The Ecclesia Network

a missional church network

Church Updates

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Report from New Denver Guatemala Trip

Earlier this year New Denver church took another mission trip to Guatemala, a country they are heavily invested in. Here’s a report on the trip from one of their leaders.

 

When our team arrived in Guatemala this Spring, I was thrilled to experience the culture of the lakeside villages, witness the school and church in action, meet Pastor Antonio and hear his stories of faith. I teared up while watching the NDC videos of others meeting their sponsored children but I started out with mixed feelings about meeting Yahir, the child I sponsor, and his family. Something about it made me feel uneasy. I wasn’t sure that it would be helpful – in nurturing the sustainable partnership between New Denver and Vida Real – for me to be the face of the support that allowed Yahir to go to school.

Antonio led our team members around the village to visit the homes of our sponsored children. When it was my turn, I followed Antonio, winding from the street through narrow alleyways, back to a small concrete home with laundry hanging from clotheslines and tree branches. Unsure in my language skills – and emotions – I brought my roommate and fellow NDC attender Meghan with me for translation and support. I shook hands with Yahir and he gave me a hug. I used my limited Spanish to ask him about his favorite classes and favorite activities (fútbol, of course!) Antonio then introduced me to Yahir’s mother, a beautiful woman in traditional Mayan clothing, holding a baby. She came out of the house and began speaking to me, showing me her home and introducing me to the rest of her five children. I wasn’t sure how to react when she pointed to all of her laundry hanging outside and asked me for laundry soap. She told me that she couldn’t afford it, and with her five kids, there was a lot of dirty laundry!

Two days went by as we continued to do work on the land next to the church and spend time with the children, and my thoughts kept returning to Yahir’s mother and her request for laundry soap. I knew that I could afford to buy her laundry soap for the whole year if I wanted to, but also that doing so could create a relationship where she depended on me, and likely wouldn’t help her become more self-sufficient in providing for her children in the long term. On the other hand, I saw that she had a very real, simple need that I was able to meet. If I didn’t do something, would I be ignoring an opportunity to show grace? I told these concerns to God and a few members of the team, and then brought the idea to Pastor Antonio.  We decided that I would give him money to buy some laundry soap and take it to Yahir’s mother. This way, Antonio – the pastor of the church and a permanent member of the community – would be the one giving my gift and connecting with this family.

In spite of my initial mixed feelings about meeting Yahir and interacting with his family, I came to take joy in the fact that because of me, this child is able to attend school. A school that not only keeps him safe, but provides greater opportunities for his future as well as teaching him about following Jesus. I am incredibly grateful that God has given me the chance to see how my contribution has made a very practical difference in the life and future of a child and his family. So thank you for your support of the partnership between New Denver and Vida Real School in San Pablo. Your support has a positive impact on the futures of some pretty amazing young people. But don’t just take my word for it; go see for yourself!

Sincerely,

Katie TenHulzen

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NextGen Church Takes the Next Step (West Windsor, NJ)

It’s hard not to get excited about what God is doing in and through the people at NextGen Church in West Windsor, New Jersey – just outside of Princeton. The church continues to grow numerically, but their desire and creativity to serve those in their community is what is most encouraging and inspiring when you hear them talk. Pastor Mia Chang and her team continue to press into the Lord and creatively serve others as they seek the kingdom together with palpable expectation.

Globally, they have focused their service efforts on the continent of Africa. A team just returned from another mission trip to Kenya, where they have ongoing relationship with local church leaders. Additionally, they are currently working to build a church and a school in Nigeria, as well as establishing a 501(c)(3) non-profit NGO in order to cultivate a long-term local presence in that community. These efforts have been spearheaded by NextGen pastor Lola Akiwowo, whose years of experience in education and passion for this project are bearing great fruit. 

Locally, the church is engaged in starting a fresh expression of the church in the Hightstown NJ area, creatively and compassionately serving a minority population that has been largely ignored by others. They are also in the process of planting a new church out of NextGen in nearby Trenton, NJ. The church plant is led by Adam Banks, associate pastor at NextGen and a student in his final year at Princeton Theological Seminary. For the past few years, NextGen has served the Trenton Public School System in a local elementary school on Saturday mornings by offering additional schooling, mentoring and training for both kids and parents. These efforts have been widely embraced and appreciated by the local school board. It was from this deepening trust that NextGen felt called to launch a new congregation. Currently, about 30 people have gathered regularly for worship. Mia said she’s most encouraged by the fact that most of the 30 people gathering are people from the community and not originally from NextGen. 

