Don't just GO to church, BE the church!

The doors of our home church were intentionally kept locked and all formal services cancelled last Sunday.  The reason was explained in the preceding weeks; don’t just go to church, BE the church!  We found our opportunity according to Ephesians 2:10,  “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Through our ministry, we routinely find opportunities to serve, and to be the church.  One of our STARTS families had been living in a women’s shelter since September last year.  This meant that the mother and kids were given a place to stay, while the father had to “couch surf”, and worse.

A week ago they finally obtained a tiny (did I mention T-I-N-Y?) apartment.  It was empty, and they lacked practically everything.  So with our church shuttering its doors for the day, time was freed up for us to BE the church to this family.

Several other church members and YesWeServers stepped up to help move their meager belongings from storage into their apartment.  Friends donated, and we gave needed household items and furniture.  The boys had been sleeping on the floor, but thanks to a generous YesWeServer we secured a brand new bunk-bed from a certain Scandinavian big box store – and joined forces with the father of the home and one of his visiting friends to assemble the bed - with no pieces to spare! 

It was a hallowed moment when we stood together in a circle in the living-room each holding the neighbor’s hand for a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s presence to dwell in this new home, and for allowing us to BE the church.

Calling all truck drivers! Service opportunity!

Over the past couple of years we have established a good partnership with the Food Bank at Seventh Street Church. For example, it was through Food Bank connections we were able to provide all the STARTS families with filled-way-past-the-rim Christmas boxes of food these past two years.  For those of you who were part of our Christmas programs, you know how much that was appreciated by everyone involved - both those who gave and those who received!

Now there is a service opportunity for all you truck drivers out there :)  The Food Bank needs someone to drive the food truck one Thursday morning each month (normally the fourth Thursday).  The truck needs to leave Seventh Street Church parking lot at 7 a.m. and will be back around 11 a.m.  There are two stops in downtown Los Angeles, and one in Long Beach.  There will be people to load the food into the truck at each stop, as well as to unload everything back at Seventh Street.
We pray that there just might be someone out there who is looking for a way to serve, but haven't found it yet - and who will know that driving the Food Bank truck is the perfect fit!
If not you, talk to your friends, and have anyone interested contact us.
God bless you today!

Join Team YesWeServe for Long Beach Marathon!

Here is a follow-up from last week’s announcement about YesWeServe, Inc being accepted as an official charity with the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday 13 October 2013.

We need 20 volunteers and 20 runners.  Volunteers may help out with various relatively simple tasks the couple of days before the race, including “manning” our booth during the pre-race Expo.  YesWeServe will also have a tent in the Finish Line area for celebration after completed runs and bicycle rides.

We must have TWENTY runners signed up by 1 June!  Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that everyone has to be a full marathoner J.  There are four options, three of them runs; a 5K, half- and full marathon, plus a 20 mile bicycle ride.  However, the organizers request that at least half our total number of twenty runners do either the half- or full marathon.

Wherever you are in your fitness right now, there is a place for you on our (at least) 40 person Team YesWeServe!  If you are not on a running schedule, we will be providing exactly that as we launch Team YesWeServe with our first group run on the beach on Saturday 8 June at 8:30 a.m.  All members will do their own training during the week, maybe even team up with others.

The cost for the half-/full marathon is US$80.00, and US$30.00 for each either the 5K or the bicycle ride.

Each runner will commit to helping fund-raise (at least) $250.00 for YesWeServe to reach our goal of ten thousand dollars.  We will provide much more detail about the project (-s) as we move forward.

If you had already signed up to run before  the Team YesWeServe option became available, you can still, of course join us, and help us in the fund-raising!

Do not sign up online (Long Beach Marathon’s website).  Contact me immediately so that I can get the number of sign-ups and I will give you further information on how to proceed. 

Helpers. Servants.

While moving slowly towards the US/Mexico border on our most recent “Missionary for a Day” trip from Mexicali, the van suddenly went dead.  No attempt to reignite the engine was successful, so Dre and Mike jumped out and pushed.  They had hardly begun their “work-out’ before a man in an F-150 manouvered his truck into position in front of us from another lane.  Motioning to Mike, he handed him a towing rope, then helped to attach it and we were on our way across.  Eventually, we reached our regular gas station stop, but the car problem was still very present.  After a few phone calls it became clear that it wouldn’t be fixed that night.

Randy, who was getting ready to move on with his passengers of YesWeServers, a few months ago put himself in the agreeable position of acquiring – not only a lovely wife – but a father-in-law who runs a shuttle business!  A couple more phone calls and Rick arrived to take us all safely and comfortably home, only a couple of hours or so later than planned.

Fast-forward a few days, and I am back to bring the van home; Samuel at Mision Frontera picks me up at midnight from the Greyhound stop and gives me shelter for the night.  Next morning his dad and a neighbor mechanic help me tow the van across the border, secure the missing fuel pump, repair the damage and I’m on my way home.

 

A couple of more days later; the members of one of the small-groups at Anchor pitched in and sent me a check to cover the cost!

Thank you, and God bless you, to all my many helpers; may we always be prepared to help and serve!

Cool strategy!

From across the gym at STARTS, "Frederick" comes running towards me.  He has a serious look on his face.  

Backstory: I had told the kids to put away the foam blocks they had used for castle building (and destruction!) a couple of minutes earlier. 

Back to my story: "What's wrong, Frederick?"  

"They're hitting me, so I can't be there with them!"

This is when I had a "Holy Spirit moment" (Luke 21:15).  Instead of brushing him aside as just another whiny, complaining kid, I hunched down till we were at eye-level and I said to him: "What do you think of this idea; they did something to you that wasn't nice.  You go back there and help them clean up the foam blocks, anyway - they will be so embarrassed that they treated you badly, and they won't know what to say when you help them!"

To my amazement, he straightened his posture, his face lit up with a determined expression, he whirled around on his heel and jogged back to the "construction site" to help his adversaries!

This became as much a lesson for me as it did for Frederick – perhaps more. I learned something about trusting the Lord for the words and the wisdom to handle situations. I also was reminded of the importance of simply showing up; if you don’t, the word or the wisdom The Holy Spirit gives you will have no situation in which to come alive.

What were you doing when you were 12?

Prior to our our February Missionary for a Day trip to Mexicali I was prompted to think about what I did when I was 12 years old.  At that time I wasn’t exactly tearing it up intellectual at school, however, I recall that a lot of time was spent tearing up the turf in some local park. Not on purpose, mind you; it was reckless slide tackling to compensate for undeveloped skills during pick-up games of soccer.  After I had cleaned the muck off my “leisure wear” I often headed over to the local Salvation Army where I played – I use that term loosely – the alto horn in the youth band.

A few days before heading off to Mexicali with our usual solid numbers of volunteers I got a call from Donald Ausherman.  It’d been a while since he had come with us, but with his 12 year old daughter Catherine,  he would like to join us for our next trip.  When we met Saturday morning at about 5:45 a.m., they had already traveled for an hour before they met up with us!  I never got out of bed at anything remotely close to that time when I was 12.  But Catherine did, and then some:  she recently had baked a hundred cookies and a mountain of breads to raise funds for YesWeServe, and she was bringing the proceeds - $135.00 – in an envelope that morning.  How cool is that?!

She reminded me of the story in the Bible about Jesus at 12: He astounded the Bible scholars in the Temple with his insight and wisdom when He visited during Passover with his family.  Let’s be creative in how we arrange our lives “To be about my Father’s business”.  

Even if many of us are way past 12.