Tanner first met our neighbors, Hilda & Floyd and their grandson Skylar, because they purchased furniture at his store. Hilda is the unofficial “neighborhood watch.” She smiles and waves at everyone, knows when neighbors come and go, listens religiously to the police monitor and always knows what’s going on in the neighborhood. Last fall, Floyd passed away, leaving Hilda (who is SUPPOSED to be on oxygen 24/7) to care for her 13-year old grandson. While Skylar can wield a light saber in the back yard like a Jedi master, his mowing (and general chore follow up) skills leave much to be desired.

One day, when Tanner stopped by her house to talk about a recliner, Hilda mentioned her concern about not being able to take care of her yard without Floyd around. She noticed the weekly stream of people coming in and out of our house for community group and band practice and asked if “any of those strapping young men” could help her with lawncare … quickly adding “but I can’t afford to pay them anything.”

We realized Hilda asking for help was in and of itself somewhat of a miracle. Though Tanner and I both tried to sit down and ask her specifically what she needed help with, it was like pulling teeth to get her to actually tell us what she needed after that point.

Sunday arrived, and we had a rough list of items to accomplish. After a picnic lunch, about a dozen community group members went to town to help with various parts of the yard … using a meager collection of tools from our house, a few items group members brought and whatever we could find in Hilda’s garage.

A few guys went to town expertly trimming Hilda’s bushes out front by hand (into circles, not squares like her relatives had done the year before). Others mowed, weed whacked around the tough corners and pulled a sea of weeds from nonexistent flower beds. In the end, we decided to let grass grow instead of creating flower beds since Hilda wouldn’t be able to tend to the beds. A small rusty shed was painted a fresh coat of white. Where professionals had cut down a tree in the backyard, a “forest” (as Skylar called it) had grown from the root system. Without professional equipment, there was no way to completely fix the mini trees growing up from the root system, so the guys cut them down and sprayed the area with weed killer so there would be no need to mow the area, since the protruding roots had already caused damage to the lawn mower the year before.

The biggest surprise was when we went to start trimming the giant holly bushes along the side of the garage, we discovered two trees had grown up next to them and also towered over the garage. the group went to town with a chain saw, hand saw, clippers and muscles to cut down the trees and trim up the bushes. As one point, one of the guys was on the roof chopping off the top of the plants with the chain saw. A few people loaded up pick up truck twice with all of the debris taken from the yard. With a final sweeping of the sidewalks, the project was done.

The funny thing was, we started with very little to get this project done, and yet there was plenty of everything to do it. For instance, I was worried that we only had a few days to plan, but plenty of people showed up. We didn’t even consider how to take away the debris, then a group member showed up with a pick up truck he happened to be borrowing. We didn’t have many tools, but Hilda had plenty stowed away. We had very little direction, but everyone “did their thing” and worked on projects within their skill sets. And we had a lot of fun!

A few life lessons for anyone else planning a work day:
1. Put on sunscreen.
2. Oil-based paint does not come off of skill easily like latex paint.
3. if there’s a chain saw, men will want to help!
4. Don’t be afraid to start just because you don’t have everything pulled together perfectly yet.

Lindsay

Listen to Sermon: Point System

Listen to Sermon: A Father’s Gaze

Listen to Sermon: He is Risen

Listen to Sermon: Palm Sunday

Listen to Sermon: Numbers

Listen to Sermon: Freedom to Imagine

Listen to Sermon: Worship Celebration

Listen to Sermon: God’s plan for Moses and you

Recognizing Transitions

We started the evening by introducing the members of the leadership team (Kelly Chripczuk, Lindsay Debien, Tom Kaden, Sue Miller, and Travis Leaman.) Sue, Lindsay, Travis and Tom have all joined the team in the past year. We recognized Matt Tuckey’s transition off of leadership team and thanked him for three years of service on the team. We also thanked Mimi Hesse for her leadership of Engage kids and recognized her transition out of that role.

Celebrating Transformation

After discussing these transitions, we took turns reading comments taken from the Engage survey. These statements recognized the innumerable ways people have grown at Engage over the past year. We also heard personal testimonies from Ed Asbury, Tom Colestock and Krissy Kitchen.

