SWOT Analysis and Course Evaluation

SWOT Analysis: Community Service Day

S (Strengths)

• Community is cleaner
• Well-organized
• Send good message
• Good PR for school
• Enjoyable
• Gets us out of the "Christian cocoon" and into the community

W (Weaknesses)

• Not enough work to do
• Not enough equipment

O (Opportunities)

• Develop Additional Projects
• Building
• Graffiti
• Schools
• Additional Communities
• Senior Home
• Develop more partners

T (Threats)

• Self-serving?
• Communicate the heart
• Routine...just another program
• Weather
• Safety

________________________________________

R.W.M.C.

What went RIGHT?

• Ideas were practical and useful
• Group Think
• Book Reviews
• Variety
• Homework
• Discussion
• Mock board meetings
• Interviewed pastors/coaches/mentors/etc.
• Realistic expression of their outreach successes and failures, life highs and lows
• Technology welcomed

What went WRONG?

• Rotate board positions
• More interactive classes
• Tech Skype
• Drawn out classes when no speakers
• More intentional outreach questions, less "life-story"

What was MISSING?

• Off-campus ministry
• Service learning
• Business-minded interviewers in parachurch or business world
• Develop a class outreach
• Maybe do a mock outreach. Plan the outreach as a class throughout the semester (does not necessarily have to be executed,) but would be useful to see the steps and entire process of outreach planning.

What was  CONFUSING?

• Difference between the three different organizations in Community Interviews

________________________________________

Other Class Notes

• The Art of Persuasion
• R.O.I. = Return-On-Investment ... (are the results worth the effort?)
  

Community Organization #2: Camp Calvary

Camp Calvary, an 11 week summer camp, of Wayne, New Jersey is a ministry of Calvary Temple International. While it is a ministry within the Children's Ministry of the church, it is open to the entire community. Before anything else, it is meant as an outreach program to love the children of the community and teach them of Christ's love for them. I have worked at Camp for the past six summers and I absolutely love it. Camp was established 20 years ago by the Children's Ministry pastors at the time, and is currently run by Children’s pastor, Rev. Matthew Battista. He and his wife, Holly, live and breathe this ministry, and their passion for it is evident. They work tirelessly preparing events and making sure that each day of Camp is special for its campers. "The past few years have been explosive," Pastor Matt said. "We have really begun to see fruit." You know that your Camp is gaining critical acclaim from the community when your attendance increases from 200 to 500 campers per summer in a few short years. "Families really appreciate what we are doing, and they are noticing the differences compared to other camps in the community . . . they have started to send their kids here because they know that the counselors care about their child's well-being." Every staff member is a born-again Christian and a regular attendee of either Calvary Temple or another local church. Each day at camp presents an opportunity for outreach. Starting each morning, counselors lead their classes in a time of devotion, allowing opportunity for each camper to understand who Christ is and respond to a call to salvation. This is not Sunday school or kid’s church, however, considering most campers are not from Christian backgrounds. “We’ve started to get Muslim children, Hindu children, children from non-religious households . . . these families are willing to send their children to a Christian Camp because they know that their kids will be loved and taken care of.” Through this ministry, children and their families have had their lives changed, and to me, that makes it all worth it. Having a camp of only Christians defeats the purpose of the program, and I sincerely hope that it continues to grow and gain notoriety in the community. With God’s hand over this organization, there is no telling what might become of it!

