CL Litergy

Our halfway house has a lot of programing that helps our friends form a new way of life. The “Programing” usually happens at night when most of our residents are back from work. I lead a weekly Bible study where we focus on redefining character and self analysis, our psychologist offers individual and group sessions, we have therapeutic music sessions, and we go to church together as a household. Beyond this I have been thinking of ways to use regular moments of the day to influence thought and direction. Without additional groups or “programing” how could I insert “food for thought” that will inspire further conversation and offer insights to new ways of thinking?

I decided to utilize our lunch and dinner prayer time, since they were pre-existing moments when we were already together as a household, to implement a practice that has not been much a part of my life experience: liturgy. We picked a topic for each day of the week and put together a text using Scripture and prayer focusing on that topic. Everyday before lunch and dinner we read the text together and say a prayer. It’s not much, and that's the idea. But in subtle ways and with repeating rhythms, we work to keep truth at the forefront of our minds and on the tip of our tongues. I have been pleased with the conversations that have been inspired by these mini liturgies, and moments when I have heard them quoted later in the day.

Here they are, translated to english -

Confession (Monday)

I confess to Almighty God, and to you brothers and sisters,

That I have sinned by my own will in thought and in action,
Through what I have done and what I have left undone.

I ask you, brothers and sisters
To pray for me to the Lord our God.

*silence (for confession to God)

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,

Brothers and sisters, have mercy.

Humility (Tuesday)                                      Job 1:21

Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will go.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit.

Who was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

Forgiveness (Wednesday)                                           Eph. 1:7 and Mt 11:25

By the death of Christ on the cross

We are free and our sins are forgiven.

How wonderful is the grace of God that He has given with such generosity!
When you are praying, forgive those who have offended you,

So that your Father in heaven will also forgive your offenses.

Increase your grace in us, Lord

So that we can forgive all, even as we are forgiven all.
Make us truly free.

Amen.

Identity (Thursday).                                             2 Cor 5:17-18

Whoever is in Christ is a new person,
The old has gone and the new has come.
All of this is the work of God, who in Christ transforms us from enemies into friends.

God gives us the task of bringing others who to also become friends with Him.

Father in heaven, help us to live this new identity.  
Help us to live as your friends.

Consecration.   (Friday).                                                 Romans 8:13-14

Whoever lives according to his human nature, dies spiritually;

Whoever by the Spirit of God puts to death sinful ways, lives spiritual life.
Whoever is guided by the Spirit of God lives as God’s child.

Surround us with your Spirit, Father.

Help us to be committed to Your path.



The beauty of liturgy is not that it is magical, but that it is rhythmic, historical, and physical. We have joined a tradition of God's gathered people to speak daily reminders of the ultimate direction we long for.

Our Housing Ministry gave birth to a Garden

As many of you may have known, one of our main projects in the last has been the building of our Crescimento Limpo Garden, as a place to compliment the triage process for men and women leaving homelessness. Many of you helped this dream come true and a year after kicking off the process we want to share with you some of the things we have seen God unfold in this place. 

What are your thoughts about the garden after a little more than a year?
It's a place that has generated and given life, in many different ways.             
How complete, how perfect a service for Casa CL: in the process of triage for new people, in the opportunity to work for the residents, and as an entry point for those on the streets with Café/Xic-Xou on Sundays. And even more so to expand our partnerships and opportunities in the city: with our pies, the kitchen space, and hosting the youth group and other events for our community. 

In what wonderful things have you made investments over the last year? 

- Construction: we built a wall; a building with a kitchen, bathroom, and storage area; a reception area, the aquaponics system [greenhouse, fish tanks, produce beds].
- 2 fixed workers from Casa CL to care for the garden and attend the public for sales.
- Hiring a manager to develop the Horta: construction, aquaponics system, and the integration of Casa CL residents into the work.

What are the results of these expenses/investments
that you are seeing?
The picture above represents so well what happens in the CL Garden as a result of these investments. The project of the day was laying a brick floor in the greenhouse to create a space apt to receive groups and host our church youth group. In this picture Zelão and Pedro, our house residents on permanent staff at the garden, are supplying the bricks to Rogerio, our evening house monitor, for him to lay the floor. Welington, homeless at the time but now a house resident, is laying the sand bed for the bricks and Luis, the most recent house resident at the time is leveling out the foundation. In sum, the garden gives us a place to work “shoulder to shoulder” with our residents. It deepens our relationships and allows us to direct our support to those who “put the work” into recovery. 