A sampling of the survey comments are:

• This is a humble church that’s bare and honest. Being exposed as a church body makes God come through easier. And I can feel him here.
• I feel Engage is helping me and others grow closer to Jesus.
• I enjoy the atmosphere
• God keeps working where we are
• All the leaders have such a clear heart for people and God. Your realness is so encouraging and appreciated.
• God’s working here
• I feel comfortable here. It seems like this church is growing along with me.
• God is here, its real, and I am growing in my walk by volunteering, listening, and worshiping.
• It’s a positive, non-judgmental spiritual environment. Allows us to come when we’re able.
• Good community
• I like the environment
• It’s my community

Talking about Finances

Tanner Debien will be serving as a financial liaison to the leadership team. Tanner will help present and interpret financial reports for the leadership team on a monthly basis. In short, Engage ended 2011 $5,883 short, requiring the use of funds from savings. As a result, all non-essential spending has been frozen. If we continue to need to draw from savings, a 10% cut in salaries will be instituted.

In 2012 Engage needs $3000 a week in offering to meet budget. This increase over last year is due to a decrease in our BIC subsidy. Tanner explained that we could meet this is everyone gave just $20 per week.

Exploring the Future

Jon Hand shared about the hopes that Engage will move toward being a church comprised of Mission Shaped Communities (MSCs). MSCs are groups that share life together missionally. MSCs function as mini-churches in their communities – loving, serving and blessing their communities together. In the coming year we will talk more about what this might look like for Engage.

Jon also explained that the BIC has given us money to use for staffing as we look toward hiring someone to fill the associate pastor position. The hope is to shift this from a 20 hour a week position to something more like 30-40 hours. Engage has already started receiving this money from BIC and is currently using it to pay the oversight team that is working during Jon’s sabbatical.

Committing Together

We closed the evening together by sharing individual hopes and dreams for Engage and explaining how pledge cards can help families and individuals grow in supporting Engage financially. As Engage continues to grow and change, we will continue to need people to give sacrificially or their time, money, and energy. Materials are available on the connection table if you would like to prayerfully consider making a pledge for the coming year. Your pledge helps the leadership team know how to plan for the year ahead.

Trusting God

We closed in prayer, believing that it is God’s great love that guides, upholds and preserves the ministry at Engage.

Listen to Sermon: Lead others to follow Jesus

Engage recently sent a group of people to Awaken Haiti. Hear from the group as they share about their experience. Read more about the trip from Pastor Jon’s blog.

Listen to Sermon: Awaken Haiti

Listen to Sermon: Transitions

Listen to Sermon: Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

This trip for many of us was a burning bush moment.  It’s funny! I believe there are burning bushes all around us but sometimes you have to go away outside your country, culture, and safety to come back and actually see the burning bushes in our back yard.  Then, what do you do with that? How do we stay awake at home to the burning bushes that God puts in our path? How do we revel in the unresolvable mystery of God and not try to define Him by what we want Him to be or think He should be?

On Monday we went back to Canaan. This time the school kids were singing and laughing and learning in their school that meets in the church that Awaken Haiti built. We painted and nailed and held little girls and teased little boys (See my FB for some pictures of the kids at school) and Tom taught a dental clinic.   It was a good day-a fast day.  Last night we showered off the dust (everything is covered in dust in Haiti), filled ourselves with some great Haitian food, and gathered on the outside porch to debrief the events of this past 5 days.  I feel like we crammed 3 weeks worth of sights, sounds, emotions, and work into, really, 4 days.  We shared for two hours as thoughts or memories or still small voices were brought to our minds, drawn up from the deep well of our hearts.

For most of us Haiti was was we expected but so much more. For most of us we came knowing how it would go and we leave humbled and surprised at the complexities, nuances, tensions, and hidden surprises that make Haiti the ugly beautiful place that it is!

We leave this morning for the airport! We touch down in DC at 5:00 P.M. We’ve backed our bags that we will lug through the airport. We bring our bodies home to our family and friends but for all of us we will leave a part of our hearts in Haiti.  May we not forget!

