Today’s post highlights a great local ministry that Rez’ Urban Ministry Council supports.  Several Rez member volunteer with The Porch each week, and Raj and Daniel agreed to share their testimonies with us.

Are you interested in learning more about this ministry and how you could be involved?

Contact Raj at 202.640.9909 or rajandkie@sbcglobal.net.

Raj Parikh

The Porch is a multi-church youth ministry that a number of Rezzers* have been a part of since the Fall of 2007. We have weekly gatherings and various special events with the youth.

We meet every Wednesday at Washington Community Fellowship from 7pm-9pm for worship, prayer, and small group Bible study. Over the past year, the Porch youth enjoyed a Christmas dinner at Old Ebbitt’s Grill, a lock-in, a Shrove Tuesday breakfast, and summer retreats.

As a small group leader, I have had the privilege to share God’s truth and love with 10^th-12^th grade guys. They have opened up to reveal a number of strongholds of sin in their lives, and we have all had the opportunity to “sharpen” one another. Getting the chance to introduce the gospel to some and encourage others in their walks has been an incredible experience!

We would ask for your prayer as each of the students face new challenges to their faith with a deeper walk with the Lord.   Specifically, I ask that you pray for our focus this year to “dig deep” as we challenge students to look at how sin has affected their life so they might further embrace the freedom of Christ and deepen their relationship with God.

Daniel Son

I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve had at the Porch. It is a unique ministry in that it brings together several churches in the Washington DC metro area as well as urban youth who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The vision of the Porch to desire not only that these suburban and urban youth grow in Christ, but in relationship to one another is one that I resonate with very deeply. The hope for the youth of this city and our nation rests in community: with one another, and with Christ. The Porch aims to achieve this through worship, Bible study, small group teaching, games, retreats and extended times of fellowship, prayer and conversation - it seeks to engage youth at very formative and often vulnerable times in their lives. It has been a pleasure to participate in a small way to support and administer this vision for ministry in DC.

Volunteer Opportunity for Legal Professionals and Law Students - 9/22/09. On Tuesday, September 22, Christian Legal Aid of the District of Columbia (CLADC) will be hosting a legal clinic for residents and guests of the Central Union Mission.  The clinic will be held at the Mission (1350 R Street, NW) from 7-9 p.m.  No prior experience, long-term commitment or special knowledge is necessary and you’ll be covered by CLADC’s insurance.  Come see how your legal background can help those in need!   Opportunities are also available for non-legal volunteers.   Come and see how your skills can be put to work for furthering Christ’s community! For information, please contact Sam Logan at (703) 231-8624 or selogan@gmail.com.

CLADC hosts two clinics every month – one on the second Saturday of the month (approx. 9:30 a.m. - noon) and another on the fourth Tuesday of the month (approx. 7:00-9:00 p.m.). If you can’t make it next week but would like to help with future events, please contact Sam.

Last night’s Urban Prayer and Worship time at COSC was a wonderful time of coming together in the Spirit.  About half a dozen churches were represented at the gathering, and it was a fruitful time.

Each quarter, one local urban ministry is highlighted for prayer, in addition to always praying for our churches, pastors and city.  Last night The Porch, an urban youth group ministry led by Christina Fowler, was the ministry focus.  Here are some things that Christina specifically asked us to pray for:

For the YOUTH:
- youth who are in single parent homes
- violence and gang activity
- school systems
- general brokenness –> that the youth would know who they are in the LORD and not let these other things define them

For the LEADERSHIP:
- that the leadership, especially Christina, would serve out of overflow and not our of their own strength
- that there would be peace among leadership and partnering churches
- for hearts of prayer

For NEEDS:
- weekly meals for youth on Wed nights
- neighborhood homes at which to gather in small groups once a month
- finances - for staff and for an upcoming retreat

Another very specific prayer request in this area is for a pending grant that The Porch has applied to through the Mustard Seed Foundation.  They are seeking a $15K matching grant.  If they are awarded this grant, they are praying that 5 area churches would commit to $250/month to meet the match. Jessie, a new staff member, would be supported through this grant.  He is a
pastor evangelist with several years in DC.  His heart for urban youth includes creating neighborhood weight rooms where men could disciple boys.

