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I’m not much good at asking for help. Never have been. It’s not that I don’t need or don’t want it, it’s just a flaw in my character.  A flaw that afflicts my human relations, as well as my relationship with God.  I was taught self-reliance at an early age.  I was required to help provide for the family with a hunting rifle, a shotgun, fur traps, or a fishing pole from about age 8. In the mountains, Dad made me carry an emergency fire kit, flint and steel exclusively, for two years before I was allowed to carry matches or a lighter. 

Independence was not just encouraged, it was ingrained.  Later in life, I adopted a career requiring healthy doses of unconventional individualism, personal courage, service to others, and self-sufficiency.  “Keep it simple, Kenney. Go here, do that, come home alive.”

Needless to say, I grew up and have lived my life with the understanding that it was largely up to me. Even after becoming a Christian, I occasionally experienced difficulty in asking God for help.  Afterall, I reasoned, He built me with all the tools I needed to survive – it was up to me to use them correctly and ON me if I didn’t.

But that’s not what God says at all. In 2 Corinthians 3:5 Paul writes, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God…”

"Even now,

at this point in my life,

God is teaching me His way. "

I’ve spent much of the last year learning that my complete self-reliance can conflict with God’s plan. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually I have been brought to my knees with realization after realization that I do need help, from time to time.  Sometimes it is professional help in the form of doctors and lawyers and such. Sometimes it is friends and buddies who refuse to take no for an answer, especially when I am being stubborn and somewhat of a jackalope.  Often it has been recognizing the role of my family supporting me vice my supporting them.  All of which, I see the hand of God manifest in.

In Corinthians 12:9, Paul again writes that Christ’s grace is sufficient and that His power is perfected in our weakness. Rarely have I seen those words be truer than in the past month.

Most recently, in recovering from hip surgery, every little thing that seemingly could go wrong has.  Vehicle repairs with both of our rigs that threatened to leave us stranded.  Mysterious, unidentified warning alarms incessantly toning from the bowels of our house at completely random times. Swamp cooler issues with no way to fix and no way to replace (imagine one man, two crutches, and a thirty-foot ladder).

What has amazed me during in this short snap-shot of life, is how blessed we are to live where and how we do.  God has placed in our lives people who are generous of their time, knowledge, and resources.  He has made me unable to do the things I normally would. The Lord has made me ask for help.

Picking up the phone and starting a conversation with “Listen, brother, I hate to ask this, but. . .” is a skill not practiced and therefore, not perfected.  It is, however, something I am getting better at.  And the Lord has provided His reinforcement of my humility. Whether it is those individuals who offer expert help in automotive adventures, or those who come over in the middle of the night at the drop-of-a-hat to find the low-voltage transformer screaming in a wall cavity, or whether it is those friends who spend their Independence Day with a screwdriver and a crane to fly a new swamp cooler to our roof and have it running in minutes.

None of these great, common people asked for a reward or for compensation. They just did.  Indeed, several may not even be Christians as you and I would recognize them to be.  However, each knew their role and each gave unselfishly of themselves.  In so doing, they taught me lessons about myself, God’s provision, and the trustworthiness of my friends and neighbors.

Even now, at this point in my life, God is teaching me His way.  In short, a little more humility and a little less bullheaded pride, goes a long way. Even for me.

When a fellow church member asked me several years ago to volunteer at Care Net Pregnancy Center as a counselor, my first response was “No … I can’t possibly counsel a pregnant teen … I have never even been pregnant … How can I possibly help?” 

My hesitance was reversed when I learned that Care Net provided training for volunteers.  I realized that if Care Net was willing to take a chance on me, I would be willing to serve.

You see, my serving through Care Net has brought me full circle. I can look back now and see how God has transformed me throughout my walk with Him. How God used my past experiences to shape how I now serve Him.

When I was 17, with no gospel foundation, I took a friend for a pregnancy test.  She was not in a stable relationship, she was young, and she was afraid. But after she tested positive, I, in all my youthful wisdom, I “counseled” my friend to have an abortion. 