We started yesterday (Sunday) by going to worship at Port-Au-Prince Fellowship. The church is English speaking and mostly European and American Christian aid workers and missionaries attend there. The place was packed and electric with energy.  I have to tell you, it is so much fun worshipping with a room packed full of people seeking God.  The people who attended are giving giving giving all week. They are dishing out emotionally and spiritually and they come into Sunday looking to be filled up and energized.  As we sang the whole room was alive with fervor in the anticipation that God’s love and power is made aware to us as the community of Jesus gathers together.  As I said yesterday Sunday was a roller coaster. We started at the top of the hill….but we would not stay there.

After PAP Fellowship we got in the truck and went on a driving tour of PAP. I didn’t mention yet but the truck we have traveled in this week is actually a cage on wheels. The truck is a box truck but the box is actually a wire cage.  I know what a chicken feels like now  Cage is a big wire mesh box fastened to the back of a European style diesel truck.  There are two bench seats on each side of the cage-enough to seat 20 people.  This is how we saw PAP…from the inside. Locked out from them or maybe the other way around..I don’t know.   I just can’t imagine the psychological toll this city must take from its inhabitants. The two main symbols of Haitian pride were the National Cathedral and the Palace. Both were completely destroyed in the earthquake. Both are just concrete spires of rubble, just haunted looking shadows of a past glory (like the erie ruins of a European castle).  Everywhere you go there are still piles of rubble reminders that time has not healed these wounds.  In addition to the crumbling palace (imagine our White House cracked in two and laid bare for two years) and the endless tattered tent cities there is also a slum called Cite’ Solia (sp?). This slum was here before the earthquake and will be here for a long long time. It has 300 thousand people living in it, if you call that living. No sanitation. No clean anything. No running water. No sewers. Nothing but grime and stench. It was hell to look at. I mean it. Hell! It was hell to smell it. It was hell to drive past it. I can’t imagine what it must be like to no nothing else of life itself. How long? (see last night’s post).

After driving through the city we went back to the Good Sam Home for Girls. The boys joined us and we laughed and played water balloons.  Ky Colestock brought some great beads and supplies to make bracelets. The girls loved it! My girls would have loved it too.  I’m going to bring them here as soon as they are old enough! Get ready Karis and Addy.  The Hempels brought cardboard cars for us to assemble with the boys. I helped Junior make his. You can see a picture on my FB.  We had a blast!  The contrast between PAP and the love and hope that exists in the orphanage is amazing.  After that valley it was great to have a mountain to stand on for a few hours!

Ok. That’s the gist of yesterday. Today we go back to Canaan!

Peace

jon

I will elaborate more tomorrow but the crux of it is that we visited Port-Au-Prince (PAP) today. I’ve been to third world countries. I’ve been to Cambodia, Mexico, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Two years later there are tattered tent cities full of young families stacked on top of each other. Imagine a world with no waste management. Imagine a world where city sewers are not hidden discretely underneath our feet-out of sight out of mind.  Imagine a world where all you do is camp day after day, week after week, month after month, and now year after year.  Rain, heat, sun, and sweat…and you are in it with thousands-as far as the eye can see from the sidewalk. This town is crumbling and it was crumbling before the earthquake and it still shudders in garbage and filth and hot humid stomach turning stench.

This is not what humans were made for. . . How long?

I drive by these places in sitting in the back of a truck….a man showers his body on the side of the road…we are driving through his bathroom.  A young mom chases her stark naked two year old…we are driving in her nursery. A 15 yr. old boy hangs out with his pals, huddled around, playing Rock Band drums on hollow plastic buckets…we are driving through his bedroom.  I feel shame that this potted road takes me through the inner chambers of their lives.  Yet, we cannot look away! We cannot burry our heads in our glossy mail order catalogues. We cannot shrug, we cannot save, we cannot fix, we can’t control!  How long?

I drive through their lives and think…Egypt. Israel. Slavery. Slavery slums and ramshackle chains. For 400 years they cry out…”How long?”

Psalms 6

Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
³ My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?

⁴ Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

Good night! Be blessed and grateful for more than you know or can imagine. A gift. It’s all gift.