Lee Rogers Interview

• Lee Rogers
• Grew up in Carlisle, PA
• came to Christ in 9th grade…God became real…took ownership of his faith
• went to VFCC
• started working at a Church in Philadelphia called the Worship Center during his junior year in 1999, and continued until 2004
• outreaches as youth pastor:
• easter egg hunt
• participate in the 4th of july parade
• festival day in Roxborough section
• survey interview of other students in streets
• asked: do you believe God exists? what is he like?
• staff as youth pastor at Bethel in Carlisle, PA
• would go into the square of Carlisle outside of courthouse…talk to people and do surveys…"if you died today, do you know where you'd go?"
• enjoys relational connections, but didn't find surveys as a door for relationships…didn't necessarily enjoy it because it was not natural
• at Bethel they have various chaplain ministries:
• "police chaplains"…they suit up with bulletproof vests and drive in cars with police officers
• allowed them to know police officers, criminals, victims, emergency calls
• "bar chaplains"…go into bars, talk with those who come in and need to speak to someone
• "emergency medical chaplains"…ride in back of ambulance, these are their most successful chaplains…mostly salvations of EMTs
• cross outreach
• pastor is missional
• church constructed cross for every soldier killed in iraq and Afghanistan in 2006
• kept adding names of soldiers killed on a board
• front of church is full of crosses…turned into memorial
• "Without remembering there is no sacrifice."
• campus outreach
• The Seven Project
• multimedia school assembly program
• students know the needs, 7 project will partner with you to address those needs
• exists to build students hope
• will speak on school's top 7 issues during assembly
• designed to impact students at their core
• high quality, high impact, low price by partnering with people/churches/businesses in the community
• no mention of faith during daytime assemblies…but at nighttime assemblies (optional) faith is incorporated
• develop God's mission of students
• 6 issues with 7 solutions
• comprehensive evangelism
• build students' hopes
• youth from all denominations meet for 7 weeks prior to assemblies
• components:
• school assembly
• night event where they present the Gospel
• missional experience for the students in youth ministries and church in general
• designed as a 7 week missions trip for youth groups
• discipleship
• 7 student action plan
• aim to create a movement on campus
• process is more powerful than the presentation
• 7 Project strengthens:
• youth ministry
• network
• school
• cost: $3,000-$6,000
• "The process is more powerful than the presentation."
• "Jesus challenged people to accept a life of sacrifice and commitment, not to accept a get out of jail free card."
• currently a Youth Alive missionary
• Youth Alive
• "Work towards mission and community will be the product."
• believes every student can be missionary on their campus.
• 5 practical applications:
• pray
• live
• tell
• serve
• give

Body-Mapping: URBAN COMMUNITY

• WHO?
• URBAN
• welfare
• crime
• injustice
• loved ones in prison
• homeless
• poverty
• HIV/AIDS
• drug addiction
• uneducated/poorly educated
• girls who are taken advantage of (prostitution)
• unemployment
• abused (sexual, physical, emotional, kids, parents, domestic)
• NEED?
• someone to come along side them
• encouragemtn
• justice
• compassion
• to know their resources (educated on clinics/places to go for help)
• LOVE
• to know they are not forgotten
• health services
• education
• job training
• someone to advocate for them/come alongside them
• childcare resources (daycare, supplies, clothing, etc)
• HOW?
• women's ministry specifically for women and their children
• prison ministry
• food pantry
• dinner fellowship
• health information Sunday (abuse, HIV, pregnancy, etc)
• adult tutoring
• homeless bus ministry
• job fairs
• WHO TO PARTNER WITH?
• local business
• crisis pregnancy center
• food bank
• summer camp
• other local churches
• prisons
• supermarkets for leftover food
• homeless shelter
• health center
• tutoring services
• businesspeople to teach about business/do job training
• local childcare

Community Organization Interview #3

     For my Community Organization Interview #3, I decided to interview my aunt, Barbara Escalante, about her job as a case worker at World Relief in Asheville, North Carolina. World Relief is an international NGO that "takes a stand for the vulnerable" (WorldRelief).
     My aunt, a former missionary to the Philippines, has been stateside for almost 30 years. During her time in the United States, she has been involved in the church, but has not been in full-time ministry since her departure from the Philippines. Her heart beats for missions, however, and has been wanting to get back into compassion ministries since she left to get married and start a family in the 80s. From the 80s until January of this year, she has worked as a full-time mother, and part-time employer at local jobs such as supermarkets and banks, but her desires have finally come true. Upon hearing of a job opening at a World Relief office in her city, she spontaneously decided to apply (for fun, assuming that she would never get the job without a college degree.) "I still can't believe I got the job! It was a miracle." Not even 24 hours after applying, she was offered a full-time job and told that she would be able to start immediately. "I love it! The refugees have melted my heart," my aunt exclaimed. "The Asheville office specifically works with refugee families from Africa and Iraq. They help them move into homes and connect them to services to help them find jobs." While they are focusing on refugee families now, they are looking to start a human trafficking branch that would rescue and help victims. As far as the hiring process goes, they look for those that are willing to serve and love, but most of all show compassion for those who are vulnerable.