By God’s grace, she absolutely could not.  And now, 37 years later, I’ve witnessed my friend’s devotion as a single parent and I am blessed to know her beautiful daughter, who is happily married with 3 young daughters of her own. I stand in awe of God’s plan for my friend and for me, knowing this could have been a very different story. 

Care Net has thousands of stories about women, men, and children whom they have loved, served, counseled and stood alongside. Stories like Ricardo’s:

"My fiancé and I had our first baby; I was excited and nervous because we had little income and I didn’t have a stable job.  She had heard about Care Net’s services and we went to check it out.  We were glad to hear about the Earn While You Learn program, where you can spend as little as 30 minutes to an hour or 2, learning about pregnancy, birthing, and parenting, while earning money to buy (very inexpensive) diapers, clothes, and baby supplies.  My fiancé “ran away”, leaving me with our 2 month old son.  I love my son, and want the best for him, and so I continue to take classes and have fellowship with Care Net.  They have helped me so much to care for and raise my son."

I have now volunteered at Care Net for 5 years. I have witnessed many couples with happy stories; they are glad to be pregnant and receive our services.  I have also witnessed not-so-happy stories…women of all ages experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, not sure of their future, but through God’s grace, relentlessly pursue having a child and, either being a single parent, or releasing them for adoption, they choose LIFE as God intended. 

My story is full circle.  From a naïve 17-year-old, full of false wisdom, to a dedicated servant of the Lord, assisting young women and men to make Godly decisions in the place I was least prepared to. How has God used YOU where you least expected it? 

Click here for more information about Care Net and volunteer opportunities or contact JoAnn. 

“... I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  ~Mt. 16:18

“... the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

                                              ~ Lk. 17:21

Christ came into the world to re-establish His kingdom. Although His kingdom is “not of this world”, yet He came into the world to do His kingdom work here. He is reclaiming what is His ... and transforming lives in the process. He works in human hearts, families, communities, and particularly through His Church. 

What a privilege to be a part of that work!  We have seen Him changing lives in 2018! Let’s rejoice, in the ways that He has been willing to use us. Let’s celebrate, as He works in our going out, our bringing in, and in our building up.

Here are a few of the highlights from this year:

Shine Partnership

As we continue to be drawn into deeper relationships with teachers and families at A. Montoya through our Shine school partnership we have had the privilege of praying teachers, parents and kids through hard times, getting food into the hands of kids in food-unstable homes, and even providing assistance to a teacher in need of running water. We have learned so much from our hard-working teachers and parents. We have watched children share the good news of the gospel with one another in the library. Throughout the year, God has provided the means with which to bless teachers with needed supplies, a child with glasses he required, tons of kids with books, and some families with necessities. 

God has often given us the opportunity to encourage and speak truth into people’s lives because they are now our friends.  He has blessed us as well, through the encouragement they have given us, and through the investment of their friendship.  Our hearts are being continually woven closer together, all to God’s glory.

The Villa Santa Maria

The Lord has really flung open the doors to our relationship with the Villa Santa Maria.  The Villa is a residential treatment community for children, located right here in Cedar Crest.  While we have had the privilege of being asked to meet with individual residents there for Bible study over the years, the end of 2017 and this year saw the doors open for us to meet with as many as 5 boys and 4 girls in two groups!  We are also getting to better know and encourage the staff.  They are sharing prayer requests with us and inviting us to take part in celebrations, mediations, and conversations!  One child from the Villa was baptized in conjunction with her parents’ visit over the summer.  And we have met with staff to ask about how to better lead Bible study and discussions with this audience.  We learn so much from this community, and are humbled by the care-givers (some believers and some not) who invest so much of themselves.  While transformation tends to come slowly, the whole community has allowed us to take a little part in it, and we see God regularly at work in them and in us. 

Our hearts are being continually woven closer together, all to God’s glory.

