There are few things that are going to be major under takings in the next 6 months.
1.The community garden-
Originally the plan was to do a garden in Agape Park. Last week during a conversation a kind person has offered neighborhood ministry to do a garden on their acre plus parcel of land in Valpo. This is going to be a lot of work but the reward will be much greater. This garden can provide "healthy" food for many people. We are looking for volunteers to help with this garden.
2.60 camp scholarships to Lake Geneva Bible Camp-
Neighborhood Ministry is looking to send up to 60 kids from northwest Indiana to Bible Camp. We are looking for volunteers to help us find kids-teens who would want to go.
3. 5 day clubs in parks-
Yesterday a partnership between Neighborhood Ministry and Portage Evangelical Covenant youth ministry was formed. Instead of going on a traditional youth mission trip this summer they are going to host a 5 day club/vbs in one of the parks in Portage. This may be a one week experience or it maybe other churches taking a week in the same park or different park.
4. Recruiting Bible Study leaders-
With all the new contacts that have been made there have been many new Bible Study openings. We look for people in the parks to host these Bible Studies.
There are a couple of reasons for this:
1.If a community becomes involved in a Bible Study it can help the community become a help to ones spiritual life as opposed to it.
2. Reliable vehicles is a premium in many of these neighborhoods. Unless there is a church that wants to start a bus ministry it makes so much more sense to bring the church to them.
3. We are not looking to start a physical church rather partner with existing churches that are looking to reach their neighbors.
Neighborhood ministry is a Missional Church and our mission is to bring hope and be a light to at-risk neighborhoods in Northwest Indiana. We do this by partnering with churches and other Christians.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Lines Blurred
Cops and robbers, cowboys and idians, russia and the usa. As a kid I had a pretty good idea of who the were the good guys and who the enemy was. It was very black and white. All indians were bad, all robbers were horrible, and the russians were of no use. It is great to have an enemy, someone that a group can villify and make into the enemy. Of course as we get older we realize that cops can also be robbers, the cowboys were not all good, and the russians were people too.
I know I want it black and white, I catch myself many times saying "he/she is a good person." They may have some qualities that I enjoy but I am sure if I was to spend every waking hour with them they may have some not so good qualities also. It makes me feel better when I can quantify if some is good or bad though. Over the course of the last five years I have met many people who have committed horrific crimes. Teaching in a maximum security prison has changed my perception and has blurred many lines that I had. Black and white is now not the only colors. Talking and shaking hands with a man who has killed mulitiple people, hugging a man who has molested numerous children is a strange feeling. Are these people all bad? No, but as I have begun to get to know these people it has blurred many lines and feelings of who people are. I have to believe that at our worst moments we are capable of commiting atrocious acts, and on these men spending their lives in prison in their best moments they are people we could enjoy and spend quality time with.
Even with those moments and meeting those men the most line blurring thus far happened to me last week. I have a friendship with a man who is convicted of a sex crime. It involved a minor and he lives within 1/4 a mile from my house. It has been easy to befriend people in prison because they are put away from society and I can visit and then come back to my life and not let the two interfere. This situation is different. Sex offenders are the modern day version of lepers. Most of us are scared and worried of these people that many don't even deem as human. Is it ok what they did? Absolutely not, and punishment is part of the consequences and solution to the problem. There are many who I know (and I am sure people I know that have never told me) that have been sexually abused. My heart breaks for these people.
My heart also breaks for the offenders. God created them also, and it is not the trendy or best church growth plan to befriend sex offenders. The scenerio that happened last week was my friend who was convicted of a sex offense had a meeting on friday with his probation officer. A couple of us went along to offer support because we knew it could be rough. My friend was accused of driving through my neighborhood suspiciously. He was put under house arrest until the situation was sorted out.