If you know anything about NextGen you know that they have cultivated a deep and passionate culture of prayer. With that, there are three very specific ways we can be in prayer for them as a community: 

[1] The Trenton church plant has been incredibly encouraging, but so far there have been no options for spaces to meet. They are currently renting a large party tent each week. In the summer and early fall, this is not a problem, but as the weather turns this will no longer become possible. Pray that a meeting space opens for them to meet in for worship. 

[2] Currently NextGen is in need of a worship leader. Pray that God brings a passionate and humble worship leader to their congregation. And, by the way, if you know of anyone who would be willing to serve in this capacity, contact Mia Chang. 

[3] Jim Butler (pastor of community care) and his wife Andi, have both recently had several procedures to remove cancerous skin cells from their bodies and are currently taking significant time off to recover. Pray for their recovery during this time.

Learn more about NextGen by logging onto their website at:  http://nextgenministry.net

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Awesome Story from Ecclesia Church Veritas

Recently, Ryan Braught from Ecclesia Church Veritas shared this story from someone in his community with us- we wanted to pass it on to you. 

This summer, I’ve been using my music to connect with others as well as praying. I’m growing closer to God in taking a practice that I love and realizing his work in that. God has expanded my expectations about how I could be a blessing in ways not exclusive to music.

I met my friend Serge at an open mic night at The Rabbit & The Dragonfly. I go there to hear what the people in the city have to express. I heard his song named “Mosquito”, voicing a personal injustice. The song didn’t keep my attention as much as his action of playing. I didn’t realize at that time that he was borrowing a guitar from someone else. I showed up to open mic with a uke that I would hesitate to share.

veritas logoAnother musician named Wes introduced me to Serge. He saw my playing and suggested I learn to play guitar. He even shared some chords with me and was enthusiastic about teaching me to use the insturment. One time Wes asked me to meet him at a Price St. Café and follow up with a jam session. I waited at the café for an hour or so, reading a book. I was done with waiting and headed home. I was a few steps away from the café door and a voice called me from behind. It was Serge, not who I expected to see. He knew about the planned meeting between Wes and I and wanted to join. We took seats in front of the café and waited a bit more for Wes. In that waiting time, Serge shared a bit of his story and goals. He was living with his older sister and was working for a car, a place of his own, and a guitar. One thing we shared was an interest in music and performing. Wes never showed after all, but I invited Serge to my house where I had an old guitar that was falling apart; it had a few playable strings, and broken tuning pegs. Serge used the guitar to show me some finger picking. I was thankful that I’ve met two people that were interested in showing me to use this instrument. I thought that if I could give Serge a guitar in playable condition, I would do it in that moment so he could cross one goal off of his list. Serge had to go, but I was left knowing a part of his story.

“Yes we can share”

The following week, I reached out to my Dad for a time to hang out in Lancaster City. During that time, I shared some of my latest songs on ukulele. He enjoyed them and shared a statement similar to Wes. “ I’ve got to get you that guitar”. He referred to one he had at home that wasn’t being used. Father’s Day came around and I went to Harrisburg to visit him. He sent me home with the guitar he had. His intention was to provide me a tool that would help me further my playing. Upon receiving the guitar, I realized that I was in a position to pass a playable guitar on to Serge like I previously hoped for. Over the week that followed, I was on the fence about whether to use the guitar for myself or give it to a friend. I prayed about this and sought an opinion from Pastor Ryan Braught. I listened more to that sense I had to pass it on. Ryan said that God would bless such actions in unexpected ways.

Then, next open mic night came and I asked Serge to hang out after listening to all of the acts. I was with my band at the time and they were impressed by his song and approach to playing guitar. We arrived at home and when Serge was seated, I presented the cased guitar to him as a gift. He responded, “Are you sure? …I know you need one to learn with.” Why don’t we share?”

