EnterMission - Rob Wegner

48,000 Kids In India and 3 Kids from Indiana

This summer, Michelle and I will be taking our girls and transplanting our family to Tamil Nadu India for a month.  The girls are excited and nervous.  Nervous?  Mostly about the shots right now.   Excited?  About pretty much everything else.

This summer 48,000 kids from India and 3 kids from Indiana are going to collide.

One of the new initiatives Raj has developed that will be rolling this summer involves children.  Lots and lots of children.  Like, 48,000 children!

Starting in May, countless millions of kids in India will be on summer break.  Raj has developed four booklets that will be the source material for what we're calling Life Changing School. 

Every day for seven days, pastors and their church volunteers from our church planting movement will gather children, ages 5-16, in their community for a Day Camp.  The curriculum is designed to deliver the Good News to children who are currently unchurched and primarily from Hindu backgrounds.  Brand new songs have been written for the children to learn.  Every kid will be loved and celebrated.

Our pastors are convinced that they can serve 48,000 children for Jesus this summer.  12,000 booklets are hot off the presses already.

I can't wait to see our girls in the mix, singing along and serving Jesus.

Below you can get a look at the covers from a couple of the booklets.  

Can you take a minute and pray for the pastors, the volunteers, and the children they will be serving?  While you are at it, pray for the Wegners too!  I'll post more about other dimensions to our trip later.

A week after we get home, our girls get the privilege of being apart of GCC's very own Day Camp, right here on the Granger Campus.  So, if you're in Michiana and haven't signed up your kid...do it now!

GCC Through The Eyes of New Person

This last weekend, we had some gentleman visit who  take issue with GCC, both in style and content. 

First of all, I am impressed by their visit. Most of our critics, have never visited us or even spoken with someone who attends GCC.   So, these guys refused to just make a drive-by shooting at GCC.  My hats off to them. We gave them a warm welcome. 

The visit didn't do much to change their minds.  Mark Waltz wrote brilliantly  about it in a post entitled, Confused by the Critics.

Interestingly enough, via google alert, I came upon the words of another first time visitor from last weekend. 

Here name is Jodi, she called her post "The Best Sunday I Have Every Had, Honestly!"   She had a very different experience.  These are her words:

I went to church yesterday and it was my first time at this church and I was so amazed and plain dumbfounded...The name of the church is Granger Community Church and it is a Christian church. 

...You would be amazed, I can't believe this church is near where I live, Granger is not that big, this church is probably bigger than Granger, lol!

This church has like a cafe in it and for the children there is a playground inside this place...the kids can get downstairs by using a tube slide, I am serious.  I was totally freaking out because I have never been in a church...with so much to offer people.

In the auditorium, they have three huge screens..at the sides on the bottom of them, if your children are acting up or cyring... they put their name up on the bottom of the screen and you go and pick up your child, it is the coolest thing I have ever seen.

I was so amazed at the music, the pastor that spoke yesterday and the church...I LOVED it!  I am going to start going there from now on...I can't tell you how happy I am that my daughter's friend took us there.  I absolutely love this church guys, I am still in awe...I needed the sermon presented yesterday for sure.   I have found myself a new home!!!!!

Welcome home, Jodi.  We're glad you are here.

I Saw The Risen Christ This Morning in a Man

This weekend I asked one simple question: Am I a fan of Jesus or a follower of Jesus? 

We looked at the journey from admiration to devotion.  Every follower of Jesus starts as a fan.  Their admiration grows as they come to know and experience the Risen Christ.  Then, they reach a threshold.  It looks different for every person.   At that threshold, Jesus asks them to move from admiration to total and complete devotion. 

Right at that threshold, there is always a sticking point.   As a fan of Jesus, I admire him, but I continue to retain control of my life.  I want to Jesus to have influence on my life, but a marginal influence.  I want to be close enough to Him so that my life benefits, but I don't want to get so close that it becomes dangerous.

That's the threshold between fan and follower.

When you move from fan to follower, it is those sticking points, the very areas of our life where we want to say "Hands off," that we surrender to Jesus.

We surrender EVERYTHING.

This morning, I received a letter that is the embodiment of that surrendered life.  It moved me so profoundly, I don't have words to describe it.

The letter came from one of my closest friends, Gene Ort.  Gene and his wonderful wife Mary, lost their daughter Rachael, in a tragic car accident on this last Christmas Eve, at the young age of 27.  Rachel was a young lady who radiate the relentless affection and tenderness of Jesus everywhere she went. 

Here's the question: How would I respond to the man who killed my daughter and left me with an aching loss that threatens to undo me completely?