There were two diametrically opposed thoughts that came to my mind immediately. The first was I am so glad for my own kids safety that any suspicious activity from a sex offender is dealt with swiftly and until the truth comes to light they are locked away. The other side of me thinks of this friend of mine. The case was flimsy at best and after hearing the story realized he wasn't in my neighborhood or had anything to do with this incident. I realized that yes he was convicted of doing something horrible. It has ruined his life in many ways the suspicion is always going to be there. Any time anyone is mad they can accuse him and he could be locked up. Anytime there is an incident he will be the first to be accused.
I have heard it many times someone like that will never change. Really? if I believe in a God that cannot change sex offenders than I believe in the wrong God. This is where the lines get blurry. Of course none of us wants to see a sex offender reoffend, and for many these people are the scum of the earth (even in prison they are treated as scum). It would have been nice if the Bible had a list of people we could treat badly or hate. It didn't it said love your enemies. I have no idea how Jesus would have treated sex offenders, the only example I can see is how He treated the lepers. The people no one else wanted to be around. They had to yell out unclean,unclean keep away. Not a whole lot different than sex offenders today.Yet that didn't scare Jesus off. I still have my precautions and fear with sex offenders but by God's grace I will learn how to love them the way Jesus loved them in a safe protecting way.
I know I want it black and white, I catch myself many times saying "he/she is a good person." They may have some qualities that I enjoy but I am sure if I was to spend every waking hour with them they may have some not so good qualities also. It makes me feel better when I can quantify if some is good or bad though. Over the course of the last five years I have met many people who have committed horrific crimes. Teaching in a maximum security prison has changed my perception and has blurred many lines that I had. Black and white is now not the only colors. Talking and shaking hands with a man who has killed mulitiple people, hugging a man who has molested numerous children is a strange feeling. Are these people all bad? No, but as I have begun to get to know these people it has blurred many lines and feelings of who people are. I have to believe that at our worst moments we are capable of commiting atrocious acts, and on these men spending their lives in prison in their best moments they are people we could enjoy and spend quality time with.
Even with those moments and meeting those men the most line blurring thus far happened to me last week. I have a friendship with a man who is convicted of a sex crime. It involved a minor and he lives within 1/4 a mile from my house. It has been easy to befriend people in prison because they are put away from society and I can visit and then come back to my life and not let the two interfere. This situation is different. Sex offenders are the modern day version of lepers. Most of us are scared and worried of these people that many don't even deem as human. Is it ok what they did? Absolutely not, and punishment is part of the consequences and solution to the problem. There are many who I know (and I am sure people I know that have never told me) that have been sexually abused. My heart breaks for these people.
My heart also breaks for the offenders. God created them also, and it is not the trendy or best church growth plan to befriend sex offenders. The scenerio that happened last week was my friend who was convicted of a sex offense had a meeting on friday with his probation officer. A couple of us went along to offer support because we knew it could be rough. My friend was accused of driving through my neighborhood suspiciously. He was put under house arrest until the situation was sorted out.
There were two diametrically opposed thoughts that came to my mind immediately. The first was I am so glad for my own kids safety that any suspicious activity from a sex offender is dealt with swiftly and until the truth comes to light they are locked away. The other side of me thinks of this friend of mine. The case was flimsy at best and after hearing the story realized he wasn't in my neighborhood or had anything to do with this incident. I realized that yes he was convicted of doing something horrible. It has ruined his life in many ways the suspicion is always going to be there. Any time anyone is mad they can accuse him and he could be locked up. Anytime there is an incident he will be the first to be accused.
I have heard it many times someone like that will never change. Really? if I believe in a God that cannot change sex offenders than I believe in the wrong God. This is where the lines get blurry. Of course none of us wants to see a sex offender reoffend, and for many these people are the scum of the earth (even in prison they are treated as scum). It would have been nice if the Bible had a list of people we could treat badly or hate. It didn't it said love your enemies. I have no idea how Jesus would have treated sex offenders, the only example I can see is how He treated the lepers. The people no one else wanted to be around. They had to yell out unclean,unclean keep away. Not a whole lot different than sex offenders today.Yet that didn't scare Jesus off. I still have my precautions and fear with sex offenders but by God's grace I will learn how to love them the way Jesus loved them in a safe protecting way.
