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There is a bit of chill in the air these days. I will know it is truly fall when I begin to smell pinon smoke from neighboring fireplaces. However, for many it is not just about the smell of the burning pinon but the heat that it produces. For some, this heat is a matter of life or death on the frigid nights in the East Mountains. Unfortunately, many in our community struggle with keeping the firewood bin filled during the long winter.

MCC has a long history of helping locals meet their firewood needs. What a unique opportunity for us to be able to show God’s love through the warmth of a fire on a cold night. But to really show God’s love, we need to be more than a supplier of firewood.  Such calls for help are often a sign of a much deeper problem--broken relationships with friends and family and most importantly with God. The request for firewood to the church is a symptom of a lack of anywhere else to turn.

We apply a “When Helping Hurts” model to not just deal with the symptom but also work to deal with the root cause. This process begins by developing relationships. Nurturing and maintaining a relationship gives the opportunity to really understand the need while also providing the chance for the one in need to contribute to others as well as help themselves.  Helping people help themselves creates a newfound sense of ability, self-worth and dignity. In the same way, this gives us the opportunity to help them see that worth and dignity were always there in the eyes of the Lord.

This process depends on relationship building with the client sponsor being the lynchpin. The sponsor is the one who establishes a relationship with the client and walks them through the process of getting wood.  In this process they help the client reclaim dignity, restore relationships with others and points them to God. Specifically, the sponsor will assist them in building a full team of workers to cut, spit and deliver wood. The team would normally include the client and his friends, family and neighbors. It is the client’s job to build the team; it is the sponsor’s job to help and encourage them in their relationship building.

The clients who have agreed to this process are ready for a change. What an opportunity as a sponsor to enable the client to take constructive steps toward a better way of life. More importantly to walk along side our Lord and Savior as He works to bring real transformation. And in the process, make a new friend.

We are in need of sponsors. Please consider investing in our community in this valuable way. Come learn more about becoming a sponsor at the Wood Ministry Sponsorship Training on Saturday, October 20th from 9:00am-11:30pm at MCC. Contact Don and Ann Moore to RSVP for the training or to learn more.

It's surprising where God places you isn’t it? I would have never imagined myself volunteering at a pregnancy center; I’ve never been pregnant and have no personal information to share with young couples experiencing pregnancy. But, I've been volunteering at the Care Net Pregnancy Center for four years and I know that God has placed me in the right position, to help serve people in need, in the best possible way for His glory.

Volunteering with Care Net is a constant reminder that God's plan is always good, even if it’s not what you originally planned for.

God has been doing some big things through Care Net in the first half of 2018 that I would like to share with you:

• The “Know Now Medical Mobile Unit” (MMU) has been in operation for a year and a half and we are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of clients whose original choice was termination or who were undecided when they arrived at their initial visit. The presence of the MMU near the surgical abortion facilities in Albuquerque is changing lives.  Women who once thought their only option was to terminate their pregnancy can now see an ultrasound and learn the truth about the baby they are carrying.  It has been a game changer! Very recently, two women at the end of their second trimester of pregnancy boarded the bus, had an ultrasound, and decided to give birth to their children. We thank God for these dramatic "turn-arounds."
• The Care Net medical services are expanding with the addition of a Certified Physician's Assistant. Her credentials allow us to provide prescriptions to treat two of the STI's for which we test and the Abortion Pill reversal medication. This opens up yet another opportunity to provide life-saving help to our clients.

• Care Net is now offering a Fatherhood Program. Instead of concentrating on just the mother of the unborn, we now offer counseling and important information for the fathers-to-be. It is becoming a vital piece of the Care Net ministry.  

Care Net is always looking for additional volunteers.  If you're like me, and wonder "What could I possibly do to help this ministry?" but your heart is compassionate about helping our youth with unplanned pregnancy, I encourage you to get involved!

Please contact me, JoAnn Tallant, or any other Care Net representative or call 505-880-8373. 

You can also get involved this Saturday, August 25^th at the Care Net Walk for Life Event. There are four locations in Albuquerque and the East Mountains. By attending the walk, you are affirming the sanctity of human life and supporting Care Net! Hope to see you there!

“Sometimes,” she confided with anxious eyes, “I feel like I don’t know how I can possibly serve. I don’t think I can do anything.  I want to be a blessing to our church, I just don’t know how.”  She let out a troubled sigh of discouragement.

Do you ever feel this way? I know I have! You want to serve and yet don’t know if you are needed or how you can be a blessing.

Let me hasten to tell you, God brought you to us and you are needed! 

You were meant to be a blessing and you have much to offer your brothers and sisters at MCC! 

Consider Paul’s description of the church in 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body…..But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

This is you and this is me, this is the church! 

We are drawn together by the worship of Christ, knit into one body to work together, to grow, and to share the Gospel with others.

If one member suffers, then we all suffer. 

You might wonder how you can help --- you may feel like you don’t have a lot of time, resources, or skills that the church can use. But consider this, there are many needs with in the body that never make it to the bulletin. These are needs that would not be appropriate to share with the entire congregation, but having those needs met are still vitally important.

Consider this:

• What if a person needs a ride to a doctor’s appointment? Can you drive?
• What if someone’s car breaks down and they need groceries? Perhaps you know how to repair the vehicle the car?
• What if you someone’s dryer breaks and they cannot afford a repairman? Perhaps you are handy and can fix stuff that breaks in a household!
• Suppose someone’s computer breaks and they don’t know where to, or cannot afford to, take it in? Yet you understand the mysterious complexities of a computer!
• Are you a young person who can help an older one who just got a computer learn how to use it?

You see, none of us are designed to do everything perfectly, instead we are meant to help one another, and in doing so, we strengthen and build relationships!