Jon

Listen to Sermon: Taking Time Out

We left the guesthouse this morning around 9 AM and drove for 40 minutes over to a place called Canaan. Two years ago Canaan was just a pocked mark piece of God-forsaken hardscrabble hillside at the foothills of the majestic mountains that seem to hover over the three sides surrounding Port-Au-Prince.  Canaan is about an hour outside of the capital city.  After the earthquake the government created a tent city in this barren dusty hillside of crumbled limestone and scrub brush.  People living in PAP were told they would be given jobs if they relocated their life outside of the city to start a new life in Canaan.  None of it came true. No job materialized, no ‘new life’, just wind, dust, boredom, and a landscape peppered with tattered tents with no electricity or running water. Each ‘house’ looks like a rickety 10×10 shacks of tarp and clanky wind-blown tin.  Today over 5000 families live a hard life on this crumbling piece of Haiti. Most of the homes are the size and texture of tool sheds–my back yard storage barn where I keep my push mower is larger than some of these homes.

Through a series of ‘unexplainable’ events Jeff and Deb met Pastor Nathan. Pastor Nathan pastors a church in Delma near PAP. After the earthquake many of his flock were relocated to Canaan. So he went to Canaan and started a church in the middle of the community.  Today that church has over 400 people connecting, engaging, and buzzing in the life of Jesus lived out. Each day of the week the wind will blow the sound of ruckus songs of praise flowing wafting from the slats in the windows of the church.   Turns out the God forsaken places are not that at all!  Last Summer Jeff and a crew of workers from the states put the finishing touches on a 30×70 ft church building. It’s simple, nothing fancy, but probably the most beautiful church building I’ve ever seen not because of color or design….but because of function and place.  This church is literally an oasis in the desert-as all churches should be.  A place where thirsty souls come out of the heat and ramshackle existence to be refreshed and renewed by the living water of God-His Spirit. A place where love is planted and rooted deep in the lives of the family of God bearing much fruit in a barren land of the living.

Part of our job this morning was to paint and polyurethane the inside of the building. During the week the building is a school for 130 kids from Canaan.  Across the rocky dusty yard is an outbuilding that serves as a medical clinic and several from our team offered medical care to 20 people today.  One of the girls who showed up came with her older sister.  She is three, her name is MeMe.  Meme’s mom is sick and pretty much out of the picture.  Meme needed her temperature taken but sometime a little girl needs a mommy’s touch more than she needs pills for pain.  Over the course of the morning the women in our group passed Meme around as she laid her droopy head on the familiar nurturing shoulders of strangers from America–both hoping for that moment in time to freeze longer than time allowed.

So…among other things…that is what we did. We also put siding on an outdoor kitchen that is being built to feed the community.  Right now, people are walking an hour + one way to buy food in a nearby town.  Not acceptable!

So that’s what we did. Here is what we learned. The essence of life. The things we clamber for: Joy, well-being, love, contentment, peace, security, happiness, acceptance, community, rested soul, and did I mention JOY? These things we spend billions to buy and, yet, illusively cannot seem to keep.  These things of life that make the difference between living and surviving…they are alive here in spades.  The stuff of living life well, of being most alive, of all that is most beautiful about life itself…it lives in tool shed shacks with packed dusty dirt floors. It cooks its food over charcoal pits and hikes across town to the nearest watering hole. It follows children as they run and chase and screech turning piles of rocks into sandboxes of play. It gathers in nightly with neighbors in circles around make shift porches to laugh and tell stories.  It breaks out across the beaming face of the passerby on the street, um, well more like craggy dirt path.

Back home in our walled compound of cement, razor wire, and metal gates…All of us tonight sat around debriefing our day–amazed.  We were amazed because the secrets out! The emperor’s naked. You don’t need life to go well to live well and be fully alive. These people taught the know-it-all Americans how to live today. They exposed our greatest lies and unrelenting quest.  More is here and it’s alive and well in hardscrabble Haiti…

Good night friends! May the God of peace be with you.  I leave you with this as it’s truth echoed off the limestone walls of the mountainside today!!

⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3

Important things are happening in the dark and cold that prepare us for the new growth and abundance of spring. As a church body, we’re looking to this season as a time to grow in depth and strength in preparation for a season of renewed growth and outreach.

One of the best ways to experience growth is to join a community group. Community groups will be meeting every week or every other week (depending on the group) starting Jan. 15th.

Community Groups @ Engage
(These groups are made up of 10-20 people who commit to meet together for the semester)