Urban Discovery Ministries

Transcription

1 October 2012 Newsletter Urban Discovery Ministries Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 Thanksgiving from the President/CEO Michael V. Fariss Thank you for supporting us with your prayers and financial gifts as we intensify our church planting outreach in the inner city. I praise God for transforming lives this summer as we embarked on our new Strategic Game Plan for this purpose. Our Board and staff members met in July for two days to prayerfully study this plan. (See Operational Model Diagram.) In August, Greg Johnston began teaching Game Plan classes for prospective interns and volunteers. Norfolk East church plant leaders met weekly for training during the summer months and the church s initial cell group averaged about adults. Our staff team and members of Norfolk East expanded relationships with families in the Young s Terrace neighborhood by focusing our evangelism, sports ministries, summer camps and educational outreaches there. We implemented the internship component of this plan to begin equipping pastors, church planters and missionaries for our inner city church planting initiatives. Additionally, we sent two missions teams to the GLOBE Center in Jamaica to further advance our mission of planting churches that fulfill Christ s Great Commission at home and abroad. As you read the newsletter s testimonies, be assured that we give much thanksgiving to God for your vital role as our partner in this work! Phase V Impact Local & Global Operational Model Phase IV Installation Develop Pastor / Ministry Pool Phase III Implementation Mike Fariss sharing the Gospel Phase II Incarnation Ronnie Mack and Janet McAdoo (third and fourth from left) at the One Died for All Camp Executive Director s Report Ronnie Mack McAdoo Praise the Lord for UDM s Fourth Annual Sports Banquet featuring former ESPN College basketball analyst Hubert Davis. We thank the Lord for raising over $50,000 and bringing in four new monthly financial partners. Praise God for everyone who made a financial contribution to our annual camp appeal. As a result of your generosity, we were able to provide scholarships for over 60 young people to attend FCA, One Died for All basketball camp and a weekend retreat at Triple R Ranch. (See photos on pages 2 3.) Praise the Lord for Norfolk Christian Schools generously welcoming us to use their athletic facilities for our Sixth Annual One Died for All bas ketball camp. We ministered to over 100 athletes in the weeklong camp and had 38 commitments to Christ. UDM s inaugural monthlong Summer Sizzle camp allowed us to minister to 18 middle school aged young men, many of whom live in the Young s Terrace housing complex. We are asking God to use the staff of UDM, in cluding our two new interns, to follow up these young people and their families to connect them to the Norfolk East Church plant and the GED Learning Center. We are grateful to now be operating from new offices located inside of Park Place School. Praise God for the opportunity to touch these young lives for His glory.

2 Page 2 One Died for All Basketball Camp in Photos A young camper looks up to James McAdoo Greg Johnston teaching campers about the Good News of Jesus Christ. New friends made among the campers. Campers gathered in a time of prayer. Thank You for Providing Scholarships! Personal Trainer and volunteer Mark Cinq-Mars and campers. Summer Sizzle Camp in Photos Ronnie McAdoo helps the young men from Summer Sizzle learn how to tie a neck tie during the etiquette session of camp. Volunteer Rich Papworth and Ronnie McAdoo share with our Summer Sizzle teens in a small group Bible Study.

3 Page 3 Children s Retreat at Triple-R Ranch The last weekend of August, Greg Johnston coordinated UDM s children s retreat at Triple R Ranch. UDM designed the retreat to provide a camping ministry that each of its local church plants (Urban Community Church of Norfolk, Peninsula East End Church, and Norfolk East Church) would embrace as their own. The churches combined to recruit 40 campers from the communities they are reaching, 15 teens to serve as Jr. staff members, and 24 adult volunteers to supervise and teach the children. In addition to participating in swimming, canoeing, archery, rock wall climbing, and horseback riding, the children heard God s word taught by Ronnie McAdoo, Ed Haywood, and Felton Woodson. On Sunday, the churches invited the rest of their members to join the children at Triple R for a combined worship service. Including the campers and camp staff, about 120 people attended the service. Six campers responded to the gospel during the weekend, and two parents stood up after the worship service expressing their desire to know Christ. One of the parents made a decision that day to receive Christ and the other expressed her desire to study the Bible. This children s retreat has become a key tool for UDM s church plants to disciple their children while also acting as a catalyst for reaching other families in their communities. Liyah Valentine s Testimony Being a part of the junior helped me change my life. staff at the Triple R Ranch Both camps have given me Retreat and being a member faith, not only in God, but of FCA at Ruffner Middle also in myself. The coaches School has really brought my and leaders from Norfolk East life to a different level. I've Church are amazing; they learned more about God and have taught me so much. how to be a leader than I ever They have affected my life knew before. These amazing and my faith has increased opportunities have really because of my relationship with them. I have learned to put my faith and trust in God at home, in school, and on the soccer field. Thanks to these two camps, I am starting to live in God s zone more each day! I have learned to put my faith and trust in God at home, in school, and on the soccer field. -Liyah Valentine College basketball player Alecia Bell shares how she came to Christ at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) camp she attended with Coach Fariss this June. Thank you for giving so many young people the opportunity to attend summer camps! Liyah Valentine (far left) canoeing with other campers at the Triple-R Ranch

