March 2011

March 2011 Vol 5, Issue 4
Dear Ryan,   We hope this note finds you living well and enjoying this day.  After our family has been sick for about two months we are enjoying a season of health and vitality once again in our home.  We hope this short update encourages you.  And we want to say thank you for your friendship and support.
The Goal of Discipleship:  Love We are created in Gods image and "God is Love"  Thomas Aquinas the 12th Century Dominican priest argued, everything is grounded in love, since all of creation reflects the character of the one who made it.  He suggested that we are not only made to love, we are made of love.  Everything we do is driven by this divine quality:  all we can do is love.    But humanity apart from God is left at the mercy of self-love, 'which swirls in on itself like a fierce tornado' destroying everything it touches.  Christ invites us into a life of discipleship where he teaches and transforms us so that we can order our life and love around God which releases the power to drastically change the lives of the people we interact with daily.     Jesus came to bring us life at its fullest, a life of wholeness, where love wins and changes everything.    The simple 'program' of Christ for winning the whole world is to make each person he touches magnetic enough with love to draw others  -Frank Laubach Love in Action  In Jesus some of the most wounded souls found a refuge of love and grace: The prostitutes and adulterers, The tax collectors and other notorious sinners The sick and outcast The demon possessed and lepers. We are gradually learning from Jesus to share this same love to our neighbors and the visitors that God brings our way on a daily basis  Here are few recent stories: Emanuela is an 18 year old from Central America who traveled very far on her own to leave behind  a life of abuse.  She was smuggled across the border and caught in the desert and detained for 8 months.  She was released and given temporary amnesty because it was not safe for her to return home.  We were able to show her the love of Christ as she lived in the a2j girls house for a few days until she could get a flight out to her reunite with her father.  Ken and Gabriel are two homeless friends that a few in our community have loved by inviting them into their lives and home to sleep and shower and experience genuine friendship.  Ashley is a neighbor who has been watching us for a while, a recent conversation had her asking, 'why are you guys so invested in this neighborhood and serving so much' it led to a beautiful conversation around Jesus and a desire on her part to begin to seek Jesus with us A.J. and Sarah are a two new neighbors that represent the many girls and women caught up in a life of prostitution that live in our neighborhood.  At the recent block party we were able to interact with A.J. in a beautiful and honoring way.  And Amber and a few other girls helped Sarah get off the streets and plugged into the Dream Center.  I believe they both experienced a window into the great love and care God has for them.       Wyatt is a young man who just arrived from Detroit and is homeless,  we met him as he walked down the heavily traveled 12th avenue where hundreds walk by each day as they go to and from CASS (Central Arizona Shelter Services).  He has been coming to our Study and prayer times and is seeking Jesus with us, just today he did his laundray with us and helped cook our Celebration Dinner tonight                       The compassion of God in our hearts opens our eyes to the unique worth of each person, "The other is 'ourself'; and we must love him in his sin as we were loved in our sin."  This is the unceasing struggle of a lifetime.  It is the long and painful process of becoming like Christ in the way I choose to think, speak, and live each day.  "God's love is not a conditional love; it is an open-hearted, generous self-giving which God offers to men.  -Brennan Manning   A2J Woodland Block Party   Last Sunday we experienced another step in our journey in community develpment.  We continued to strengthen existing relationships as well as build new ones and we also gained a lot of valueable information from our neighbors through the use of surveys (we had raffle and prizes as a fun incentive for filling them out)  Click here to see more photos from this day. click here  Current Needs    Help Purchasing a propertyone of the properties where two young married couples are living in the a2j community is being auctioned off next month.The house will probably be sold for about $65,000.We are looking for help to be able to purchase this property for the ministry.We have a few ideas how this could be done but we need your help. If God stirs your heart please call or email. Intercession Prayer Team: We want to invite you to join the Apprenticeship to Jesus prayer team. What this entails:  Being willing to receive regular and brief prayer requests via email and then praying. If you would like be part of this team please email me and let me know.