Four Evenings of Advent

Advent. It means ‘coming,’ or ‘arrival.’ It’s a time of year when we purposefully anticipate the coming of Christ.

For many, this is what Christmas is all about: Mary & Joseph, donkeys & sheep, shepherds & angels, mangers & babies.

The reality of the coming of God’s chosen one is as real today as it was 2000 years ago. Christmas was the First Advent, and that’s worth celebrating. The Second Advent seems as far away for us as the First Advent was for Israel, and yet it could be as close as it was for those shepherds watching their fields by night.

Advent is a great time to purposefully focus on the past and the future. Christ has come! Christ is here. Christ will come again!

You are invited to our home for a time of reflection and prayer about Advent.

            •Wednesday, 1 Dec, from 7-8p.

            •Wednesday, 8 Dec, from 7-8p.

            •Wednesday, 15 Dec, from 7-8p.

            •Wednesday, 22 Dec, from 7-8p.

Cuatro Noches de Adviento

Adviento significa “la venida de” o “llegada". Es una época del año cuando nos anticipamos a propósito de la venida de Cristo. Para muchos, esto es lo que se trata la Navidad: María y José, burros y ovejas, los pastores y los ángeles, pesebres y los bebés.

La realidad es la expectativa de la llegada de un elegido de Dios es hoy tan real como lo era hace 2000 años. Navidad fue la primera venida, y que vale la pena celebrar. El Segundo Advenimiento parece tan lejano y sin embargo, podría ser tan estrecha como lo fue para los pastores que cuidaban sus campos por la noche.

El Adviento es un buen momento para concentrarse deliberadamente en el pasado y el futuro. Cristo ha venido! Cristo está aquí. Cristo vendrá otra vez!

Usted está invitado a nuestra casa por un tiempo de reflexión y oración sobre el Adviento.

• Miércoles, 01 de diciembre, a partir del 7-8p.

• Miércoles, 8 de diciembre, a partir del 7-8p.

• Miércoles, 15 de diciembre, a partir del 7-8p.

• Miércoles, 22 de diciembre, a partir del 7-8p.

Quick News

We have been remiss getting the latest news out. We have some very exciting news, and some less exciting (but still important news).
First—Trinity Covenant Church has officially voted as a congregation to partner with FHL! I'll send the details in our newsletter soon, but this is what we have been praying for! Yahoo!
Second—We found a house, and now its ours! It required about a month of lots of little things that have actually taken almost a month to complete. Thankfully we have been blessed by some amazing help with labor and moving. We are in (for 5 days now!) and so excited for the ministry potential there. In fact, we've already hosted a couple of FHL related dinners in the midst of our boxes and assorted moving chaos. This is our 'excuse' for not being on top of getting fresh info out to our supporters. Our apologies.
Third—Due to our consistently changing schedule (a good thing, as our CORE is developing and we need more time together) our Wednesday evening prayer time is moving to Wednesday at 6am (that's am, as in early).
Those are huge items (the first two anyway!) and we thank you so much for your consistent prayer for these items. We know God hears us, and we are excited about how he has responded. We are looking forward to accelerating our efforts as our moving process settles down, so look forward to better propaganda performance!

Exciting Times

This is a very exciting time for us. People are hearing about the vision of this church plant and responding. Our CORE has grown to 12 people! (We have people who want to be a part of the FHL Project. You might say these people are "ready to roll." Our CORE are the people committed to "get things rolling.") During prayer Wednesday I was so thankful for the people God has joined with us. It amazes me when I think of the experiences, skills, gifts, and maturity of this growing CORE. And there are some very exciting prospects seriously considering joining this plant as well.
This is the gathering time, the time when we get the word out and invite people to begin to shape this church plant. It is a time of building relationships and community, developing our CORE spiritually and as leaders, and conceiving events and activities which allow us to live into our vision and which invite others to come along.
Exciting times. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Something special happens when people pray together

Something special happens when people pray together. We decided that this summer we would have specific times set aside during the week to pray for the FHL Project. Since we believe prayer is essential in this task we were excited to be intentional about praying for the work ahead. What has surprised me (not sure why) is how encouraging these times have been for us as church planters and as a couple. People pray for things that have never even crossed our minds to pray about or dream about! Recently a person prayed that a Latino couple would befriend us, enabling the vision of our church plant to be lived out in our lives. This hadn’t even crossed my mind…I’m looking forward to God answering this request. We start our time together with a Psalm and end with our project text (II Corinthians 5:14-6:2) and I’m always amazed at how fast an hour goes by when God’s people join together in prayer. No wonder we are encouraged to “not give up meeting together … but [to continue] encouraging one another.” (Hebrews 10:25) Join us for some encouragement as we pray for the future of the FHL Project together.

