A Place to Belong

Written by Jenny Dunn, Bhutanese ESL Coordinator

Citizenship can mean much more than the right to vote or even travel internationally. To our students, citizenship is the chance to belong.  The Bhutanese refugees came from a place where they were neither wanted nor belonged.  Most of our students were born in Bhutan and were forced to leave and go back to their “homeland,” Nepal. However, since their ancestors lived in Bhutan for more than a hundred years, Nepal was no longer their home, either. They lived in refugee camps for nearly 20 years, but were never granted citizenship there. When the Bhutanese-Nepalis come to America, they hope for a brighter future, one in a place where they belong.

        

As our friends near the time when they can pursue citizenship (after 5 years of permanent residency), we have realized how hard it is for them to achieve. The exam requires them to know 100 civics facts and to read, write and speak English. The civics questions are about American history and government, and many natural-born U.S. citizens would not be able to answer them. In response to this need, we are excited to offer a citizenship class as part of our Bhutanese English program!  We focus on the reading, writing and interview portions, while our students practice the civics questions in another class offered through the Kansas Bhutanese Community. Please pray for our students as their exam dates approach. We eagerly anticipate the day when this community finally feels what it means to belong here as Americans!

Our Bhutanese ESL Citizenship class had a great turnout of interested students!

In other news:

• The Bhutanese teen ministry staff attended the Catalyst workshop last weekend at Heartland Church. They learned new things about making disciples, and enjoyed connecting with other people in ministry in Kansas City. We are grateful to our awesome partner churches for their support of our mission in KCK, as well as for their contribution to the Kingdom of God in their corners of the city.
• The Latino Outreach is excited to launch a kids' worship team. We will begin teaching the kids in our community interested in learning to play an instrument.
• Our Latino LIT (Leaders in Training) program launched our first Spanish class last Wednesday! It was a huge success and the kids loved it!  Although many of our kids have grown up speaking Spanish fluently, we are hoping to encourage improved Spanish literacy as well as the appreciation of their native culture.
• Immigrant entrepreneurs continue to be a catalyst in transforming our neighborhood and we celebrate that one of the local refugee owned businesses signed a lease for a new space to expand their grocery store and add a restaurant.

Prayer needs:

• Family relationships are often the context where our character flaws and sinfulness are most evident. Please pray for the marriages and families in KCK. Pray that Jesus would change and redeem hearts, and that His love would seep out into our most intimate relationships.
• Please pray for Alejandro, who is taking the lead role in one of our Latino house churches.  He is enthusiastic and willing!  Pray for God to give him the humility and courage to lead well and to remember to utilize the other leaders God has placed beside him.
• Pray for our national leaders who will be considering immigration reform this spring to have wisdom and courage with these important decisions.
• One of the Bhutanese families in our neighborhood requested prayer for work opportunities to make ends meet and healing from chronic pain for their mother. Please pray for this family to see Jesus working in their life.
• Please continue to pray for the Adelante Thrift Board as they consider two possible properties for the thrift store.

Current needs:

• Both Leaders in Training (our after-school tutoring program) and Kids Adelante (our Outreach Bible Study) are still looking for some dynamic volunteers to work with the kiddos. There are opportunities to volunteer Monday-Thursday.  Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org if you are interested.
• Foosball is one of the most popular games at our kids events any given week.  After multiple years of service our foosball tables have begun to show their age.  We are looking for a foosball table in good condition (all players and table legs in working order) to be used in our kids room every week.  If you have one you would be willing to donate please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.

Important Dates:

• Child Protection Meeting--Saturday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. All volunteers that serve the kids and youth of Mission Adelante should attend.

Thankful for Jason and Megan Schoff

by Jarrett Meek, Pastor/Executive Director

After more than eight years of faithful service, first as a volunteer, and then as a staff member, Jason Schoff will be transitioning from his role as Director of Latino Outreach as of January 31st. The Schoffs began their journey with Mission Adelante as a part of our initial launch team in 2005 and have served faithfully from that time until now.  Many times over the past eight years Jason and I have leaned on one another for support and have celebrated personal and ministry victories together.  Jason has been involved in every stage of Mission Adelante’s development as a positive team player and a significant contributor to our mission and vision.  We have experienced the ups and downs of building a ministry together.  It is an understatement to say that I will miss Jason’s steady and reliable hand as a ministry partner.