4 Page 4 Norfolk East Church Plant Summer Growth Summer attendance at the Norfolk East Church s Sunday evening cell meetings averaged about 20 adults. Jeff and Nicole Hankerson hosted the cell meetings at their home in the Brambleton neighborhood. Their daughter, Courtney Greer, returned from college and brought new guests to the meetings. The commitment of this church plant s core members grew as Mike Fariss instructed them on the Biblical dynamics of church life and discipleship. Jeff Hankerson, Brandon Harrison, and Donald Butts met weekly with Mike, Greg Johnston, and William Joyner to form a leadership team. With UDM staff members, the Norfolk East members served in three Saturday Night Life children/teen outreaches at the YMCA, which included swimming and Bible classes. Schylar Eaton coordinated Norfolk East Church s volunteers and campers for UDM s Triple R Ranch Retreat. Brandon Harrison organized two carwashes for campers to earn scholarships. To implement its missions emphasis, Norfolk East Church sent Mike Fariss, Jeff Hankerson and Courtney Greer to minister at a teen Bible camp in Jamaica. UDM s Maurice Lamb and his wife, Rachel, served in the church plant s cell group and at the Saturday Night Life outreaches. She gave her life to Christ that day and all I could do was sit back in awe and watch. From then on, she was different, and so was I. -Courtney Greer Courtney Greer Testimony When we landed in Montego Bay, I had no idea what to expect. Just a week prior, I had learned about The Great Commission and now I was in a Jamaican airport, on my first missions trip. During the trip, God introduced me to a young lady who was quieter than the other girls. She was full of more hurt than anyone could Courtney Greer have ever guessed. In a tattered notebook she gave me to read, she revealed how she had been abused by her father. In all of her pain I felt the Holy Spirit empathizing with her through me. She gave her life to Christ that day and all I could do was sit back in awe and watch. From then on, she was different, and so was I. I knew God wasn t limiting this real and personal experience to Jamaica. There were people I d known for years that I would have never considered sharing the gospel with! So it all clicked in my mind: My own home was another mission field in need of exploration. It was time to get to work. Saturday Night Life in Photos Volunteer Jeff Montgomery teaches a Bible class for children. Brandon Harrison of Norfolk East Church leads a water aerobics class during the July SNL recreation at the Y.

5 Page 5 May Jamaica Missions Trip Jamaica team with full-time missionary, Kerry Ann Sylvester. In May, Greg Johnston led a team of five college students and his teenage son Benjamin on a missions trip to Jamaica. The goal was to equip African American and Jamaican college students to share the gospel as a team, Chris Long (left) and Asa Watson (third from left) with their Jamaican teammates. and to help them discern God s calling for a life of missionary service. Each night, Greg taught classes about mobilizing believers of African descent for world missions. The classes were based on Mike Fariss forthcoming book, Vanguards of a Spiritual Uprising. Greg encouraged the American college students and Jamaican young adults to use their leadership gifts in witnessing to the community. The week left a lasting impression on all who went, as seen in their comments: August Jamaica Missions Trip in Photos God has challenged me to be courageous and fearless. He has used me in ways that I could never have imagined. This is just the beginning of my journey as a missionary and I'm so excited to tell the world how awesome God is! I got a much better vision for world missions. I also see the need for a united front and especially the participation of Blacks in missions. Don t be afraid to let God use you! You may think something is out of your comfort zone or that it is something that you don t want to do, but those are usually the times that God takes and makes GREAT! Peninsula East End Church s Martin Fink (right) in cabin Bible study with Tony Sylvester (left). UDM Team with missionary Kerry-Ann Sylvester, and her brother, in front of the GLOBE Center. Equipping Classes Begin Washing their own dishes after each meal at the teen Bible camp. Norfolk East Church s Jeff Hankerson (left) assists with cabin Bible study. Mike Fariss finished writing UDM s game plan document and presented it to the UDM Board of Directors in July. The game plan details UDM s strategy for planting churches in urban neighborhoods and outlines the vision for replicating this strategy on a national scale. In September, Greg Johnston developed a course to explain UDM s game plan and he taught it to 11 emerging leaders, interns, staff, and ministry partners. These key leaders will be implementing the game plan in the Norfolk East Church Plant. Greg also began teaching a 15 week course on Personal Evangelism to four students at Faith Bible College in September. This course is one of UDM s six core courses that Greg is responsible for developing and teaching to those in UDM s leadership development track. Of the four students in the class this fall, three are emerging leaders or interns involved in UDM s Norfolk East Church plant. Volunteer Tutors needed for UDM s Learning Center! Please Contact: (757)

6 Find us online at urbandiscovery.org Urban Discovery Ministries P.O. Box 6381 Norfolk, VA Phone: Fax: Please contact us about receiving NAP State Tax Credits. United Way Campaign 3779 Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign ( CVC) UDM s Mission: Help establish inner city churches that will fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. UDM s Vision: See effective, sustaining, reproducing churches in the inner city that will equip believers to live victorious lives and reach urban families for Christ in their neighborhoods and the world. Thank you for supporting our team of missionaries through your financial gifts and prayers! We praise God for your partnership with us! Campers Gathered at One Died for All Basketball Camp 8084 Combined Charities ( Cities and Schools) Combined Federal Campaign United Way of South Hampton Roads Write-In Designations (for businesses). There is no code, just write-in our organization s name on the pledge card. Volunteer Spotlight: Melissa Cockerill Melissa Cockerill has been ings in my life. I ve had the volunteering with UDM for privilege of helping out at the past 5 years. Melissa is UDM's One Died for All basketball camp. Every year I m instrumental in planning the Annual Sport s Banquet and amazed at how the helps direct and run the One Lord works! This Died for All basketball camp. year several kids There are so few pictures gave their hearts to of Melissa because she is always the one taking them! first time and many the Lord for the very We were able to catch her as others rededicated she held Mack and Janet s their lives to Him! grandson Mason James. Just to be around a Melissa says, Being a part lot of folks who of Urban Discovery Ministries serve the Lord so is one of the greatest bless faithfully is such an encouragement. I love being a part of what God is doing through this ministry! Melissa Cockerill holding Mason McAdoo Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1