1 choice + 1 choice= The direction of your life

Earlier this year, I attended a conference where a seed of wisdom started to take root in my heart. One of the speakers shared the simple truth that 1 choice + 1 choice= direction of your life.

When you walk with children, like in our Leaders in Training after-school family, everyday is a choice. It is a choice for the volunteers as well as the children. Will I attend today, even though I am tired? Will I choose to participate even if I don't want to? Will I choose to be the leader that the Lord says I am?

One of the ways that I have felt the Lord calling me to grow amidst all these "choices," is by letting the kids have a say in what happens to them. Often times when we are in a position of leadership, we have a way and a plan that we think is best. What I am finding is that when I rely on my own plans and wisdom for the kids, I am neglecting to allow God to work in His timing.

Recently, one of our teen girls, burnt out from long days of school and LIT, came to me to tell me she was quitting LIT. In the past, in my plans, I would have held on tightly to her and not let her leave the program. However, the Lord spoke to my heart, asking me to let her go. He asked me to trust Him and His plans for her.

So, I took a deep breath and told her it was her choice. I asked her to pray before she made a final decision but also let her know that whatever she decided, I would support her. She came back a few days later and informed me that although SHE had wanted to quit, after praying about it, felt THE LORD telling her to stay. She looked at me and said, "Miss Megan, I do NOT want to be disobedient to the Lord." I was shocked and blown away by the Lord's faithfulness and the maturity of this young girl to desire to obey His voice.

The Lord will ask us to let go of things and people in our lives so that He can have complete freedom to accomplish His will. I am grateful that He allows us to always have the choice to obey and love Him!

Changing hearts: CCDA Conference 2011

When your heart is to serve the lost and broken of the world, as Jesus has called us to do at Mission Adelante, it is easy to begin to believe that no one could really understand how challenging it can be. I am someone that is so motivated by encouragement and the blessing of being surrounded by people that do understand what we go through each day. I was so excited when Jarrett announced that our entire staff would be attending the 2011 Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference. It not only gave us a chance to bond as a staff, I was so inspired to be around three thousand other people with like-minded hearts that also served in an urban ministry context. We worshiped together, learned together, prayed for each other, and encouraged each other in the knowledge that we were not alone in the adventure that God had called us to.

One of the most potent moments of the conference for me was when one of the pastors shared his thoughts on the state of our public schools. He said, “The public schools are failing our kids but WE are failing our schools!” This statement affected me so deeply because as I look around at our children and how they struggle in our environment in KCK, one of their greatest needs is a strong education. This conference inspired me to dream a bit bigger about how I can actively help and support what our teachers are doing. We have begun to do this within our after school tutoring program (Leaders in Training) with coaches that are in communication with the schools and teachers of the children that they work with. Our goal is to help support the teachers with what they are already doing in the classroom. However, after seeing how much our children and schools need our prayers and action, I am committed to making this a priority as we move forward. Would you commit to praying with me for the children that we serve and specifically, their schools?

Changing hearts: CCDA Conference 2011

When your heart is to serve the lost and broken of the world, as Jesus has called us to do at Mission Adelante, it is easy to begin to believe that no one could really understand how challenging it can be. I am someone that is so motivated by encouragement and the blessing of being surrounded by people that do understand what we go through each day. I was so excited when Jarrett announced that our entire staff would be attending the 2011 Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference. It not only gave us a chance to bond as a staff, I was so inspired to be around three thousand other people with like-minded hearts that also served in an urban ministry context. We worshiped together, learned together, prayed for each other, and encouraged each other in the knowledge that we were not alone in the adventure that God had called to.

One of the most potent moments of the conference for me was when one of the pastors shared his thoughts on the state of our public schools. He said, “The public schools are failing our kids but WE are failing our schools!” This statement affected me so deeply because as I look around at our children and how they struggle in our environment in KCK, one of their greatest needs is a strong education. This conference inspired me to dream a bit bigger about how I can actively help and support what our teachers are doing. We have begun to do this within our after school tutoring program (Leaders in Training) with coaches that are in communication with the schools and teachers of the children that they work with. Our goal is to help support the teachers with what they are already doing in the classroom. However, after seeing how much our children and schools need our prayers and action, I am committed to making this a priority as we move forward. Would you commit to praying with me for the children that we serve and specifically, their schools?

Love without Limits: May 2011: What a difference a year makes...

Our 2010-2011 LIT family and a little taste of the cuteness that I get to work with!

I will never forget the first day that I met Lorenzo. He was this little boy with an innocent disposition that you could often find with an angry scowl on his face. It was disconcerting to see so much anger in such a young boy. However, over the past three years, he has continued to come to the Outreach Bible Study, to memorize his verses, and to show these glimmers of spiritual depth in his questions that have helped us to see the leader hiding underneath.

