| Mission Huntsville Update - a City-Impact Initiative |
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Area-Wide Update - Coalition for Marriage, Prayer Summit, Youth/Missions
John Buhler, Mission Huntsville
Feb 7, 2005
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Mis·sion: noun: 1.) a specific objective or task with which a person is charged or assigned; 2.) a personal or collaborative effort that includes a definite military or evangelistic objective; 3.) a divine assignment to the people and place within a specific geographic area;
Hunts·ville: noun: 1.) proper name identifying a city and surrounding geographic area of North Alabama in the Tennessee River Valley; 2.) historical capital of Alabama and birthplace of the state constitution 3.) a city of birth and new beginnings; 4.) a city of nations;
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Mission: Huntsville
A City-Impact Initiative |
Please be aware of several of the following opportunities for prayer, support, or community involvement, and pass this information along to others who may be interested as well.
If you know of others who might like to receive area-wide updates for the Christian community of the Greater Huntsville and Tennessee Valley area, please forward this note to them so they may optionally subscribe and provide areas of interest here: subscribe. Also, if you would prefer not to receive these updates you may unsubscribe here: unsubscribe.
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Huntsville Coalition for Marriage |
Huntsville Coalition for Marriage!
It is necessary for us to understanding the pain and need of our community so we may know how best to minister the love and compassion of Christ, and also how best to seek a whole and healthy community (which comes from whole and healthy individuals and families).
It is equally as important that we discern between what are root issues and what are are surface issues or symptoms- social consequences and fruit that springs from those root issues. In distinguishing between cause and effect, we may strategically focus resource and attention on what will have the greatest impact for good - whether for individuals, families, or the community. Understanding this will give us the opportunity to lay the axe to the root of what is causing such pain and brokenness to ripple through the lives of so many in our community.
Experience and statistics make very clear that whether you consider poverty levels (where so many homes under the poverty level are single mother homes), or adolescent issues (where so many problems arise from broken families and broken homes) , or so many other areas of hurt and later trouble, that the lack of healthy marriage relationships is a root cause of so much that is faced in our communities.
Recently, a Huntsville Coalition for Marriage has begun to form in our community initiated by Debbie Preece with the help of the Huntsville Association of Pastoral Care (HAPC). Monthly meetings have started to occur to begin to explore what has happened in other communities with significant impact, and consider what could be pursued in the Greater Huntsville area. For many communities this has included a Clergy Coalition and the churches being strongly involved in the effort.
If you, or a representative for your congregation desire to meet as part of this community Coalition, please note the next monthly meeting in February:
Greater Huntsville Coalition for Marriage
February Meeting:
11:30am,
Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
(Bring your own lunch)
Location:
National Children's Advocacy Center
210 Pratt Avenue
Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: (256) 533-KIDS (5437)
Fax: (256) 534-6883
Map Link
Directions:
From the Parkway, turn East onto University Dr. University becomes Pratt Ave. The Center is on the corner of Pratt and Dallas St. We will meet in the Auditorium of the Training Building (which is the old Armory Building).
The Training Building is the only stone building on the campus.
The healthy marriage initiative stems from a growing body of research that explores the impact of family structure on child well being. Such data includes:
One-third of all births are out-of-wedlock.
More than 50% of first marriages end in divorce.
Nearly 40% of all children do not live with their biological fathers.
About 6% of children in married-couple families were poor in 1999 compared to more than 35% in single-mother families.
43% percent of unmarried women have children with multiple partners compared to 15% of married women (Jarchow, 2003).
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Encourage Your Pastors - GHPPS! |
All of the pastors in the city should be receiving information by mail, but PLEASE pass the information below on to your pastor and personally encourage them to prayerfully consider joining with other PASTORS and MINISTRY LEADERS from the Greater Huntsville area during these unique times!
I have included below the monthly Mini-Summit information for early February, and the information for the upcoming annual Prayer Summit in late February. Please consider forwarding or printing out this information and giving it to pastors or ministry leaders in the community who may not be aware of these opportunities! |
Annual Greater Huntsville Pastors Prayer Summit! |
6th Annual Greater Huntsville Pastors Prayer Summit
February 21st-24th, 2005
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What is a Pastors Prayer Summit? |
"A prolonged, four day, life-changing experience attended by a diversity of Christian leaders from a specific geographic area or community, whose single purpose is to seek God together, with the expectation that He will guide them through a humbling, healing, uniting process, which will lead them into unity of heart, mind, and mission, qualifying them for the blessing and favor of God." |
Registration
Greater Huntsville Pastors Prayer Summit
Mon-Thu, Feb 21st-24th, 2005
Shocco Springs Conference Center
Talladega, Alabama
Register Online
2005 Prayer Summit Brochure
2005 Brochure (PDF)
For more information:
(256) 859-1853 or (256) 539-7171
Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:00pm
info@PrayerSummit.org
www.PrayerSummit.org |
Cost
Price includes 10 meals, 4 days/3 nights lodging,
and transportation.
$215 per person, double occupancy
$295 per person, single occupancy
$395 per couple
Scholarship assistance will also be available.