In that moment, I was surprised. I was faced with the expectation I had about the exchange… that this guitar could only belong to one person. “Yes we can share”, I responded. I was pleasantly surprised, not considering that possibility. I thank God for this moment of insight, and blessing us both.

 

 

 

 

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Stories of Ecclesia: It Starts with Lamenting

From Ty Grigg – pastor at Life on the Vine, Long Grove, IL

Angela stood up to the podium and pulled out a piece of paper.  Normally, during our worship liturgy, we watch an “icon,” that is, a short video or projected artwork that reveals something about the way the world is and the ways God reveals his glory in our world.  This Sunday, we would hear a story of lament from Angela:

My cry today, my lament today is for the Church , the bride of Christ to be a voice-a beacon of hope, a light, a refuge in this time. By this time, I mean post Trayvon Martin.

As Angela spoke honestly from her own experience of racism, I felt my heart softening.

This story of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman re-opened wounds in America’s racial history that have not fully healed.  It opened wounds of knowing that when my brother was growing up, one of the lessons he quickly learned was DWB, driving while Black. It opened would of hearing my father, who is a highly respected physician, tell me of people who don’t want to see him as their doctor because of the color of his skin. It is the wound of not being shown homes in particular neighborhood because Black people are not supposed to live in certain communities. It opened the wound of a childhood friend asking me if I wished I were white, as if something were wrong with being Black.

In the act of communal lament, the Spirit was drawing me out of apathy and into conviction, calling me to leave the old ways of denial and minimization of racism behind and to follow the Spirit’s call into listening, lamenting, and engaging.

My brothers and sisters, I bring these wounds with me to Church. I don’t leave the sin of racism at the door. I bring it with me and lament over it. And I should not do this alone.

When Angela finished her story, she walked toward the back of the sanctuary.  As a pastor, I knew what was coming next; Juliet would lead us in a prayer of confession.  But suddenly I heard an older man to my left say loudly:  “Excuse me, but normally we pray for people when they share their story.”  He was referring to the practice of praying for a person when she or he shares a “story of wonder” at the beginning of our service.  This was something different.  Honestly, my first reaction was annoyance.  I was thinking, “No, we have a plan.  We are going to confess now.  We know what we’re doing here, don’t mess it up!”

Then I realized that he was right.  We needed to pray for Angela.  I found myself getting up from my chair and slowly walking to the back where Angela was standing.  My pace was deliberate and slow.  I felt the eyes of the room on me.  Reflecting later, it seemed significant that I was going to Angela, not calling her back up to the lectern – a grace.  The whole action seemed directed by God, I was merely caught up in it.

As I got closer, I felt my heart fill with deep love and sadness intermixed.  Angela stood up and walked toward me.  I gave her a hug and the only thing I could say was, “I am so thankful.”  She hugged me back.  I started to pull away after a few seconds but Angela didn’t let go – again, a grace.  I sensed a powerful movement of the Spirit.  It wasn’t just me hugging Angela, but I was hugging Angela as a proxy for the whole church.  A few others came and joined the hug.  When I replay this moment in my mind, the word that comes to me is simply ‘glory.’  God’s glory was breaking through in the midst of Angela’s vulnerable lament and our embrace of her lament.

When Juliet finally began to lead us into a prayer of confession, she began to openly weep.  Angela’s lament opened all of us up to a new depth of reality, a new depth of relationship with one another, and a new sensitivity to what God is inviting us into.  We are just at the beginning, but I hope we can look back on Angela’s story of lament and our response as a watershed moment of conversion for our church.

It is because the love of Christ compels me to speak up. Church, we can do better at standing against racism and fighting for justice.  The change that we desire to see in the world starts with us-it starts with us lamenting with one another, and praying with one another, and praying for one another.  True reconciliation happens between us when we listen to the pain of one another, when we are vulnerable with one another—when we start seeing Christ in one another.  And the walls that divide us will fall down.

It starts with lamenting.

 

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Church Update: The Bridge Community – Easton, PA

danceFrom Mike Hollenbach, pastor at The Bridge Community

Our little community hosted its 4th annual kids-in-motion sports and arts camp the week of July 21 -27!

Here are some of the highlights…

The camp that began 4 years ago with 30 1st thru 5th grade campers has grown to bless over 150 campers from a low income area of Easton!

