Building Community at Christian Community Development Association Conference

Written by Drew Hammond, Bhutanese Ministry Intern

Two weeks ago, a team of 12 from Mission Adelante traveled to New Orleans to attend the 2013 Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) National Conference. There were 5 staff members, 2 members from our Bhutanese community, 2 from our Latino community, and 3 volunteers. The trip was an incredible time for us to build friendships, worship together, and come together to collaborate on how we can transform  Kansas City, Kansas together.

Ram Rai is a friend of mine who traveled to the CCDA conference with us. Ram is a Bhutanese refugee who has resettled in Kansas City and now owns RG Asian Store, a neighborhood grocery store that caters to the needs of Asians.  The following is an interview with about his experience at the conference.

Question: What was your favorite New Orleans experience?

Answer: The city of New Orleans itself was very interesting to me, I had never been there before so experiencing that culture was really great. Also, the French Quarter reminded me of cities in Nepal, we even met some people from Nepal which made me feel very welcome in New Orleans.

Question: What is best thing you learned from CCDA Conference?

Answer: The best thing I learned from the CCDA Conference was being on mission together. Specifically to incarnate the love of Jesus so our neighbors can come to follow Him with us.

Question: What was the most meaningful part of the trip to CCDA?

Answer: Being a brother in a large community of Jesus followers. Also, learning how to encourage and train children and students in the ways of Jesus.

Question: Is there anything from the conference that you are excited to implement in Kansas City, KS?

Answer: I received a lot of knowledge and training on how to give a workshop about the negative effects of drugs, alcohol, and negative thinking. As a matter of fact, I am planning a workshop right now.

Question: Do you have any prayer requests for our readers?

Answer: My biggest prayer request after CCDA is that I will continue to be encouraged and blessed as I reach out to my neighbors.

In other news:

• The Latino Leaders in Training (LIT) program launched last Wednesday with 14 kids! We are excited to begin growing together as a family in our pursuit of Christ!
• All of the volunteers who will be serving in our programs this fall met together at Mission Adelante on Monday night for fellowship and to plan for the trimester. One of the highlights of the evening was the level of ownership our community took is sponsoring the night. There was a multicultural worship band, and desserts were provided by lots of our community members. It was great to welcome our volunteers together as a community.
• The Bhutanese Outreach had a great fall trimester launch on Tuesday. We're eager for the fall launch of the Latino Outreach tomorrow. We are excited for a new season with new friends at Mission Adelante.

Current needs:

• A refrigerator. Please contact Jason at jasons@missionadelante.org if you have one to give.