Works Cited

"World Relief | What We Stand for." World Relief | What We Stand for. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Engel Scale

The Engel Scale of Evangelism

"Dads, Dogs, and Digs Outreach" By: Ricky Echeona

"Dads, Dogs, and Digs Outreach" By: Ricky Echeona

• Outreach's Target Audience: husbands, fathers, and adult males with influence in their family.
• Purpose: to build relationships between men in the community.
• This will be a pilot outreach, eventually leading to meetings more often.
• What will the outreach look like? Goal of the outreach: 
• Men would meet for a volleyball tournament….but the overall goal is to coach men on building relationship and get to know them.
• How would men hear about it?
• Would like men from the church to reach out to unsaved friends
• Engage the community through community advertisements.
• "Meet, Greet, Repeat"
• Come to event, sign up for a team, greet with male leaders from the church who are team captains, play, and meet again in future.
• Ultimate goal is to involve the men who participate again in the future. Would like to meet for a movie night at the church to see "Courageous" and encourage men to be strong men of God in their families.
• Cost:
• Food (estimating around 30 men in attendance) - $250
• Park rental fee - $400
• Advertisement (flyers and newspaper) - $250
• Volleyball equipment - $100

Beyond the Soiled Curtain Presentation

I did my presentation tonight on Beyond the Soiled Curtain, a book by David and Beth Grant. Here is a copy of my presentation: 

Pastor Jimmie Rivera

Pastor Jimmie Rivera

610-972-8887

pastorjim@rcn.com

301 Ridge Ave.

Allentown, PA

18103

• David Wilkerson saved in North Philly
• Fell into drugs at 9, became addicted
• Used to rob/steal for his next fix
• Was tortuned by drug dealers for 11 hours then got away
• Pastor at City Limits AG in Allentown, PA
• Outreach-oriented church
• How do you keep church outside focused?
• 3 parts:
• Salvation
• Equip
• Deploy
• Every 3 month the church does something to send people out
• Rescue the lost, equip the found, and deploy the troops
• You have to minster to the poor and share love with them
• Help people until they can help themselves regarding welfare
• Hannah/Timothy Houses?
• Timothy House used to be a crackhouse, but is now converted to a halfway house
• Second phase houses
• Take people in who were just out of programs…(like a halfway house)
• Christmas outreach
• 75 Christmas tree for free every year
• 19 years
• Each tree has a tag attached that says "this tree, like Christ, is free; all you have to do is accept it"
• Ask WalMart/local community stores if they have anything that they are going to throw out/want to donate
• Last year gave away 2,500 trees in Allentown, Brooklyn, and Greensboro, NC
• Involve the local community
• "If everyone does a little, then no one has to do a lot."
• Has a gym in his church
• Farmer's Market
• Women gave an acre of land to Pastor Jim for a farmer's market
• Make connections with local food bank and they will give free food
• Evangelism outreach in teams of 4…divide city by wards
• 1000 water bottles with ice in the heat of the day mid-summer for a week at a time, then he baptizes people in street af the end of the week
• 132 water baptisms last year
• mobile tank that he buys
• people want to SEE
• Food bank open every thursday…free food, don't force them to come to church
• Works with police to turn in guns
• Hope In The Valley
• Help
• Our
• People
• Evangelize
• When he got saved he got talking and never stopped
• What about money?
• faith has to kick in when it comes to money
• find people who believe in you and you'll get money
• Coffee House is called "Halle-BREW-ya"
• Gave his new shoes to a man who was in a funeral home, was going to be cremated, and was about to go into the fire without shoes
• He told the mayor of Allentown that he wanted to be the Pastor of Allentown.
• Started an Arabic church
• "Make God big, stop making Him so small."
• He strives to be relational and intentional with people.
• Urban Ministry
• Urban Lift: when you get someone off of the streets, then they move away/leave your church in pursuit of a better life
• If you don't heal from this and take it personally, it can potentially ruin your ministry
• Love everyone, but look for those who will reproduce.
• Suburban churches become feeder units for Urban Churches. If the suburban church do things correctly, they will in return sew into the Urban churches/urban ministries.
• Jihari Window
• 1. Arena Me
• The you that people see
• How you want to be seen
• 2. Never See
• The me I never want you to see
• 3. Blind Spot Me
• When everyone else can see something, but you can't
• You won't see it until you deal with the Never See Me
• 4. Soul Print
• What God intended you to be
• "Relationships are your greatest commodity."
• "If you want to be a minister, you have to love people."

