Financial Goals Complete!

We are so excited to let you know that as of last week we have completed our financial goals!  In just three short weeks we have already surpassed the goals we set for three months!  Thank you for your generosity!

Our first goal was to fund a kitchen for each of the couples who will be moving to Turkey.  The kitchen will be a huge part of their work in Turkey as they extend hospitality to their neighbors and will cost approximately $3,500 to fully furnish.  We have funded each of these three kitchens, a total of $10,500!

Our second goal was to fund two life-saving heart surgeries for Iraqi children through the Preemptive Love Coalition at $5,000 apiece.  Not only did we receive enough for two surgeries, but we are going to fund an additional surgery as well: three surgeries for a total of $15,000!

Our third goal remains unfinished: to send 50 notes of love and encouragement to each of five children that will be receiving surgery through PLC in the coming months.  However, as of Sunday morning, each of the cards for our first two children had been taken.  You can fill those cards out and then return them to the Re:Action Center and place them in the donations box.  If you did not receive a card, never fear!  More children will be receiving surgery soon, and as soon as we get their names we will put out notecards to send to them.

We are so grateful to God for your generosity!  We can’t wait to see how he uses these gifts for the Kingdom!

Worship in Action: Turkey Officially Launches

This weekend we launched our new Worship in Action emphasis, and we are excited to see what God will do in us and through us!  For the next three months we will focus on a new ministry in Turkey.  The Preemptive Love Coalition began in 2007 in order to provide life-saving heart surgeries for Kurdish children, surgeries they could not receive in Iraq.   The work has expanded greatly in the last two years, so PLC has partnered with a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey in order to have another location to send these children for surgery.

In November, our friends Scott and Abby will move to Turkey to begin this ministry.  But the won’t be moving alone.  God has also called two other families to join this work in the coming months.  Together they will form the Tuzla Community, caring for the families that come for surgery, and reaching out to the Muslim community around them.

PLC has negotiated an incredible price for the surgeries that these kids receive.  Only $10,000 will provide some of the most sophisticated surgery in the world for kids that desperately need it.  $5,000 comes from the child’s family and other Iraqi organizations.  Only $5,000 more is needed to provide one of these heart surgeries.  Our first goal is to raise $10,000, enough for two life-saving heart surgeries.

But caring for these children doesn’t end with surgery.  Providing love and encouragement tin a time of crisis, the Tuzla Community will offer these families a hope transfusion.  We want you to be involved in loving these children as well.  We have provided notecards addressed to five of these children who will be receiving surgery in the coming months.  You can write a note of love and encouragement, or let your kids draw a picture of your family or home.  Our second goal is to deliver fifty of these notecards to each of these five children.

But Kurdish children aren’t the only ones who need heart surgery.  We all do.  Kurds, Arabs, Turks, Americans – we are all in need of God’s love to transform our hearts.  In Muslim culture, as in Jesus’ day, hospitality is a crucial component of friendship.  When these families meet with their Muslim neighbors in their homes, they will have a chance to share of the eternal Bread of Life.

Each of these families must raise over $30,000 just to cover the costs of relocating to Turkey.  We want to share that burden by providing for their kitchens, the place they will form lasting relationships within the community around them.  $3,500 will cover the cost of everything these families need: appliances, pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and the all-important tea kettle and glasses.  Our third goal is to raise $3,500 to setup the kitchens of each of the three families that will be moving to Turkey, a total of $10,500.

So how can you be a part?  Just bring your donation to the Re:Action Center or write “Worship in Action” on your offering envelope.  We can’t wait to see what God can do through us.  This is Worship in Action!

Leaving Tomorrow!

The Galveston Mission Trip leaves tomorrow!  And headed down to Galveston will be dozens of Tallowood members of hundreds of pounds of clothing, food, and toiletries.  How much?  Well, we had to rent a 20-foot U-Haul truck to carry the load! At the beginning of our emphasis we started storing the items in the old Outreach office at the Tallowood Center.  After a few weeks that proved to small to handle the load, so we expanded to a second room, which is now full as well.  All we can say is thank you, for all the items you have donated over these eight weeks.  We have been overwhelmed!  We can’t wait to bring this overabundance to the Galveston Mission Center!

Pray this week for our Mission Team, that all would be safe and healthy, that they would find numerous opportunities to be of service to the community, and that they would be able to share their faith in Christ through words and deeds.  It looks like the bulk of the work will actually take place in Seabrook, since many of the houses in Galveston are simply not ready for the kind of work our team will be doing this week.  We can’t wait to hear the stories of the team when they come back!

There’s Still Time!

Friends, there is still time for you to bring your items to the church for the upcoming Galveston Mission Trip.  We will be accepting items until Thursday, March 12, and the trip leaves on Saturday, March 14.  We are collecting clothes of all sorts, non-perishable food items, and toiletries for the Galveston Mission Center which will distribute the items to the many residents still recovering from Hurricane Ike.  Click Galveston Items List for a more detailed list of items.

We have received so much that we are now moving on to our second storage space at the North Campus!  Keep it coming!  We can’t wait to show up at the Galveston Mission Center with a truck full of your donations.  And there is also still time for you to sign up for this mission trip.  Consider using your Spring Break to serve others in a community right next door.  Now that’s what we call Worship in Action!

Safe and Sound!