Smores at the CL Garden

What are the next steps/dreams/actions for the garden? 

At the end of November, we're looking forward to hosting a block party and inviting the neighborhood and church to join us. We also are looking forward to using our kitchen for different activities, including our Miss American Pies   as well as other local culinary specialists who are hoping  to employ CL residents as a part of their work making natural foods, juices, and coffee. We have recently been given access to additional land to begin raising chickens and other produce to sell at the garden as well. 

How do you see the Garden as an extension of the local church in Itu? The Garden has become a place of connection and life shared between church members, homeless individuals in Itu, and our CL House residents. Our Sunday morning breakfast, for example, has become a weekly meeting of food, life stories, and prayer together. The garden has received many individuals who witness the gospel in action, and the influence of a church who serves the community. 

Back to blogging

I have a confession to make as a missionary; I am a lousy reporter.  Its a professional handicap. I'm working on it and this is my new attempt at keeping our work in Brazil transparent and accessable to acompany. I'm also a lousy speller, and my spell check is set to portuguese (as long as I'm confessing, I thought I might as well throw that in there). With these confessions made that may affect your enjoyment of this page, we are reviving our blog! May it serve as a window into our world.
Peace to your home.
Mark and Ali Kaiser

New Site!!!

Ali and I have made a communications change! Since we are slow blog updaters, and tend to update Facebook more regularly, we've opened a Facebook page for regular updates on our life and ministry. Please click "like" on our page to receive our updates automatically and to see pictures, notes and videos, like the following, on our lives and ministry. Thank you for accompanying life with us!

Okay, so it seems the blog can't upload our video... so off to Facebook we go!

Our new page - fb.com/markandalikaiser

New Beginnings

We have had a lot of support and inspiration from friends as we've been working towards a major goal - the opening of a halfway house for our homeless friends who want to change their lives. This goal has been coming to life faster than I can keep up with! As our three small households have become ready, Eric moved in with his wife Kenya and their baby daughter Lauren. They will serve as our case managers, and have been getting settled in and preparing to serve incoming residents.

Two weeks ago we took in our first resident, Samuel. Sam has been a friend of ours for a long time. We've seen him through rehab twice... but without a supportive home to come back to he ended up back on the streets and in his addiction both times. We have hoped that a long term supportive housing for Samuel might help him to stabilize in his recovery. I don't assume to speak for tomorrow, but I have been encouraged by his progress so far. Samuel is working for a friend in our church, and has been excited at his own new lifestyle. In this picture he's helping me do some baking for our church café.

Samuel has also been very supportive of our second resident, Daniel. Daniel is going through dialysis treatment and so he has had a rough start as he is learning to live with new physical and working limitations. Today we were surprised to learn that in talking between themselves, they had decided that tomorrow Samuel would accompany Daniel to his dialysis treatment, so that he could talk to the doctor and get better information to help Daniel eat right at the house. That was a pretty cool surprise- the helped becoming the helper is a tremendous step in the walk of recovery!

I give thanks to God for the great things that have taken place! And thank you for you prayers, financial support and encouragement of this process. It continues to be a great adventure!

Camp Roots 2012

Camp Roots 2012

So at the end of Camp Roots 2011, while we were still driving home on buses full of ecstatic teenagers and all their unorganized luggage, left over camp supplies, and the oh-so-recognizable blend of pure exhaustion and fulfillment … right then I was poked and asked, “What’s the theme next year?” Seriously? Let me survive the hangover of Camp Roots 2011 first, please!

But the question would not leave me alone. I, too, was curious about what God would create and inspire in 2012.

I don’t remember exactly how it happened, except that one day I realized “reconciliation” would be the theme of Camp Roots 2012. Reconciliation. Still not sure what will flourish during our 6 intense days with 100 teenagers in 2 languages, but I am waiting with eager longing the full revelation of this theme in our midst.

I have invited 10 core Camp Roots staff members to compose my dwelling group in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17. The core staff is somewhere between 18 and 30 years old, most are single and going to school. Some have grown up in church, others are recent converts, but they seek the deep and want to invite teenagers deeper into this great adventure of faith. We will dwell together during our home’s Saturday morning breakfast gatherings, and each week I will present a question to guide the conversation and reflections towards our preparations for Camp. One specific aspect I am excited about shaping through this period of dwelling is our “causes” at camp. Each year we chose 5 social causes in Itu to support. Everyday at camp the students produce goods that will be donated to each cause. As I dream about this dwelling community, I pray that together we will chose social causes that connect to our hear as we are shaped by the passage.