Nevertheless, when the time came to invite the potential candidates for the 2010-2011 Leaders in Training Program, I was hesitant to take a chance on him. Fortunately, I work with an amazing team of volunteers that believed so strongly in Lorenzo’s potential leadership that we prayed and decided to invite him to enter LIT.

Looking back, there was a moment the first day of LIT when Lorenzo’s negative disposition came out. I pulled him aside and firmly explained that the way he was acting was unacceptable. I let him know that I saw the amazing person that he was inside and we wanted that Lorenzo to be part of our LIT family. That moment was so pivotal because from then on, he was a completely different child.

At first, we started to see his playfulness and servant-hearted attitude surface. He shared with me that although there was a large gang population at school and a great deal of pressure to join, he knew it was the wrong choice for him. Then, his mother came to me and shared that he had asked if they could begin praying together as a family before dinner.

The most powerful moment of the year came two weeks ago when Lorenzo shared with me that he was unsure if he had ever accepted Christ into his heart. I led him in prayer and as he opened his heart to the Lord, though my eyes were closed, I could hear the smile in his voice. Lorenzo didn’t need to hide anymore!

Cuba Training Trip

In the past year, Mission Adelante has formed a strong relationship with a sister church in Cuba. As Jarrett and Jason have shared stories with me, I learned about their amazing discipleship program and Christ-centered community. My heart has been burdened for the people of Cuba that undergo persecution and hardship on a daily basis. I am so excited to tell you that I have been invited to go to Cuba this June! During the seven days that we will be in Cuba, we will observe their discipleship model that combines intentional, everyday life with Christ as the focus of their hearts. I hope to learn a great deal about selflessness, fellowship, and service through this incredible blessing! Please pray for our hearts to be unified in Christ and our hands to serve the Lord as we travel June 29-July 5.

Prayer Requests:Prayer Requests

• Praise the Lord for allowing us to finish our third year of LIT with 100% of the children finishing the year together for the first time!
• For a safe summer for all the children and teens of our community.
• Please pray for the Lord to have a powerful impact through our summer interns.

In Him,

Megan

Love without Limits: March: Gricelda's heart for the teens

By: Gricelda Garcia: Teens Adelante and Kids Adelante volunteer

Living Life with Teens

I recently had the opportunity to join some of the teens for Winter Jam, a Christian music concert. I was truly excited to join them and prayed that the Lord would use the music and speakers to speak to their hearts. That night while I was driving home from the concert it was ME that felt God speaking. It wasn’t through anything I heard in the music or the speakers earlier that night, but rather through the simple questions of one of the teen girls. She had asked me if I had given an extra love offering and if I was going to sponsor a child through Holt International during the concert. Sadly, in that moment I responded quickly and didn’t think much about why she would ask me in the first place. On that drive home God brought those questions back to my mind and it hit me…she was looking at my example, of how I did or didn’t give sacrificially. My actions that night had the power to speak louder than the music.

That experience is one of the reasons I feel so humbled that God desires to use me to be part of His work in their lives, with my flaws and all. It’s amazing how simple that truly is. I don’t have to force conversations about God or “preach” at them… I can simply share my life with them and let God speak through my walk with Him.

Coming full circle

I am sitting here as the wind is howling outside and inches of snow are accumulating on the buildings around me. It reminds me very distinctly of almost two years ago when I was snowed in at Christmas. I remember that time because I spent a great deal of that winter break praying and trying to discern what God's heart was for Teens Adelante, our teen Bible study. I was watching these children I had known for years grow in leaps and bounds spiritually right before my eyes. But they were stifled as all that we could offer them at that time was an older version of our children's Bible study. I will never forget that one of the teens, Iris, came to me and suggested a Bible study just for them. I remember crying out to God because I knew they needed Him in a different and more relational way.
I prayed for a space that the teens could have all to themselves each week. I prayed for the hearts of the teens to be opened to the power and simplicity of God's word. More then anything, I prayed for volunteers to be raised up to fight alongside me in the battle for the hearts and honestly, the lives, of these amazing young people.
It blows my mind that now, two years later, all of these prayers and more have been answered. I realized how much the lives of the teens had come full circle at our children's Bible study this past Thursday. These same teens that I had once fought with to sing and participate, had stepped up as volunteers, giving their own time, to be leaders to the children. I had to fight back tears many times that night because I was just SO proud of them and so in awe of God's great plans.
I think I forget sometimes that long before I ever knew and loved the teens, God made them. He formed them and set the course of their lives in motion. I have learned during this season of my life to be thankful for the privilege of being part of the journey with them. One of the greatest joys of my life will be watching His teens lead and guide the children of Mission Adelante to pursue Christ just as He has pursued them.

Shoal Creek blesses the kids of Mission Adelante!!

Check out the slideshow below to see how the kids were blessed during the holiday season :) Happy New year!!

In Him,

Megan

http://www.vimeo.com/18066788