Gerry Stoltzfoos Interview

Gerry Stoltzfoos

717-398-9033

g@freedomvalley.org

• Now a pastor ar a Freedom Valley Church in Gettysburg, PA
• Grew up in Amish lancaster
• Left Amish church for a Pentecostal one who, unlike Amish church, accepted and loved everyone passionately.
• Grew close with the pastor, Omar, who is 10 years older
• Started as youth pastor under his leadership, then a senior pastor after Omar left to be in World Missions
• Omar is now the head of World Missions Eurasia for the AG
• "The Bible teaches us to love people that we don't normally like."
• Was fired and devastated by it…told he was fired because he was too young, but later found out that he was fired because people in the church started a rumor about him to get him fired.
• Lost his best friends and community when he was fired.
• Getting fired from a church is like "sociological rape"
• "Jesus didn't take the cross so we wouldn't have to."
• Left the church after being fired for a while, became depressed…until a passion was birthed in him that made him want to reach those people who were offended and hurt by the church so that they left.
• Went back in the ministry to heal those who were hurt by the ministry
• His church goes after the hurt by church, burnt out by church, people who have weird ideas of church…etc.
• "Planting churches are the best way to make disciples."
• Why? because a new church is desperate and wild eyed
• Felt led to plant a church in Philly, but was called to Gettysburg.
• Asked God for 4 specific things when planting a church:
• Finances
• Prayer meetings monthly
• Will fundraise to take care of family
• Serious about reaching the lost
• Was friends with the owner of Auntie Ann's pretzels…they supported his church plant with about $1,000 per year
• As little as 12% of people go to church monthly.
• A church planting movement is starting today
• To love Jesus means that you have a passion to bring people to Christ.
• Jesus left heaven because He was passionate about people.
• "Religion is the opiate of the masses."
• In The Blood Tattoos on East Carson St. in Pittsburg
• Was filmed by Nightline ABC Gerry Stoltzfoos speaking in tongues…which proved that the speaking of tongues doesn't come from the language part of the brain
• Started a state of the art handicapped facility to minister to severely handicapped by horseback riding
• Shining Stars Therapeutic Ministries
• Starting to minister to mentally handicapped/learning disabled this summer
• They are seeing kids get healed mentally, emotionally, physically
• This ministry brings about 1/3 of the newly baptized people per year.
• Goals for future?
• Buy land for Shining Stars Ministry across the street
• Plant 1000 churches in america, 1000 around the world
• Currently planted 67 churches
• Starting work with unreached people group in Uganda
• Planting a church in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and possibly Germany
• Northeast is least reached region in America
• Currently recruiting positions on staff for:
• 2 personal interns
• Network developer
• Church planting teams
• Philly Boot Camp…Friday and Saturday

