Who would have ever thought flipping pancakes could make heaven come closer to earth?

Well, it’s true. On Saturday mornings, people in need of medical assistance in Shepherd Community Center’s neighborhood can come and get assistance from Grace’s health care ministry. While they’re waiting to be seen by our medical team, another group of Grace volunteers is in the kitchen serving up some delicious-pancake-goodness for breakfast.

The volunteers serving through Saturdays at Shepherd prepare and serve a nutritious breakfast to Shepherd’s neighbors in need of medical assistance. It really is a beautiful thing…friends, small groups, families, kids all serving together to bring the kingdom of God here. Today.

If this sounds like something you’d like to do, check out the registration page for Saturdays at Shepherd. If your serving plate is full, would you consider praying for Saturdays at Shepherd this week?

There’s definitely a buzz in the air since our ongoing serving opportunities are back in full swing. Join us in this Kingdom momentum if you haven’t already.

Have you ever wanted to make a difference in someone’s life? Be Jesus to someone? Teach someone something that will stay with them forever? Change the future?

Starting today, you have that opportunity.

Shepherd after school tutoring kicks off for the fall semester today at Shepherd Community Center. Volunteers from Grace tutor every Monday and Wednesday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 p.m. and preschool helpers assist with Shepherd’s preschool program every Friday morning from 9:00 a.m.-noon. If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, this may just be for you. Click here for the logistical stuff.

If you are already involved or don’t think this is for you, will you pray for tutoring at Shepherd this week?

What always floors me is that I approach serving opportunities like this after answering “yes” to all of the questions in the first paragraph, and those things do happen, but here’s what happens to me (and you):

We aim to make a difference in someone’s life, and then God makes a profound difference in ours.

We aim to be Jesus to someone, and then we see Jesus in them.

We aim to teach someone something that will stay with them forever, and then their story becomes part of ours.

We aim to change the future, and ours is changed.

Dive into serving this fall. You won’t regret it.

…having to spend each day the color of the leaves.

Maybe that’s true for Kermit, but it’s not true for our Shepherd Bag Hunger program at Grace.

In fact, it was as simple as partnering with Shepherd Community Center to order some new, neon green reusable grocery bags and taping the word “green” over “brown” and “yellow” on our signs. While our Shepherd Bag Hunger bags have had a bit of an identity crisis over the past two years (first yellow, then brown, and now green), I think we’ve landed on some bags that will work for a long time coming.

Here’s what the bag stands looked like before this past weekend:

…and here’s what they all looked like on Monday morning:

That poor bag stand looks like a shaved dog after a bath…or, more accurately, a tree in the middle of winter. Whatever the case, the people of Grace once again came through and took home approximately 500 bags this weekend to fill with grocery items and bring back next week.

As a side note, I really hope people bring these bags back…they’re really nice. Bring them back, people!

We’re having to scramble around here to re-stock all of the bag stands (which is a great problem to have). We’re really excited that Grace attenders embraced this new “green bag” initiative, and hopefully will continue to do so. More than being green, the important thing about Shepherd Bag Hunger is that we can provide food to our neighbors in need. Simple as that. Thanks for being so generous and eager to serve others.

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves

Jay Height, executive director of Shepherd Community Center (one of Grace’s strategic partners), wrote an article featured in yesterday’s Indy Star on the reality of hunger in Indianapolis. You can read his article by clicking here.

After we left LAM/LSA…well, here is Linda to tell you:

The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic was crazy busy and we really didn’t want to slow them down from serving the clients that they serve, so we basically handed off the check and kept going.  Here is a picture of their offices:

Next stop before a quick lunch would be at the Shepherd Community Center.  They were also crazy busy.  I mean really, us dropping in unannounced and they are busy?  Of course they are!!  They wouldn’t be such amazing partners if they were not doing their thing day in and day out.  Here is the center for you to see:

Both Jay Height, Executive Director of Shepherd, and Geoff Wybrow, Executive Director of LSA, will be at Grace this weekend.  It is going to be some great services this weekend!

We will wrap up videos tomorrow, so check back!  There are some good ones still to come!