And you, yes YOU, are a vibrant provider AND partaker of this!

William & Dolores Jiron lead the Helps Ministry that is designed to help meet some of these needs. Would you prayerfully consider signing up? 

You may only be called once a year, but it will be a call to service for the Lord’s glory!

Over the last two years, particularly after becoming involved with International Students Inc., I've wondered a lot about my Christian witness and how it manifests in my life.

There are ample opportunities to witness but am I doing it right? Am I witnessing when I repeatedly referred to Christ?  Or, is it when I quote or paraphrase scripture? Is it when I love people by meeting their needs without expecting anything in return? Am I really serving the Lord or am I simply serving myself because I enjoy what I'm doing? I have so many questions, and it so much to think about, but what a great opportunity to consider!

Two years ago, Doug Eury invited me to a weekly gathering of foreign UNM students through ISI. The students we met that night were determined to improve their understanding and usage of conversational English. After several weeks of participation in a group setting, I was asked by a married student if I would consider tutoring her in English. She needed help preparing for the TOEFL exam, a graduate-level English proficiency test, required prior to admission to United States universities.

God used that simple request to change our families lives and my understanding of how we can truly be witnesses for Christ.

In summary, I've gone from talking to unknown foreign university students within a structured format, to becoming close friends with Maryam and Mostafa, an Iranian Muslim couple. We consider them very dear friends and even have explicit permission to teach their four-month-old baby, Sam, about Christ as he grows up! Sam is regarded by Kara and I as our fifth grandchild and we have become Maryam and Mostafa's “American parents."

In addition to that amazing blessing, on Christmas Day we hosted eight students from both Iran and Bangladesh in our home, representing three distinct language groups, besides English!

While the English may have been fragmented, the fellowship was amazing. And, the good news is that I think "it" is just beginning.

International Students Inc. is one of the many ministries with which Mountain Christian church has encouraged participation. ISI is a program at UNM. It has been embraced by the college, in recognition that it is a Christian organization, because of the amazing services performed by this organization. ISI serves students and their families by greeting foreign students upon arrival at the airport, making housing arrangements, providing temporary shelter until those arrangements are secure, hosting social gatherings, conducting hikes, providing numerous food fellowship events, tutoring, language training, providing furniture, providing legal information – and the list goes on! The need is huge!

ISI offers us, as Christians, a wonderful witnessing opportunity and chance to step in a serve someone when they need it most.

So, take a chance and engage with others, propelled by the "idea" of witnessing; initiate a relationship and hopefully a friendship, reach out in love and serve others for Christ.

To learn more about ISI and how you can get involved contact Tom O'Brien.

I heard a story the other day that I just can’t shake.

A young man, Jerome, was awarded a scholarship to Wheaton College through the Posse Foundation.  Jerome was transported from his high school in The Bronx to Wheaton’s beautiful campus in Illinois.  He had access to everything he needed to succeed at Wheaton, including a support team supplied through Posse.  But Jerome didn’t make it past his first semester before dropping out.  Why?  In his words, Jerome simply believed he didn’t belong there…wasn’t deserving of a college education.

A young lady, Melanie, attended the same public high school as Jerome and was in his graduating class.  Everyone always told Melanie that she’d be president when she grew up.  She was that smart, and that motivated.  When Melanie arrived as a freshman at this school and found that it had no advanced placement classes or library, she concluded that instead of being prepared for college, she and her classmates were being prepared to, in her words, “flip burgers” for the rest of their lives.  She, too, sadly chose to believe that she was not worthy of a college education or a bright future outside of the poverty-stricken neighborhood in which she’d grown up.  She struggles today as a single mom, and wonders every day what might have been if she’d chosen to believe something different.

The core belief that Jerome and Melanie share is that they are essentially worthless.  They believe that they have nothing to offer the world, and so, are undeserving of anything good in it.

These beliefs are false.  And we Christians, we are the truth-bearers.

How can we communicate to this generation of children that they are valuable beyond what they can imagine?  How can we show them the great love that resides in the Father’s heart for them? 

How can we convince them that He made them for a purpose, and gave them gifts to share with the world and glorify Him?

Well…we’re working on it.  There are so many factors that come into play in a child’s perspective of his or her place in the world.  But we do have the opportunity to become one of those factors…one of those voices in their lives that help form their ideas of themselves and who they were made to be. 

Shine has created a database for the purpose of offering special guest presenters to the teachers at A. Montoya Elementary.  It is our hope that a teacher could look on our database and find a biologist, a lawyer, a business owner, a stay-at-home parent, a chef, a politician, an artist, and YOU…a person who would be willing to come in once or twice a year to speak to his class or help him develop a special activity that pertains to your area of expertise. 

The goals of this database are as follows:

1. Lend support to our teachers. Teaching in a Title 1 school means that you fight the core beliefs Jerome and Melanie formed at young ages.  This is not an easy task.  Help them change these precious kids’ minds about themselves, and give the teachers new depth to their lessons. Show the teachers they’re not alone in their fight for this generation.
2. Show the kids their worth. They won’t believe they’re worth your  It means a lot when you step out of your busy, important life to be with them.  It demonstrates our core belief that God loves them.
3. Encourage the kids to dream. When you, a real person from their own community (NOT a teacher) tells them that a bright future is within their reach, it sticks a bit more than when their teacher says it. In fact, you may be the person that causes them to believe it.

Please consider adding yourself to the list of potential presenters.  We need artists, scientists, writers, stay-at-home parents, crafters, runners, business people, and YOU!  Please click on the following link to fill out the form to be added to the database.  Praise God that we get to be part of His transformative work!

Shine Bright Database

Click here to learn more about Shine and all the ways they serve students, teachers and families at A. Montoya!