How would a fan of Jesus respond?

How would a follower of Jesus respond?

Let me show you how a follower of Jesus responds.

Hi Guys,

Mary and I, Jonny and his parents meet with the Cass county prosecutor tomorrow at 4:30. They have made their decision as to what happens from here as far as the law is concerned.

They will be telling us if they are going to be pressing criminal charges or whatever.. against the driver of the truck in Rachel's accident.

This stirs up a lot of stuff in me.

There is talk of a civil lawsuit against him....I am concerned for all involved.

My prayers are for all of us to hold fast to God's perspective. We are to forgive. Vengeance is not an option for us.

The law does what it does to serve the community. We really have nothing to do with that.

Money, on the other hand.... can make you nuts....

My desire for all of us is to be centered in God's will and not to be dragged into a hurtful pursuit of any kind.

Please join with me in prayer for our whole family and the young man who was driving the truck and his family.

Surrendered.

Abandoned.

Rescued.

Gene

Gene gave me permission to share this.  He said, "I don't want any buzz about me."  I said, "Gene, people need to see what following looks like.  You are showing us the way."

In the final moments of our conversation today, Gene said to me, "I'm praying fervently that this young man who killed my daughter will come to know the grace I've found in Jesus.  You know what I'm looking forward to?  When this young man and my daughter meet in Heaven.  I can already see the embrace, Rob."

I can already see the embrace?   That broke me.   I have tears in my eyes right now as I type this.

I saw the Risen Christ this morning...in a man. 

That's what  You 2.0 looks like.   You 2.0 is possible. It's possible for you. It's possible for me.

Let's live with this question today: Am I a fan of Jesus or a follower of Jesus?

Please pray for Gene and his family.

                                                                                     Photo by DC Curry

God Gave Us a "Mimi"

About five years ago, God gave us a "Mimi."  What's a Mimi?  A Mimi is a person who "adopts" you like a son or daughter, then shower you with more love and affection than you could ever deserve.  Has that ever happened to you?  It happened to us.  Her name is Maribeth Roncz, we call her, "Mimi."  She is a constant reminder of God's grace in our life.

This Friday,  Maribeth is Dancing with the Stars at the South Bend Center For the Homeless 20th Anniversary Auction.  The folks at GCC are contributing a lot of heart and muscle to this great event, which funds a big portion of the Center's budget.

The Center for the Homeless began 20 years ago, when a local hotel that more than 100 impoverished citizens called home burned to the ground in the middle of winter. Our community came together in an incredible way. Within one week, 17 busloads of resources and hundreds of willing volunteers were available to help.   Today, the Center has served more than 44,000 men, women and children, not only by providing them with a meal and a warm bed for the night, but also by linking them up with the nationally recognized programs that help them break the cycle of homelessness.

GCC has forged a transformational partnership with the Center. Maribeth run's point on that team for us, mobilizing hundreds of people annually on mission to serve the homeless.

Maribeth is also one of the featured dancers this year.  Let me tell you, she can bust a move and the buzz is spreading.  She made the front page of the local section of the South Bend Trib this past weekend.

Would you consider casting a vote for Maribeth?  

Each vote costs $37.  Why $37?  $37 pays for the care and training of one guest at the Center for one day.

It's $37.  One meal out.  One stop at the movie theater.   She's out there representing GCC.  Let's stand with her and let the whole community know the God's people care for the homeless.  (BTW, it's also tax-deductible.)

My wife said it well on her blog,

"Many of the guests at the Center are FAMILIES.  Not bums who "deserve it."  You would be amazed at the stories we hear about the people who never imagined it would be them to live there.  They are people like you and me who work hard, are educated, care about their families, but have been forced out of their homes due to various circumstances.

The unemployment rates in our area are through the roof-some of the highest in the nation.  These people can't get work.  They need a hand.  They need the love and care they get at the Center.  You can help."

Take a second to vote! Michelle and put our votes in! 

Chicken a la Carte

A friend of a friend sent me this video.  I received this while eating lunch.  Suddenly, my lunch looked very different.  Watch it and you'll know what I mean.  This film tells the the story of "the people who live on the refuse of men to survive."  I was inspired and convicted by the riches of hope and gratitude they experience in their poverty. 

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

American Rural Starfish

We've been looking at the power of open source, grassroots movement empowered by limited centralized leadership, focus and organization.  We left off with an example of a Chinese Starfish. Here's another phenomenal example  of a hybrid Starfish and Spider movement from rural America, that Tim Stevens brought up at our last staff meeting.

Brand New Church is fostering a home church & multi-site movement in rural locations via this tricked out Satellite Hummer. 