Recently Keith Carlson, Linda Kirchhoff, and Aaron Elliott headed out to deliver some of the Christmas Catalog checks to the amazing partner ministries that the people of Grace gave too.  We want to share with you some pieces of our adventure over the next few days.  Here are four videos to get you started, with more to come soon.  Sorry if the audio isn’t super stellar…we were cruising pretty low tech.

The first video:

The second video is where FoodRescue all happens…well, not really.  It happens at local businesses as people pick up food and deliver it to local food pantries…but John does a lot of the coordinating for all across the country from right here.

The Third video is a thank-you from John.

More to come…

Anne Misner participated in the Weekend of Service by joining with Team LSA and running a half-marathon.  She raised money and awareness with 38 other runners and volunteers by running in the Indianapolis Marathon.  Here is a re-cap of her experience in her own words.  You can still give to Anne by visiting this page.

Race Details!

Anne at the finish line!

Weather: The temperature at the start was a mere 34 degrees, yet despite two straight days of cold rain there was no precipitation on race day, and runners were greeted with many moments of sunshine peeking through the autumn folliage surrounding the beautiful race course.

The Starting Line: It turned out to be quite a challenge for thousands of runners to make it to the starting line due to some traffic problems on one of the exit ramps leading to the race location. Fortunately for me, one of the 68 amazing LSA volunteers who arrived before the crack of dawn to set-up water stations volunteered to park my car so that I could make it to the starting line. Thank you, Doug!!  In addition, the race start time was delayed by 15 minutes due to the traffic situation, allowing just enough time for some of the team members who were running together to find each other with despite the hectic start. It was an incredible experience to take off with 6,400 other runners down the narrow streets at Fort Benjamin Harrison, a former military base turned state park.

Along the 13.1 Mile Way: Along the course we met many wonderful people, including a man with a shirt that read “Pray For Linda” who was running 4 half marathons on behalf of his co-worker who had just been diagnosed with cancer.

One of the most challenging stretches of the race was mile 8, when I knew I still had 5 miles to go yet was developing an side stitch.   Fortunately, my wonderful friend and teammate Julie lent me her sweatshirt to tie around my waist (see finish line photo!) to put slight pressure on the cramp, a strategy that is definitely not in the running textbooks but has helped me in the past. Mile 10 was a new challenge, when my side stitch had subsided but mentally it was difficult to convince myself (and my legs) that I could keep running for 30 more minutes particularly given the two very long hills which I could see looming on the horizon.

In addition, this was an emotional run for me in light of the cause we are supporting and out of intense feelings of gratitude for the overwhelming amount of  love and encouragement I have received from friends and family from the very beginning stages of my training. There was one point on the course when we rounded the corner upon a serene lakefront and I literally started choking up with tears.  I quickly learned in that moment that crying did not make for a safe combination with cold air temperature and my increased breathing pattern, and I fortunately was able to pull myself together and save the tears for the finish line.

What helped me the most during these difficult stages was knowing that so many cared for and were praying for me and my team, and the incredibly vivid picture of each and every one of my supporters surrounding me and pushing me towards the finish line.

Crossing the Finish Line: It was an especially heartfelt moment when my team crossed the finish to be greeted on the sidelines by our fellow team member, Steve, and his wife and children.  Steve had been told just two weeks prior that he had colon cancer, and he joined us at the finish line to share in our Team LSA celebration as well as to rejoice as a team family in the moment we had all been praying for – due to early detection and the grace of God, our friend and teammate is now completely cancer free.

Thank you again for all the ways you have come alongside in sharing in this amazing experience with me.  I am forever grateful for your involvement in my life.

With love,

Anne

We on the Outreach and Leadership Development team at Grace are absolutely thrilled to see that service as a lifestyle is slowly seeping into the DNA of Grace attenders. Here’s an example of a small group at Grace who is serving on an ongoing basis and how it’s changing their lives…

Members of the Wrightstuff group serving people from Shepherd Community Center.

Does your small group have a nickname? Well this one does. They are called the Wrightstuff group. They group started serving at Shepherd for two reasons: they were looking for a way to serve regularly as whole group; and they wanted to serve at place a little more connected to Grace. They had been serving a meal once a month at the Ronald McDonald House inside of Riley Hospital. This was a nice way for the Wrightstuff group to serve together, but it only required about four people each time. The fellowship was good and the serving was decent, but they decided to see if they could take their serving to the next level.