Please make checks payable to:
Pastors Prayer Summit
110 Woodside Dr.
Owens Crossroads, AL 35763
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Greater Huntsville Pastors Prayer Summit
Monthly Mini-Summit
February 2005
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Mini-Summits occur the 2nd Thursday of each month.
February Mini-Summit
Thursday February 10th
Please note that the mini-summit for the month of February will be hosted by The Church at Hampton Cove and Pastors Bobby Gordon and Keith Miller. The location and directions are included.
| Meet and Greet: |
10:00am |
| Prayer: |
10:30am |
| Lunch: |
12:00pm |
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**Please note of the three locations, this is where the mini-summit will meet!
Please note there will also be a meeting of the Servant Leadership Team at 8:30am in the same location. |
| Host Possibilities? If your church or ministry would be willing to host a mini-summit one month, or you would like to recommend a location that may be a strategic site for a future month, please let us know! Email: Host Possibility |
Host Ministry Highlight
The Church at Hampton Cove |
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Church Profile
In the Fall of 1998, God birthed a new church in the Hampton Cove area. Two local pastors, Bobby Gordon and Keith Miller, joined together to lead this new venture. Six years later, the adventure continues!
TC@HC is now over 300 revolutionaries strong and growing every week! Our two services on Sunday morning (9:15 and 11:00 am) are contemporary and informal. There is no certain style of dress expected. In fact, our only expectation is that you will experience the very presence of God and the love of His people.
There's something for every member of your family at TC@HC. There are children's classes at 9:15 am for children ages 0-12 and a full scale children's church called "The Loft" at 11:00 am. Students meet at 11:00 am in the Annex and then experience "RUSH" at 6:00 pm on Sunday evenings. There's also adult classes during both the 9:15 and 11:00 services. [ More ... ]
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Free Cabin for Huntsville Pastors! |
Free Cabin for Huntsville Pastors!
Glenn Tillery has extended a "very" generous invitation regarding some property and a cabin in he has dedicated as a place of prayer and retreat that he offers the use of freely to the pastors within our community.
I have included a personal letter from him below with further details and contact information for you.
May this cabin truly become "Holy Ground" and a sanctuary where the shepherds of our community might experience a profound encounter with God ... face-to-face ... and may Glenn receive the abundant reward fitting for giving such a gift to the pastors of our community.
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To all pastors in Huntsville,
My name is Glenn Tillery and I am a member of The Church at Hampton Cove. Earlier this year I purchased a cabin with ten wooded acres on top of Bingham Mountain in the Paint Rock area. The Lord gave me a vision for this type of property about 2 years ago. The purpose of the cabin is for spiritual retreats. I am offering it first to pastors in the Huntsville area as a place to get away from the noise and distractions of our busy lives to seek the Lord. I have longed for a place where I can go and meet with the Lord without the distractions of the things of the world. This place is perfect for that. It is isolated and safe. Jesus himself set the example of going to wilderness or lonely places to pray and fast (see Luke 5:16 and 6:12). Often these were on a mountain. He would return from these times of prayer and fasting refreshed and focused on ministry. If Jesus himself could not do without times of isolated prayer and fasting, how much more do we need this.
If you have longed for a place like this where you can seek the Lord, then this cabin is there for you. It's for anyone needing a spiritual retreat to meet with the Lord for prayer, plan a Sunday School lesson or sermon, or to simply be refreshed. I have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, the sole purpose of which is to get you to the property, which is about 13 miles and about a thirty minute drive from Hampton Cove. There is no charge for the use of the vehicle or cabin, but refilling the gas tank is appreciated. Anyone can use it, but keep in mind the focus of the property is for prayer and not a vacation home.
The cabin has a main floor with kitchen, couch, chair, and kitchen table. There is a bathroom with a toilet and a tub. There is also a sleeping loft, and the cabin has beds for up to five people. There is a propane heater for those cold winter days. There is water from a well to flush the toilet or wash off the dishes but it isn't good for drinking. You will need to bring your own drinking water. There are propane, oil, and battery powered lanterns. Outside, there is a nice front porch with two rockers and a swing. There is a picnic table, a propane grill, a propane stove, a charcoal fireplace and a rock pit for building fires.
I have a detailed map of how to get there and a 4X4 vehicle you can take. If you like to use the cabin contact me days at 652-6433 or nights 533-3244. My email is gwtdrago@yahoo.com. Please pass this letter along to any ministers that might be interested in using this facility.
Thanks,
Glenn Tillery
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Youth and Missions - Mardi Gras and Cuba |
It is powerful when the zeal and passion of Youth is directed, and provided a divine focus - the impact can be tremendous. May the LORD continue to bring together the generations ... the wisdom of the elder and the zeal of the younger! There is a growing burden among our Youth for the nations and missions.
Several teams from the Greater Huntsville area have traveled to Mardi Gras over this week for focused, prayer, outreach, evangelism, and ministry of compassion. May we under gird these sons and daughters of our community in prayer.
In addition, I have included an update from Chad Rehnberg below regarding a growing relationship with Youth leaders in Cuba, and mobilization and strategy that is forming. Chad is part of Aaron's Beard, a fellowship of Youth Pastors in the Greater Huntsville area. |
The Next Generation Matters to God!