Tim Satryan

• Tim Satryan
• Works with Church Multiplication Network
• Wilmington First Assembly
• Graduate of Central Bible College
• Former DYD of PennDel
• Developing Strategic Church Ministries
• Overview
• Know yourself
• Assessing your community
• Recognizing your mission
• Discerning your church
• Evaluating your progress
• Knowing Yourself
• Who are you?
• Background
• Experiences
• Giftings
• Personality
• Relational style
• Values
• Calling
• Your Relational Style
• DISC Profile
• 4 Distinct Personality Types
• Determined Doer
• mover, shaker, results-oriented, task, efficient, catalytic, looks for/accepts challenges, questions, take authority, needs the opportunity, will become frustrated
• Inspirational Influencer
• People person, life of party, always leaves good impression, fun to be around, makes first contact with people, motivational, enthusiastic, desire to help, needs recognition, desire freedom from control
• Steady Specialist
• dependable, will stay in one place for long time, patient, specialist in something, very loyal, listener, needs security
• Cautious Competent
• tactician, give special attention to details, prefer controlled environments, perfectionist, critical thinker, need a lot of reassurance, adverse to sudden change
• DI = active, fast paced, assertive, bold
• DC = questioning, skeptical, logic focus, challenging
• IS = accepting, receptive, people focused agreeable
• CS = thoughtful moderate pace, calm, careful
• Assessing Your Community
• Know your community! Talk to people in local businesses, malls, schools, etc.
• Resources:
• Fee:
• Percept - www.perceptgroup.com
• Mission Insite - www.missioninsite.com
• Free:
• ZipSkinny - www.zipskinny.com
• Fact Finder  - www.factfinder2.census.gov
• Quick Facts - www.quickfacts.census.gov
• Recognizing Your Mission
• Who
• …are you trying to reach?
• What
• …needs have you identified? (perceived needs vs. real needs)
• How
• …will you meet the identified needs?
• Write down your vision
• Is it understandable?
• Inspirational?
• Descriptive?
• Envision?
• Communicate your vision
• Embody it!
• Share it!
• Discerning Your Church
• What is your church?
• History
• Membership
• Ministries
• Demographics
• Values
• Beliefs
• We value _____, so we will ______.
• Developing Your Church
• Developing a ministry plan
• Developing a Discipleship Pathway
• Pre-evangelism
• Events/organizations/outreaches to contact people and form relationships, not necessarily lead them to Christ
• Example: Blessing of the Bikes - people with bikes comes and pastors pray over them; Honor Fireman/Policeman in church
• Evangelism
• What specific ministries are you doing to reach out to people for the purpose of evangelism?
• Connecting
• Once people come to church and are saved, must connect them with each other
• "Relationship is everything. Churches will rise and fall based on relationship."
• How many "touch-points" are there when someone walks into church?
• Find common interests and introduce them to others with those same interests
• Growth & Maturity
• Leadership Development
• Multiplication
• How can those leaders multiply themselves in others?
• Evaluating Your Progress
• If you're not growing by 17% per year, then you are declining….(17% of people leave a church in a given year)
• SWOT Analysis
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats
• APA Analysis
• What have we achieved?
• What is it that we need to preserve?
• What do we need to avoid?
• SSIK Analysis
• What do we need to start doing?
• What do we need to stop doing?
• What do we need to improve?
• What do we need to keep on doing?
• RWMC Analysis (good for events/outreach evaluation)
• What went right?
• What went wrong?
• What was missing?
• Was there anything confusing about what we did?
• NCD - Eight Quality Characteristics (Based on book called Natural Church Development by Christian A. Schwarz)
• Empowering Leadership
• Gift-oriented Ministry
• Passionate Spirituality
• Functional Structures
• Inspiring Worship Services
• Loving Relationships
• Holistic Small Groups
• Need-oriented Evangelism

February 12th Interview: Terry Drost

Terry Drost

• Peckville Assembly of God
• Grew up in church, pastor's son, fell away from 15-mid20s, worked as commercial printer.
• Thought he was going to work with music.
• Didn't want to work with teenagers until Jan 1996 when he went on first winter retreat with you, began working in youth min with wife.
• "If you're willing to do what none else wants to God will honor that."
• Church grew because of passion.
• There are 3 sides: 
• Spiritual side
• Practical side
• Attitudinal side
• Qualities of exceptional church staff:
• Hard work
• Passion
• Produce much fruit
• How Terry hires staff:
• Leading at a Higher Level - Blanchard
• 4 types of leaders for hiring:
• LEVEL 1 (look for these people)
• HCV - high commitment to the vision
• HCV - high capacity volunteer
• LEVEL 2
• HCV - high committed to vision
• LCV - low capacity volunteer (trained, transferred)
• LEVEL 3 (these are not committed to lead pastor at all)
• LCV - low commitment to vision
• HCV - high capacity volunteer
• LEVEL 4 (lowest level…)
• LCV - low commitment to vision
• LCV - low capacity volunteer
• After choosing the Level 1, work them in slowly…(purpose is to evaluate them slowly and allow them to gain trust and responsibilities)
• Example:
• $50 a week
• 6 weeks later, $75/week
• 6 weeks later, part-time staff
• 90 days later, full-time staff
• Outreach
• Works with nelson seracy's outreach network..systematic approach to ministry
• Things he's learned from network:
• Assimilation system
• Moving a person from a first time guest to a fully-developed follower of christ
• What does that look like?
• We have to be hospitable in getting people into the church. they have to be:
• Greeted
• Treated
• Directed
• Seated
• They do a survey for first time guests, link to website
• First time guests fill out connection cards…connection teams come in Monday morning to pray over cards and connect with those who came…"treat those cards like treasure because each one represents a life who was prompted by the holy spirit to come to church."
• Attractional = come see
• Missional = go, tell
• His church works at gas stations, gives people a discount on gas, washes their windows…crowds come for the low gas prices
• "Easter egg flyover"…hired a helicopter to drop 14,000 eggs from the sky…drew crowds of 3,000 people…at the end he handed out tickets to their easter outreach "heaven's gates, hell's flames"…500 came, 100 responded to Christ that night
• Capitalize on "big days" of the year for outreach…easter, christmas, 4th of july, 
• July 4th car show, fireworks, carnival, picnics, budget: $10,000
• Christian Motorcycle Association
• Partners with food pantry
• Evangelism is an investment, not an expense.
• "We should do whatever it takes to reach people with God."
• Launching series on easter/christmas are the best times to do so.