Friday, January 8, 2010
A lost Ring
Tim Sutherland’s life has come full circle much like the ring that spent 5 years in his pocket. Tim grew up in Northwest Indiana and as a young boy grew very rebellious. His family was very involved in Hobart Assembly of God church. Five generations of Sutherland’s have worshiped and been involved at that church. Tim did not enjoy this life he longed for the “normal” life all his other friends had. They would steal beer from their parents, smoke, and cause juvenile trouble.
Tim’s rebellion lasted much longer than normal teenage angst. He become heavily involved in drugs but he did well living a double life. He would work and by all appearances seemed to be doing well. The problem was his addiction kept growing and he was having to feed this addiction. He was married and had two children. Tim was spending time with a rough crowd including some who were part of the outlaw’s biker gang. One day he was spending a day partying and a group of them were sitting in a living room on a couch. All was normal until a ring fell out of the couch cushions. There was a mad scramble for the ring, Tim eventually ended up with this treasure.
The ring was big, very big. It looked to be a high school ring of some sort. It had a ruby in the center. Tim’s plan was to pawn the ring and use the money to buy drugs. That day passed and he ended up not pawning it. Tim would spend the next five years in teen challenge rehabilitation centers. He would go and get out, relapse and go back. This happened numerous times. This would take him to Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, and Alabama and ever state in between. He lost everything his family, job, car, house and everything else. The only constant material item he had was this ring. He thought many times of selling it but just never did.
Tim had forgotten about this ring when he packed his belongings to leave Muskegon Teen Challenge. He had spent the last couple of years there and it had been a great time of recovering. He was moving back to Indiana to live with his sister and spend Christmas with her family. Tim had two bags of clothes to his name. As he was unpacking at his new apartment in his sisters basement he remembered how he wanted to start wearing a cross that he had gotten from a Native American friend of his. He opened the box that held this cross and he saw this ring that had been with him for all these years and this journey he had been on. Seeing this ring may have reminded him of the time he was in Alabama trying to keep his son from going down the same path he had. He may have thought about the pride that had made him quit teen challenge only to fail and have to go back. That was in the past now. There was optimism this time though; he had left teen challenge on good terms. The staff was satisfied that Tim was ready to go back to the real world.
He picked up the ring and was admiring it when he began looking at it further. It was a high school wrestling championship ring. He put it away again not knowing what he would do with it. As he began preparing for a new life, he had asked different family members to write ten things about him that he needed to change. His father wrote some good things about Tim in pen and then some things that Tim needed to change in pencil. He wrote it in pencil so as God continued to work in Tim’s life he could erase them. On the top of this list: Tim needs to work on his capacity to love other people. As he prayed about how he could love people the ring came to mind. What if I found the person who this ring belongs to? He asked himself. He did some more research on the ring and found some initials on the ring. J.P. He looked at the ring and the year on the ring was 2001. It was from Portage High school. He did a google search and found the names to the wrestlers from that year. There was only one wrestler with the initials of J.P. The high schooler’s name was Justin Powell.
From all the information Tim could find Justin wrestled in the 275 pound weight class and had lost in the state finals. Now to find him, Tim had no idea if Justin still lived in the area. He did some research, asked many people to help and did social media queries. All to no avail no one seemed to know Justin or where he was. Tim was getting discouraged after 3 weeks of searching. Tim felt sure that God was going to use this ring for something great. Tim did not know how God was going to work, he was just certain God would work. One of the thoughts Tim had during this time was the word champion. He did quite a bit of research on the word and one of the meanings of the word champion is some one who goes between, an intermediaries.
Tim thought when I meet Justin I am going to share about the champion in my life: Jesus.
