In the days leading up to our Christmas Eve service, I visited several community families in their homes to talk with them about their Christmas plans and to make sure they knew the details for our service. I found out that one young Latino couple and another single man didn't have any plans for Christmas Eve following our service. This seemed tragic, especially given that Latinos stay up past midnight on Christmas Eve celebrating with family and friends. What could I do? I was leaving early the next morning to join my family. I love to be involved in God's plan but sometimes He reminds me that I am not the main solution, others are.
Cynthia was the solution. God used Cynthia and her love for people and hospitality to make the night complete. When she found out these three friends would be going home without a party to attend, she extended an invitation. Maybe there was no room in the inn for Jesus nor was there room at other parties for Martin, Sindi and Michael, but Cynthia allowed these fellow believers that opportunity to join her family for tamales, posole, and other traditional Mexican foods. Cynthia is one of the bright spots in our ministry because she understands the importance of relationships to our discipleship efforts. It will be exciting to see her take other steps to lead in the year ahead.
Our Christmas Eve service was a wonderful end to our 2012 ministry season, but so much of what makes us excited happens outside of the big events when perhaps only God is watching.
In other news:
- The Mission Adelante staff enjoyed a restful and refreshing break spent with family and friends! Thank you for your prayers to that end. Most of us returned to the office reinvigorated (there's some illness about), and we're looking forward to diving into a new trimester.
Prayer needs:
- Please pray for our new volunteers as they come for orientation this Saturday. Pray that they would feel welcomed and encouraged by the opportunity to serve with us!
- Please pray for the Bhutanese Leadership team meeting on Sunday. Pray for ownership, direction, and vision for this team.
- We would love prayers for all of our outreach activities as they ramp back up over the next week, that the Lord would guide us to be His hands and feet to the community that we love and serve. Pray particularly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for smooth, stress free, and Spirit-filled days as our outreach programs launch for the spring trimester.
Other needs:
- Volunteers to serve once per week for the duration of the spring trimester, beginning next week (the week of January 14) and concluding the week of April 8:
- Two men and 1 woman who would be excited about forming discipling/mentoring relationships with Bhutanese teenagers through Bhutanese Teens Club on Tuesday evenings. Please contact Hannah Hume at hannahh@missionadelante.org.
- Volunteers who love kids and love Jesus to mentor Bhutanese kids ages 5-12 on Tuesday evenings. Specifically, two more men are needed. Please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
- Volunteers to mentor Latino kids through either Leaders In Training on Monday or Tuesday afternoons, or Kids Adelante outreach Bible study on Thursday evenings. Please contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org.
- Volunteers to help organize our Resource Center on Wednesday afternoons between 1 and 3 pm. The Resource Center provides food, clothing, and household items to immigrants in need of these items. Please contact Molly Merrick at mollym@missionadelante.org if you're available at that time.
- A dining table and chairs. If you have one available please contact Drew Hammond at drewh@missionadelante.org.
- Two twin beds, 1 queen bed, a sofa, and a kitchen table and chairs to seat 6 or 7 have been requested through our Resource Center. The Resource Center also needs inventory including new and gently used kitchen items, bedding, towels, and medium stuffed animals. Please contact Molly Merrick at mollym@missionadelante.org to set up a time to drop-off your donation. Please help us out by not leaving donations inside or outside our facility. Thanks.
- Small toys and trinkets (valued at about $1 each--ie Target dollar bins, or dollar store) to be added to our Kids Club prize box, which contains reward for excellent behavior during our Tuesday night program for kids ages 5-12. If you can help us out contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
- The Bhutanese and Latino LIT programs need a small group (or groups) to purchase pre-packaged, healthy, after-school snacks for the kids. We would be blessed to receive a couple months (@ 3 days/week) worth of snacks. Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org.
- Fifteen to twenty 8 GB flash drives for the Latino LIT students to use, preferably with a ring or another way to attach them to lanyards. Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org.
- Bhutanese and Latino kids' programs are in search of a gently used lamination machine to keep our frequently used materials usable for longer. Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org.
Important dates:
- Volunteer Orientation & Training--Saturday, January 12 @ 9:00-12:30 All volunteers should attend this training once at the beginning of serving with Mission Adelante. It's also a great way for someone to become familiar with Mission Adelante. If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more about what we do, and about our volunteer opportunities, please plan to attend/encourage him or her to attend this informative training.
- All Volunteer Huddle & Dessert--Monday, January 14 @ 6:30 p.m. We encourage everyone that will be volunteering with us during our spring trimester to attend so we can prepare for a great launch.
- Spring trimester programs launch--Week of January 14
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