Refugee Family Donations ~ Thank You!

As the Intervention Coordinator at Sanderson High School I work with students who are in academic crisis, although school work is typically a small issue compared to the battles some our students face at home. A few weeks ago, I came across a colleague near tears out of concern for the welfare of our refugee students - they were coming to school with hunger crazed eyes and clothes for the wrong season. He has already established a clothing closet at our school for refugee and homeless students but he felt he could not keep asking our staff for more donations. He was especially concerned about the upcoming Thanksgiving break because these students normally receive free breakfast and lunch at school. Without hesitating, I told him that I knew a group of people who would love to serve these families...and, Church, you delivered an astonishing blessing to our community!

On November 22, you responded with love in a big way.  With so many bags brimming full of donations, we had to use the school mini bus on load up and drove straight over the the Sandy Forks neighborhood. We met with students and families all afternoon. There were many demonstrations from can openers to microwaves, smoke alarm batteries changed, thermostats located and adjusted and before we left, the families had already set up schedules to lend out vacuums to neighbors The most exciting moment was seeing the wonder on 8 kid's faces when two slices of bread shot up out of their new toaster. When we left a family of twelve who had been very solemn during the delivery, we could hear squeals of delight pealing through the apartment as the family reveled in their fortune found in their new home country. Thank you for partnering with our schools to transform this city through Jesus Christ! 

~ Helen Pettiford

Freedom for Mission: Julie Gilstrap on Community Hope

I was at a conference last week for work, a thousand miles away (almost literally) from Church of the Apostles and Navaho Drive.  It wasn't a conference about missions or church or charity.  It was about public policy.  So I was caught a little off-guard when the breakfast speaker's remarks one morning got me thinking about Community Hope.  In a secular forum, he talked about honoring God and serving our fellow man in our work, he quoted Timothy and Ecclesiastes, and he talked about the importance of serving "the least of these."

Very soon, we at Apostles will launch our Community Hope program.  It's a simple idea, really.  Four afternoons a week, we'll pair kids from local neighborhoods with mentors, most of whom will be Apostles members, and we'll read. We'll use lessons, individually tailored to the needs of kids, to help develop literacy skills.  I'm sure it'll look like what goes on at a lot of our kitchen tables and by the bedsides of our children. We'll sound out words, break big words into smaller chunks, and ask questions about the things we've read to make sure the kids actually comprehend the words on the page.  We may help with homework some. We'll share a short devotion with the kids each day, introducing them to Jesus.

 And we'll build relationships. Week after week, each of those kids will spend time with the same mentors. Kids and adults will get to know each other. Between the reading and struggling and marking progress, we'll talk and laugh. We'll get to know what the kids love, what they enjoy doing, and who their families are.  Mentors will give an hour of their time each week, but they'll give a lot more of that. They'll give themselves, putting energy and commitment into getting to know kids and helping them to learn and thrive.  And through it all, they'll also be showing them the love of Jesus.

The kids we're serving certainly qualify as "the least of these" that the conference speaker and Jesus in Matthew 25 were talking about. I reread that passage recently, Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus is talking about the final judgment.  He describes a scene in which he's come again in all his glory, surrounded by angels, seated on his throne. And in the midst of all that splendor, as he divides the people of the world between those who will inherit his kingdom and those who will not, his measuring stick is whether we served "the least of these." 

Now don't misinterpret this. It's not that our deeds get us into heaven, that we can somehow earn our salvation through being good people who help our fellow man. But Jesus is saying that, if we really know him, if we really love God, then we'll see that "the least of these" - the hungry, the stranger, the sick, and yes, the kids on Navaho Drive - are all people created in his image who he deeply loves.  And we'll want to love and serve them to. By reading with kids for an hour on a Tuesday afternoon, we're actually serving Jesus. And we're showing the love of Jesus to those children, their parents, and their neighborhoods. That is a high calling.