This Monday Tim’s brother in law inquired about the search. Tim was disheartened but his brother in law was not going to give up. He thought maybe some one else on the wrestling team still keeps in touch with him. Tim thought not a bad idea, but not a great idea either for that matter. They searched the web site and found one of the other wrestlers name. Tim did a google search on him and came up with a phone number. Tim was apprehensive at first, not knowing if he should call or not. Then the thought came you have nothing to lose. So Tim called and on the other end was an answering machine. Tim left a detailed message to the effects of “Hello my name is Tim Sutherland, I think you may have wrestled in high school with Justin Powell, I ended up with his ring and am looking to give it back.” That was that another dead end.
On Tuesday morning Tim was on the phone when a strange number tried calling. Tim didn’t think anything of it and ignored it. The person didn’t leave a message. Tim got off the phone and it rang again. Tim answered it and said hello. The other voice said "is this Tim Sutherland?" Tim knowing that many people in his past may be looking for him didn’t know what to say so he meekly mumbled yea. The voice on the other end said "this is Justin Powell, I heard you had my ring." Tim was in shock; this journey that lasted 5 years was coming to an end. Tim asked Justin to meet him at a pizza place that night.
Tim, his sister, Justin and his wife all got together. They met and Tim was excited, he was excited for what God had in store for this situation. Justin and his wife were both in their mid twenties. He was excited to see this ring that reminded him of the good high school days. Things had not been so good for Justin and his family since high school. There had been ups and downs since this wrestler had gotten this ring. There had been time spent in jail, there had been struggles in marriage, and there had been addictions. Tim asked Justin about how he lost the ring. Justin couldn’t remember in full detail but he thought maybe some friends had stolen it. Tim went on to explain his journey, he explained how Jesus had changed his life. Tim didn’t know what the outcome would be. Everyone at the table was crying as they all shared their stories.
Then Tim asked Justin about his spiritual journey. Justin and his wife looked at each other and said we were invited to Hobart Assembly of God and have been going for the past three weeks. This was the church Tim had grown up in. This was the church that had been such a support to the Sutherland family. This story like the ring came full circle. This lost ring represents in many ways the journey Tim was on. This is a God story because there was no possible way that this story could have happened any other way.
Tim is a part of Neighborhood Ministry
Tim’s rebellion lasted much longer than normal teenage angst. He become heavily involved in drugs but he did well living a double life. He would work and by all appearances seemed to be doing well. The problem was his addiction kept growing and he was having to feed this addiction. He was married and had two children. Tim was spending time with a rough crowd including some who were part of the outlaw’s biker gang. One day he was spending a day partying and a group of them were sitting in a living room on a couch. All was normal until a ring fell out of the couch cushions. There was a mad scramble for the ring, Tim eventually ended up with this treasure.
The ring was big, very big. It looked to be a high school ring of some sort. It had a ruby in the center. Tim’s plan was to pawn the ring and use the money to buy drugs. That day passed and he ended up not pawning it. Tim would spend the next five years in teen challenge rehabilitation centers. He would go and get out, relapse and go back. This happened numerous times. This would take him to Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Florida, and Alabama and ever state in between. He lost everything his family, job, car, house and everything else. The only constant material item he had was this ring. He thought many times of selling it but just never did.
Tim had forgotten about this ring when he packed his belongings to leave Muskegon Teen Challenge. He had spent the last couple of years there and it had been a great time of recovering. He was moving back to Indiana to live with his sister and spend Christmas with her family. Tim had two bags of clothes to his name. As he was unpacking at his new apartment in his sisters basement he remembered how he wanted to start wearing a cross that he had gotten from a Native American friend of his. He opened the box that held this cross and he saw this ring that had been with him for all these years and this journey he had been on. Seeing this ring may have reminded him of the time he was in Alabama trying to keep his son from going down the same path he had. He may have thought about the pride that had made him quit teen challenge only to fail and have to go back. That was in the past now. There was optimism this time though; he had left teen challenge on good terms. The staff was satisfied that Tim was ready to go back to the real world.