Mission Adelante as a ministry will also miss Jason’s leadership in many ways.  The direction he provided for the Latino ESL program, his house church, and as a part of the staff leadership team are significant contributions that cannot be overlooked.  His role on our staff as “big brother” to newer staff members is an intangible value he added on a day-to-day basis.  The practical, in-the-trenches support he offered to so many members of our community as they walked through difficult situations has made a real impact in many, many lives. While we will miss Jason's staff-level ministry involvement, we are grateful that Megan and Jason will continue as a part of our community even after his employment with Mission Adelante comes to an end.  It can often be difficult to transition from leader to participant in a ministry context, so we are praying that as a community we will know how to give them the space they need to make this transition effectively and in a way that is healthy for their family.

We are thankful for the critical role Jason and Megan have played in our ministry over the years, and for those of you who supported their ministry with Mission Adelante.  Please join us in praying for, encouraging, and supporting the Schoffs as they take their next steps as a family, and as Jason moves into a new phase vocationally.

In other news:

• We're presently giving special attention to equipping and empowering emerging Bhutanese teen leaders for ministry. On Thursday we had the first Student Leadership Team meeting of the year. We worshiped and prayed together and began planning for this trimester’s teens club program. The teens had lots of ideas to contribute, and are growing in their leadership skills.
• A refugee owned business in our neighborhood is seeking a new location to expand operations. The couple feels a clear calling from God to use their business as a tool for ministry and it is exciting to listen to their dreams for their community. God continues to build friendships in our community that turn into partnerships for Him!

Prayer needs:

• Please pray that God will provide enough work for the Bhutanese families in our community.
• As we finalize Teen leadership program participants, please pray that God will prepare parents' hearts to be willing to allow their children's participation in the program--especially the internship portion--and to see the value in it.
• Adelante Thrift continues to negotiate a possible space for the thrift store. Please continue to pray for the Adelante Thrift board as they seek God's wisdom and guidance during this important step.

Current needs:

• Both Leaders in Training (our after-school tutoring program) and Kids Adelante (our Outreach Bible Study) are still looking for some dynamic volunteers to work with the kiddos.  There are opportunities to volunteer Monday-Thursday.  Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org if you are interested.
• Foosball is one of the most popular games at our kids events any given week.  After multiple years of service our foosball tables have begun to show their age.  We are looking for a foosball table in good condition (all players and table legs in working order) to be used in our kids room every week.  If you have one you would be willing to donate please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• Bhutanese Kids Club could still use a few more helping hands!  We are in need of 3 more volunteers for our spring trimester.  If you are interested in learning more please contact Kristen Maxwell at Kristenm@missionadelante.org.

Important Dates:

• Child Protection Meeting--Saturday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. All volunteers that serve the kids and youth of Mission Adelante should attend.

The Making of a Leader

Written by Edgar Soriano, Latino Ministry Intern

When I was thirteen and I came to Mission Adelante for the first time, I didn't like it because there wasn’t anyone that I knew. As the days went by, I started to gain more comfort and trust in the volunteers. As I got older, I became involved with the teen’s group. I started growing more spiritually and figuring out talents about myself that I didn’t know I had. I grew closer to people and I found myself.

Last summer, I got involved in the Mission Adelante summer internship and it challenged me. It helped me grow in my relationship with God and my leadership role, which helped me help others. The internship gave me an opportunity to discover more of who Jesus had made me to be.  

Starting next week, Mission Adelante will be launching a new leadership training program for teens. This program is a year-long discipleship and training experience to help youth from our community reach their potential as disciples and leaders.  We will begin in January with 6-8 teen leaders and will build up to the summer with ongoing training, ministry together, and discipleship. We want to become a family who grows and does ministry together.  Those who do a good job during the spring will be invited to participate in the summer internship.  After the summer is over, the experience will continue with an emphasis on coaching the teen leaders toward discipling younger teens in our community.

I think this program is important because, like the internship did for me, it will give teens in our community an opportunity to find themselves and discover their identity and value in Christ. It will help them grow spiritually and learn new ways to help others.  It also will help the younger kids in our community to see teens that love Jesus and understand them because they have struggled with the same issues.

In other news:

• We're excited to offer Spanish classes to our Latino Leaders In Training for the first time this trimester to encourage literacy in their first language.
• The Bhutanese ministry is excited to offer a citizenship class this trimester. We will study civics and practice the English reading, writing and speaking skills required for refugees to pass the citizenship exam.

Prayer needs:

• Please pray for this trimester of programs, that the launch would be smooth, and that the Lord would continue to use these programs to bless our community.
• The Adelante Thrift building search has brought us to a potential location that holds many of the qualities we are looking for in our retail and operations site. Please pray for clear direction from God and wisdom for the Adelante Thrift Board during negotiations.
• Pray for the immigrant leaders in our house churches who are taking on new responsibilities to trust God and walk courageously.