Just as a side note, last night I went to the airport in Sao Paulo to see off one of my best friends ever! Carioca has lived with us for the past 2 years and has been an essential part of the Spirit-generated movement in Itu. Carioca and I worked closely in the development of Camp Roots in 2010 and 2011. It’s difficult to imagine building momentum for Camp Roots 2012 without him here, brainstorming and dreaming together. In some instances, I wondered if anything would spring up as I sought a word from God. So it’s a true gift from GOD that today I am able to state with conviction that we have a theme, a direction, a specific word for our upcoming summer. The LORD is faithful to His mission!

Let the dreaming begin…

all of the sudden significant

i know Mark just posted recently, but i had to write for one of my classes, and i'd like to share it with you...
glad to share our life with you!


All of the sudden significant.

His name is Bruno, and he is 16 years old. He is wrapped in beautiful dark chocolate-colored skin and his white teeth practically glow when he smiles. He is short and lean, and can play a mean soccer game. Bruno is my most recent “suddenly significant” other and my life is fuller since he entered.

His story is very different than mine. I grew up in a healthy home with parents who loved each other and loved me very much. Bruno was raised among shouting fights and he is not sure which man in mom’s life is his real dad. My childhood years were spent with friends, dolls, coloring books, and bicycle. His older brother traded his bike for drugs two years ago. I had the means to travel between two countries, ride a car to school, and carry my material in nice backpacks. Bruno’s been bullied while walking to school and mocked for carrying his school material in grocery bags. My first job was teaching English to business men in town. Bruno’s first job was delivering drugs to the sons and daughters of the rich business men.

And here we are. God’s wondrous braiding kept bringing Bruno into our lives, and the more time we spent with him, the more we wanted to overlap our life and his. Three weeks ago we invited him to be a part of our home, and sudden, enormous changes followed.

You might think the sudden changes were seen in Bruno – that all of the sudden he stopped cussing, or all of the sudden he was incredibly grateful to us, or all of the sudden his music taste improved and now he jams out U2 in his bedroom. But, no. Bruno is still a 16 year old adapting to new and shocking amounts of structure in his life and testing our limits of patience and authority.

But I have changed. As I invite Bruno into a communal, intimate relationship with all the homework, the dirty clothes, the soccer practices, the lack of discipline, the stories of the past… the invitation reframes my own identity. I am, for the first time, keenly aware of how much his identity formation and transformation is dependent and watchful of my reactions and interactions with him and others.


As I am surprised by unpredictable interactions with Bruno, I have started asking myself, “How can I be a person of peace in this situation?” Never before have I been more convinced that example speaks louder than words… especially as I catch his big black eyes closely observing my reactions to him, to other friends, to my husband, to our neighbors, and to tense situations.
How will I show love to Bruno? How will I discipline Bruno? How will I challenge him? How will I help him open his wings and fly high?

How do I understand salvation differently as I reflect on my relationship with Bruno? More than ever before I am challenged to consider the practical aspect of hesed in our reconstituted communal home. I remember my dad preaching about family dynamics and saying, “A family will not know what love is until the parachute is thrown out the door.” He explains that as long as families have a trump card to threaten each other with, an exit strategy up their sleeve, there will be a dysfunctional and insecure dynamic in the home. Hesed, or “steadfast love,” is not a romantic, sweet, dozen-roses kind of love. Hesed is “covenant reliability.” It does not look for a way out at the beginning of the first crisis. It won’t keep the parachute strapped on in case the engine stutters. Hesed is about the long run – good or bad.
As I recognize and live in hesed with the Creator, I am called to extend this depth of commitment to the “other” in my life. I am called to extend this depth of commitment to Bruno, my suddenly significant “son.”

The phone just rang, and it was the school principal where Bruno is studying. They asked for us to come pick him up early, because he started a fight at school. What is hesed now? What does this commitment look like when his behavior is so backwards from an ideal. I think I know what it’s not… it’s not asking him to pack his stuff and leave our home because he once again failed the standards. Maybe it looks more like not protecting him from consequences with the school, then taking him on a long walk and talk, listening to his side of the story and explaining why this will not be allowed as a pattern in this family because no one in this family will be physically aggressive towards him.

I pray now for two things: One, that grace will be extended from the LORD’s throne over us as we make mistakes along the way; and two, that the LORD’s hesed will overflow in our lives onto Bruno’s beautiful self.