He picked up the ring and was admiring it when he began looking at it further. It was a high school wrestling championship ring. He put it away again not knowing what he would do with it. As he began preparing for a new life, he had asked different family members to write ten things about him that he needed to change. His father wrote some good things about Tim in pen and then some things that Tim needed to change in pencil. He wrote it in pencil so as God continued to work in Tim’s life he could erase them. On the top of this list: Tim needs to work on his capacity to love other people. As he prayed about how he could love people the ring came to mind. What if I found the person who this ring belongs to? He asked himself. He did some more research on the ring and found some initials on the ring. J.P. He looked at the ring and the year on the ring was 2001. It was from Portage High school. He did a google search and found the names to the wrestlers from that year. There was only one wrestler with the initials of J.P. The high schooler’s name was Justin Powell.
From all the information Tim could find Justin wrestled in the 275 pound weight class and had lost in the state finals. Now to find him, Tim had no idea if Justin still lived in the area. He did some research, asked many people to help and did social media queries. All to no avail no one seemed to know Justin or where he was. Tim was getting discouraged after 3 weeks of searching. Tim felt sure that God was going to use this ring for something great. Tim did not know how God was going to work, he was just certain God would work. One of the thoughts Tim had during this time was the word champion. He did quite a bit of research on the word and one of the meanings of the word champion is some one who goes between, an intermediaries.
Tim thought when I meet Justin I am going to share about the champion in my life: Jesus.
This Monday Tim’s brother in law inquired about the search. Tim was disheartened but his brother in law was not going to give up. He thought maybe some one else on the wrestling team still keeps in touch with him. Tim thought not a bad idea, but not a great idea either for that matter. They searched the web site and found one of the other wrestlers name. Tim did a google search on him and came up with a phone number. Tim was apprehensive at first, not knowing if he should call or not. Then the thought came you have nothing to lose. So Tim called and on the other end was an answering machine. Tim left a detailed message to the effects of “Hello my name is Tim Sutherland, I think you may have wrestled in high school with Justin Powell, I ended up with his ring and am looking to give it back.” That was that another dead end.
On Tuesday morning Tim was on the phone when a strange number tried calling. Tim didn’t think anything of it and ignored it. The person didn’t leave a message. Tim got off the phone and it rang again. Tim answered it and said hello. The other voice said "is this Tim Sutherland?" Tim knowing that many people in his past may be looking for him didn’t know what to say so he meekly mumbled yea. The voice on the other end said "this is Justin Powell, I heard you had my ring." Tim was in shock; this journey that lasted 5 years was coming to an end. Tim asked Justin to meet him at a pizza place that night.
Tim, his sister, Justin and his wife all got together. They met and Tim was excited, he was excited for what God had in store for this situation. Justin and his wife were both in their mid twenties. He was excited to see this ring that reminded him of the good high school days. Things had not been so good for Justin and his family since high school. There had been ups and downs since this wrestler had gotten this ring. There had been time spent in jail, there had been struggles in marriage, and there had been addictions. Tim asked Justin about how he lost the ring. Justin couldn’t remember in full detail but he thought maybe some friends had stolen it. Tim went on to explain his journey, he explained how Jesus had changed his life. Tim didn’t know what the outcome would be. Everyone at the table was crying as they all shared their stories.
Then Tim asked Justin about his spiritual journey. Justin and his wife looked at each other and said we were invited to Hobart Assembly of God and have been going for the past three weeks. This was the church Tim had grown up in. This was the church that had been such a support to the Sutherland family. This story like the ring came full circle. This lost ring represents in many ways the journey Tim was on. This is a God story because there was no possible way that this story could have happened any other way.