The Gift of Going

I've been thinking what a gift it is to GO. There's been a lot of going for us over the last few years, but lately Carmen and I decided to go to Young Life's Washington Family Ranch to meet some of the NE Salem Vida Joven kids and to support their leader Ronald Cruz. I had never seen the camp in action (with kids) and Carmen knew I would be impressed. I was. We were. It was a gift to us to see how the staff and facility were glorifying God in serving over ±700 (every week!). And that's not mentioning the gift of going those 700 kids receive.
We also saw and received the gift of going to a congregational meeting the other nite, in which those who were able or chose to attend shared their questions, hearts, and wisdom in a manner clearly blessed by the Holy Spirit.
Whether we go "into our inner room", to a friend's home, to a stranger's territory, for help, or into the unknown, we exercise faith as God's people and we fulfill our call to go as ambassadors of reconciliation.
Its not a law, but God often blesses our going. And many times the going is not easy. It would be easier to stay home, it would be easier to stay with people we are comfortable with, it would be easier not to bother.

Our experiences right now, in the early stages of church planting, require a lot of going. Our schedule of going continues to grow, and we're seeing a pattern of blessings, relationships, learning opportunities, fun and more as gifts of going. We are in an exciting and uncomfortable place, what Carmen calls "both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time." It's a time to trust in the Lord, asking What's next? What do we do? Where do we go?
Thank you for going with us on the FHL Project journey. Your going with us is a gift to us, and we hope a gift for you as well.
And...we hope you have a chance this week to go.

More Newness

We have added a few features to our blog. The "Past Issues" page shows our previous newsletters. The "Calendar" page allows you to see some of the things we are doing. These calendar events are great opportunities. You are welcome to join us during our times of prayer, either in person or in absentia. For events and meetings which are off the beaten path, we are honored by your prayers and thoughts. Thank You.
While we are still working on translating our existing pages into Spanish, the addition of the Translator tool on the right side of each page may help. Our apologies to those for whom Spanish is the natural way to communicate. We sincerely want to do better here. If you can help with the translation process, please let us know!
In the meantime, it is possible to get a rough translation on the new "Translate" page (on the green bar at the top of the page). You can click the link on that page and then paste the URL of the page you want to read into the box (try it, you'll see what we mean). The entire webpage will then be available in Spanish. There are some coding limitations on our blog site, and coupled with our own lack of skills not everything is as easy to do as we'd like. We'll keep working on it.
As always, we welcome comments and suggestions about what we are doing. Thank you!

See the past!

Its crazy I know, but you can actually SEE the PAST by clicking on our new "Past Issues" page link! The link is above on the green bar. You'll be able to SEE PAST issues of newsFEED and prayerFORCE. This is not a joke.

Great Soup, Great Scoop!

We have been getting back into the swing of things after our time in Guatemala. One important opportunity we scheduled was to hold an Informational Forum at our host church, Trinity Covenant. Among other things, an important goal of this forum was to continue to inform our hosts about what we are doing and how we are going about it. This gives more and more people the chance to share the Vision in many important ways.
Carmen opened by reciting a poem called "So I Stay Near the Door". This poem has been a favorite of Carmen's for a long time, and is now one of mine. It expresses how important it is to continually seek those whom Christ is seeking. Sometimes we'd rather remain behind the closed doors of the church, but our vision as ambassadors of Christ is to connect with others and share the love of God (see our Project Text!). This was a great way to start, reminding us all that we are compelled by Christ's love to reconcile the world to God.
Our NPC Director of Church Planting (our coach) Kurt Carlson, gave a church planting overview. He shared about the ECC's goals and process for church planting, and explained how we came to be a part of that process. We are currently in an early "residency" phase; prior to our official church planting work. This is a time to do much of the groundwork which would be done by planters who have resided in their planting area for some time. Since we spent the last 4-5 years in Chicago, its a time for us to get reconnected.
From there we shared our Project Text, our Vision, and our Values, which you can read about here on our blog via the links on the right side of the page. We had some time for Q&A, which included great questions like: "Kurt, you say church planting is 'hard work,' just what do you mean by that?"
We were very encouraged. About 35 people attended, with some using our commitment cards to commit to prayer, giving, and sharing the Vision. There are a few who are considering taking the big step of being a part of our Core Team, as well. Very exciting!