Sam Farina, "Professional Coach"

Sam Farina, coach in corporate world

• Southwestern University graduate with a passion for the evangelism of young people in high schools.
• Speaking at high schools was his form of strategic outreach
• Advice: Listen for God's voice when you graduate!
• Today, he coaches pastors/ministers.
• IBM Coaching Network…Jane is a corporate coaching evangelist
• Joined with the AG in coaching in church plants, pastoral, church planting

BASIC COACHING

• A coach helps a person get from where they are to where they desire to go.
• Counseling deals with the past, coaching is about moving forward in our future.
• Mentors lead from their own experiences, a coach leads others to their futures.
• Coaches pull out, mentors pour in.
• Counseling: healing the wounded; Spiritual direction: growing Christ Followers; Coaching: building strengths
• The Brain & Coaching
• Storing: information
• Connection: information
• Retrieving: information
• In coaching, you help people move from the doing to the being.
• Coaching is about people coming to mind-shift

COACHING SKILLS

• A coach helps you focus and create so that you can maintain it.
• Topic, outcomes, mean, success….focus….accountability, plan, timeline, who/when/where.
• Listening is the #1 skill in coaching
• Understand their worldview/definitions so that you can understand their thinking
• Create awareness for the words with a lot of power

COACHING TIPS

• Listen for facts and opinions, then give them back by repeating them to make sure you are understanding correctly
• Listen for the emotions and feelings
• Listen for values and beliefs…people behave because of their values and beliefs.
• Listen to understand
• Listen to give it back so that they understand it better themselves
• Give back observations on body language
• Add the Holy Spirit, you listen and help the person hear the Holy Spirit
• Give the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to give the vision/dream

"Listen and you will excel as a leader."

Community Compassion Organization Interview #1

Church-based Organization: HOPE Ministries

     HOPE Ministries is a compassion ministry of Calvary Temple in Wayne, NJ. I interviewed the leaders of this ministry, Tim and Lorraine Carlucci. They both grew up in Calvary Temple, where they met and eventually married. The couple’s heart for missions and evangelism was apparent at a young age, so they knew that starting a compassion ministry was something that God had been leading them to do. What began with providing needy families with groceries, has evolved over the years into something much greater than they had anticipated.

     HOPE Ministries is now a registered food pantry of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey where they pick up five tons of food per month. Each week they provide food, clothing, and prayer to those in need. They are currently serving 549 families per month, over 1,700 people, not including their weekly Paterson outreaches to the homeless. They provide the homeless with food, clothing, prayer, blankets, but most of all, love.

     HOPE Ministries is all about loving people! This ministry has evolved over the years, now spanning to disaster relief, prayer, and Sunday morning Bible studies. They have become a pillar of hope in the community, providing six other local food banks and churches with the overflow of food and clothing that they receive each month.

     Throughout the year, HOPE Ministries strives to go above and beyond for the cause of Christ. These annual occasions consist of their Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, Christmas present giveaways, back to school backpack giveaways, and their Easter baskets of hope. This year, however, was the start of a new tradition, the “Race for Hope 5K.” This Race was constructed to benefit the food bank in its’ efforts to reach the needy for Thanksgiving. Over $4,000 worth of profits went to HOPE Ministries and was put towards the buying of groceries and turkeys. With this money, they were able to provide Thanksgiving dinners to 210 families in need this year!

     HOPE Ministries would not be as successful as it is without the help of the church and community. Along with their monthly five tons of food from the Community Food Bank, they receive donations of food, clothing, and money from the people of Calvary and local churches on a regular basis. People can also donate their time by volunteering to help each week. The HOPE Ministries team is made up of volunteers who assist with the unloading of the food truck, the sorting of clothes, and the bagging of groceries. There are opportunities to serve during the week, as well as on Sunday afternoons for their weekly distributions. Most volunteers come from Calvary Temple, but members of other churches have also made themselves available. HOPE Ministries’ number one task is to spread hope, so they look for volunteers who are ready to share Christ's love and pray for anyone who needs it!