Current needs:

• Bhutanese Kids Club could still use a few more helping hands!  We are in need of 3 more volunteers for our spring trimester.  If you are interested in learning more please contact Kristen Maxwell at Kristenm@missionadelante.org
• Both Leaders in Training (our after-school tutoring program) and Kids Adelante (our Outreach Bible Study) are still looking for some dynamic volunteers to love on the kiddos.  Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org if you are interested.  
• We are looking for a donated or low-cost projector with a protective cage to mount to the ceiling in the kids’ room.  If you are able to help, please contact Sarah Winston at sarahw@missionadelante.org
• We're looking for household furniture for a Bhutanese family that has recently moved to Kansas City, KS. The family needs the following items: 3 queen size mattresses or beds, 2 twin size mattresses or beds, a kitchen table and chairs, 3 dressers for clothes, 2 medium size couches, and a coffee table. If you would like to bless this family by donating any of these items, please contact Drew Hammond by email at drewh@missionadelante.org.
• Foosball is one of the most popular games at our kids events any given week.  After multiple years of service our foosball tables have begun to show their age.  We are looking for a foosball table in good condition (all players and table legs in working order) to be used in our kids room every week.  If you have one you would be willing to donate please contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• The Bhutanese ministry is in need of a 55 cup percolator for transporting and serving chia (Nepali tea) at various events. Please contact Jenny at jennyd@missionadelante.org if you know of one that's available.

Important dates:

• Spring trimester programs launch--this week!
• Child Protection Meeting--Saturday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. All volunteers that serve the kids and youth of Mission Adelante should attend.

Humility and Interdependence in Friendship

Written by Hannah Hume, Bhutanese Teens Coordinator

At Mission Adelante we believe that ministry is about relationships, and that relationships are meant to be two-way streets. Both parties should serve one another, teach one another, and grow together. Relationships that function like this require both participants to exercise humility.

I am often caught off guard by the humility that my refugee friends display. As a 23-year old white American female, I am quite naive about the suffering in this world. Sure, I'm fluent in English and I know how to navigate American structures surrounding things like obtaining a drivers license, for example. Really though, what right do I have to enter into the lives of my refugee friends, or to be a trusted counselor to many of my friends?

These men and women--my friends--are strong. They have raised families in refugee camps and have been forced to move around the world to a new country to start life over again. Many of them have been farmers, mothers, doctors, and school teachers, and now here they are, allowing a young, single woman--who only recently learned how to shovel snow out of her own driveway--into their world. It would be quite easy for them to take one look at me and write me off. I don’t understand the things they have been through, or are going through. I don’t really know that much about their culture, nor do I speak their language. Who am I to think that I have anything to offer them?

Nevertheless, they welcome me in,  and not just as an aid to understanding and navigating their new home here in America. They welcome me in as family. They humbly ask for help when they need it and patiently overlook my youth and cultural blunders. Often, I find myself the true beneficiary in the relationship. They teach me to see the world in new ways, offer me friendship and love, regularly feed me dinner, and care for my well being. In turn, I am blessed to offer the truth of Jesus and to serve as a cultural broker for them. However, over and over again, they prove to me that while I am trying to bless them, I am really the one that is receiving the blessing.

Many people equate refugees and immigrants to a drain on our society’s resources. However, we at Mission Adelante would be curious whether people who make that claim know any refugees or immigrants personally. The reason that we so deeply value interdependent relationships is that we have discovered that immigrants have something valuable to offer to us as individuals and as a nation. It is my prayer that we can learn from their experience and have enough humility to accept their contribution.

In other news:

• Our Latino Equipos (Teams) continue to grow and demonstrate new strength in our ministry.  These immigrant teams will play a big part in this week’s ESL registration, new volunteer orientation, and Monday’s all volunteer huddle, and we love watching them lead!

Prayer needs:

• Pray for a successful launch next week for our Spring programs, and for the Lord to bring the right students for English class, teens for teens programs and kids for kids programs.
• Thank God with us for his great provision of volunteers in the past, and ask Him to fill key volunteer slots for all our programs this upcoming trimester.

Current needs:

• We are looking for a donated or low-cost ceiling-mountable projector with a protective cage for the Kids’ Room. If you can help with this, please email Sarah Winston at sarahw@missionadelante.org.
• We still need the following volunteers for our Spring trimester, which begins next week:
• Latino Leaders In Training (Tuesday afternoons): 1 volunteer. Please contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org to learn more.
• Bhutanese Kids Club (Tuesday evenings): 3 volunteers.  If you are interested in learning more contact Kristen Maxwell at kristenm@missionadelante.org.
• Kids Adelante (Thursday evenings): 4 volunteers. Please contact Megan McDermott at meganm@missionadelante.org to learn more.

Important dates:

• Volunteer Orientation & Training--Saturday, January 11 @ 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 13 @ 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 13