FROM ALL NATIONS!
The Main Issue:
They say that 97% of all paid and trained Youth Pastors minister to 3% of the nations youth.
The ratio of paid and trained Youth Pastors to students in the USA is 1:600. Internationally that ratio jumps to 1:400,000. There is a world of young people out there who need Jesus!
In CUBA the Western Baptist Convention has 250 churches with only 1 paid and trained youth pastor. I believe God wants to do something about that.
A Brief History:
God has been doing some amazing things around the world building His Kingdom and establishing His Church.
I was privileged to go on a mission trip to Cuba in March of 2004 to initiate some key relationships with some fellow YOUTH LOVING SERVANTS of HIS.
In November Elio Martiz was able to leave Communist Cuba for 1 month and go on a whirl wind youth ministry training tour. The tour included: time with my family, my church, and youth ministry, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, SonLife training, The National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta with over 7000 other youth pastors, and the Reach-Out Jesus Focused Youth Ministry Forum. We made some key contacts with many international youth ministry trainers, and a dream was conceived to bring a passion, vision, and strategy for youth ministry to the church in Cuba.
The Main Points of the Plan:
We are going to create and support a Christ centered, God loving, people loving, indigenous, disciple making, student ministry, multiplication movement.
March 13th-22nd we are going to Cuba for a huge lay youth worker leadership training effort and to identify 7 strategic churches in which to start a working and reproducible youth ministry model. That is the plan for this foundational year. Before multiplying youth ministry to hundreds of churches we are going to work the bugs out in their Cuban context in these 7 key churches, and multiply from there.
Barry St. Clair and a team from Reach-Out Youth Solutions has agreed to help us train the 200+ lay youth workers from the churches spread out all across Western Cuba with his Jesus Focused Youth Ministry material and his many years of international youth ministry training experience (www.reach-out.org). His team has already been working in Cuba and has some other key leaders from Eastern and Western Cuba that they will be pouring into while we are there. My focus is going to be with my friend Elio Martiz and the 249 churches in the Western Baptist Convention that don’t have a youth pastor.
The Window of Opportunity:
A Cuban Youth Pastor can live on a salary of only $20 a month.
We want to commit to paying 100% of the start up salary for year #1 and year #2, 50% in year #3 would come from us and 50% from their local church, and in year #4 100% of their salary would be paid by their local church. For only $600 (240+240+120=$600) we can pay the needed 3 year start up salary for a Cuban youth pastor.
For relatively small amounts of money we can reproduce training material, bring in some necessary equipment, and empower and equip them to reach, teach, and train students, establishing youth ministry across Western Cuba for the GLORY OF GOD and the furthering of HIS KINGDOM! $3 brings in an Evanga-Cube ($1,500 for 500), $1,000 allows us to get Elio a lap top for e-mail communication, presentations, and data storage.
No gift is too big, and no gift is too small. Every penny counts, and makes a huge difference in Cuba.
The Need:
YOUR PRAYER SUPPORT! Will you commit to praying for the rapid advance of the gospel and the building of effective youth ministry to pass on the message of Jesus Christ to the next international generation?
YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT! Will you pray and ask God what role He would want you to play in this effort?
My local church has agreed to help keep me accountable with the use of these funds, and send you a contribution statement at the end of the year. If God leads you to give a sacrificial gift, over and above your tithes offerings, please make your checks payable to WILLOWBROOK, and put CUBA in the memo. 100% of what is given before Feb. 28th 2005 will be turned into Canadian dollars, carried into Cuba, and put into an account with the Western Baptist Convention to start youth ministry. All gifts received after that date will be prayerfully and strategically used to further the Kingdom of God through the development of international youth ministry. All of my traveling expenses are already covered. 100% of what is received goes towards this Cuban Youth Partnership.
We need to do something. I am praying that God would raise up global Christians with a heart for the nations. Especially for students! You are my friends and family. If giving is not what the Lord is leading you to do right now, PLEASE PRAY FOR US! That makes such a huge difference! Lisa and I are getting ready for little Rehnberg #3 this June. Annie just turned 1 and Luke just turned 3. They grow up fast. Please also pray for a safe trip to be with Elio again for 10 days in March. Our home number is 256-650-4208, and our e-mail address is rehnbergs@yahoo.com. If you have any questions please call or e-mail me.
Once a student starts the 10th grade in Cuba, they are taken away from their families to dormitory style housing education for 11 out of every 14 days (every 2 weeks they are only home for 3 days) and taught the ways of Socialism and Communism and that the Bible is a story book and Jesus was just a good man, and not God’s Son. It is important to reach these students with the message of Jesus Christ. There are giants in the land, but WE SERVE A REALLY BIG GOD! Will you consider joining me in this effort?
waiting and TRUSTING-
Chad Rehnberg
2512 Excalibur Dr.
Huntsville, AL 35803
(256) 650-4208
rehnbergs@yahoo.com
Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is GOOD, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows (cares for NIV) those who take refuge in HIM."
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