So I am excited about the work of Community Hope that we'll be undertaking.  I'm excited about the opportunity for us to reach out to our neighbors with the love of Jesus. If you've not signed up to mentor and you'd like to, let me know.  And even if you can't mentor this year, pray for the work we'll be doing. Pray that we would remember that in serving these children, we are serving Jesus and showing them his great love for them. Pray for the relationships that will be formed, for kids and their families, and for the neighborhoods in which they live.  And pray for the opportunities to share the gospel that will arise as we serve "the least of these."

---Julie Gilstrap

Freedom for Mission: A Word from Sam Bass About 'Walk with Rwanda' and the Rwandan Church

Walk with Rwanda reminds us that Church of the Apostles was born of mission

Our Church of the Apostles exists today because missionaries came to America in the early 2000’s from Rwanda to rescue priests and churches who could no longer commune within the Episcopal Church and other major denominations that were turning away from Christian orthodoxy. Rwandan Bishop John Rucyahana is quoted by Rev. Thaddeous Barnum in his book Never Silent as saying, “(Y)ou Americans brought the gospel to us years ago and now here we are bringing it right back to you.”

Though Apostles and other American churches have remained in close relationship with the Rwandan church, a majority pulled away when the Anglican Mission in America formally ended ties in 2012. With those churches went most of the budget the Province of Rwanda had grown to depend upon for their ministerial and administrative staff, leaving the church vulnerable to disintegration.

For the past two years I have worked with our Archbishop and his team of American, Rwandan, and Kenyan Anglicans to make the Anglican Church of Rwanda financially sustainable. The stakes are high for Rwanda. The Anglican church represents almost 10% of the country’s population and it provides essentially all of the nutritional, educational, and medical services for the country’s poor. A strong church is vital for the country, both spiritually and practically.

Our team’s mission is to raise $2 million from Anglican churches, individuals, and foundation donors throughout this  country and Rwanda to fund the construction of a multi-use office building on land owned by the Province in downtown Kigali. Once built and leased it will provide sufficient cash flow to fund ideal budgeted operations for the Province for years to come. Our website provides both a summary and an in-depth strategy for our project. You might also enjoy the video by Brandon Walsh, leader of our team in Kigali.

An equally important component of our mission is to form a company based on a model known as the Church Commission of Kenya. It has worked exceptionally well for the Anglican Church of Kenya for decades. The company will be comprised of gifted business people and developers who will act as the business arm of the Church to professionally develop property and to ensure optimal stewardship and development of the resources God has provided His Church.

We at Apostles are truly blessed to walk with Rwanda. Ask anyone who has been and he or she will eagerly share how much we learn from them spiritually. Their glowing faces and genuine joy amidst their physical poverty brightly proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. As Jim Dotson says “the more we walk with Rwandans, the more we see our Lord for who He is.” It is not an overstatement to say that we need to walk with Rwanda.

We are so grateful to the Freedom for Mission team, the Leadership Team, and every member of Apostles for so generously supporting Walk With Rwanda.

--Sam Bass

Freedom for Mission: A Word from Curt Solomon

I've been deeply struck this week as I have been preparing for communion.  We pray each week to God our Father, saying--- “In your infinite love you made us for yourself…”  I have been marinating in what it means to be made FOR God.  We talk a lot about being made in His image, and we are "created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do.”  We also talk a lot about His deep love for us and that He rescued us from sin and death.  But, I don’t often spend much time processing through the idea that God made us for Himself.  He made you and me for His pleasure and His desire.  He not only desires us enough to redeem us from our sinfulness, but He loves so deeply that He made us to experience the complete love that Father, Son and Holy Spirit share in relationship together.  He made us FOR Himself.  He desires us, supports us, dreams for us, encourages us and gets excited us?  He created us so that He could have relationship with us and and delight in us.  It bends my mind around and around trying to grasp.

Isn’t this understanding of our relationship with God, and the intimacy that He desires from us, pointing us toward being freed up?  Freed up like we talked about in Deuteronomy 15 and the cancelling of debts every 7 years.  Free to grow and change and, yes, mess up, but also free to ask for help from the community around us.  Not only were the people encouraged to cancel debts in those years, but they were also encouraged to help when a brother or sister was in need.  It seems like this is what Freedom for Mission is hoping for us as a community: Freeing up the debt that our community holds so that we can actually do a far better and more thorough job of being ready to serve, care for and be a resource for our neighbors near and far.

