Community 4:12

Leaving a Soul Legacy

I think we are going to look back on this past weekend at Community as a milestone weekend.  As part of our Soul Cash series, we talked about leaving a Soul Legacy, and we asked all attenders to pick one of 4 teams (places) to invest in with their time, talent, treasures, and prayers to help eradicate poverty and help people find their way back to God.  One of those teams was the Neighborhood (East Aurora) Team.  We had almost 500 people from 8 campuses sign up to join our mission in East Aurora!  I am super excited to see how God is going to use all of this energy and passion.  I will be sending out weekly Team updates for the next couple of months telling everyone more about what we are currently doing in Aurora and what we dream of doing.  If you'd like to receive those updates, click here and let me know.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

We had a blast at our new friends Obe and Jack's last night.  We were celebrating Jack's birthday and their recent move to Aurora to help people from the Hispanic community here find their way back to God.  I just met them last June, but they have become very precious to me and our family.  I know God is going to do some powerful, powerful things through them.

And, Jack, not only did I not feel "out of place" like I have at other gatherings around here, I couldn't believe how fast the night flew.  Your friends and family are almost--but not quite--as great as you are!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your life, and I can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Adrenalin Rush!

I pretty much spent the entire day yesterday on an adrenalin rush---as my lieing (laying?) in bed wide awake at 1:00 am proved.  Most of the day was spent at the Church in the Burbs conference sponsored by 4 of the biggest churches in Naperville.  There was great teaching by Randy Frazee and Ed Bahler and some some real momentum around the idea of figuring out ways our churches can rally together around a common cause/mission.  And East Aurora definitely emerged as a possibility.

Then had what could have been a pivotal dinner meeting for actually bringing this Lighthouse vision to fruition.  More on that later, but suffice it to say, God is most certainly concocting something big in East Aurora!  I'm so grateful that He seems to be letting me play a small role in His plan!

We're Going to Costa Rica!

I have received some wonderful gifts in my life, but I think the offer we received last week probably tops the list.  An incredibly generous and loving family has offered to sponsor a 4 week stay at a Spanish Immersion program in Costa Rica this summer for our family.  So, we are going to spend the month of July in the beautiful country of Costa Rica living with a Spanish speaking family and going to school several hours a day.  They have a separate school for the kids and there are Spanish Bible studies and cooking classes.  FINALLY, maybe I will learn to converse at least a little with our Spanish speaking friends here in Aurora.  I still can't believe it is actually going to happen, but we did go and order passports for the boys today, so that is starting to make it seem a little more real. 

My boys (and us, too, for that matter) are just blown away that a family that doesn't really even know them would be so generous to us.  I hope and pray that even more than the incredible experience we have in Costa Rica, that they remember this act of extreme generosity.   

Saturday Fun

Had a great day yesterday!  Started off by visiting our Saturday Stars tutoring program at Bardwell.  What terrific and dedicated tutors we have coming to that every week!

Then dashed the boys off to their piano lesson at our Montgomery Campus---I LOVE that Community offers School for the Arts lessons, and I am excited about the possibility of starting some SFTA classes in East Aurora--but that's another post.

Then we picked up our friend and headed over to East High for the 5th Grade Girls' Basketball Tournament.  Triple Threat Sports Mentoring did a terrific job of bringing in volunteers (mostly from our Montgomery Campus) to ref, score, set up kids activities.  So, while Scott worked the score board, I got to hang out with kids cheering on our schools.  Unfortunately both Brady and Bardwell lost in the early rounds, but it was so fun to see girls from 12 different schools out there doing their best and having fun.  Next Sunday is the boys' tournament and girls' cheerleading competition.  That is a blast of a day every year, so if you want to come have some fun, come on out from 10:00 - 3:00 at East Aurora High School.  And Triple Threat could still use some help that day, so click here and let Caleb know you can help!

Left there and went to pick up 2 more neighborhood friends, went to the downtown branch of the library and let each kid pick out 5 books to check out---which they were all eager and excited to do!  Then we took them all to our Montgomery Campus for church.  After service Steve Kirby led us in a terrific Concert of Prayer for East Aurora.  There weren't a ton of people there, but I was so honored that Randy Schoof, pastor at Warehouse Church, and a couple from his church and Obe and Jack Arellano, from CTC, came to spend that time with us.  To have them praying for a campus pastor for our East Aurora Campus was just awesome. I know that unity in the church is what makes God smile.  I know God is doing a mighty work in East Aurora, and my biggest prayer is that we don't get in His way!

What Will Evangelicals Do?

I found this article in the Chicago Tribune today very interesting.  Click here to read the whole article, but here's an excerpt,

"The agenda of the evangelical church in America has been two-fold since 1973: It has been sanctity of life and traditional marriage. ... It's almost blasphemous to go beyond those two items," he said. "Now, the Hispanic evangelical comes along and says there are other items that we need to look at. What about alleviating poverty, from a biblical view? What about health care and education? What about speaking against torture? What about human rights?"

But Lynne Hybels insists that the evangelical community has never been a one- or two-issue voting bloc.

"The silence of moderate and progressive Christians has perpetuated a narrow view of evangelicals," she said, breaking her own silence. (In the past, she worried that anything she said might be construed as political and get Willow into hot water.)

"Evangelicals committed to the fight against poverty and injustice, both locally and globally, have been working, volunteering, funding and praying about those issues for decades," she continued. "Finally, their voices have become prominent in the political conversation."

Indeed, Michael Lindsay, author of the book "Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite" said about 70 percent of today's evangelicals simply don't identify with the Religious Right."