Thank you so much to those who prayed for this event, to those who attended, and special thanks to Barb and Cindy for the delicious cheeseburger and minestrone soups!

If you have questions about the FHL Project, please contact us. We'd love to talk to you!

The Promise of Provision

Tomorrow is our first official public meeting about our call and vision for starting a new church in Oregon. Many thoughts have gone through my mind, what if no one shows up, what if our vision isn't compelling? But my mind goes back a Church Planters' Training Center that Scott and I were at 18 months ago. In the process of discerning our call we were invited to come and see what church planting with the Covenant looked like.

The training ended with a concert of prayer. A very talented church planter lead us in corporate prayer and worship. It was a very powerful experience. In the middle I remember looking at the person leading us and thinking, what am I doing? I can't play an instrument, I can't sing, I could never lead this type of concert. And then very clearly and very distinctly I heard the Lord say, Carmen I will provide. I will provide all that you need to start this church. I will provide people who sing, who play instruments, who are gifted in ways you can't imagine. I will provide. You are responsible to use the gifts I've given you Carmen, nothing more and nothing less. I will provide the rest.

This is a promise I'm sure I will return to time and time again in the process of starting something new for the Kingdom of God. As I anticipate our gathering tomorrow I rest in the promise of God's abundant provision for his people, and I remember the clear voice that said, Carmen, I will provide.

A Refreshing Pace

The pace of life in Antigua is refreshing and I can't help but compare it with the month I just finished or the one that awaits me when I get back home ... Maybe I'll just stay! I have no cell phone service and better yet my laptop stayed at home. When I want to check e-mail I slip into an internet cafe, pay $2 for an hour and leave it behind.
Life seems to be fairly simple, at least in the home of our host family. The accommodations are simple but sufficient. Their home has a small living area, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and patio. The simple side of life was confirmed a few nights ago as we played lotteria (Guatemalan Bingo) together for Saturday nights entertainment!
The parks are crowded with people, people talking to each other, people laughing with one another, families eating ice cream, young and old together. I don't notice people talking on their cell phones in the park, or texting their friends. People are interacting with each other face to face, side by side on the park bench.
The churches are close to the life of the park and their doors are always open. Every time I've stepped inside people are present. Today there was a procession celebrating Maria, mid-week, mid-day 100 plus people gathered for the procession.
The entrepreneurial spirit seems to drift through the air here. Most people sell something in the front of their homes and since you share a wall with a neighbor on both sides the chances are high that you'll talk to your neighbor during the day. Our host family sells cheese, yogurt, and cream. Every so often the bell rings and something is sold.
The pace on the sidewalk is slow an you'll notice that locals walk on the shady side of the street. Before and after school large groups of kids in uniforms crowd the streets. Horns are discouraged in town and the cobblestone streets tend to slow down traffic. Buses use the perimeter roads. Walking is the most common form of transportation, although Scott stops often too look at motorcycles parked on the street!
A slower pace reminds me that life can get too busy! I hope as I return to Oregon the pace of Guatemala not only lingers in my mind but impacts my daily routine.

Composition Dos

For you English speakers, this is my 2nd post in Espanól. Spanish speakers will easily see how simple my grammar and writing is. While I am responsible for the content, everyone should know my first draft was much, much rougher. It is again thanks to my teacher Julia that this post remains simple in composition and yet has a few points in which some advanced sentence construction maintains my intent! FYI, if you would like to read this message (and I hope you do!) and don't have a Spanish speaking friend, you can search for "translate spanish to english" on the internet and find a translating engine you like. There is obviously more I could say about this experience than what I have said below. As usual, feel free to comment on any part of my post or on an idea the post leads you to.
 
