We are right in the middle of summer and so many exciting things are happening that it is difficult to mention only one. All of these things are ways in which we are growing as a church family who loves God and loves people. The mission of making disciples is being advanced. At the risk of leaving some important things out, let me briefly mention seven of these as we celebrate and as we continue to pray for God's blessing.
1. Camp Zephyr:
A record number from Calvary (70 students and adults) participated in the youth camp at Zephyr a couple of weeks ago. A great number from our group made spiritual decisions (professions of faith, rededication, request for baptism and surrender to ministry). Interestingly, the theme of the camp was "Love God, Love People"! We are grateful to God for this and we pray for the continuing discipleship that is taking place on Tuesday nights (Middle School), Wednesday nights (High School) and Thursdays (serving the Sullivan City community). Thanks Pastor Marcus Rodriguez. Keep up the good work.
2. Combined Praise Band (English and Spanish):
At the request of the Hispanic Convention of Texas (BGCT), Calvary formed a combined praise band from those who lead worship in our English and Spanish services. Benjamin Aguirre, Spanish Ministry Associate, led this team with the support of Pastor Mark Richardson. This team led worship for the convention's sessions and was received with overwhelming acceptance. Beyond their blessing the convention attendees for those three days, this effort was significant because it demonstrated one of the ways in which our church can grow in unity across our English and Spanish services. This past Sunday they led the worship in all three of our services. While it is important that we maintain the unique aspects of classical (English), contemporary (English) and contemporary (Spanish) worship services, on occasion, it is also important to have a sense that we are ONE family. We pray that we continue to find ways to celebrate who we are as a Calvary family while maintaining our rich diversity.
3. Sullivan City Church Restart
Our missions committee recently approved the restart of the church that we sponsor in Sullivan City giving Raul and Alba San Martin a leadership role and a presence in the community. (They are living in the church parsonage there). Elizabeth Zamora and Pastor Rolando Aguirre have been charged with being the communication link between that church and Calvary. Thankfully, many from Calvary have responded recently to clean-up and outreach efforts in that community. Last week two groups from a church in Tolar, Texas and one in Hueytown, Alabama came to the Sullivan City church property to paint, do construction projects, and lead a Vacation Bible School. The church building was filled with approximately 80 children from the community and several of them made decisions to trust Christ as Lord and Savior. We are grateful for people who have travelled so far to help us with our church restart here in the Valley. While the San Martin's will continue to minister daily in that community, our Calvary students will be doing follow-up work on Thursdays. We thank God for his blessing on this restart!
4. Amazon Mission Trip:
In addition to the various mission trips Calvary individuals have been taking this summer to South Asia, East Asia, Panama, Venezuela, Germany, Kenya, Austria and New York, a group of twelve has gone on a Calvary sponsored trip along the Amazon river. As I post this blog they are working with indigenous groups in villages along the river providing dental check-ups, tooth extractions, construction project assistance, free Bibles, and evangelism. Many have already trusted Christ as Savior and Lord during this trip. They will cover places in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. Their objective is to equip local leaders to disciple indigenous people. This is very much in line with the strategy we are wanting to follow as a church in a global involvement. We thank God for this group led by Pastor Rolando and David Love.
5. Fourth of July Tailgate Party:
Last Saturday, Calvary proved once again that it knows how to throw a party! Over 1,600 people attended as many of our volunteers served hotdogs, snow cones, drinks, pop corn, nachos and as children enjoyed several rides. And as it is the tradition, we ended the evening with an outstanding fireworks display put on by the City of McAllen. We have identified about 125 English-speaking households and 50 Spanish-speaking households who may not have a church home. Pastor Gary Faris is working in doing a mail out to all those who are our guests, thanking them for coming to the party and asking them for input on how Calvary can continue to serve our community. He will also be working on assigning follow-up home visits to them in the next week or so. Look for an opportunity to show up at one of these homes to simply say, "thank you for coming to our tailgate party and please know that our church cares about you." We are so grateful for Betty Flores, Elizabeth Zamora, the 4th of July team and all of the volunteers that made this mega event possible.
6. "Radical missions project matching fund"
This week we received a designated donation of a little over $100,000 for a fund which may be called "Radical missions project matching fund." The purpose of this fund is to encourage groups in our church to take on projects that minister to unreached (or under-reached people groups) or to the poor and the oppressed. The fund is intended to match dollar-per-dollar of what the group invests on serving the particular target population. There is a list of criteria that must be met for the group to qualify for matching funds. The criteria and the process for administering this fund will be presented to the missions committee before any disbursements are to be made. We will keep you posted as to the progress of this. We are so grateful to the individual (who has asked to remain anonymous) who has taken a "radical" and "sacrificial" step to facilitate our church's advancing mission. Praise God for this!
(You will note on this next Sunday's bulletin that the "total giving for 7-3-11" is $126,627.28. This is definitely extraordinary giving to our budget in one week. It essentially puts us in a "caught up" position on budget giving right in the middle of the year. Please note that this is only budget giving. It does not include the designated gift for the "radical missions project matching fund." The Lord has given us a double huge blessing in one week!)
7. Camp Tejas
In a couple of days a bus load of children and adults who love them will leave for Camp Tejas in Giddings. Pastor Susan Sosebee is directing this camp which involves three churches in our state. Many are praying for the lives of our children to be impacted with the love of God. As lead pastor, I look forward to the opportunity of speaking each day to this group. We are convinced that the faith formation of our children is extremely important. Please pray this week for God's hand to move in this camp.
As all of these exciting things happen, we are undergoing some changes at the staff level. I will communicate more about these changes on this blog at a later time. For now, I would like to express gratitude to Pastor Joe Gerault and his ministry. This month he has transitioned from his full time role as Pastor of Administration and Pastoral Ministries to a part time role as Pastor of Pastoral Ministries. We have had a smooth transition. We appreciate all that Pastor Joe has done in his full time role for practically eighteen years. We trust that God will continue to use him and bless him in this new stage of his ministry.
I am grateful for each staff member, each deacon, each leader and each member in our church. What a privilege to be here now!
Blessings