Changing Life

Keeping up with our life is beyond me, so to think that my writings will keep others up to speed, well...

To get past my bloggers block I am going to reduce the subject mater down to the the major changes within our household in the last two weeks. We've hit big big land markers.



First off, Eric has moved into the halfway house! We are very excited about kicking off this ministry. Eric, his wife Kenia and their daughter Lauren are settling in to their new home and we are preparing to receive men in the rehab process and to accompany their re-entry into society.



Friday, Barbara graduated from her college course in marketing. We had a great celebration with her and are glad that she is searching for job openings here in Itu. But should she be led to stay or to move on, we pray that God would imbed her in a very meaningful involvement of what He is doing in the Kingdom.



Carioca moved out of our home on Monday. This was a tough one, but he is on his way to live in Dallas TX and to see what will come of his relationship with Sarah Lang. Carioca has been a core part of our home and team for two years now. We had a huge party at our house to commemorate his move and to celebrate Barbara's graduation, complete with churrasco and a DJ, and we partied till the cops showed up. It was the only worthy way. God blessed us in immeasurable ways through his involvement here. We would have loved to have kept him here... but this experience has reminded us that our home serve to bless, to give purpose, and to send out in a purposeful way. We pray that Carioca caries a new peace with him where ever he goes, and that he will come back, even if only to visit, rejoicing over the wonders he has seen.




And finally, Buno. Bruno came into a Celebrate Recovery meeting in September, brought by mom and visibly upset about having to talk to a group about his involvement with drugs. Soon he warmed up to Eric (I’m sure the “fro” and guitar helped!) and Mark and became a regular at youth group as well as C.R.. We invited him to spend a couple of weekends with us and we enjoyed having him in the house.


At the end of 2011 his mom called saying he had disappeared. We searched and prayed but never heard anything before we left the country for Christmas. We did not hear from him or his mom for a month, then our first Sunday back at church Bruno snuck in late and found his place next to Mark.

A couple of weeks earlier, as Mark and I drove from Ohio to Michigan, we had prayed for him and said to each other, “if he comes back, we’ll welcome him into our home.” Sure enough. After talking to Barbara and Carioca, we sat with him mom, Isabel, and offered for him to live with us during the week while he goes to school. So Bruno is the kid in the house. For a 16 year old, he is small and underdeveloped for his age. He has not gone to school in 5 years, and he has not been well fed. But with all these disadvantages, he's doing great. We give him extra homework every day which he does surprisingly willingly, and he is learning to respect others with noticeable improvement. There is a lot more we could write on this... but just pray for us and we'll try to keep some updates coming.



So this is our new starting point. Every thing is a little different, but that's normal. Throughout it all God continues to show that He is God, and we are blessed.

Workin away

We've started a non-profit that has started taking over our lives!
We have put new plumbing in, ripped out the old sewer system, and now we're putting our new electric lines into the houses which will receive guys coming out of drug rehab. Our church has been a huge help! This week I got help from João Ortiz, Edson and João Victor to install the conduits for electricity, Carlão to dig for the new sewer lines.


As a means of raising funds our guys to go through rehab we have started Chance Bags. The very cool Chance Bags site was set up for us by our friend Deborah.
We just finished and sent off our second batch of these bags. They are going to be sold at ACU, the ArtReach fair in Austin, and Midland Christian Schools store.




One of the cool things about this project is how it has involved those who want to serve but who have a very different skill set from what we would normally look for to help the chemically addicted. The other cool factor, is that these bags are just stinking cool! Thank you Midland Christian Schools, Abilene Christian University and Centennial High School for donating the old jerseys to make this work!

Seeing a life restored

We had a great evening with Alermão and Cida Wednesday night. Alermão was one of our homeless friends who we helped go through rehab, see previous post for more explanation, but he making it great in his now role as a family man!
What was set as a double date turned into a terrific party of 12! We had a very cool family of friends who came in from out of town, and Alermão and Cida's kids all joinded in. We had a great time planning Alermão and Cida's wedding, and getting to know his wonderful family better. They have fun kids! Here are some pics -

Double date

Ali and I are heading out on a double date tonight.  Besides being a date with my favorite wife in the world, it is going to be fun because we are taking Alermão and his bride-to-be out.  
Alermão was one of the early regulars to our homeless lunch.  As a homeless crack addict he decided to accept our offer to go through drug rehab, and after 6 months he came out ready to live a new life. He got back together with his ex and is raising his kids again, now as a dad worth looking up to.  Alermão and Cida are now planing their wedding, which is a dream come true for Cida.  God really does make all things new, and it's a lot of fun to see it happen... And then to go on double dates with renewed friends!