Hoy es mi último diá para estudiar espanól en Antigua Guatemala. Muchas veces yo estaba con frustracion. Siempre que you aprendiá una nueva cosa, yo olvidaba otra. ¡Muy frustrante! Mas, hubo muchas cosas que you quise decir, pero yo solo no supe como.
Sin embargo, yo tuve una maestra excelente. Ella siempre me ayudó. Julia es muy inteligente, paciente, y alentadora. Aunque mi familia es muy buena (¡muy, muy buena!), habla conmigo como you sé espanol, muy bueno. ¡Yo puedo traducir las primeras 3 palabras, cuando está hablando la segunda oración!
Mi experiencia aqui me requerda de la experiencia de un nuevo cristiano. Ellos no saben el idioma, la cultura, o la gramática. Bruscamente, un nuevo cristiano está rodeado de personas bienintencionadas, pero no entienden lo muy duro, muy pesado, y muy intimidamente está.
Gracia a Dios yo tuve una persona que caminaba conmigo. Esta persona supo que yo era un principiante. Ella supo que you necesito aprendir, y ella estuvo lista para ir a mi paso. Tambien, ella estuvo lista para empujarme a ayudarme a crecer.
De cristianos, viejo or nuevo, nosotros tenemos un amigo tambien. Mayor que alguien, Jesus sabe como nosotros somos y donde nosotros estamos. Él está listo a caminar con nosotros, o al frente de, o atrás.
De cristiano, yo espero yo puedo ser un amigo como Julia. Yo necesito recordar que es como que estoy nuevo y tengo miedo. Si tu recibes la oportunidad, yo espero tu la tomes. Tomas la oportunidad de aprender algo nuevo. Tomas las oportunidad de ser un principiante. cuando tu no tienes poder o habilidad.
Asi nosotros hacemos esto, posiblemente nosotros podemos dar mas a las personas en relacion con Jesucristo.

Church Plant Informational Forum

What's this? A new post? That's right, and its muy hondo.
We hope you´ve had a chance to hear about Carmen and Scott's call to plant a church in the greater Salem area. You've had a chance to read about it at their webpage (here!). Would you like to know more?
Join Carmen & Scott for a casual dinner and informational forum on Thursday, May 27th at 5:45p at Trinity Covenant Church  (5020 Liberty Road S, Salem OR).
Enjoy delicioius soup while you get the scoop!
We´ll end before 7p. We'd love to see you there.
RSVP by commenting below on this post OR email us at fhlproject.or at gmail.com OR call the church office (503.581.5675).
If you forget to RSVP, show up anyway!

My First Composition!

I went over this with my teacher, so this is an improved version. But it was mostly me! If you read Spanish, you won´t be fooled!

¡Hola! Me llamo Scott y yo soy de los estados unidos de Oregon. Yo acabo de mudarme de Oregon a Chicago. Yo estudio telogia en Chicago. Tambien, you encuentro a mi esposa Carmen alla. Después nosotros somos amigos por un año nosotros caemos al amor rápido. Nosotros nos casamos rapido y somos muy alegres.
Carmen y you somos pastores. Nosotros no mudamos a Oregon porque nosotros estamos contestando la llamada de Dios. La llamada es fundar una iglesia. Nosotros deseamos servir a personas que hablan español yque hablan ingles.
Nuestra llamada conduce a segunda de corintios capitulo 5, donde Pablo dice nosotros somos 'obligados a servir.' Nosotros somos enbajadores por Cristo, y ahora es el tiempo de reconciliar el mundo con Dios. Nuestra visión tambien viene este pasaje. Nosotros queremos que esta iglesia pueda no solamente servir, sino tambien connectar culturas y communidades. Nosotros deseamos ingles y español la gente dice pueden que responer.
La primera actividad es la oración. Muchas personas estan rezando con nosotros. Nosotros sabemos que Dios tiene un plan para nuestra communidad. Nosotros buscamos donde Dios trabaja ya.
Estamos fundando la iglesia es muy estimulante e importante. Este estaa muy espantaso tambien. Yo espero que tu puedes ayudar. Rezas por la iglesia nueva. Nosotros amamos su ayuda. Tu puedes aprender mas a nuestro website en fhlproject.blogspot.com. Se llama el Proyecto FEA (Fe Esperanza Amor). ¡Ve allá!