Tim is a part of Neighborhood Ministry
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Insight from Nasser (a college student)
Over winter break I was asked to come and help with a Bible study in a trailer park. In those three Bible studies I witnessed the beautiful and enduring power of God. I sat silently and listened to stories of abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, depression, mental disabilities, broken-hearts and battered soul’s pour themselves out to the Father, and witnessed the healing. I saw two women pray to the Father with such intimacy and faith that you could feel Him there with us. What faith! People were crying at every study and as the tears rolled down their cheeks, we prayed passionately.
She broke down and cried in front of me when her story was read to her. The story of her laying, dying on the floor in front of her children because of heroin.
And another confess, with tears consuming her story, of how she aborted her child
And another of depression and mental struggles`
But after the flow of painful tears there was a story about how the Father had changed and saved; and then began a new flow of tears of joy.
This is when I knew we had forgotten something in the church. The American church has been plagued by mediocrity for too long. We have been sitting in our chairs and in our pews forgetting how cold it is outside and how expensive food can be for a single mother with three children. But it is not just that, we have forgotten how to suffer. We have forgotten how to be broken and how to confess that brokenness. We have forgotten that God has given us all beautiful gifts and these were all meant to bring about His Kingdom to this earth. We have forgotten that Christ did not just lead with His voice, sight, heart, and soul; but he suffered with, and saved those who could not find theirs.
Christ calls us to be His hands and feet. So when you hear about that explosion that just killed 40 people in Pakistan, those Christians that are being persecuted for their faith in Egypt, those poor,suffering families that live just a mile from your house, and then ask 'God where are you?' He’s looking back at you asking the same question.
Brothers and Sisters get out of your comfortable church buildings and create a church on the streets of Chicago, on the sidewalks of Gary, IN, and in impoverished trailer parks in Valpo. They are waiting for you!
Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”
-Luke 6:20-23
Nasser Nabhan
She broke down and cried in front of me when her story was read to her. The story of her laying, dying on the floor in front of her children because of heroin.
And another confess, with tears consuming her story, of how she aborted her child
And another of depression and mental struggles`
But after the flow of painful tears there was a story about how the Father had changed and saved; and then began a new flow of tears of joy.
This is when I knew we had forgotten something in the church. The American church has been plagued by mediocrity for too long. We have been sitting in our chairs and in our pews forgetting how cold it is outside and how expensive food can be for a single mother with three children. But it is not just that, we have forgotten how to suffer. We have forgotten how to be broken and how to confess that brokenness. We have forgotten that God has given us all beautiful gifts and these were all meant to bring about His Kingdom to this earth. We have forgotten that Christ did not just lead with His voice, sight, heart, and soul; but he suffered with, and saved those who could not find theirs.
Christ calls us to be His hands and feet. So when you hear about that explosion that just killed 40 people in Pakistan, those Christians that are being persecuted for their faith in Egypt, those poor,suffering families that live just a mile from your house, and then ask 'God where are you?' He’s looking back at you asking the same question.
Brothers and Sisters get out of your comfortable church buildings and create a church on the streets of Chicago, on the sidewalks of Gary, IN, and in impoverished trailer parks in Valpo. They are waiting for you!
Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.”
-Luke 6:20-23
Nasser Nabhan
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Greetings-Many of you may have heard bits and pieces of what is going on in my life but I want to share the story of my last few months: In July of this year one of my former youth group kids asked if I would start praying with him at 5:30 am every weekday. It took me a while but eventually said yes. Over the course of some months we added others.
In September I was thinking I was going to be taking on a full time ministry job. After visiting the church I was pretty discouraged what God had for me. The day after visiting the church and knowing God had closed the door I was sitting reading a book about a ministry in California who had thrown a birthday party for a homeless man. In the midst of reading this book I felt a prompting (which I believe came from God) to go and pray for my neighbors. My neighborhood is a typical midle class neighborhood but there is a trailer park across the street to the entrance of my neighborhood. I have lived in my neighborhood for 5 years and what little bit I knew about the park was all bad. I had never been to the park but knew there were sex offenders living there. I called up our church maintance man Doug McGowan and he agreed to go and pray with me in the park. We knocked on 8 doors and were rejected each time including a blind lady. I was furious at God, I thought here I sacrifice for you and all I get is rejected. Doug asked if he could knock on one more door. In this trailer a man named Jimmy lived. Jimmy invited us in and we heard his story for the next hour.We prayed with him and in the course of a couple months he has become a follower of Jesus.