fully back...finally!

it took us 4 weeks to be home for good! but we are here now!

i have to admit, i did not recognize my bedroom when i first got home! we proceeded to spend the next several days deep cleaning, organizing, and simplifying our home.

here are some interesting adjustments since our arrival:

1) there is a newborn in the house! Kenya & Lauryn, Eric's wife and baby girl, have moved to itu and will be living in our home until the halfway house is ready to move into. It's been sweet having a baby around! surprisingly, no one in the house wakes up with the cries at night =)

2) CHANCE BAGS has moved in, also! our little CHANCE bags factory is in the outside area -- here is our fb with pics : http://www.facebook.com/bolsachancebag -- We have 2 friends that work on the bags daily, and i have added this small project to my under-challenged life (please insert sarcastic tone). we are LOVING the chaos CHANCE bags has brought, and hoping to watch the production grow and bless many lives.

3) We are so proud to see the ways the youth group continues to bless the community around them even in our absence. We have 15 graduating seniors to send off this December, and my heart hurts just thinking about it! -- the Lord will do mighty things through them!

4) i seem to STILL be adjusting to grad school, even though i've been taking classes for 13 months now. Several papers to write within the next week, and i am hoping my faithful proofreader is more excited than i am! (thank you, jackie beth)


we have been reminded that adjustments are a time to exercise flexibility
and to be reminded that God controls the flow.

may you have a chance to be flexible.
peace to your home.

Half back!

We are "half back" in Itu now.

I (Mark) am home and Ali is finishing her last week state side. Ali is doing an online masters program with Rochester Christian College, and she has one intensive week of classes to kick off her semester of online studies.

I had a great day here in Itu. It started early with work on the halfway house. Eric and I were taking off more mortar to apply water proofing. My plumbing is done!!! What a huge gift and great donation of service!

Next I was doing some organizing of paperwork and seeing where my fundraising process was. I was down from what I needed for my payment this week... so I was prepping to deal with the lack when I got news of two amazing acts of kindness and generosity that puts us over our goal for this weeks payment!!! I am so humbled, and thankful! It still amazes me. As faithful as God has been, and as consistently supportive as the community around us has been, it still floors me to live it. Thank you.

And the day was brought to an end with work on our Chance Bags project. Look up "chance bags" on Facebook. We unpacked our new jersey donations from ACU and Centennial high school (my old jerseys!) and our 3 new donated sewing machines (thank you Granbury) and Susanie was very impressed and excited that we had a "Project Runway" edition machine! :) We got the Chance work space from cluttered and full of leaves to open, clean, and ready for action.

At the end, I'm just thankful that God has given us this chance to use our passions and skills for His glory and for the betterment of those around us, humbled by the amazing support we get in carrying this on, and, glad to be back! Half back. Ali, we're ready for you now!

the strange "land" in between

we spent wonderful time with mark's extended family in Canada for the past couple of days. We had 4 generations present for the weekend! This was a great event to close our time in the States.

Now that we are back in Ohio, we are living in the strange "land" in between the US and BRAZIL. Last minute shopping (brownie mix!), gifts for friends, calls back home, travel arrangements, good-byes... these activities have a way of throwing us into a stage of being both places and neither at the same time. Honestly, it's the most uncomfortable place to be. It's like temporarily trying to have a foot on both continents and painfully realizing there are 9 thousand miles in between.

my prayer is that none of us try to live this way for very long, that we all learn to practice full presence wherever we find ourselves today.

can we still be blog friends?

You know those friends with whom the connection seems so entirely natural that even when you have been separated for weeks or months or years, it only feels like a few hours have gone by? … well, welcome back! It’s been a while, but my hope is that this will be a natural continuation of good conversations.

i will attempt a rough catch up in this post, and then we will move on from here knowing that there are PLENTY of adventures for us to live out together in the future!

Our summer was incredible and chaotic and beautiful! Camp Roots joined 127 ppl from Itu & San Angelo and we celebrated our week with the theme “My Story Belongs to You,” which culminated with an hour-long CIRCUS production offered to our community!

The CURA medical campaign continues to grow and impact our city! This last summer we assisted over 900 people in 5 days. We now are brainstorming what it would look like for our church to have a year-round presence at the local schools where we usually set up CURA.

