Longard Log: August 2012

Longard Log

Leon and Tina Longard

Building Bridges from the Local Church to the Soul of it's Community

Seeking Shalom

Through Jeremiah, God told the exiles in Babylon, "Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer. 29:7) This verse was the theme of the "Seeking the Shalom of the City" conference we participated in this summer. People doing missional ministry throughout the U.S. gathered to discuss how to be people of shalom (peace) in the midst of many challenges of contemporary city life. This goes beyond absence of conflict, to bringing wholeness through Christ into people's lives.

During this conference, I (Leon) served as a panelist for the discussion about addressing issues of poverty in your community. I was able to share abou t how God has opened the door for us to serve those in need through our partnership with The S.P.A.R.C. Center. We also heard from other panelist about their work serving in other areas of need such as the homeless in Santa Barbara, CA, a mobile home park in Lake County, IL, and an inner city neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. All of us shared a common call of bringing the wholeness of Christ to those on the margins of our communities.

It was refreshing to gather with people who have a similar passion for missional ministry. We were also able to glean ideas from others about how we can better serve our community. Pray that God would continue use us to be people of peace to those on the margins of our community.

S.P.A.R.C. Update

Our school district received a grant to hire a new teacher to focus on the student side of the work of the SPARC Center. This is an exciting time in being able to have more students available to help with the organization side of SPARC. It also brings the challenges of learning new roles in our relationship with this program. Pray that God gives us grace and favor to continue to build bridges to our community through S.P.A.R.C.

Ministry Goals

Train lay people to work with their pastors in fulfilling the mission of Jesus in their communities.
Network with multiple churches to pool resources for community outreach.
Make tools like the Alpha Course, Celebrate Recovery, and KidzClubs accessible to people on a main street level.