Starfish (Decentralized):  Brand New Church has house churches and campuses spread out in rural locations. 

Spider (Centralized): Their pastor, Shannon O'Dell, broadcasts his message via satellite feed...FROM THIS HUMMER!  For example, a short while ago, Shannon drove to a barn in Arkansas, where they have 250 people meeting, turned on the video camera inside the barn (which feeds out to the Hummer), and then broadcasted via satellite to all the house churches and campuses in their network, which have satellite dishes set up for reception.

Shannon will be speaking at Innovate this year. I can't wait. 

What examples of Spider/Starfish hybrid have you seen that you find intriguing and exciting?  I would love to hear about them.

BNC Vision Video 2008 from Zach Gilliam on Vimeo.

Chinese Starfishes

I posted here and here this week on the concept of open-source, viral, grassroots growth.  Today , I' want to give you a snapshot of what that looks like via a field report from the One Prayer church planting movement in China.  According to the book God is Back: How the Revival of Faith is Changing the World, the tatest stats put the Jesus movement in China at over 100 million. There aren't that many card carrying Communists in China!  Due in part to persecution, the house church movement finds itself spinning out a new church every time a church hits 25-50 people.  Notice, how Starfish plays out in this story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In a small tourist city on the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea near Beijing of northern China lives a family of our church planters Daria Gu and Samuel Zhang. Daria and Samuel moved there at the invitation of a few local believers, who asked them to come and hold worship services in their town. Grandpa Bo, and older believer, offered his house to hold services. Our missionaries started their ministry. As a result of our missionaries’ work the number of believers doubled there in the first month and half. It grew from fifteen people to thirty and divided into two groups.

During the following months Daria and Samuel organized four more groups in the same area and that added another 40 people to their worshipers. Thus the ministry of our missionaries was now happening in six groups with a total attendance of about seventy people. The missionaries had their hands more than full. Six days a week they were conducting services in small groups. Nevertheless God had more plans with these servants of His!

One day Grandpa Bo was visited by his friend from a neighboring village and so he decided to invite Daria and Samuel so that they would meet his friend and share the gospel with him. So they did and Grandpa Bo’s friend accepted Christ as his personal savior. The next day he traveled back home as a new baby in Christ. All that our missionaries could do for him now was to pray for this new born Christian so that he would not lose his faith after returning home.

But our baby Christian didn’t even consider losing his faith!!! Instead he began to share it with his acquaintances and friends in his village. About four weeks later he called Daria and Samuel and invited them to come and visit him in his village. You see what happened there was that Grandpa Bo’s friend had started two Bible study groups with about six people in each and had run out of information he knew to share and needed help. He needed the help of more knowledgeable and mature Christians.

Now to the ministry of Daria and Samuel two more groups were added to a total of eight Bible study groups. Due to their overload of responsibility God raised two new leaders from among the more mature believers, who began to assist the missionaries in their ministry.

This story reminds me of the ministry of the early church, when the believers were scattered and shared the gospel just like our newborn baby Christian did and God was adding daily new believers to His church.

Please pray for the continuation of the spreading of the gospel in this region in China.

-submitted by Waldemar Kurz

Spring Break Family Photos

Last week, was amazing. Our friends hooked us up with a cheap cabin, we got down there on one tank of gas, bought our groceries, and the hiking was free.  Hiking with the family in the mountains is our favorite recreation.  What's your favorite recreation with your family?

Ah, Batter, Batter, Batter! Swa-ing, Batter!

Today's post is brought to you by our Director of Local Mission, Dan Blacketor.  Dan's one of my heroes. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its official. Major league baseball started last week and the South Bend Silverhawks start this week.  All the signs say, "Spring is here!" But I have even more exciting news. The boys of Monroe Circle will be participating in Little League Baseball this spring and summer!

Ryan Kring is our head coach and we have 14 eager players ready to start practice this week.  Games start on April 24th. The South Bend Silverhawks players will also help coach and mentor the kids when they are in town.  In addition, we are finalizing how the kids might be able to spend time in the Silverhawk dugout during games, get a behind the scenes tour of the locker room, and other fun stuff.

Opening day parade is scheduled for Saturday, April 24th and the 16 game season is from April 24th thru June 27th. The team will play in the Maurice Matthys league and home games will be played at Matthy's Park   Once we get the schedule I will post it,  so if you are interested in cheering on the MC3 Bravehearts, you can stop on out.

Flashback Photos

My best friend from childhood posted these on Facebook this afternoon.

I think I may have the worst haircut in the world in the next one.  It makes me want to ask my mom, "How did that happen? I was trusting you!" :)