There is a wide-open door for a great work here. 1 Corinthians 16:9 (NLT)
Our missional church plant, Diakonos, is growing as God increases our profile among those seeking a more organic faith community. Our partnership with Food 4 Souls, a local faith-based organization we work alongside in serving friends without homes, continues to grow as well. In the past couple of months Food 4 Souls has expressed interest in Leon and Diakonos getting more involved in follow-up care for people who leave the streets to enter recovery programs and other housed situations. This opportunity may eventually lead to either embedding our current Diakonos Community into a neighborhood where we would be more accessible to worship together with those who are in recovery programs or working with Food 4 Souls to create a second missional community in an area accessible to our friends without homes. Either route we choose would give us a great opportunity to see the Kingdom of God advance among some of the most marginalized people in our city.
The growth we're experiencing is creating an interesting, but good, dilemma for our family. From the beginning we have been committed to carrying out this mission as co-vocational missionaries. Still, this growing opportunity has us praying more about the need for Leon to let go of his part-time teaching position at the end of this school year so he can focus more on the needs within Diakonos and the needs of the people we serve that are living in homelessness. Because of this, we are looking at raising an additional $900 per month in support for our ministry by the end of July (when Leon's current teaching contract would expire) to make up for the income we would lose if he is no longer teaching part-time. This is a decision we do not take lightly, because we know the scores of people who would be helped in their recovery process by Leon stepping up in this way.
- Pray for wisdom for us as we weigh all factors related to this decision.
- Pray also that God would provide for the work He continues to call us to. We have seen a growth in our pledge commitments over the past couple of months, but we will need to see this grow further if we are to move ahead with this vision.
- Pray also about being one of those who invests in the work of God's Kingdom through us by making a recurring faith promise to our ministry or by giving a special offering to our ministry. If God calls you to invest in this ministry, see the "Financial Support Information" below for details on how to make your contribution.
|
<![endif]>
No comments:
Post a Comment