Community Storytelling

Here's what is fabulous about the activities in Guatemala, esp. Antigua, this week. The story of the Christ's final work is being told to the community, by the community, and in the community. Too often we only tell the story when people agree to come into our building. Here, there are no hidden eggs for people to try to discover. Instead, the tragedy and insecurity that resulted from Christ's path to the cross are mourned in public.
Its all in anticipation of the joy of the resurrection, so there is a feeling of festivity in the air. But I was corrected yesterday by a woman who volunteers here. She said these are not "floats." That is too festive a word. These are serious platforms displaying the pain of Christ's trials, flogging, and crucifixion. The pain is carried on the shoulders of people who want to tell the story, who want to be a part of that story and how it affects us today and gives us hope.
I realize this is a tradition here that has developed over many hundreds of years. But, we'd love to hear ways you think we could tell this story to the community, with the community, and in the community. How can we reach out instead of requiring people to come inside our place. I know its complicated, but its worth discussing.
Have a great day, I know I will as I watch the our hermanas y hermanos en Cristo tell the story of our Messiah to their community.

¡Yo estoy in Antigua!

Hola from Guatemala! I am in my 2nd day of language training here, and loving it. My teacher Julia is very good and gracious, and I think I am learning a lot. It is all bits and pieces, but I feel it coming together, or that it will.
It is Holy Week, and in Antigua that means a week of incredible celebration. I just watched a procession of young boys and girls (pictures after I return, I'm afraid), all in purple and white regalia, waving incense and carrying massive 'floats.' No floating Mighty Mouse or gas powered vehicle. Instead, the faithful carry incredible, elaborate floats of wood and marble and fabric etc. Very beautiful. Each float is followed by a band. Each float was carried on the shoulders of probably 40-50 children. Amazing.
I hope your celebration of Holy Week is also excessive and elaborate. It is good to quietly contemplate the work of Jesus Christ, but on Easter, as we celebrate the fact that He is risen indeed, let's throw a wild and loud party which tells the story of our sharing in the new creation. The kingdom has come and is coming, and that's cause for a celebracion!

Connecting Cultures

When you’re compelled to Connect people with God and with one another it leads you to places you never have imagined. Today Scott completed his first day of Spanish language immersion in Antigua Guatemala. In response to God’s call and our vision to connect cultures Scott is doing something he never imagined doing! Just how this vision of connecting cultures is going to become a reality is beyond my imagination. I’m sure that it will require us to do, feel and experience things we never imagined. But I also know that we serve a God who “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

New Pages! Text Vision Values

Look to your right, now look back. Now look to your right. Now look back. Now look to your right. If you are still looking to your right, you will see links to our FHL Project Text, Vision, and Values. If you haven't looked back, you will have missed what I just typed. But it won't matter, you'll have found 3 links which explore the foundational thinking behind the FHL Project.
Have a great day!
(Since there are other posts since this one, now you have to look at the top right part of the page!)

people, not place (or church planting in GREATER Salem)

SHORT VERSION:

As we were leaving Silverton the other day, a few things occurred to us. Germane to this post was a new understanding that our struggle with place was creating undue stress. We felt that perhaps our time of residency was not a time to focus so much on place, as upon people. Its a subtle but powerful shift. We talked with our church planting coach (Kurt) yesterday, and his experience and wisdom confirmed this approach (which was exciting to us).

So, its people, not place. The FHL Project is working to gather people who are willing to join us in this exciting (and ambiguous) time of seeing where God is working and determining location together. We'd love it if you'd consider joining us.

LONG VERSION (BACKGROUND):
Carmen and I, as you may already know, are preparing to co-pastor a church plant in the greater Salem area. Since we lived and studied in Chicago for ±4 years, one thing we wanted was an opportunity to reintegrate into Oregon. I'm from Montana, Carmen's from Oregon. MT and OR are actually quite similar (maybe not politically), and both are quite different than Chicago. Our denomination's (Evangelical Covenant Church, covchurch.org) department of Church Growth & Evangelism, and our conference (North Pacific, covchurch-npc.org) agreed a time of residency was appropriate. So, right now, we are preparing to plant. But our preparation is particularly dependent on how the Holy Spirit speaks to us over the next few months.