Over 55 Jr. and Sr. Highers came from 3 different churches!  The youth stayed all week serving as camp counselors by day and having a blast at night!  (Our motto is “lots of fun… lots of service… and lots of wrestling with Jesus!”)

The theme for the camp this year was “JESUS – more than a hero!”

The people of the West Ward community we live in… the gatekeepers of our city (Easton)… and the secular agencies who serve the poor sand oppressed of our city (Weed and Seed, West Ward Neighborhood Partnerships and Easton Area Community Center)… have taken note… are partnering with us… and are thankful for our presence!

Ironically and of note is that we have not seen a lot of families who we bless join in the journey our church community, but we do see God using it to encourage others who want to be a part of a church community on mission to join with us!  I think the lesson in that is that we do not have to, not maybe should we seek to be a blessing merely to grow our communities, but that we bless for blessings sake and leave those who journey with us in the hands of God!

 

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Church Stories and Updates – Fall 2012

Cyd Holsclaw, Life on the Vine
We’re pretty excited about ‘resurrecting’ our old practice of sharing stories of wonder every time we gather for worship. Each story of wonder highlights a way that God is working in an individual’s life, family, neighborhood or workplace. As people tell stories, our community hears concrete examples of what the inbreaking kingdom might look like in their own lives. At first, it was difficult to convince people that they had a story to tell… now, we run into the problem of having to tell people that our next available date is in the new year! We post the stories on our website each week:  http://lifeonthevine.org/stories-of-wonder/

Amy Graham, The District Church
The District Church baptized 10 people this past September. The stories of change were wide and varied. Some of those baptized have struggled with addiction, sexual orientation, skepticism, atheism, and even prostitution. All of them have now experienced the love, grace and restoration of Christ Jesus in their lives. Here are testimonies from three of those people whose lives have been changed:

“I sought salvation by worshiping everything but the Lord. My doctrine of moral relativism (“seek and never find” was my motto) led me to drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual depravity, new age practices and more.  Self-sufficiency failed me and I ended up in a literal hell of depression and isolation.  I sought God like only the dying can, willing to abandon my opinions and “beliefs” in exchange for absolute truth. He was the last house on the block I knocked on! Jesus Christ answered and showed me, opened my eyes to the error of my ways and the fallen nature of everything, revealed there is such a thing as the Truth!  Jesus pulled me off of the titanic I had been bailing water on and brought me to life. I trust Him completely today because he is the Truth that set me free in a very real way.”

“Before I knew Christ, I trusted in the streets and my addiction. It led to nothing but hardship and hard times. Through getting to know people from church at the dinner fellowships, I decided I wanted a piece of how these people were living. I wanted God, because He is our Creator and I know He wants me to know Him. Trusting God has changed my life because I’m starting to see many blessings from obeying and trusting in God more and more. I don’t need the things I used to do or rely on. And because of trusting in God, I have more friends. I have more friends who are really there for me.”

“I’m from a Jewish background. Today is our New Year. It’s all about repentance. But this year for me it’s all about following Christ. I was fortunate to be raised by a bunch of different people. Two of the people who raised me – one was a feminist and the other was a gay man. So I was taught to be open minded. But I didn’t get the memo about the grace of God until I was 24. God has brought me from a place where I was agnostic. I was a very angry person. But now God has done a work in my heart. He has allowed my heart to un-harden and come to a place of humility. To come to a place to be able receive and give love. I’m thankful for the work He has started in me.”

These testimonies, and so many more, have demonstrated to us that God is absolutely at work and moving in our church community and in our city. We feel honored and privileged to serve in this community and witness what God is doing. It is humbling and powerful to see the ways God is changing lives here in DC.

Winn Collier, All Souls
One interesting thing that has emerged is Beer & Hymns, on the second Monday of each month at Trinity Pub. We do it with St. Mark Lutheran, and it’s an opportunity for those distant from faith to come and taste (literally).

Bryan Long, Agora Community
We are in the infancy stage of planting our church, The Agora Community, in Rochester, NY. With everything so new, there are many things that need to happen. I often attack projects head on, and with my head down. However, my coach, J.R. Briggs, uses a phrase that has stuck with me over the course of this season: “If this is your church, you better hurry up and start. If this is Jesus’ church, you better slow down and listen.” When you plant a church, you begin to realize how little you have to bring to the table.  If this thing is to be fruitful, it will be because God is moving.