SCRIPTURES to pray over the Porch (which are also serving as themes for their youth):
- Matt 6:33 - seek the Kingdom first
- Eph 5:8 - walk in the light, live as children of the light
- Luke 6:46-49 - be founded on the Rock

Additionally, we prayed specifically for our PASTORS IN THE CITY who are in great need of strength and encouragement.  For our pastors at Rez, here are some specific prayer requests:

- for Dan to have more time with the Lord, and time to do his dissertation
- for unity between rez pastors and other pastors in the city - that the pastors would be united in a vision for the city, resulting in city-wide movement
- that the Masons would receive their visas (to come to the US from England) to be able to come serve with us

Hopefully if you were not able to join in prayer, you will integrate these prayer requests into your time with the Lord this coming week and forward. The next urban prayer night will be held on Nov 7th, 7-9pm at COSC.

peace,
Kristi Kiger

If so, then Little Lights is a great ministry to know about.  They are looking for new volunteers now.

Little Lights seeks to serve SE DC and build meaningful relationships through which to share the love of Christ. We do this through a number of after-school programs for children grades K-12th to equip them with the tools to succeed academically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are looking for help particularly for our Reading and Math Heroes tutoring programs, which function out of a one-to-one ratio of adult to student. We also need outstanding Christian men to step up to mentor and be a model for our young boys. See our website (www.littlelights.org) for more details or email mijin@littlelights.org

The Parish Council would like to hear your thoughts on Rez and its future!

After church this Sunday, we will be hosting a focus group of 8-10 Rez members.  Over the course of less than an hour, starting at 7:15-8:15, we’d like to hear your
thoughts on a range of topics, including:
What attracted you to Rez?
What keeps you at Rez?
What does Rez do well?
How could Rez be better?
What are your hopes and dreams for Rez in the future?
This first focus group is for members.

If you would like to participate in the focus group, please send Greg Justice or Matt Luecke an
email: gregjustice@gmail.com or matt.luecke@gmail.com.

In two weeks we’ll have another focus group for non-members and people who have been at Rez for less than 9 months.

PS:  There will be pizza!

Over the past few weeks, a number of folks from Rez have been working with other churches and neighbors in SE DC to plan and fundraise for a new playground for the Hopkins housing project. We still need more help.

Two ways you can contribute:

1) Donate items for the yard sale.  They can still be delivered to the Salvation Army from 6-9:30PM Thursday night (tonight).

2) Come and shop on Saturday!  Bring friends!  Drop off baked goods for the bake sale.

What: Fundraising Yard Sale for the Hopkins Playground Project
When: Saturday April 18, 9AM - 2PM
Where: Salvation Army parking lot, 1211 G St. SE
How you can volunteer: Send an email to buildtheplayground@yahoo.com

There will also be a benefit concert during the sale with these artists:
9:00 Jon Steele duo, classical bass and viola
10:00 Eugene Lee
Myspace page, http://www.myspace. com/eugeneleesin gs
Facebook page, http://www.facebook .com/pages/ Eugene-Lee/ 66975074282
11:00 Rum and Kidney Men
www.rumandkidney. com

For more background, keep reading… Read More

The Playground project (details here) is moving forward after a successful carwash last Saturday, thanks to God’s good grace and the help of many volunteers.

The next fundraiser is a  yard sale, April 18.  We need lots of help for this one to be a success.  There are three major ways you can play a role: 1) donate items for sale, 2) come to the yard sale and shop generously, 3) volunteer to help execute the yard sale.  We need your help in any of these three areas.  Keep reading for details…

Read More