Race for Hope 5K

January 22nd Interview: Phil Underwood

Jan 22 Interview: Phil Underwood, Pastor/church planter

• Phil has been married to Gill for 35 years. They came to the US from New Zealand 15 years ago, and have 3 daughters.
• Cornerstone Christian Church http://www.cornerstonedelco.org/
• Before becoming a pastor, he worked for a radio station in NZ where he was a journalist and producer. He eventually moved to Christian radio before going to Bible college.
• Phil began pastoring in New Zealand at age 25. He enjoys going to churches that have recently split due to anger/dispute. His first pastoring job was difficult, 24 out of 150 attendants left due to a controversy over music. 
• Enjoys the challenge of an empty church, and was part of a mini-revival in NZ.
• One of his jobs was to prove that moving out of strategy works, despite people's Pentecostal mindset of solely relying on the Holy Spirit, and being lackadaisical about structure.
• Phil strives to win disciples, not converts…they count salvations by the number of people who have been discipled, not just saved. He stresses quality salvations over quantity salvations.
• Strong believer in strategic planning, they do so by asking their churches to set goals.
• A principle that drives him is "you are a priest to your circle of influence." He often preaches this message to his new church congregation to get them involved with his vision of reaching the community by emphasizing their sphere of influence.
• Your job is a ministry, whatever it may be. Wherever you are, you're representing Christ. It's what we do, not what we say that we believe.

3 Approaches to Community Ministry:

• SETTLERS
• Find a community, the need, and they reach them.
• GARDNERS
• Set up a "garden"...come along side a ministry by supplying them with resources.You are a part of this ministry, but not fully dedicated to it.
• SHEPHERDS
• Not driven to specific locations, but to specific needs…(ex: prison ministers go to different prisons, but are always doing prison ministry.)

Some of what a week of ministry looks like for Phil's church…

• Outreach to alcoholics Mon. and Tues. nights.
• Life groups
• Grief share, divorce care, the are of marriage….(all designed programs where you only need to buy material.)
• Pick-up basketball league

Main Points:

• We don't always gravitate around strategies in pentecostal movements.
• "Past performance is the best future predictor." (In regards to church planting.)

January 15th: Rebekah Reese

January 15, 2013

Interview with Rebekah Reese

Notes:

·       2009 VFCC grad, Christian Min. major

·       Holy Hands is a branch of First Fruits Evangelistic Association

·       Holy Hands Director

o   Missions trips in US, northeast (DC up to Maine)

o   Goals of Holy Hands:

§  Train and evangelize US, reach lost through one-on-one convos

§  Train for 3 days in kids ministry, how to start convo on Jesus/apologetics

·       Be normal.

·       Build relationships

·       Start convo, get into a common interest zone

·       Reach values/morals of their life

·       Then talk about God. It takes time.

·       Heart for evangelism

·       Evangelism has to be a lifestyle, not just done at your job or at outreaches.

·       Trained 150 students, about 12 different teams last summer.

·       Work with Global passion missions organization in Cali.

·       Trips are 7 days, $232 not including transportation there

·       Summer trips:

o   Christiana, PA

·       Trip planning:

o   First 2 days are training days

§  Update training materials

§  Innovative/interactive with students

§  Go through classes throughout day

o   Next 2 days: outreaches

§  Mega-sports Camp

·       Interactive/sports VBS

·       Link Bible stories with sports stories that are similar to keep kids interested

§  Free for church to host Megasports Camp

·       Only children pay participation fee

§  Excursions

·       2-4 days teams go to churches and help with outreaches, community service

·       Budget:

o   Raise their personal budgets

o   Make sponsorship packets

o   Yearly budget goal: $1,500 per month

·       Discipleship process after evangelism:

o   Connected with local church

o   Involve local church at place of outreach

o   Direct people to the local church

·       Present options to church to choose:

o   Outreaches, block parties, movie nights, community service

·       Helped with Sandy Disaster Relief

o   Worked with 270/400 damaged homes in Staten Island

·       Holy Hands was started by a student, Jason, while attending VFCC

·       Focus on new church plants when fundraising because they haven’t set their missions budget yet.

·       http://www.ffea.tv/