Collaborating to Develop KC Emerging Leaders

Written by Jarrett Meek, Founder/Pastor/Executive Director

The Hope Center, Freedom Fire, and Mission Adelante have teamed up to develop emerging leaders for urban ministry!  The collaborative project, called "KC Emerging Leaders," creates a cohort learning environment in addition to the ongoing mentoring and practical training that each young leader experiences in their respective ministry contexts.  The program exposes our apprentices to experienced leaders from other ministries while giving them meaningful peer interactions with each other.

Our opening retreat, which took place at Shalom Retreat Center near La Cygne, Kansas, served to introduce the apprentices to one another, build a sense of community, and initiate discussions on leadership.  The executive directors from each ministry and a few staff were present to lead worship, teach seminars, and guide simulation activities for the apprentices.  It was exciting to observe as the apprentices from each ministry interacted with one another and learned from great leaders like Marvin Daniels, Bruce McGregor, Yanelis López, and Gissell Vázquez.  

Over the year, we will participate together in five joint training events for our KC Emerging Leaders.  The next one on the docket is the Christian Community Development Association's national conference.  When vision and values align and relationships of trust exist between organizations and leaders, it's powerful see the Kingdom impact.  The opportunities and challenges that face our urban communities are God-sized, and it takes partnerships that begin with relationships and trust and move toward collaboration to meet them!

current needs:

• Our Leaders In Training program is in need of volunteers for the fall trimester beginning September 20th. For more information or if you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website at www.missionadelante.org/kids.

First Times with Friends

Written by Hannah Hume, Bhutanese Teens Coordinator

My Freshman year of college I lived in India for 5 months. It was a great experience, and one where I got to try a lot of things for the first time. I had my first motorcycle ride there, I ate lots of new foods, took bucket baths, and learned how to barter in the marketplace.

Similarly, many of our Latino and Bhutanese friends get to try lots of things for the first time when they move to America. Some of them are really fun, and some of them are not as fun. Whether it’s using a soda fountain for the first time and marveling at the world of modern convenience, seeing snow for the first time and sledding in it, or doing something less fun like learning how to read utility bills, immigrants get to have lots of firsts.

On Sunday, the Bhutanese outreach got to be a part of an exciting first-time event with our friends: bowling! Mission Adelante ends each trimester with a big party for the community. This trimester some of our staff got creative with the party planning, and we held our party at nearby St. John’s Catholic Club and bowling alley! For most of our Bhutanese friends, this was their first time ever bowling, and they loved it!

Inversely, the American volunteers got to experience some things for the first time, too. There was henna for the ladies to paint their hands, and Nepali Carrom board games for kids and adults to play. And of course we finished the night off with a lot of dancing to Hindi music!  It was a great time to celebrate the end of another trimester of learning English, making new friends, deepening old friendships, and growing in our knowledge of God together!

In other news:

• Forty-nine Bhutanese ESL students were honored at our party last Sunday night for their consistent attendance this trimester. We are so proud of the way they continue to press into language study!
• We celebrated our Latino program graduates, both kids and adults, at a party this past Saturday at Bethany Community Center in KCK.  It was a huge success! All of the main courses for dinner were prepared by participants and their families and our Leaders In Training students led activities for all the kids during the adult portion of the program.

Prayer needs:

• Pray for compassionate and family-friendly immigration reform.
• Sunday afternoon we will have meetings for students and parents interested in participating in the Leaders In Training program during the 2013-2014 school year.  Pray that the Lord would bring the right kids and guide everyone through the application process.
• Pray for the Meek family as they're preparing for their return from sabbatical to the States on April 29! (Keep reading below this post for Jarrett's recent "Sabbatical Reflections from Costa Rica!")

Current needs:

• We're always grateful for donations to our Resource Center. Please help us out by not leaving donations outside of the Resource Center, or inside or outside of our facility! The weather can make a mess out of them! Please contact Molly at mollym@missionadelante.org to arrange a time to drop-off your donation.
• A Bhutanese family is in need of a car seat for their 18-month-old daughter. If you could provide one, please contact Drew at drewh@missionadelante.org.