I am happy to report that our Kenya Mission Team returned safe and sound on Sunday to a well-deserved rest.  (Of course, they were all awake at 4:30 in the morning because of the time zone difference!)  Thankfully the possible protests never materialized in Mombasa.  After hearing briefly from Cliff and Eddy the amount of people that your gifts were able to reach was simply extraordinary!  I’ll let Cliff provide you with a detailed list and report, but here is the truth that God is teaching me: when God changes our plans it’s because He has something better in mind.

You may remember that our original intention was to partner with missionaries in Nairobi to work with an orphanage for street children.  However, only a couple months before the trip was supposed to leave that door was closed amid a set of frustrating circumstances.  It was then that the door to Mombasa opened up and great things started happening!  Your gifts reached many more children than we had ever anticipated, and we were able to provide in ways we had never intended.  God always seems to have something bigger in mind than we can dream up.  But I’ll let Cliff fill you in on the details.  Right now I simply have a grateful heart, both to you for your gifts, and to God for the unexpected workings of His will!

Update from the Kenya Mission Team

Good news from Kenya!  Last night I was able to speak with Kenya Mission Team members Cliff Lusk and Brent Palermo by phone.  It was 5:40 AM their time, but they were already up and getting ready to go to several schools to hand out malaria nets and tell everyone who can hear about Jesus Christ.  Things are going exceptionally well, and they have already been to several schools, churches, and orphanages, handing out nets and spreading the word of Christ.  Over the next few days they will go to several more schools and orphanages, and even a prison.  This is truly an exciting opportunity.

Cliff and Brent were also excited to report that, in addition to the pencils and notebooks you donated, the extra money we received has been used to buy a vast quantity of school supplies for local schools, in some cases enough to see them through the school year.  You cannot imagine what a blessing this is to these schools, where even a single pencil is like gold to a student.  Thank you for your generosity!  We can’t wait to hear what God does during the rest of their time in Kenya!

WIA:Galveston Donations List

Here is the list of items we are collecting for WIA:Galveston. Click this link – Galveston Items List. Additional printed lists can also be found at the Re:Action Center, located on the main campus in the Narthax and at the Tallowood Center in the lobby.

Worship in Action: Galveston

After several months of seeking God’s face about a new direction He has finally opened a door.  For the next six weeks we’ll be focusing on an area close to home: Galveston, Texas.  On September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike swept through Galveston and the surrounding coastal area with a powerful storm surge that left thousands homeless.  Mission Galveston, a local Baptist organization that works with the homeless and disenfranchised, lost its building and all its supplies of food and clothes.  We want to replenish their supplies so that they can assist the many victims still trying to recover from this devastating hurricane.

You can help by donating non-perishable food, clothing, and “hotel-sized” toiletries at the Re:Action Center each week.  And you can also go with us to Galveston on the Spring Break Mission Trip from March 14-18 where we’ll be assisting some of the many recovery projects on the island.  Both skilled and unskilled laborers are needed.  For a specific list of what kinds of things you can donate pick up a card at the Re:Action Center before or after our worship services.  We’ll have the detailed list posted on the blog soon as well.

Join us in showing the love of God to the people of Galveston.  This is Worship in Action!

Change of Plans

Sometimes God opens doors, and sometimes He closes them.  In December it became clear to us that God had closed the door for us to take our mission trip to Nairobi as we had intended.  But God is always gracious to lead us in a different direction, and recently He opened the door for us to go to Mombasa, Kenya instead.

Mombasa is a large city located on the coast of the Indian Ocean in southeast Kenya.  Pastor Eddy Hallock has missionary friends there that will be hosting our team on the trip which takes place from February 26-March 8.  If you are interested in going, places are still available on the team, and the cost is only $2850.

So what does that mean for your gifts that were intended for places around Nairobi?  The school for Rwandan refugee children and the compound for street children will still receive the resources we had planned to give them.  Furthermore, because you gave so much and surpassed each of our goals we will be able to take on similar projects in Mombasa while our team is there!  In addition, the nets will be distributed in the lowland Mombasa area where malaria is significantly more prevalent than in the highlands around Nairobi.  Ultimately your gifts will impact two of Kenya’s major cities simultaneously, for the glory of God!

Worship in Action: Kenya Final Totals

With the bustle and excitement of the holidays behind us it’s finally time to get back to business and report the final totals for our Kenya emphasis.  We have surpassed our each of our goals in incredible fashion.  In fact, even after the final week of the emphasis we were still receiving gifts.  Thank you for your wonderful generosity.

At the beginning of September we asked you to consider giving toward one of these three goals:

• 250 spiral notebooks and 250 boxes of #2 pencils for a school for Rwandan refugee children in the slums of Nairobi.
• $5000 for projects at a compound for street children outside Nairobi.
• 1000 mosquito nets at $6 per net to help prevent malaria.

To date we have received 465 boxes of #2 pencils and 337 notebooks!  In fact, we have received so many that we may not be able to take all of them over to Kenya!  If weight restrictions force us to leave a certain amount behind we will make sure that they reach disadvantaged children in our own area.

The sum of the financial contributions we asked you to make was $11,000 but to date we have received $19,289.  We recently used $7500 to purchase 1500 nets from His Nets, a rate lower than the $6 we originally anticipated.  That will allow us to use the extra money for additional projects on the mission trip to Kenya at the end of February, in addition to the amount allotted for the compound for street children outside Nairobi.  Thank you for your heart for the Kenyan people!