Multicultural Leaders Emerging!

Eleven leaders from Mission Adelante attended the Christian Community Development.conference

by Jarrett Meek, Founder/Pastor/Executive Director

How do we know we if we are fulfilling our mission?  One of the most significant indicators is when we see our disciple-making efforts give rise to emerging leaders from within our community.  The development of immigrant leaders is not only a vital sign of missional life for our ministry, but is also critical to the ongoing health of our community.  We are seeing new fruit as multicultural leaders are rising up!  

In September eleven leaders from Mission Adelante, representing four different countries traveled together to New Orleans to join up with people from other urban ministries from across the U.S, at the Christian Community Development Association’s national conference.  A few Americans, a Cuban, two Nepalis, and two Mexicans were part of our multicultural group who grew together as friends and leaders during the trip.  These kinds of equipping events, where our leaders can go deeper with each other and with people from other places, provide a wider perspective on Christian ministry and disciple-making as it’s lived out in other contexts.  The CCDA conference was a huge encouragement for our team.

Our summer Internship experience took a new twist this year as well.  Instead of bringing in college students for an internship in cross-cultural ministry, we created a new internship experience for four Latino teens from our neighborhood.  For one of these young leaders, Edgar Soriano, the Summer Internship has turned into a one-year internship opportunity, as he pursues further training in ministry.  As our long-term investment in leaders from our neighborhood continues forward, we are praying that in 2014 we will be able to hire our first full-time immigrant staff members to serve with Mission Adelante.

A Unique Matching Gift Opportunity for 50 Donors!

We are launching a new giving fund to create an avenue for donors to help us hire new staff members from our community.  We are calling this new fund the “Community Leaders Fund”. To help get us started, a generous donor has offered to supplement EACH new monthly commitment to the “Community Leaders Fund” (at least $25/month) with a $1000 one-time gift (up to a total of $50,000). In other words, your new monthly commitment to the Community Leaders Fund gets a $1000 bonus added to it!  Now that’s high impact!  Hiring staff members from our own community will be a huge step forward for us in living out our mission!

Go to missionadelante.org/give and choose the "Community Leaders Fund"!

The Home: Where Love and Brokenness Meet

by Jarrett Meek, Pastor/Executive Director

This morning I called my 13 year-old daughter over to the couch for some "snuggle time" before she went off
to her science class.  I hugged her tight and remembered when she was 2 weeks old.  I told her how much I love her and that I'm glad she's my daughter.  Last Thursday the scene was a little different.  I was frustrated with my 10 year-old son.  He had spent an hour doing three math problems (easy ones) and I was tired of having to stay on him constantly to get him to stay focused.  I "raised my voice" at him.

Home is where the heart is.  There's something special about home.  It's where we feel most ourselves, where there's every human emotion, where we're surrounded by things that express who we really are, it's where we rest, where we don't wear any masks, where the good, the bad and the ugly exist together.  My home is no exception.

At Mission Adelante we do church in homes, right where love and brokenness meet.  Last week I spent some time reflecting on the day when Jesus visited Matthew's home.  Matthew, as the scriptures tell us, was a tax collector.  Tax collectors were no more popular in Jesus' day than they are today.  Jesus met Matthew when he was at work, collecting taxes at some sort of a toll booth.  But the relationship didn't stay there, it went straight to Matthew's home.  We're taken to a party at Matthew's house;  Jesus, and several of his followers, Matthew and his friends, food, maybe music, possibly wine, and a few uninvited guests (religious authorities).  Matthew and his friends were not the religious type.  In fact the religious people rejected them as "sinners".  But on this day, Jesus was there to spend time with them, not in the temple where religiosity could cover reality, not in the public square where appearances could be easily maintained, but right in Matthew's home, where no masks were worn, where Matthew was Matthew and his friends were themselves.  Picture the scene: Jesus teaching, everyone eating and talking, Matthew excited for his friends to get to hang out with Jesus, real people sharing life and having a personal encounter with the living God.  Church at Matthew's house! (Matthew 9:9-13)

When we gather for church in homes, many of these same elements are there; humble homes, sinners and real people without masks, people from many places, food, friends, and of course, Jesus.   In one of our Latino house churches you might expect to eat homemade tamales, sing songs in Spanish with a lot of clapping and even dancing.  In a Bhutanese house church you might be sitting on a rug on the floor with candles lit around the room, singing songs in Nepali.  Dancing might also be part of the equation.