The decision to serve together at Saturdays at Shepherd did indeed take them to the next level of service. The Wrightstuff group began serving breakfast at Shepherd once a month. Through serving together, different people were allowed to take lead roles. This brought humility and intimacy to the group that wouldn’t otherwise occur.

This group amped up the menu...they now serve breakfast burritos when it's their week to serve.

How has the group grown closer to God through serving? Well, they feel that their service to the least of these puts them in the very presence of God. From serving others together, they get a better idea of what God expects from them. It also gets them out of their comfort zones, which really stretches them. Accepting the challenge to make serving a lifestyle has brought the Wrightstuff group closer to each other and closer to God’s heart.

• When it comes to serving others, do you serve episodically or on a regular, ongoing basis?
• Do you serve only when everyone else is doing it or have you made serving a lifestyle?

Summer Interns at Grace are a very special groupNot only to they contribute mightily during their summer here, but they go on to do amazing things.  Of the 110 interns since 2001, More than 1/3 are in vocational ministry…the rest are still college students, are in graduate school, are staff here at Grace, are overseas missionaries, or are committed volunteers working in the world.   All of them are part of our legacy here at Grace.

Welcome to our four Interns who recently started with us this summer.

Amber, Kendra, Trey & Janelle

Here is a story that comes from a former Summer Intern, Joe Reed. Joe and his family are serving in South Africa and recently participated in a conversation called Amahoro.  (It is interesting to note that Nairobi Chapel, one of our three strategic partners, sent two representatives to participate in this conversation.  And Remember, South Africa is where our strategic partner Loving South Africa is focusing their efforts).

Here is an excerpt from a recent blog post of Joe’s.  What an amazing story of reconciliation!  We are so proud of Joe and all our interns! Enjoy:

This past week, we attended a continent wide conference called “Amahoro”.  It’s a word that holds the same meaning as “Shalom”.  In parts of Africa, you would greet someone with this word repeatedly until you feel the connection with them.  It’s quite a beautiful thing to read, but to experience amahoro… I may begin using this word in my speech more often.  I’ve been quite overtaken by the significance of it.

Once upon a time, a man named Adriaan Vlok (pronounced Flok) was the minister of the police in South Africa.  In his brigade was a fiery young officer named Sean.  Mr. Flok instituted a great number of raids against black people.  There were bombs set off in buildings, raids on people’s homes, people hunted down by the police (of which the young Sean was part of).  At the end of Apartheid, Sean found himself dealing with serious post-traumatic stress disorder.  The counselors told him he needed to stop carrying the weight of what happened solely on his shoulders and find someone to place that blame on.  He blamed Mr. Vlok.

“Whenever I would swear, I would never use a swear word, Mr. Vlok.  I would use your name.”

Three years ago, Mr. Vlok met Jesus.  Things changed.

I believe that Jesus changed the heart of this once cold heartless man because he sought reconciliation. He went to find people he had hurt and not only asked for forgiveness for what he had done, but asked if they would be willing to let him wash their feet (literally).  He has made a life of reconciling his past.  Confessing his sins to those whom he sinned against.  Many would say that’s not necessary if Jesus forgave him of his sins.  I think the way of Mr. Vlok’s journey is a much deeper experience of salvation though.  He is bringing healing to countless others in his experience of the resurrection power of Jesus.

“I’m so sorry that I caused you this pain.  I think this pain you’ve been experiencing for the last 15 years needs to end now.  Sean, first, can you forgive me?  Second, can I please please wash your feet?”

With tears in his eyes, Sean responded.  The sins of the generation were broken… right in front of my eyes.  Countless Afrikaaners in the room were in tears as they were given words for pain they had been feeling as well.  Hope was extended for a wholistic reconciliation of South Africa.  It wasn’t just racial reconciliation.  It’s generational reconciliation, gender reconciliation, economic reconciliation… it’s the reconciliation of all things that MUST happen in South Africa.  It’s the wholistic reconciliation that I believe is precisely what God has in mind for ALL of his creation… Americans, Congolise, Kenyans, British, etc…