God made us for Himself.  We are His and He desires deep intimacy with us.  The questions I ask myself are: Being made for God, how am I following His example of forgiveness for purposes of reconciliation? And, how are my family and I being called to live out God’s desires and dreams for us in the context of the Apostles community?

Your brother in Christ,

Curt

Freedom for Mission: A Word from Alpesh Patel About Missions

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”     Acts 1:8

"…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."    Heb. 12:1b-2a

What is “Missions?”  What is the church's role in Mission?  How is the LORD specifically calling Church of the Apostles to further enter into His work to "transform the City" for Jesus Christ?   These are the questions a group of eight individuals wrestled with for over a year (fall 2012-fall 2013) along with studying Scripture and seeking out the best practices in missions, both locally and nationally.  

The result led to the creation of a Missions Initiative Strategy that pointed to short-, medium-, and long-term goals associated with opportunities that can propel our congregation into deeper mission in very practical ways.  

Parts of this Strategy are already in motion and are having an impact (such as the adoption of ministry partners by our Community Groups) and other aspects (such as broader involvement in overseas mission work) will take time.

The Strategy also strengthens our current partnership with the nearly 20 ministry partners (both domestic and international) and five missionaries of Apostles, while opening the door for new partnerships to grow. 

Our partnerships are a vital way Christ is shared on college campuses, through sports & summer camps, in mentoring capacities and job skill programs, and many other ways.  

A revised Missions Policy now governs the timing and annual evaluation of ministry partner applications and requires the submittal of financial statements.  It also directs financial support based on a rigorous review of congregational involvement and ongoing partnership opportunities. 

Through these changes and the framework of the Mission Initiative Strategy our church is poised to take exciting, tangible steps to continue "onward and upward" (as CS Lewis is famously quoted) in mission minded engagement. 

Scripture reminds us to wait on God's timing (Isaiah 40:31) and how He prepares a season in our lives (Eccles. 3:1) that is in sync with His purposes.  It is clear to see how the launch of Freedom for Mission (or FFM) compliments the missions groundwork that’s been laid and beckons us to enter into a spiritual journey to consider our role (both individually and as a community) in advancing His Kingdom. 

 Let us enter this time with great celebration as to what the LORD has done already but also with great anticipation of what the LORD will do as more of our resources and ultimately our lives are freed up to serve Him.

One of the tenets of FFM is to “Bring the Blessing Forward."  This is a purposeful way to enable immediate participation in mission by taking 20% of every pledge received & directing it towards a local mission partner (“Community Hope”) and an international partner (“Walk with Rwanda.”) 

“Bring the Blessing Forward” is a unique way to see “first fruits” of mission investment and will act as a catalyst to create other opportunities to meet needs and make near-term impacts in our city.

 What a privilege to look back 3 years ago at our Mission Team’s charge to build a “hands-on, transformative congregational involvement" strategy, and to realize our church is on the cusp of that today through FFM.  I praise God for this; I praise Him for this exciting time in our church, and pray for His Spirit to move in our hearts in joyful obedience as we walk with Him by faith and trust in Him for the results.

---By Alpesh Patel 

Freedom for Mission: A Word from The Simpsons

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-2).  

Are you ready to run the race?  God calls us to throw off anything hindering us and run with Him the race of life.  When we cross the heavenly finish line, don’t we want to know we gave it our all - all of our faith, love and joy?  And that we spent our resources for His mission on Earth?

When we were asked to help co-chair Freedom for Mission (FFM), we were immediately excited about how God can use this campaign to throw off what hinders (mortgage debt) and show His love for His church and for those served through us.  We are fortunate to be part of a church on mission.  So many members of our church are serving as missionaries or engaged in leadership roles with ministries throughout our community and around the world.   Just imagine how God can bless these and other ministries if we are able to shift resources from repaying mortgage debt to investing more fully into His mission. 