Important dates:

• Saturday, May 4, 2:00: Bhutanese ESL Volunteer Snacks and Training,at Lauren Timberlake’s house. Please consider joining us for fun, prayer and some cultural training as we keep learning how to love the Bhutanese well. Please contact Jenny Dunn at jennyd@missionadelante.org for more details.

A Yeshu Concert Celebration

Written by David Stetler, Bhutanese Outreach Director

A week ago Saturday the cross-cultural, western-eastern fusion rock band Aradhna led by the sitar-playing Chris Hale came to visit Kansas City and played a special concert at our end-of-year party to help us finish the year with a huge celebration.  

 The songs that Chris and the band performed for us were all sung in Nepali or Hindi which are both languages that our Bhutanese friends understand very well.  Nepali is their first language and Hindi is usually their second.  Aradhna has a four man band playing the sitar, the bass, the guitar and a really cool hand drum called the tabla.  They sing songs called Yeshu Bhajans which are Jesus worship songs and are all about Jesus, who he is, and what he has done for us.

We gave out awards to our program participants and our faithful volunteers during dinner and celebrated the year together.  We also had a wonderful time singing and dancing to the Yeshu Bhajans celebrating Prameshwar Yeshu, Jesus as Lord, and all that he brings us.  It's amazing how much the joy of music brings when we can sing about Jesus and the peace and joy that he brings us.  

During the Aradhna concert intermission my good friend Janga played a few songs in Nepali about Yeshu (Jesus) that he has recently written.  The first song was about why Jesus came to the earth and the other was a beautiful song to the tune of The Benediction. Janga has been leading worship for our Teens Club, Leaders in Training and our house church for several months.  We love watching him grow as a leader and as a musician and it was great to be present while he shared some of his new songs with the broader Bhutanese community.  

All in all, it was a great night of incredible music, wonderful food and amazing friends as we reflected on a remarkable year.  And at the same time, just down the street, our Latino friends were having a huge party celebrating too.  We are looking forward to celebrating together the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve!

In other news:

• Jason Schoff taught an adult ESL class at a local public school this fall that included one Bhurmese student.  She was the only Bhurmese amidst Latinos.  We were excited to have this opportunity with a new immigrant group.

Prayer needs:

• Praise God with us! The first of the teens in our community brought to the States as a child that applied for the right to work through the federal Deferred Action program introduced last summer has received his documents, and the chance for a better future.
• Please pray for the continuing development of the leaders of our house churches--Bhutanese and Latino--as we continue to spend time intentionally discipling them.
• Please pray that the Mission Adelante staff would enjoy a restful break and return in January ready to jump back into ministry.
• Pray for our tri-cultural (Bhutanese, Latino, and North American) Christmas Eve service to minister to all present.

Current needs:

• Volunteers to join us in all our outreach programs for our next trimester, mid-January to mid-April.  Check out www.missionadelante.org/volunteerto see all our volunteer opportunities!

• GPS units for our Transportation Team. If you are able to provide one, please contact Drew Hammond at drewh@missionadelante.org
• Mattresses for newly arrived Bhutanese refugee families. If you are able to provide one please contact Drew Hammond at drewh@missionadelante.org.

• Volunteers to help sort clothes the resource center. If you are interested in helping, please contact Molly Merrick at mollym@missionadelante.org to arrange a time to come up.
• A Conference Table: 6’ long, dark brown, and in good condition. Please contact Morgan Ham at morganh@missionadelante.orgif you can point us towards one.
• The Bhutanese and Latino LIT programs need a small group (or groups) to purchase pre-packaged, healthy, after-school snacks for the kids.  We would be blessed to receive a couple months worth of snacks.  Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org.
• Fifteen to twenty 8 GB flash drives for the Latino LIT students to use, preferably with a ring or another way to attach them to lanyards. Please contact Megan at meganm@missionadelante.org.

Important dates:

• Christmas Eve Service: Monday, December 24 @ 6:00 at Mission Adelante. This will be our first combined worship service with both our Latino and Bhutanese communities!  Multi-ethnic refreshments will follow.
• The Mission Adelante office will be closed for Christmas December 25-January 1.