Missions

In 2015, we originally sent two MCC elders to Ethiopia to train pastors and evangelists with Training Leaders International.  The training was received with joy and enthusiasm, as church leaders there learned to more capably handle God’s Word, and how to study it for themselves.  And as these Elders worked with the African leaders who so love the Lord, they were blessed by their infectious spirit.  Though these interactions, the Lord opened the door for us to partner with local missionaries to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to unreached people groups in southern Ethiopia.  The MCC Missions Team investigated the opportunity, and we supported one national missionary in 2017.  This year, we began to support four local missionaries in this work of taking Christ where His name is not known.

A third elder, Vince, has connections and has served the Lord in well-drilling and evangelism in the jungles of Peru.  These, too, are opportunities to work with unchurched tribes.  In the past year, this work has expanded to include our support of a traveling evangelist.  He continually returns to visit the areas where wells have been gifted, and furthers the gospel ministry there.  Many of these areas can be reached only by float plane, and represent some very hard-to-reach places.

All of this broadens our appreciation for common grace, and grows our own hearts for God’s special grace to be known by everyone we meet!

Our real introduction to “mutual transformation” ministry came through Food for the Hungry, and our relationship with Sucre, Bolivia.  Last Spring we continued to deepen our impact and deepen our own understanding, as we sent another team to the second community that we’ve partnered with there, in Villa Margarita.  Not only do our teams get to bless and love the children and families in the community, but they are a strategic and life-giving support to the national FH staff! 

In turn, our teams are humbled by the love and joy that shower them on each visit.  Through this relationship, the Lord opened the door for us to learn about Sutisana - a ministry to women in the red-light district in La Paz.  Marvin has begun to consult with the ministry there, to assist them as they endeavor to build life-sustaining businesses for these women.  As they learn to walk in the light and grace of Christ, they are also getting skills for rebuilding their world.  This year we also helped to fund this business-as-mission endeavor for the first time, coming alongside their national leaders with love to help them make this God-sized dream a reality.

Gideons - Helps Ministry - Wood Ministry - Shield

We prayed for the Gideon’s International Scripture “Blitz” in September.  Mike Brazie reported that the combined efforts of Gideons from here and other states, helped to give away 40,000 Scriptures.  He personally heard stories of 6 people who made decisions for Christ during those days. 

The Wood Ministry has hosted several work days this fall, already involving families from the community in not only procuring wood for themselves, but in strengthening their relationships.  The Helps ministry leaders assisted a woman who needed help with her water heater. 

And the Shield ministry has raised up intercessors for our own MCC first-responders and their families.  At appreciation dinners, testimonies were shared about answered prayer and God’s presence with these men and their families as they go about their work. Along the way, in all of this, we have gotten to make wonderful new friends, and learn from the lives of others.  All of this broadens our appreciation for common grace, and grows our own hearts for God’s special grace to be known by everyone we meet!

Join us in gifting thanks for all the ways God has used MCC Ministries in 2018 and check back on Monday for Part II in this series, "God's Grace in 2018 - Bringing In."

There are a host of behind the scenes ministries that happen weekly within any church across America. These aren’t the ministries you hear much talk about, they aren’t the ones everyone is lining up to serve with, but they keep the church running, they welcome the lost and encourage the lonely.  Today’s ministry highlight is one of those behind the scenes ministries you may have never given any thought to but God has used mightily: The Attendance Ministry.

How did you get called into you’re the Attendance Ministry?

I’ve always been active in the church and I think I slide into this one by helping Adele.

How have you seen God work in you through your ministry?

I’ve seen people join the church because they felt so welcomed. It really makes me feel like God is truly using me.

What has been the hardest aspect of serving and how did God us that to grow you?

I do not feel like there is a hard part to this ministry. I feel like God opens my heart more as I met new people. They become part of “my” family.

What are you most thankful for in the ministry?

The blessing of so many hugs each week. I grew up in a family that didn’t hug, maybe that’s why God put me here.

“I feel like I am giving blessings and also receiving them. I rejuvenate every Sunday!”

What would you say to someone who doesn’t feel equipped to serve?

Step out. Let God lead you. Smile and be blessed.

Can you share a ministry success from 2018?

I don’t know that there is a “success.” I just know that some people wait for my hugs. We enjoy being family. Also, people like to know that someone missed them if they didn’t come for a week or two. And I worry if there aren’t at church for a while.