Several of you have seen us closer to your home lately… or IN your home! =) we’ve enjoyed the several weeks spent between Texas and Ohio visiting old friends, making new ones, and spending qt with family!

Exciting things loom on the horizon – we will share more about them on this page.
ali

WE ARE STILL ALIVE

we are so sorry for not keeping you updated!

as you can imagine, life is spinning at very fast speeds!
since the beginning of June we have welcomed campaign groups through our home and ministry context, spent long hours preparing for Camp Roots 2011 & medical campaign CURA 2011, and began remodeling all 3 halfway houses!

we will post pics and videos soon.
please know we appreciate you and look forward to sharing stories soon!

ali

ps - be sure to look us up on facebook!

ps 2 - we spent 10 days with some amazing AGGIES, and they shared some of their experiences on their blog http://afewinperu.blogspot.com/

Crazy as usual

We had an event this Thursday that, as bizarre as it was, seemed fitting given the way that our work with drug rehab has been moving forward. Around midnight we were at "Fora de Hora," our town's only open all night place, chatting with our friends that help us with the youth group. A guy walks in and sees Eric (pictured here) and walks by motioning for him to come to the bathroom. When that doesn't work the guy motions to him from the bathroom. He thinks that only Eric can see him, but most of the table is watching this guy through the mirror next to him as he gestures and asks, "Cocaine? You got cocaine?" Eric shakes his head and the guy goes back outside. Most of the table is laughing in disbelief of this guys bold shot in the dark! But Eric was indignant for having been treated like a dealer and decides to go out and confront the guy. He finds him in the parkinglot -

"Hey, do you know me?"

* "Aren't you Chez's friend?"

"I don't know Chez and I've never seen you in my life! I'm an addict in recovery and you wanna come in and push me for drugs? And in front of my family???" (family - that's us)

* "Dude, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't know. You're in recovery? My bad... so... no disrespect... but do you know where I can find some cocaine?"

"Man, I can't help you."

And he comes back in. This grinds on Eric the rest of the night. The next morning Eric brought it up again, "I thought about that kid all night - I saw myself in his eyes. I know what that phase of withdrawal feels like, and it bugs me that I didn't talk him about Jesus."

Later that morning we were prepping for homeless lunch and there's a knock on the gate. Eric answers it, and guess who? A friend of ours from the next town over, and the cocaine kid!

Our friend - "Eric, I have a friend for you to meet,"
Eric - "I know him..."
Cocaine kid - "I know you... I tried to buy drugs from you..."
Our friend - "How do you guys know each other?"
Eric - "Come on in and let's sit down."

So apparently cocaine kid used all night long, and then that next morning went to our friend's LAN house and asked for help with his addiction. "I know of some friends who can help you," our friend said, and brought him to us.

(He just called and Eric is on the phone with him right now)

They talked for about two hours. The plan right now is for him to start attending our support group. We'll be keeping close contact to support him in his recovery, and if it proves necessary, help him get into a rehab clinic.

Running into people who need help, that happens. But this being followed up with them being brought to your house within 24 hours to get help... that doesn't just happen. But to me it's one more confirmation that God is in this... and given the way things have been progressing, it makes sense.

Crazy crazy life!

Visit from friends

We have often said that we keep an open home and love visiters, last month two of our friends from Texas took us up on our standing invitation. Chris Frizzell and Billy Martin and pitched in for a week of service. They did an amazing job of using who they are to bless our community!

The first day they arrived was my night to spend at the rehab clinic, so Billy jumped right in. A little nervous about not being able to converse, Billy took a special snack to prepare for the guys upon his arrival, and immediately made friends in the process! Early the next morning we had a devotional led by Billy. He shared how his relationship with God has led him to care for the oppressed, and pointed to our responsibility for having received mercy, to be a people who extend mercy.







After speaking at rehab that morning, Billy spoke to the youth group at night. He pulled from his experience working with fingerprinting in the FBI to share how we are each uniquely created. He illustrated this through some fun FBI stories from his past, and by finger printing our kids and allowing them to see the differences. He also used this to communicate our worth as unique and valuable members in the kingdome.








After this we had two great seminars led by Chris Frizzell. His first dealt with conflict management and led to some really good discussions. My friend Zacca who manages a car parts store commented afterwords how helpful the subject was to him given his daily responsibilities.




Chris and Billy, thank you so much for coming! Granburry Church of Christ, thank you for sending them! We know we are all part of the same kingdom and the same work, but having you here in action was a wonderful tribute to how big and widespread the movement of Jesus Christ actually is.