I had been given a number of a person in the area who might be interested in what we’re doing. I generally don’t like cold calling people as a first point of contact, so while I took the number, I sat on it for awhile. A week later, I was walking a path in the town we are starting the church, and praying for how we could break into the community. I was alone and felt comfortable praying out loud. As I prayed, a jogger snuck up behind me and certainly heard me “talking to myself.”  While I felt funny, in that exchange I also felt the Lord telling me that I needed to call this guy I had been putting off. Right there on the path I gave him a call. I left him a message and waited for a call back. A few hours later he responded and told me he owns a percussion shop in town and invited me to come by to talk. As soon as I walked into the store we both recognized each other. He was the jogger on the path. What followed was a conversation about a small group of people who were gathering at his home to explore what a fresh expression of church might look like in their community. This group had formed at the beginning of the summer and had been sensing that they needed direction. Just that morning he had been praying to provide the next step for the group – then he got my call. The result has been a weekly Sunday gathering as we are praying, worshiping, and discussing the potential of joining together. God is moving.

Gary Alloway, Redemption Church of Bristol
Here is a link to a blog post I just wrote about Hurricane Sandy and Redemption: http://garyalloway.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/149/

Melba Miller, Crossroads Church
Like all of the churches in the Ecclesia network, our heart at Crossroads, and our commitment, is to equip our people to live on mission, showing and sharing Jesus’ love in our community and our world. When a church family makes that commitment and sets out to live that out, it’s always a lot of fun to watch how God works to put together partnerships that give a local church the opportunity to be a part of helping build God’s Kingdom is ways that are so much better, and so much bigger, than we could ever come up with on our own!  For Crossroads, one of those God-given partnerships is giving us the amazing opportunity to help make Jesus known in the Haryana state (surrounds Delhi) of India, where fewer than 2% of the millions of people who live there know and follow Jesus.  If you and your church are praying for a partnership that will give your people the opportunity to be a part of building God’s Kingdom and changing lives, please consider joining us in this partnership!

Our partners in India are Karsan and Melia. Karsan and Melia stepped down from their 22 year ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ in India to answer the call to church planting that God has given them. The ministry is training bi-vocational pastors and their wives and equipping them with both biblical and theological training and practical training in a variety of trades that will help them start a business in the village where they seek to start a church. As the ministry has grown and has been blessed to be part of the establishment of almost 2500 new church plants, Karsan and Melia have also sensed God directing their hearts toward the children who live in the slums around Delhi.

The ministry started out taking children who had never been to school and couldn’t pass the entrance exams to enter the local public schools and put small local schools and teachers in place to work with the kids to help them pass the exams and go to school, and share Jesus ‘ love with the kids and their families.  Over the past several years God has given Karsan and Melia an increasing burden for starting a completely new work- a school that would take the place of the poorly staffed and funded public schools where the children they’ve been helping get in won’t get a decent education with opportunities to go to college, or to hear about Jesus. The potential  this new school would have to help break the cycle of poverty that children from the slums live with, and to send Christ- followers who are eager to share their faith out into the universities and into trades and businesses through-out the region and the country is simply staggering.  Not to mention the impact the school could have on each child’s whole family.  Definitely a God-sized opportunity!

Crossroads is so excited that God has given us the privilege of partnering with their ministry to help them with the finances for this new ministry!  It’s hard for us who live in America to believe that $20 could go so far in India, but Karsan and Melia tell us that $20 will pay all of the expenses for one child to attend the new school for one month. In addition to the money we budget each quarter and send to India to help this ministry with church planting, our church family is working together this fall and winter to raise money for the new school and we’d love for some other Ecclesia churches partner with us to support this new ministry. We’re also in the early stages of planning a mission trip to India to help our partners with church planting and in the new school, and we’d love for your church members to join our mission team. If you’d like contact information for Karsan and Milia or more info about any of the partnership opportunities mentioned here, we’d love to hook you up! You can email melba@cafecrossroads.com – we look forward to talking with you about how God might want to use your church in India!