   

The launch of FFM is also an opportunity to reflect upon God’s past provision for our church and to remind ourselves of His faithfulness.  After years of “wandering in the wilderness” without a permanent home, the congregation authentically partnered with God in 2007 as part of the Upon This Rock (UTR) capital campaign to purchase and remodel the building that is now Church of the Apostles. With a new pastor, a recent church plant, and a much smaller congregation, fundraising consultants said UTR was unlikely to succeed.  Yet this assessment did not leave room for God’s faithful provision and the congregation’s generous, sacrificial giving.  

In the Old Testament, the Israelites built stone memorials in grateful remembrance of God’s help and faithfulness.  On Sunday, the congregation built our own memorial, called an Ebenezer, as a reminder of all that God has provided for Church of the Apostles in the past and of His steadfast love for us as we pursue His mission into the future.  

With a membership that is now double the size it was in 2007, it is exciting to envision how God can use FFM to bless others by freeing our church to dive deeper into mission in our community and around the world.  Over the next four weeks, we pray that each of us will authentically partner with God to throw off what is hindering and - as a church on mission - run the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. 

---Stephanie and Dana Simpson

The Man with the Mustache (or How I Met Ron Block) By Jonathan Noël

Nearly 20 years ago, I was living gig-to-gig as a touring musician in Nashville, Tenn. On weekends that I was “off the road,” one of my great joys was being a part of leading worship at my local church. About five or six times a year, my worship director would ask me to sub for him so he could have a break. It was a great honor that I would happily accept.

I was a member of a church in which many of the other members were also road-weary-artist types.  On one particular Sunday that I subbed, a kind-faced gentleman, wearing an impressive mustache, approached me after the service. He introduced himself as “Ron,” warmly encouraged me and told me that he appreciated my leadership and musicianship. He then said he’d enjoy leading with me if I needed a guitar player. I thanked him for his encouragement and his offer. Not knowing him, I would all but forget his offer to volunteer.

At the time, I was also working part-time at Circuit City (a store like Best Buy, now extinct), in the Music Department. One of my required nightly routines was to straighten up all of the CDs (compact discs, nearly extinct) that had been mixed-up during the day. As I was straightening the Country/Blue Grass section, a familiar face (or mustache), on the cover of an Alison Kraus & Union Station record (“So Long So Wrong” – I’m listening to it now as I write this; SO good), caught my eye. “Wait a sec,” I said to myself, “that’s the same dude that talked to me after church.” I knew it was him, even though the kind face I’d met at church was a bit more austere in the cover photo.

Though I wasn’t a huge fan of country music, I bought the CD and threw it into my boom box (a portable cassette/CD player, also nearly extinct) as soon as I got back to my tiny apartment. The music was amazing. The harmonies were so tight and the precision of the instrumentation was mind blowing. The final track, “There Is a Reason,” left me an unexpected, tearful mess. In the liner notes (record/writer credits that once came inside the cd case, also extinct), I discovered that "Ron" -- Ron Block -- wrote the song. I was floored.

That following Sunday I spotted Ron as he was heading out the door of the sanctuary after church. I caught up with him and nervously said something like, “Hey. Hey there. Hey, I’m leading worship again next month. I’d love – I mean, would you still like to play guitar? You don’t have to.” Ron smiled saying, “I’d love to, though I’d prefer to play electric if you don’t mind. I play a lot of acoustic.” “Anything you say – I mean, that sounds great.”

To make a long story short, Ron and I (and later on, his wife Sandra and my wife Amanda) became dear friends. Looking back, it was almost like he knew I needed him that day – when he encouraged me after church – and not for the obvious “musical” reasons. Ron became a trusted and honest voice in my walk with the Lord. His love for Jesus and his life in the grip of grace spurs me on to this day.

On Sunday evening, October 4, come to Apostles to hear a great man share some great music. Tickets are available to the public now. Get yours before they sell out!

***CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS NOW***

To Watch a Video of Ron Block, click here.