Everyone has a role to play in this koinonia (participatory community); preparing food, leading worship, opening your home, teaching the kids, praying, leading or contributing to the discussion of scripture, etc.  Think of Acts 2:42.  "And the devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer." This kind of community is not flashy.  In fact it often feels disorganized and inefficient.  On many occasions we're together for three hours.  But there's something beautiful about Jesus in a home with real people, laughing, crying, praying learning, eating, singing and sharing life.   Home; it's right where love meets our broken reality.  And it's one of the most common contexts Jesus chose in his disciple-making mission.

English Class at the Pharmacy

Written by Lauren Timberlake, Bhutanese ESL Director

Healthcare is right at the top of the list of immigrant needs. Imagine arriving here with no language skills and lots of medical issues. We want to help meet those needs at Mission Adelante. Bhutanese English classes emphasize practical topics like healthcare because basic English skills are essential to everyday life for refugee families.

Volunteers Joe and Judy Lemaster are skilled healthcare workers who love Nepali people enough to move to Kansas City to serve them better. Joe is a KU Med Center doctor who specializes in refugee health care. He is the primary care physician for a large number of the Bhutanese refugees in Kansas City. Judy is a nurse, and has spent many hours helping refugees make, keep and understand their medical appointments. Both the Lemasters speak fluent Nepali (the language of the Bhutanese refugees) from years spent as missionaries in Nepal.

The Lemasters are constantly helping refugees, but last month Judy taught a special unit on health care to our middle level English class. She covered basic first aid, doctor appointments, and over the counter medicine. To finish the unit, the class visited a local pharmacy.

Students and conversation partners scoured the aisles together, looking for healthcare and hygiene items. They read signs, discussed prices, and reviewed how to use various over the counter medications.

Field trips are an excellent way for us to help bridge the gap from classroom learning to real life applications. When students can practice looking for medicines with a conversation partner, they’re more likely to have the confidence to visit a pharmacy on their own. This helps each immigrant family, and it helps our community by avoiding emergency room visits. Our English students are blessed to have so many talented and committed volunteers giving their time to help them navigate life in Kansas City.

In other news:

• Thanks so much for your prayers for our Hindu friends during this festival season. The biggest festival of the year is now past, and the Lord used it in many ways. Please continue to pray that our friendships with the Bhutanese community would continue to deepen and that the truth of Jesus would shine through them.
• Ten Bhutanese ESL conversation partners met together this week to brainstorm ways to help students improve literacy skills. We are so thankful to have such talented and committed volunteers.
• Our Leaders in Training are learning about WWI this year. We shared a very sweet time of prayer on Veteran’s Day, honoring those that have sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy.

Prayer needs:

• We have engaged a new Realtor to help us with our building search for Adelante Thrift. Please pray that this new partnership would lead us to the perfect space.

Current needs:

• Our LIT students earn "Mission Adelante Money" for exemplary behavior and doing extra academic work, which they can spend at a Reward Store once each trimester. We're in need of items to stock that store! Ideas include sports equipment, craft supplies, room decorations, or any small item that would appeal to 8-14 year old students. If you would like to contribute, please contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org or Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• The highlight of the year for each LIT student is our overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge in December! How would you like to bless all of their hard work in a very practical way? We are looking for a small group or an individual to purchase pizza for our lunch (for 30 kids and 20 adults) on Saturday, December 7 and deliver/have it delivered to Great Wolf.  If you are interested, please email Megan at meganm@missionadellante.org.