In our journey towards planting, we have held (okay, I'll be honest) pretty tightly to a particular location (Silverton) for planting. There are lots of good reasons for this, starting with a personal invitation from community residents. We prayed a lot about that, especially after we felt God calling us to church planting in a very particular and powerful way. We began to share what we were hearing, and later had the opportunity to visit 6 locations the NP Conference was exploring for planting and which also fit well with Carmen and I. Again, Silverton stood out. There are many more examples, but the point is that after 2 years of intense prayer and community conversation, considering other options is, well, new! We thought that when we arrived in the area, some of our questions would be answered, and that Silverton would be confirmed.

Instead, we have more questions!

Its not that Silverton is not confirmed. But we have been asked to consider, for example, Keizer, west Salem, and north east Salem. And we have tried hard to honor those requests. Now that we are here, and as we talk with people in the area, we are hearing about needs and places from people who actually live here. (One of our struggles has been balancing our opportunity to house-sit [economically beneficial] with the desire to get into a community [rent/buy] and become part of it [from within it]. How can we explore the options when we continue to travel in from the outside? ) (concludes with SHORT VERSION)

Keeping up with the Blogses

Carmen and I are not super bloggers. This space is not only a great opportunity to let you know what is happening, but also a great opportunity for us to be more attentive at communicating what is happening in our church planting process. For me, part of this is determining what is truly interesting to report. I have come to the conclusion that I can't wait for "big news." So I will work harder at smaller, incremental reports of our process.
So, for starters, we have an official church planting email address!

FHLproject.OR at gmail.com

Please email us here for updates, to let us know what you are thinking, to tell us you are praying for us, and to tell us how God is speaking to you. We'd love to hear from you!

We made it!

Its a long drive from Chicago to Salem! Our trip totaled 2355 miles. And all of that driving in an overloaded Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Pretty near every square inch was filled, and overflow went to the roof rack. Carmen and I could just squeeze in. We filled those remaining square inches when we visited Carmen's family in Pella IA. And then we literally jammed some toys into the remaining space when we got to my hometown of Helena MT. Most of what I added went onto the roof.

It was great to see family and the US as we traveled. Stars came out at night, the air was crisp and clean, and we enjoyed silence. Roads and weather were mostly good the entire journey. We spread the trip out over 7 days, visiting family and friends. My home Evangelical Covenant Church in Helena blessed us with a commissioning service on Sunday the 7th, followed by a luncheon where we were able to visit with many amazing people.
This day was very special for me. My home church was a place where I shared and learned and grew for many years (since 1990). I was blessed with an amazing pastor and church who gave me the nudge needed to pursue seminary. These folks were the ones I have served with in Helena, in Tanzania, and in Mexico. We've traveled together, prayed together, and played together. Great memories, great people.
And now we're in Salem! We have the opportunity to house sit for the next 4 months, which will allow us time to consider where to live and make those arrangements. That is a huge blessing.
We went to Silverton on Wednesday the 10th, and spent about 4 hours driving around and praying. Please help us by continuing to lift up the community and God's will for a church plant here in prayer. Thank You!

How do you pack an experience?

Believe me, we are soooo ready to leave Chicago!
That has little to do with the relationships we have developed here. We will miss many people, and Lord willing we will stay connected. But we are ready for things that are hard to explain unless you've lived in Montana or Oregon. Its about the air, and the sound, and the space, and the pace. There are experiences there that you just can't have in Chicago.

But our experience in Chicago has been very rich. I called seminary "Bible study on steroids!" and I loved it. My view of the world has expanded. I've learned about people and had experiences which make me a better human being. I met Carmen (can you grasp what I'm saying when I say she's TOTALLY AMAZING!)? and we got married. We saw God developing us and leading us to church planting, and I'm just finishing a very rewarding time of internship at Northwest Covenant Church. We've had a great time, an experience that you just can't have in Montana or Oregon.

We can't pack our experience. But it had better come with us. God prepares us, is always preparing us; helping us grow. Our time here would not have been so vital if we had not brought along Oregon, or Montana, or whatever experience we've had in our lives. And we hope that the experience we brought to Chicago was a blessing to those we encountered.

Chicago is now a part of our experience, a part of who we are. That means that you who have been a part of our time here will always be a part of who we are. And that is a blessing to every one we meet down the road.