A Glimpse Into Her World

I've written before about a little girl from the neighborhood that has become very special to our family.  She joins us for church, long days of play and has even become a part of many of our "family nights"--which says a lot, because we keep those pretty sacred for just our little family.  She doesn't say a lot, but always seems to love being at our house.  My favorite times have been when Erik and Brian start playing kind of rough, so she'll go and get some crayons and sit at the kitchen table with me and color while I work.  She got me a beautiful doll for Christmas, and I keep it on my dresser--which she noticed immediately.  I had never met her mom or anyone from her family, and only knew the little bit she has shared with me about life at home, which has explained a bit why she may enjoy coming to our house.

Anyway, after months of her coming into our world, she invited me into hers.  Her brother's girlfriend is having a baby, and they had a shower for her last night.  And my little friend invited me to come.  I knew it would not be the most comfortable of situations, but there was no way I was going to say no!  She told me there would be lots of kids, so I took the boys with me.  We got there about 45 minutes after it was scheduled to start, and we were the first ones there. They had just started blowing up the balloons.  Slowly others started arriving, and it was quite obvious that no one really had a clue who we were or why we were there.  I did meet the aunt that she had told me about who takes her to church on Sundays and bought her a Bible.  I probably spent an hour talking with this wonderful woman and learned so much more about my little friend and her background, and I was so thankful for this aunt in her life---who has her own remarkable story.  I did finally meet the mom, who arrived late from work and did seem to know we would be there, thankfully.  We couldn't communicate, but she was very kind.

After a few hours the mom-to-be finally arrived.  We ate, but it was obvious that the real festivities would not get going for quite some time.  The aunt whom I had hung very close to, and as far as I could tell spoke the most English, had to leave, so the boys and I decided to go then, as well.  Even though no one had really seemed to care that we were there, they were obviously surprised (and maybe offended?) that we were leaving.

My little friend popped over several times during the evening to say hello or ask if I wanted a drink or to show me her little neice she was so proud of and had told me so much about, but for the most part, I couldn't tell whether she cared that we were there or not.

But, she had invited me to share a little piece of her world, and as awkward as I felt much of the time, I would not have missed it for anything.  And I can only hope that it showed her that I want to be a part of her life.  I hope this was just the first of many times she will let me in.

Social Justice and Church Planting

One of the outcomes of the Urban Church Planting gathering we had last week is that a few of us Community Development folks are going to go to the biggest Church Planting conference (National New Church Conference) in April, and then some big Church Planting folks are going to come to the biggest Community Development conference (CCDA) in October.  I am excited about these opportunities for further learning and collaboration!

As part of the conference, Troy Jackson is doing a pre-conference intensive "Social Justice and New Churches."  I think it is going to be awesome.  Well, it will be if they don't cancel it.  They need several more people to register for this session in order to continue to offer it.  If you are a church planter, or know anyone who is, please consider coming to this conference (there is an amazing line-up of speakers) and being a part of this pre-conference intensive!  This topic is so important for churches to be thinking about if they want to be relevant in this society, so it is a message they need to hear!  Please help spread the word!  Here's an explanation of what will be covered . . .

When: Monday, April 21, 1pm - 5pm and Tuesday, April 22, 9am - 11am

Leader: Troy Jackson, University Christian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio

Description:
Over the last decade, a passion for Social Justice has grown exponentially in our culture and our churches. Following the lead of celebrities from Bono to Oprah to Bill & Melinda Gates, and of Christian organizations like Sojourners and the Willow Creek Association, issues of race, poverty, genocide, global trade, HIV/AIDS, the environment, and peace have become pervasive. To be relevant in 2008, your new church must wrestle with these social justice concerns. Further, a close reading of Scripture makes clear that a passion for justice is not only demanded by our culture, but is also mandated by God.

This pre-conference intensive seminar will help you consider how to make social justice part of the DNA of your new congregation. We will explore ways to move beyond concern to concrete action that will excite and inspire your attendees and lead people in your community who had written off the church as unconcerned to take a new look at Jesus.

This intensive will consider these questions facing your new church:

• How prominent should social justice be for our new congregation?

• Is social justice best understood as a new and relevant apologetic or as a mode of evangelism, or should social justice have an even greater role in our new church?

• Should we engage national and local politics, or avoid politics altogether?

• How can our congregation move from awareness and concern to actually making a difference in a hurting world?

• What resources can our church use to be better engaged, informed, and involved in making a difference globally for God's Kingdom?

Your Vote?

Did you vote today?  If so, I'd love to know who got your vote and why.  I'm an Obama girl--probably no surprise.  I've pretty much come to the (possibly naive) conclusion that the president really doesn't have that much power when it comes to effecting change from a policy standpoint.   But, I do believe the president has incredible power when it comes to impacting the morale of the country and determining how the US is perceived around the world.  Maybe I've given in to idealism, but I see Obama as being a modern day Bobby Kennedy who might just be able to bring some hope and unity to our country and restore some very broken relationships with the rest of the world. What do you think?

What's Up With Car Fires?

A few times this year, the boys have come home and said that one of their friends told them about a car that exploded on their street.  And once or twice, we've driven by a house and seen a car that was severely charred.  I never saw anything like this in our old neighborhood, but figured it must have something to do with the cars being really old and just bursting into flames because of some malfunction (probably shows you how little I know about cars).

Well, last night about 10:00, we heard what sounded like a gun shot behind our house.  Scott looked out the window and yelled, "The house behind us is on fire!"  I picked up the phone to call 911, and he said, "Wait.  There's the firetruck and it is a car, not the house."  We know that house to be as the boys call it "a gang house."  So, now I am wondering if these car fires are some kind of gang prank?  Do they go around torching cars of rival gang members?

Anyway, the boys couldn't wait to take the dog for a walk this morning so they could go over and see the remains of the car.  Sure enough, that was about all that was left of the SUV . . . a big charred frame.  Thank goodness the flames didn't hit any homes! 

So, top that for some Saturday night excitement!