evening Kids' Camps going on this week and the next two weeks here at Mission Adelante.  Pray for the kids to have fun, be safe, and most of all to see the Lord more clearly through the activities.
• Please lift the members of our partner ministry in Cuba up in prayer; pray especially for their financial stability.

Current needs

• Kids flip-flops of various sizes in neutral colors.  Please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• Monetary contributions to offset the cost of replacing four laptops that were stolen from our building during a break-in the weekend before last.  (We've already purchased replacements.)  Contributions may be mailed to Mission Adelante, 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102, and "laptop replacement" indicated in the memo line.
• Paper and plastic grocery sacks for resource distribution in our Resource Center.  Why not gather up all the sacks that have accumulated in your kitchen and bring them up with you the next time you come to the neighborhood?  Please contact Molly Merrick at 913-281-6274 x5 to tell her when you'll be bringing some.
• Eight copies of The Action Bible, which are used in our Bhutanese children's ministry.  If you would like to provide some of the Bibles, please contact Kristen Maxwell at 913-281-6274 x9.  If you like, you can have them shipped directly to us at: Mission Adelante, c/o Kristen Maxwell, 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102.

Important dates:

• Saturday, June 30, 9:00-12:00 Adelante Missions Institute Seminar at Mission Adelante featuring Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association.  There is limited space, so we've offered priority registration to our staff and volunteers, and are now opening registration to a wider group.  There is a cost of $10 per person, which includes a continental breakfast.  Register here.
• Week of July 2 Summer break; no programs
• July 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, August 2 Observation nights.  Ever wondered what goes on here on a typical evening of programming?  Come on up on a observation night and find out!  Tuesday evenings are Bhutanese outreach, Thursday evenings are Latino outreach.

When God Transforms Tragedy into Purpose

Written by David Stetler, Bhutanese Outreach Director


In the early 80's a twenty-two year old Nepali man experienced something that would change his, and his fourteen year old pregnant wife's, lives forever.  That young man fell out of a tree and was paralyzed from the waist down. He would live the rest of his life in a wheel chair in Nepal as an outcast.

But God had different plans for this young man, whom we'll call BK.  Through this one event God gave BK, literally, a front row seat into the miserable life of the unjust treatment experienced by disabled people in Nepal and the Lord began to use him and his family to love and care for the disabled of Kathmandu.  

Thirty years later we see the power of the gospel piercing through this family and their community of lepers, disabled and sick people that make up an amazing expression of God's love and compassion.  The SD Church, by the mighty hand of God and His amazing grace, have reversed the seemingly inevitable fate of these people: they no longer identify themselves as outcasts, but as children of the living God!

SD helps these sick and disabled people, who come to Kathmandu from surrounding villages, navigate the complexities of the health system so that they will get the right treatment.  SD cares for their health needs and shares the love and truth of Jesus.  They are physically cared for and discipled in the way of Jesus, and some are trained to be leaders sent back to their villages to gather and shepherd new believers in their hometowns to participate in the mission of God in restoring the broken places in this world.  

We met the SD community at about the same time that we began to minister to the Bhutanese here in Kansas City and it has been a constant honor to love them, support what they are doing, learn from them and hopefully encourage them. Last month we took a team to visit SD again and were encouraged by all that the Lord continues to do through them.  It's amazing to see a life seemingly destined for struggle and hardship being so full of joy and life.  This is only through the power of God Almighty who makes all things new and "bestows on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." (Isaiah 61)

In other news:

• The Leaders In Training canoe trip last weekend took the students out of their normal environment and created a context for the deepening of relationships and community.  The Lord answered our prayers for safe travel and safety on the North Fork River, and it was a fun time for everyone who went.
• Mission Adelante is partnering with Free Wheels for Kids, a new program that, in the course of one week, teaches kids ages 12 and up bike maintenance and road safety, and gives them the opportunity to earn a refurbished bike.  Fifteen kids, most from KCK, are participating, and Blake Johns, our Latino Children's intern, is getting to know them while he helps out.
• We're blessed by the increased volunteer role that Jacob Holland has assumed.  He's gone from leading a class in his home during past trimesters to coordinating student and volunteer participation in the Level One class this trimester, which is always the largest class.
• We're eager for the What If The Church Serve Day this Saturday!  We're looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones from metro churches and getting a few things from our "to do list" done!
• We had a break-in last Friday night, and four laptops used by administrative and ministry staff were stolen.  Thankfully, our alarm sounded, scaring away the burglar(s), and the police responded promptly.

Prayer needs:

• Please be in prayer for Lauren Timberlake, Bhutanese ESL Director, and her family.  Lauren broke her foot last weekend, and then during her routine eye exam yesterday, she was found to have a detached retina, and so she underwent emergency eye surgery today.  Lauren said, "It's a doozy of a surgery, so it may be a while until I'm back in the game."  Please pray for a speedy recovery, and for God's provision of help to care for Lauren's and her husband, Drew's, household in the meantime.
• Latino Children's Ministry Director Megan McDermott is extending invitations this week to kids that have been selected to participate in LIT during the upcoming school year. This group of kids receives spiritual mentoring, academic tutoring, and character development.  Pray for God to define Megan's vision for this year's program, and to guide her preparation throughout the summer.
• Praise God for providing the two Bhutanese teen girls' mentors we needed! 

Current needs:

• Monetary contributions to offset the cost of replacing the four stolen laptops.  (We've already purchased replacements.)  Contributions may be mailed to Mission Adelante, 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102, and "laptop replacement" indicated in the memo line.
• Someone to mow (with their own mower) our property (22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102) by this Monday.  Evening kids' camp begins this Tuesday and will be held outdoors in our soccer field.  Please contact  Sarah Winston at 913-749-7958.
• Paper and plastic grocery sacks for resource distribution in our Resource Center.  Why not gather up all the sacks that have accumulated in your kitchen and bring them up with you the next time you come to the neighborhood?  Please contact Molly Merrick at 913-281-6274 x5 to tell her when you'll be bringing some.
• Eight copies of The Action Bible, which are used in our Bhutanese children's ministry.  If you would like to provide some of the Bibles, please contact Kristen Maxwell at 913-281-6274 x9.  If you like, you can have them shipped directly to us at: Mission Adelante, c/o Kristen Maxwell, 22 S. 18th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102.

Important dates:

• Saturday, June 30, 9:00-12:00 Adelante Missions Institute Seminar at Mission Adelante featuring Noel Castellanos, CEO of Christian Community Development Association.  There is limited space, so we've offered priority registration to our staff and volunteers, and are now opening registration to a wider group.  There is a cost of $10 per person, which includes a continental breakfast.  Register here.
• Week of July 2 Summer break; no programs
• July 17, 19, 24, 26, 31, August 2 Observation nights.  Ever wondered what goes on here on a typical evening of programming?  Come on up on a observation night and find out!  Tuesday evenings are Bhutanese outreach, Thursday evenings are Latino outreach.