Here is his story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5e74IWU02s
Through many other circumstances and situations we met Tiffany. Jimmy called us a couple of weeks later. He had found a resident of the park lying in the fetal position in the corner of her trailer. Doug and I went to the trailer and there she was in the condition that was described to us. She was in the midst of a heroin overdose.
Here is her story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMX7i_bcDrI
Since those events we have started a Bible Study/house church in this park. We currently have 8 of the 14 units involved in the Bible Study. We have expanded and are now doing Bible Studies in another park and in the next month have 4 more parks that are interested in having us come in. Our mission is to Shine God's love to our neighbors. We are doing this by partnering with other Christians and churches. This video was done a couple of weeks ago at one of the Bible studies in the orignal park (which we have begun calling Agape Park). We have seen 7 people give their lives to Christ and numerous others begin turning their lives around.We feel that our job is to follow as God leads and He will change people not us. That has been so freeing knowing that God changes people not us.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ioQDbGXUQI
Even as you pray please pray for us. There are so many in the northwest Indiana community who have been hammered so long by darkness that having people come into their neighborhoods to provide light is so refreshing for them.
If you are interested in following the stories we have a blogwww.neighborhoodministry.blogspot.com I hope that you all have a great new year and I just wanted to share what I saw God do in 2009,
Ben
In September I was thinking I was going to be taking on a full time ministry job. After visiting the church I was pretty discouraged what God had for me. The day after visiting the church and knowing God had closed the door I was sitting reading a book about a ministry in California who had thrown a birthday party for a homeless man. In the midst of reading this book I felt a prompting (which I believe came from God) to go and pray for my neighbors. My neighborhood is a typical midle class neighborhood but there is a trailer park across the street to the entrance of my neighborhood. I have lived in my neighborhood for 5 years and what little bit I knew about the park was all bad. I had never been to the park but knew there were sex offenders living there. I called up our church maintance man Doug McGowan and he agreed to go and pray with me in the park. We knocked on 8 doors and were rejected each time including a blind lady. I was furious at God, I thought here I sacrifice for you and all I get is rejected. Doug asked if he could knock on one more door. In this trailer a man named Jimmy lived. Jimmy invited us in and we heard his story for the next hour.We prayed with him and in the course of a couple months he has become a follower of Jesus.
Here is his story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5e74IWU02s
Through many other circumstances and situations we met Tiffany. Jimmy called us a couple of weeks later. He had found a resident of the park lying in the fetal position in the corner of her trailer. Doug and I went to the trailer and there she was in the condition that was described to us. She was in the midst of a heroin overdose.
Here is her story:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMX7i_bcDrI
Since those events we have started a Bible Study/house church in this park. We currently have 8 of the 14 units involved in the Bible Study. We have expanded and are now doing Bible Studies in another park and in the next month have 4 more parks that are interested in having us come in. Our mission is to Shine God's love to our neighbors. We are doing this by partnering with other Christians and churches. This video was done a couple of weeks ago at one of the Bible studies in the orignal park (which we have begun calling Agape Park). We have seen 7 people give their lives to Christ and numerous others begin turning their lives around.We feel that our job is to follow as God leads and He will change people not us. That has been so freeing knowing that God changes people not us.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ioQDbGXUQI
Even as you pray please pray for us. There are so many in the northwest Indiana community who have been hammered so long by darkness that having people come into their neighborhoods to provide light is so refreshing for them.
If you are interested in following the stories we have a blogwww.neighborhoodministry.blogspot.com I hope that you all have a great new year and I just wanted to share what I saw God do in 2009,
Ben
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