Important dates:

• Final Observation Day: Thursday, November 7 (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!
• Kansas Bhutanese Concert: Saturday, November 16th from 4pm-10pm at Wyandotte High School (2501 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, KS 66102) Everyone is invited to come and celebrate Nepali Culture at this exciting event sponsored by Mission Adelante and coordinated by our dear friend Ram Rai. It will feature comedians, cultural dances, and ethnic food. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the RG Asian Store (101 S 18th St, Kansas City, KS 66102), or at the door of the event. Don’t miss this chance to learn about and celebrate the rich culture of the Bhutanese Refugee community!
• Fall Break: No Programs Tuesday, November 26-Saturday, November 30.
• Latino Christmas Party: Saturday, December 14 at 5:30.  Bethany Community Center (1120 Central Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66102). Everyone is invited! Please invite anyone you know who is interested in learning more about Mission Adelante or possibly volunteering in the future!
• Bhutanese Christmas Party: Saturday, December 14 from 4:00-8:00. First Baptist Church (2900 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66102). Everyone is invited! Please invite anyone you know who is interested in learning more about Mission Adelante or possibly volunteering in the future!

Egg-cellent Innovation

Written by Kristen Maxwell, Bhutanese Kids Outreach Director

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines innovation as "a new idea, device or method."  At Mission Adelante innovation is even one of our core values:

Innovation: We believe that urban, multicultural ministry requires fresh ideas and new approaches.  We will promote a culture of innovation that encourages creative solutions for unique circumstances.

 It is only natural that we would encourage the kids we work with to innovate!  This past month the students who are a part of the Bhutanese Leaders in Training program have been studying physics.  We have been learning about how aerodynamics, wind-resistance and weight affect moving objects.  We wrapped up our study by building “egg-ships” designed to help a raw egg survive a drop from a truck boom raised to 30 feet! 

 The students were very innovative in their designs, we had everything from parachutes, to cotton ball cushioning, to helium balloons!  Of the 16 eggs dropped, all but 4 survived! 

 We pray that teaching kids to think critically and to devise creative solutions in academics will spill over in to the rest of their lives, and they will become better equipped to think creatively about the challenges that come their way as they grow! 

Special thanks to Adam Maxwell and his Time Warner Cable bucket truck for coming out to drop the “egg-ships”.

In other news:

• One of the Bhutanese English classes took a field trip to CVS last week. It was a great learning experience and a fun way for conversation partners to connect outside the classroom.

• Jason Schoff and a group of evangelical pastors from Kansas traveled to Washington, DC last week to join business, agricultural and technology leaders in advocating for immigration reform and they met with six different Congressional leaders.  You can read more here.

Prayer needs:

• Pray for Alberto, a member of our Latino church, who may need to have knee replacement surgery and is concerned about the implications.
• As we dream about the upcoming year, we're setting goals and reviewing budgets. Please join us in praying that God would meet our financial needs and make way for breakthrough in KCK and the lives of our friends.

Current needs:

• Our LIT students earn "Mission Adelante Money" for exemplary behavior and doing extra academic work, which they can spend at a Reward Store once each trimester. We're in need of items to stock that store! Ideas include sports equipment, craft supplies, room decorations, or any small item that would appeal to 8-14 year old students. If you would like to contribute, please contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org or Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• With the recent weather change, we are starting to collect men's,women's and children's winter coats. If you have coats to contribute, please contact Molly Merrick at mollym@missionadelante.org.

Important dates:

• Observation Days: Tuesday, November 12 (Bhutanese)/Thursdays, November 7 & 14 (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!
• Kansas Bhutanese Concert: Saturday, November 16th from 4pm-10pm at Wyandotte High School (2501 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, KS 66102) Everyone is invited to come and celebrate Nepali Culture at this exciting event sponsored by Mission Adelante and coordinated by our dear friend Ram Rai. It will feature comedians, cultural dances, and ethnic food. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the RG Asian Store (101 S 18th St, Kansas City, KS 66102). Don’t miss this chance to learn about and celebrate the rich culture of the Bhutanese Refugee community!
• Fall Break: No Programs Tuesday, November 26-Saturday, November 30.